What would you do?
 

Well this morning started off normal. I woke up, got ready and had my dad check the forecast for today(he had to go to work at 8 so he didn't hunt). It called for rain showers starting around 9:30 or 10:00. We both agreed that that might be good because from his experience the deer often move before it rains. Well I headed out and walked to my stand. I got in about 30 minutes before daylight like normal. Right at daylight I hear something making a ton of noise so I watched the hill it was coming from and here comes a huge body. I thought forsure it was 'ole big boy but I scoped it and it was just a big doe. Well she walks off and it starts to rain a bit. It was 40 degrees so I just sat in it becuase it wasn't cold enough to bother me. About 30 minutes later I hear dogs running around barking in my pasture. This kinda angered me because I've been seeing tons of dog tracks and my dad saw two dogs before he got in the stand one day. I heard another deer running behind me about 5 minutes after that. Then a couple minutes later here comes a bunch of barking dogs. Because of all the sign of dogs I had planned on shooting them if they came to me. I couldn't do it though. I got up and decided if I could get them to follow me to the house I'd get em in the truck and drop em off far away. Instead they took off running. So I said to hell with it, it should start raining soon and I went back towards the house. Then I see them chasing rabbits out of a big spot we left in the pasture for deer to bed up. They ran and hid... I was pissed at that point so I waited 5-6 minutes and they wouldn't come out. I decided just to come back home.

Well the main point of this is, my dad and I spend tons of money on hunting and work hard to put in our food plots. I'm probably not gonna be nice and let them go next time. I know they might be some little kid's dogs but it'll be a lesson learned.

I shoulda just shot the doe :sad:

Anyways... Would you have shot the dogs?

No not if they are domestic dogs not wild. You would need to find the owners and wxplan the problem or call for a dog officer to take care of the situation

That is a good idea but I have no clue if they are just strays or pets. TBH they're probably strays because I live out in the middle of nowhere and people make a bad habbit of dropping their dogs on my land and my neighbors land, and they also had no collars. I really like dogs and would hate to shoot one but I also love deer hunting.

Maybe try trapping instead ? so you can determine if it is wild or not

I think I'm just not even going to worry about it. The seasons almost over. They'll probably run off by next year. If they come next year I'll try trapping them. They really better hope they don't chase my uncles cows though lol because he can and will definately kill them.

If you're asking if I they might have been coyotes, no. Could I have shot them and said they I thought they were coyotes, probably. The first one looked like a German shepherd with something else mixed in and the other was just a little mutt dog.

EDIT: this was suppose to be a reply to someone who posted asking "could they have been mistaken for coyotes" but they deleted their post...

I definitely understand your frustration and you sound like a very ethical hunter as you did not just shoot right away. Hope it all works out for you.

Tough call,
is this private land? or public?
if these are domestic dogs, not sure of laws for running dogs ,
believe most places owners are supposed to be within a certain distance,
if these are wild dogs they would be open game like any other predator hunting,

if it was a 1 time thing i would let them go,
if its a recurring problem on private land i would take them out,
if its on public, i would do my best to determine wild or domestic,
if domestic and owners are legal would try to find them and work with them,
if owners are running dogs illegallly, would try even harder to let game wardens know of illegal dog running,
wouldnt take out owners illegal activities out on the dogs

Private... I definately wouldn't do it on public land.

i would talk to neighbors,
let them know you have dogs running amuck on your land,
you just want to know if its their dogs, because your considering taking them out,
dont do it in an aggressive manner, where your accusing them
but do it in a courtious manner, asking them if its their's, and that your trying to determine if they're someones pets or wild.

chances are, they wont tell you if its theirs, and will get pissed when dogs dont return,
but at least you tried to do the right thing

Good advise!! it is hard to break a dog that has started to run deer, when we were young and had a dog take to deer we would put it down, (we didn't have time to re-train them) it sounds cruel but I would still do it. a word of advise, if you have exhausted all other efforts and have to resort to a permeate solution, I would keep it to myself, jmop Doc

If I did end up doing it... my dad would be the only one to find out.

i could never kill a dog. set up some snares and what not. put out some food with some meds that will know it out so you can capture it

I hear ya, I like dogs also, but letting them "pack-up" and chase deer you are not doing them any favors, we had an incident a few years ago where a pack attached a young women and her child. I haven't looked in awhile but I think some state dnr rules allow for dispatching these dogs. as I said I like dogs and take care of mine, there are too many people who don't. JMOP Doc

This might sound harsh but....

It is the dog owners responsiblity to keep their dogs on their land. If you are dealing an irresponible dog owner you might be dealing with this for a long time.

If those dogs were threating livestock they can be shot on the spot.

If they keep showing up I would go with SSS. Shoot, shovel, shutup.

Typical for the area... I got the same problem too. I did shoot one 2 years ago because it thought I was a deer but my 45 changed it's mind... I usually just cuss and move on though

I have an intermittant problem with people dumping out their hunting dogs on the posted property next to me trying to run the deer there to thier property behind us both. Has happend several times. THe owner has spoke to them, and they keep doind it. THe beagals have tracking collars on them and the owner knows full well what he is doing. Also just the other day we had two dogs run to our property from an adjacent one less than a mile away. I caught one to find the name and number on the collar indicating these dogs were from there and let him go on his way. If it is just dogs doing what they do, Even if I don't like them running my land I'll leave them be. Dog hunting is legal and accepted here. If it is the other example, someone eventually will need some new dogs and new collars. Wild dogs (Dogs with no collars running game must be wild right?) Take them out. THey will become a problem.

I'm glad to see various opinons on the topic :]

The good ole shoot dogs thread.

I don't shoot dogs or any pets. Even when farm animals like neighbors alpacas get loose.

People are funny about thier pets. Some would shoot you over thier pooches. Its not worth the risk. Sure people should be responsible, but crap happens.

Many more honorable ways to handle the situation.

I would shoot them with an powerfull airsoft or paintball gun.If that dosent teach them try for a light pellet gun.one problem you need to watch for is make sure they dont become comfortable on your property and become feral.Its happened to me before with a lost beagle.tryed everything for2 years.I hated i but finaly i had to kill it.If you do have to kill it make it quick,and dispose of the bodys.

It is easy to trap dogs. You use a fox set with a minimum 24" long stake or 2 stakes. Most of the dogs I caught in my fox sets just sat there. You should have a snare pole to release the nasty ones and someone to help. I never caught the same dog twice. Either the dogs never came back to that property or they never went near anything that smelled like fox urine again. The only problem I had was even the dogs that were nasty in the trap sometimes wanted to follow me home after I let them out of the trap.
In Pa. it is legal to shoot at dogs that are running deer, and in deep snow it is even encouraged. I feel the same way about snowmobilers but they have not changed the law yet. What you wrote sounds like dogs spooking deer, not chasing deer.