ORIGINAL: PMantle
ORIGINAL: hornbow
ORIGINAL: PMantle
This is the most shocking thread I have ever read on a hunting forum. That any hunter would shoot a dog because if wandered on his land or chased a deer is beyond my comprehension. Of course, many feral dogs are likely better off put down anyway, but you guys would shoot someone's pet?
It is beyond your comprehension because you live in the south where there is no deep snow and perhaps running deer with dogs is legal. In Maine, it is not legal to run deer with dogs and in the deep snow, a Chijuajua can bring down a deer. The deer's hooves cut through the snow and it flounders while a dog can run on top of the snow (especially if there is a crust). They will eat at the hamstrings until the deer can't run and then they will simply eat it alive. Additionally, as I said, there is a leash law in Maine. Your "pet" must be on a leash at all times. There is no legal justification for allowing your dog to roam the woods. If your dog gets shot in the woods, odds are it is your fault for not obeying the law in the first place.
Shooting dogs in the woods of northern and central Maine is not only tolerated; it is advocated. There is a bounty on yotes too. If everyone just let their dogs chase deer, the effects on the deer population would be catastrophic. That is the reason people shoot free roaming dogs. And no, it doesn't matter if it has a collar or not. Keep your pet on the leash as is the law and it won't get shot.
So, if I understand what you are saying, it is fine to kill someone's pet, thereby destroying his property because of the potential that the dog might act on his preditory instincts and kill a deer that belongs to no one other than the State(unless you damage your car on one)?
Leash law? Violation of the leash law justifies killing a dog? Man, this is one eye opening thread.
Just trying to explain the reasons for the rule up there. I didn't make the rules; I just abide by them. I don't think you understand the scope of the problem in high snow country and you obviously have never found a dead deer ( or worse, one still alive) after a dog has been at it. Dogs kill deer all the time up there. It isn't that they "might act on their predatory instincts". They DO and often.
If an owner doesn't value his "property", as you put it, enough to keep it on a leash, when that rule is well known and well adhered to then why should I. I own dogs and have all my life. If I let one roam in the woods up there, odds are it wouldn't last a week because someone would shoot it. Guess what; I never let my dogs roam and I never lost one yet. It's a simple concept really; obey the law and you don't have to worry about it.