In VA where I am at, everyone is with a club and all run dogs it seems. I prefer to sit in the woods in a stand or on the ground and listen to nature. I have done my scouting and picked my spots carefully. Archery is pretty nice, blackpowder season is also nice, opening day of regular gun season is a freaking nightmare.

The reason hunting gets a black eye from the general public is seen. Trucks parked halfway in the road, people standing on the road or on the side with guns, dogs running into traffic, (I know they can't read signs, so tired of that excuse). Mud covered roads, trucks speeding up the road like a maniac cause their buddy spotted a deer and has to yell on the radio to go someplace fast to cut them off. Then the fun of watching them run up and down the road looking like a RC truck from Radio Shack tracking their dogs. There is no plug law anymore, so you always hear 3 or more shots.

I hunt all season from early Oct. to early Jan, with bow and blackpowder. I come and go and never noticed. I park in my buddies yard that neighbors the land I hunt and he might see me once a week. Normally has to ask if I went hunting. I prefer to do my thing and not bother others normal daily lives.

Studies like that are always, always biased. No matter who does them, there's always an agenda. I hunted Great Pee Dee Heritage Preserve in Northern SC earlier this year and didn't see a single deer... or anything for that matter. You know why?... Because they had scheduled Small Game Season right in the middle of one of their Special Still/Stalk Hog Hunts. There were folks with dogs everywhere and not a single deer or hog to be found. If you're trying to tell me that several large groups of people with dogs running all over a specific piece of land has no impact on deer hunting, I find that extremely hard to swallow.....

To those of you against running dogs for deer, do you think it's acceptable to use dogs to hunt pheasant, quail, etc.? They're all wild game animals so what is the difference?

yes i do. a deer is like the cow is to people of india here in our area of clinton county,pa.i dont like to see a dog used to tree a cougar and shoot it also or bear......
i was against using dogs to hunt turkeys, not because i felt it was not right but because dogs would disturb my calling of turkeys to me with dogs running around after turkeys.

but to see dog chasing deer ,that is something i hope i never see here in clinton county,pa.yes, i look at pheasant, raccoon,coyote,fox,rabbit,grouse different than i do a bear, cougar or deer......take care, sproul.......

I had a guy years ago ask me if he could racoon hunt on my property. I politely told him **** no. No way am I letting dogs run on my property, for deer or raccoons. I definately believe dogs will alter deer movement, regardless of what is being hunted, that is if they are being used regularily. Whatever a person wants to do on their own property is none of my business, but if dogs run through my land, that is my business. I personally believe dogs should not be allowed on public land. If it's private land or leased land, that's up to the people hunting. I personally am against dog hunting, but if someone else wants to do it, that's their choice. I'm also against drives, but to each his own.

i am well known DOG HUNTER.i hunt grouse/pheasants/rabbits with toby........now you can hunt turkeys with dogs.when i see a turkey hunters truck,i take toby elsewhere to hunt my grouse.also if i see archery hunters truck, same thing......
now we have all these dogs running around chasing turkeys.it has ruined my calling of turkeys..it has also ruined our archery hunting for deer..........with grouse you can take your dog to another area to hunt but with turkeys ,they are usually in 1 area.

this means hunters with dogs will be there.turkeys know where feed is too so deer will be in that area also...........turkeys will not come to call with that going on.

more and more hunters are being chased to PUBLICLAND..more and more animals are being concentrated to certain areas ,so you have a lot of hunters in 1 area do to lack of game all over like years ago.
you could go to any area and see game,NOT NOW HERE IN PA.....
just to much pressure on resourses left in state of pa.

you will not read this from PGC or DCNR .but you will hear TRUTH from SPROULMAN..........

The study I posted above indicates you are wrong.

I could care less about the study. I didn't even read it and won't. Right or wrong, I'm not letting dogs on my property. That's my choice.

LOL! Bull puckey! Apparently you didn't read the many previous posts here, of recent too, that had hunters upset after dogs were run through their hunting area and all of a sudden, the deer spottings were much less!

Hmm? I guess that's just a coincidence for someone like yourself who already has their mind set. LOL! Just make a thread and see how many people have had their area change due to dogs being run. That's real world as it gets.

And yes, the study is flawed. You admitted that and I'll give kudos for that one minor admission because it's all you got.

What's even more funny is if all these hunters came forth claiming they didn't see near the deer numbers after dogs were run through... yet to have someone come afterwards and say "That's not true because here's a study..." is sort of ridiculous... yet that's what you did!

iSnipe

vt700guy,

Be sure to address SWThomas' reply as well. LOL!

Good day!

iSnipe