See how easy that was?
House Pro-Tem Pringle votes against new deer hunting regulations after past threats: "I don't want the deer hunters burning my stuff down. I am going to stand with the people who threatened me"
Apparently, a few threats from pro-dog hunting hunters was all it took to sway an Alabama state representative to their way of thinking. I realize people who live in areas a lot less rural than some of us may be clueless as to what I am speaking of, but here in Alabama, and especially where I live, the pro-dog hunting/anti-dog hunter voodoo is big medicine. In some AL counties it is legal to hunt deer with the aid of dogs and in others, it isn't. These laws sometimes change. When they do, folks can get heated. I literally don't have a dog in the hunt, but I grew up hunting deer with a pack of dogs and sometimes, a platoon of men. I also have stalked and hunted deer from trees/elevated stands. Not trying to be a fence rider, but I see both sides of the argument and know how frustrating it to scout, pattern, and finally get to hunt that "big buck" only to have what sounds like the Iditarod Sled race coming through and molesting your hunt. I also do recall as a young boy, and will never forget, the excitement of standing a log road and hearing the pack of dogs turn and start towards me. It was thrilling. For the traditional reason alone, I was against a total ban on dog hunting. I know what "bans" lead too. These disagreements have led to all sorts of gun pulling, fights, fence cutting, arrests, gate stealing, etc., but it is illegal in most of the county where I live today at this present time. In the extreme western portion of our county a small area can be legally hunted with dogs. At the time dog hunting was outlawed, I didn't own any hounds or hunt with people that did, but I still did not oppose dog hunting. Not all, but some dog hunters are notorious trespassers or turn their dogs out on other peoples property. That was one of he only cons I had to this debate. Not to bore, I was only trying to give a short background for those who might not understand the debate. The real story is the admission by a state legislator that he was strongarmed into this position. Wait till our pro-dog hunters find about this story. We may be in for a reversal. I know some fanatical dog-hunters and I can only hope the remaining legislators down in Montgomery take heed. The story is HERE.
That is the result of a state full of white trash blue collar trailer dwellers.
ReplyDeleteSays the white collar libtard from a democratic stronghold. Where supporting family with food means a stop at Trader Joe’s.
Delete"White trash" is one thing. My Dad came from white trash and made himself better, and raised me to be better than that.
Delete"Blue collar trailer dwellers" is a big giveaway. I've been blue-collar, and I've lived in trailers, before my skills bought me a nice brick home and a less-onerous job. Do you think you're better than working folks who make their living with their hands? Classist, nose-in-the-air bastard.
Because I am a Christian, I hope God will bring you to enlightenment.
--Tennessee Budd
Here is the thing Bud. Not all white trash blue collar trailer dwellers threaten arson; but all arson dog hunters are WTBCTDs. Hope that clears thing up.
DeleteWhere I hunt in west AL there is no dog hunting. That said, I don't really care if some folks dog hunt, so long as they don't don't while I'm tree sitting. I've always found chased deer meat to be more bitter and gamey from the fatigue poisons in the flesh of the chased animal. For that reason alone I won't dog hunt.
ReplyDeleteWhat you are tasting is lactic acid that builds up in the muscle and does not metabolize quickly.
Deletei just like to hear the dogs work, a pack of beagles on a rabbit is like music to me.
Deleteand no, dogs can't read no-trespassing signs.
When I started reading your post, I thought it was about hunting dogs, not hunting deer with dogs. It reminded me of a nearby town, Godly, TX, that has a pack of feral dogs roaming around. I don't know if they're pets that ran off, were dumped, or if it started with a few strays and turned into a large number through the miracle of procreation. The article I read mentioned that the dogs had attacked chicken and other live stock and had menaced a few families. I definitely feel sorry for the dogs, but when there's a pack of 40 or more wandering around, something has to be done.
ReplyDeleteNow if those dogs had gone after feral hogs...
DeleteSimilar thing happened near my farming cousins. City dwellers wo7kd dump their dogs in the area. They eventually formed a feral pack. When the men heard one of the widows was constantly buying steak (to throw out the window to give her a chance to run for her door), they formed a posse with shotguns and eliminated the pack.
DeleteI'm always amazed at how ignorant people who only have lived in the city are. Of course, add in their arrogance and hubris and its impossible to distinguish ignorance from stupidity.
Don't forget that you can hunt Deer with a Spear. Alabama, the land that time forgot.
ReplyDeleteI hunt deer in Georgia. They have pretty much abolished dog hunting except in areas where they have extremely large contiguous tracks. The problem with the dog hunters historically is they simply did not care where the dogs roamed. There’s always some excuse about why they ran out of their block. If they’re gonna be insistent that they have a legal right to dog hunt and they’re going to strong-armed the legislature then they should add a rider to the bill that says every time the dog trespasses on someone else’s property it’s a $5000 fine. And all of the club members are jointly and severally liable for the fine. The fine should be escalating so that the second and third offense it s10,000 and then 15,000 and there is no fourth offense because at that point you lose your permit. We’ll see how long the dog hunters are interested in carrying on at that point.
