Originally Posted by
7.62NATO
I have no real desire to hunt with a bow. Buzzing insects, green leaves and warm weather don't mix with deer hunting IMO. But you may be pushing me in the that direction. The four times I got to hunt in our two weeks of muzzleloader season were awesome. Saw deer every time and killed two. They don't let you run dogs during muzzleloader season. Thank God.
Now that the dog hunters run their dogs through every cotton-pickin' inch of Pocahontas State Park, it really, really makes the deer extra prone to going 100% nocturnal. Yes, even on the weekdays.
Got to hunt some private land this past Saturday for the first time. Thought it would be awesome. But I found that the surrounding properties run deer dogs. And guess what? Those dogs came onto the property where I was taking my sister hunting for the first time. What's that you say? You can't control where the dogs run, and dogs don't know the property lines? NO KIDDING!! That's the point.
So I might just have to take up bow hunting, simply to be able to hunt without your invasive critters crawling over every inch of woods known to man.
Hey NATO, Small world! My property borders Pocahontas State Park and them dogs woke me up on Thanksgiving morning. It was four of them with orange tracking collars all in my front yard. You would think if those hunters cared about their dogs they wouldn't run them here with the heavy traffic on all of these roads around the park.
I don't hunt in the park but you are right about the bucks going nocturnal after gun season starts. The only ones I have seen in daylight hours during gun season were either chasing does or sneaking to or from their beds in early AM or last light of day. Also, some of the hunters in the park do not respect the 600' of no hunting border that is supposed to be around the outside edges.
I am in agreement with you on the dog hunting ruining the hunt for everyone else. It's still affected by dog hunts but have you tried Amelia Wildlife Management Area? I know of a couple of good spots there if you'd like me to tell you about them.
Good luck to you on the rest of the season!