Vulture6

I’ve posted on this before, but since this is specifically about my home state I’m going to chime in again.

I am sure that somewhere in the state, people hound hunt ethically. My experience is centered on one county in the northern piedmont. For decades I have had to deal with the actions of hound hunters on my property.

First – dogs can’t read… and evidently neither can the morons who drive the trucks into the national park (battlefield) or onto my property to let their dogs go (hint – if you are not releasing your dogs on your property or on property where you have permission, then you are wrong. It isn’t the dog’s fault, it’s yours). BTW – I won’t shoot your dogs… but the law enforcement ranger will and does.

Second – In Virginia it is required by law that you have permission to venture on to posted private property to retrieve your dogs. That’s printed in the game regs – but we’ve already established the literacy of the dog handlers.

Third – shooting at a running deer is tough. I guess that explains the 14 or so shots that ring out in a 3 second period when a deer runs through the picket line. I guess that also explains the number of wounded and unrecovered deer I find on my property. I guess my question is, how much time do these folks spend practicing shooting at a moving target? My guess would be once a year. I know from 20 years in the infantry that shooting skills erode if not continually practiced. Picking up a rifle or shotgun only during hunting season and expecting to hit a running deer is like picking up a set of golf clubs once a year and expecting to be a scratch golfer.

I’m sure that the issue that has brought hound hunting to the forefront in Virginia isn’t anything related to “fair chase”. Instead, I can almost guarantee you that it is directly related to a brotherhood of idiots who think that it is their God given right to run their dogs wherever and however they please. This isn’t an issue of a couple of dogs straying off the appropriate land – it’s a case of dog handlers repeatedly taking their dogs out to drop them off on country roads or on people’s farms and letting them run amok. They are giving all people who hunt with dogs (and by extraction – all hunters) a bad name.

Again – I don’t intend this as an indictment of all hound hunters, or even all hound hunters in Virginia. This is only based on my experience dealing with one hunt club and one family in particular.

coolbrze0

reswire - def. didn't take that the wrong way. Man I just wrote a nice long response and this website didn't post it. Oh well, I'll make this one short & sweet. I appreciate different views, I don't deer hunt w/ dogs much and it's good to see someone else's perspective for a change. We don't have as many problems of people shooting from roads etc. up here.

If you want to hook up and do a little rabbit hunting this fall, the invites open!

reswire

Hey Steve,

Thanks, for the invite!! Just curious, do you know anyone who has some nice puppies started? My cousin and I used to hunt with his dad's dogs, but he want's to retire his dogs now. They're kinda up in years. I'd like to find a couple nice beagles if I could, for myself. I also have a bumper crop of rabbits on my place this year. If you like, maybe I can take youhunt'in this fall.

Thanks, Joe.

yakbow

i bought a house with 14 acres of woods in south/central va.. last year before gun season i had dogs running my property( with radio collars on )while i was bowhunting (illegal in va). during the gun season i constantly had dogs running my property; one morning they were under me for almost a half hour( also tresspassing hunters). i didn't know i had a local hunt club surroundind my house ; plus next door neighbors who did the same. i can't wait for it to end! i was looking forward to having a few acres to quitely bowhunt on..........mike

Virginia Mike

The dogs can't read, we're just out running them, they got lost, blah blah blah. Dog hunting will cease to exist in VA because the hunt clubs that run them don't respect boundaries or private property. I had a client just today that was telling me of the 350 acres in Madison Co. that he bought last week. He was there with his family this weekend and told me there were 50 dogs and 10 guys out running dogs on his new land. He posted the land and told them they were not allowed on his property and they informed him that they had hunted there for 25 years and that was that. He had to call the State Police (the sheriff was in the club) and have them warned and ******ed off. He called his neihbor the next day after he had left and the dogs were back. They don't care and are NOT going to change.

ButchA

[:@]

See? It's stuff like this that pi$$es everyone off and will slowly close the doors on dog hunting in Virginia. I know some guys who do it right and are really good, mindful and respectful. But I don't know... I guess I feel as though they are the minority among dog runners. [&o] It's the bad apples among dog runners that will ruin it for all of them.