ReplyDeleteWhen I had a small farm in Pike County about 40 miles south of Montgomery I posted my property with no hunting and no dog hunting and the residences of the area had no problem, it was teh assholes from other counties That I had problems and carried my 12 gauge and shot a few dogs and shot close to trespassing hunters to get their attention.
ReplyDeleteGeorgia is the same way. My father-in-law was big into dog hunts. He had different packs for deer, hogs, and coyote/fox. I have hunted with dogs and sitting in a tree. It is rare you get a big buck running dogs. I prefer the tree.
ReplyDeleteThere is something about sitting around a camp fire, smoking cigars, sipping whisky, while listening to a pack of hounds chase down a coyote in the fox pen. It is a very expensive hobby.
Where I’m originally from in rural upstate N.Y., ppl shot dogs running deer.
ReplyDeleteWe still do...
Deletei've hunted dogs when i was younger and really enjoyed it. things were different then, but the hunters today, at least in va., aren't rally hunting but rather running up and down the roads like bats out of hell, drinking all day and shooting wherever they hear a twig break. i've killed way more deer still hunting. i let a couple guys still hunt my property these days, and they fill their freezers. if dog hunters got off the roads and acted right it wouldn't be an issue. one of the reasons i moved here was the ban on dog hunting. its much more peaceful around here any day of the year.
ReplyDeleteIn TN. You can't hunt deer with dogs but they're a lot of things you can. Lost what would have been the biggest buck of my life because a little yapping beagle chasing it.I should have shot the dog but my conscience got the better of my. Dang good thing the owner didn't come through. It was lease land and they had no business being there in the first place. I hate a poacher
ReplyDeleteWhy don't they have separate seasons for dogs and dog-less hunting? In Wisconsin, bear season is two weeks. For one week bears can be hunted with dogs. The other week dogs are not allowed. I know you have much longer seasons down south.
ReplyDeleteI have never hunted deer with dogs. I have shot feral dogs that I thought might be 'running the deer'. It wasn't until a PCS to Florida that I discovered "deer hunting with dogs". The wife did not make any friends with her reaction to people that ran dogs to hunt deer down at the local gas station (no shit!). Yet, I discovered that venturing off the road in Florida was to be immediately immersed into a trackless tangle that would literally take a dog to unravel let alone to find and "push out" a deer. Still, a gun carriage, strategically located at each cross roads looking down all 4 crossroads just waiting for the dogs to push out a deer into the open roads is not something you want to come upon. Scary in the extreme. No answers here, but there's got to be a better (safer) way.
ReplyDeleteTom
In my section of Texas, using dogs to run deer is over. The problem was more of a real estate problem than a dog problem. With so many leases back to back, some leases only a few dozen acres, and how some still hunters would have their hunts disturbed by running dogs, the respect for hunters disappeared. Both sides had convincing arguments, but like liberty, the right to do something doesn't mean the right to remove the right of another.
ReplyDeleteGrew up with hound hunting. It got to be more trouble than it was worth with higher population densities especially the Karen types. Still a few counties that allow it as well as bear. The youngest of us never owned a pack, most of us had public jobs instead of farming and keeping several dog pens won't possible for us so we became tree climbers.
ReplyDeleteYes, there were a few guys that used a blitz type approach, turn out in places that they knew they won't welcome or even legal for that matter. Run the area quick and be gone before the law shows up and move on to another area. Never the same places the same season. The legit dog hunters hated those crews, all they did was turn the last few folks that didn't care into no votes. I haven't been involved in it for decades but still remember the sound of a good pack sounding off coming straight at me.
Wish I could still run like that now....
I grew up hunting deer with dogs, in east-central AL, in a hunt club composed of numerous local landowners, some of whom also leased hundreds/thousands of additional acres. Did the dogs sometimes get off of 'our' property? Yeah.
ReplyDeleteBut, by the time I was 18, we had almost all abandoned dog hunting (expense to maintain a pack of hounds all year long for a 2-month modern firearms season was substantial) in favor of still-hunting and planting wildlife food plots. Not being relegated to eating lactic-acid filled, buckshot-laden, bloodshot venison was a decided 'plus'.
Ignorance is bliss I guess. I’ve hunted with dogs in northwest Alabama with some success back in the day. As a matter of fact my biggest buck was being pushed by a pack of beagles. 162+ inches. Glad it’s over now because as stated before, it became more trouble than it was worth. We had a neighbor that threatened our club president with shooting our beagles and his reasoning was that they might hurt his horses. Pres said shoot his if he felt they needed it and he’d come remove them from his pasture but, not all members felt that way. He’d most likely be burying horses. I loved my dogs as much as he loved his horses, maybe more. I’ve also killed deer from a tree right after a pack of dogs went thru. To each his own. ET
ReplyDelete