Deer dogs ruining bow season
#21
Fork Horn
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 168
My main issues is when the A$$HOLE comes walking on my property to "Just get his dogs back" he got his gun with him...guess he never read the game book or hunting laws.
I have had two hunts ruined since this thread started the other day!
I have had two hunts ruined since this thread started the other day!
#22
Deer Dogs
No that is not ths problem but an excuse. Dog owners know exactly when archery season starts. For them to release theur dogs during that time is totslly unsportsman of thrm and shows a yotal lack of respect for others and for different types of hunting. They should be ashamed of themselves for doing this. And other dog owners should put a stop to this. Dog hunting in Va worse enemy are the dog owners themselves snd their organization that encourages this activity.
AND, that would be because you are in Va. I grew up there. I never understood it either.
#23
Deer Dogs
Ive been dealing with this since buying some land out in a rural part of VA so I could hunt closer to my home. Its not unusual for dogs to be running at midnight through my land or sitting out on my deck and seeing hounds strolling through daily...until my dog chases them off.
My biggest issue was a couple years ago when I got a lease on 100 acres in a very undeveloped area that I took a weekend walking the perimeter putting up no trespassing signs. It was turkey season and if you turkey hunt, you know it involves roosting a bird the night before to know where to set up in the morning, and getting set up before the sun comes up. I set up my decoys and called my Tom out of his roost and as he was strutting towards my decoys....4-5 hounds come busting out of the tree line and my hunt was done. This happened more than a few times that season so I was able to snag one of the dogs, bring him home, and had animal control put him in doggy jail. The owners had to pay $300 to get him out. Then since I had his name and address I would write a note every day before I hunted and put it in his mailbox reminding him of my lease, and if his dogs came through again, I would keep doing what I did. It stopped!
Well, until archery season. I understand keeping the dogs in shape for firearms season, but to me I took it like they purposely were trying to drive all the deer off my lease so I wouldn't have a chance at the ones I had scouted all summer with trail cameras, setting stands, planting food plots, etc. so I had the best chance at getting the big racks. I finally made friends with my local warden who made a visit to the SAME guys house, which ultimately caused such childish nonsense like flattened tires on my truck and vandalized stands, which I had evidence on trail cams that I passed on the lease the next season. I guess he won.
They will always be out running off season, no matter what private land you hunt around where I live, so I have just learned to find ways of dealing with it. All this bragging of heritage, and how long its been in VA, is cool history, but it doesn't make up for ethics and sportsmanship...much less common courtesy.
My biggest issue was a couple years ago when I got a lease on 100 acres in a very undeveloped area that I took a weekend walking the perimeter putting up no trespassing signs. It was turkey season and if you turkey hunt, you know it involves roosting a bird the night before to know where to set up in the morning, and getting set up before the sun comes up. I set up my decoys and called my Tom out of his roost and as he was strutting towards my decoys....4-5 hounds come busting out of the tree line and my hunt was done. This happened more than a few times that season so I was able to snag one of the dogs, bring him home, and had animal control put him in doggy jail. The owners had to pay $300 to get him out. Then since I had his name and address I would write a note every day before I hunted and put it in his mailbox reminding him of my lease, and if his dogs came through again, I would keep doing what I did. It stopped!
Well, until archery season. I understand keeping the dogs in shape for firearms season, but to me I took it like they purposely were trying to drive all the deer off my lease so I wouldn't have a chance at the ones I had scouted all summer with trail cameras, setting stands, planting food plots, etc. so I had the best chance at getting the big racks. I finally made friends with my local warden who made a visit to the SAME guys house, which ultimately caused such childish nonsense like flattened tires on my truck and vandalized stands, which I had evidence on trail cams that I passed on the lease the next season. I guess he won.
They will always be out running off season, no matter what private land you hunt around where I live, so I have just learned to find ways of dealing with it. All this bragging of heritage, and how long its been in VA, is cool history, but it doesn't make up for ethics and sportsmanship...much less common courtesy.
An eye for an eye. A tire for a tire. No one screws up my hunting.
#24
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,662
"Hunting with Dogs" in the VDGIF book...it's Section 18.2-136 ...second paragraph down......
Then call the game warden and show him the picture of this ******* and explain what happened and leave the rest up to the law...I would think SOMETHING would be done.....
Hope this helps....Good Luck and Good Hunting......
#26
Since the game warden is unwilling to act, call the district attorney's office (or police), citations get issued all the time when it's one person's word against the other. That's what trials are for. More proof is better, of course, but a D.A. or cop is not going to be so reluctant to move forward on a citizen's complaint.
#28
Do you know his name and address? If you do, go to the local sheriff's office and talk to them about a "no trespass notice". If he is coming on your land to retrieve his dogs and he is armed, he is breaking the law. Pictures are a big help. Go to the Commonwealth Attorney and speak with them. They are an elected official and will more than likely get things rolling for you.
#30
From the VDGIF website under hunting with dogs:
Section 18.2-136 of the Code of Virginia decriminalizes trespass in certain instances related to dog retrieval. That section provides: "Fox hunters and coon hunters, when the chase begins on other lands, may follow their dogs on prohibited lands, and hunters of all other game, when the chase begins on other lands, may go upon prohibited lands to retrieve their dogs, falcons, hawks, or owls, but may not carry firearms or bow and arrows on their person or hunt any game while thereon. The use of vehicles to retrieve dogs, falcons, hawks, or owls on prohibited lands shall be allowed only with the permission of the landowner or his agent. Any person who goes on prohibited lands to retrieve his dogs, falcons, hawks, or owls pursuant to this section and who willfully refuses to identify himself when requested by the landowner or his agent to do so is guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor."
This is the law and game wardens are required to enforce it. Those trespassing are assuming that they interpret the law better than the courts and bet they will not be cited. Landowners need to know their rights in order to know what is permitted and what is not.
Section 18.2-136 of the Code of Virginia decriminalizes trespass in certain instances related to dog retrieval. That section provides: "Fox hunters and coon hunters, when the chase begins on other lands, may follow their dogs on prohibited lands, and hunters of all other game, when the chase begins on other lands, may go upon prohibited lands to retrieve their dogs, falcons, hawks, or owls, but may not carry firearms or bow and arrows on their person or hunt any game while thereon. The use of vehicles to retrieve dogs, falcons, hawks, or owls on prohibited lands shall be allowed only with the permission of the landowner or his agent. Any person who goes on prohibited lands to retrieve his dogs, falcons, hawks, or owls pursuant to this section and who willfully refuses to identify himself when requested by the landowner or his agent to do so is guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor."
This is the law and game wardens are required to enforce it. Those trespassing are assuming that they interpret the law better than the courts and bet they will not be cited. Landowners need to know their rights in order to know what is permitted and what is not.