I'm just happy I have a place to hunt out on the other side of the Blue Ridge so I don't have to mess with all that hoopla anymore.

reswire

Hey,

You and your friends should contact VDGIF and make a specific request to be heard by the Virginia Tech moderators. VA tech is currently helping to broker a deal between all parties with regard to the deer/dog issue. As I hear now, only dog clubs are showing up to talk. It seems private folks are intimidated by large numbers of angry hunt clubs. You can also press charges through your local magistrate. It cost you nothing if you have photos, eyewitnesses etc., but it cost the hunt clubs plenty for a lawyer to defend their stupidity. And of course, you can hire your own attorney. Cost a little more, but you will get results. The local sheriffs depend upon the clubs to get elected, forget them.

See ya in the field,

VA5326

I have been hunting in VA for close to 30 years. You name it (bow, black powder, rifle shotgun, dogs, still hunitng etc.), I've done it. The dog thing has become quite theHOT topic due to urban sprawl and angry landowners (i.e. instanceslike Virginia Mike has posted)who despise hunters dropping dogs or just letting them runon their property. I think it is very unfortunate for the doggers who do abide by the rules (such as myself and many others) that the bad apples who don't give a **** about property boundaries. After enough real estate gets developed, I'm sure the dogs will go away. Maybe not this year or even 5 years from now, but, it will eventually happen through no fault of our own hunting as a whole won't though. I 'm just one of the fortunate ones who belongs to club in Central Virginia who owns their own land and leases some additonal land to add on to what we already own. I'm a bow, BP, Dog, Still, whatever. When dogs go away I can't say that I'll be happy but maybe people will learn to actually hunt with out the crutch of a Canine.Finally...... people always wonder why they stop seeing deer after oh say about the 3rd week of gun season. That's because all the deer that made it have migrated to where the dogs don't run. I'm just glad I'm one of the only bow hunters in my club and once the dogs get put out I'm usually a driver so I just scout (WhenI'm driving)and still hunt on the weekdays(on my own). I can almost guarantee you'll see more deer as I do in Bow and BP season than you will during dog/gun season because their still on their natural patterns. Dogs.......... I'm not for getting rid of them but it sure would make hunting more challenging to the ones who just show up, get on the "ol logging road" and wait for the dogs to come by. People may actually learn some skill sets they thought they had, but really didn't.

VA


P.S. If anybody wants to hunt this season you have an open invitation to come and hunt this year. Hell we need a few more good members. PM me.

rrviper40

I couldn't have said it better myself VA5326.

Before you guys go generalizing that every dog hunter a dumb redneck who can't read, you should understand one thing. If you live in this area, and you enjoy hunting, you have to do it sometimes. Some of the guys I hunt with have dogs and once general firearms comes in, I'm basically forced to do it if I want to hunt. If I never saw another dog in the woods again I would be happy, but I won't pass up an opportunity to hunt just because I know they will be running dogs around me.

The main reason I don't like dog hunting is the lack of skill involved to bag a trophy animal. I spend hundreds of dollars and about 2 hours a week ALL YEAR LONG on the main parcel I hunt. I have 3 trail cameras I keep running all the time, I have planted about 15 or 20 acres worth of plots this year, and I sit on the stand and scout in some evenings even over the summer to study and learn the deer movement in my area. I do all of this, and may not even see an buck worth pulling the trigger on an entire season. Then I talk to some guys I know who run dogs and hunt about 5 days a year, take no scent precautions, and haven't spent a dollars worth of their time or money except to buy their license, who have killed bigger deer than I have ever even seen! Now that is frustrating!

Vulture6

I don't think that very many folks are looking to paint all hound hunters with the same brush. I'm sure that there are folks who do it legally and ethically. My post above was specifically based on my personal experience dealing with two families for over 30 years. These folks routinely trespass, run their dogs through the national park, and will shoot at just about anything. They'll hunt drunk and will leave their beer cans and trash in the woods (while trespassing).

These are the guys who need to be taken to task -- not just by the people they piss off, but by everyone who hunts with dogs responsibly.