Hunting deer with dogs

Just read where it's legal in Florida on private land and maybe 11 other states. I'd think that deer would run for miles, the meat would be ruined, and how does a dog know where to stop?
I've read where there's hunters tripping over each other....and 4-wheelers tearing up the woods with disregard to others. I think I'll pass.

Nice how you went to looking into this with an open mind Gary.

Legal here in Mississippi as well. Most around here use beagles. I think they use them to keep em moving.

Just my way of thinking. And I read reviews from residents. Is it legal in Iowa? It must be illegal in about 39 states.

I mean when 90% of people just grind it into sausage ....

Yup, sausage is good! I do the same.

No it isn't, but I wouldn't say its a bad thing without knowing a lot more about it. Just like hunting over bait, deer drives, crossbows, etc... all stuff people condemn without having the knowledge.

Legal here in certain zones. I despise it. Sarge

you much like running coyotes have drivers and standers the drivers are dogs and the standers tend to stand it off at the next field or road

the truck runs the dogs to the far end of an area then the dogs get let loose that truck quickly drives back to the stander side the deer are often moving when they come to the standers but they also tend to be buck shot legal states.

the areas they are driving are often so thick a man would need a machete and all day to get through a mile

I think it would be great but you need a lot of land and guys to do it right

I would be interested in learning more. It's not legal here.

It would certainly remove any necessity of skill and stealth. Nothing like going out and enjoying the peace and tranquility of a day in the woods!

I would like to try it

Hopefully peta hacked his account and Gary didn't turn into another liberal, anti.

Keith

Nope. Just asking questions and read reviews from other hunters in Florida. Everyone has their opinions. I'm asking opinions.

I like dogs and like every kind of hunting I have done with them except coyotes with sight hounds. I dont want to see it outlawed or anything but I dont enjoy it.

I don't particularly care for poking critters with razor blades and callously waiting for them wander off and bleed to death with a high percentage of lost and wounded going to waste but I won't bad mouth it.

I don't either Danny. Now you're going to be called a PETA liberal! I like to see a little bit of sportsmanship and effort on the hunter's part.

Obviously.

Legal here and if done in moderation I have no issue with it as long as adjacent leases or landowner's are in on it. Custom to half the deer with the houndsman. Just a different way to hunt and get the deer moving.
The problem is though that usually it's not done in moderation and often the houndsman could give a flip how the adjacent lease holders or landowners think. Lol.

Whats sporting about sniping?

Snipers have to use the wind to their advantage for one thing. And the deer hasn't been run to death when shot by a sniper.

When done right, some of the most fun you can have in the woods. It's like rabbit hunting on a larger scale.

Use beagles instead of walkers and they want be ran to death.

Are dogs allowed to run deer on public land in Arkansas or just private lands?

Don't know about Arkansas but here in MS it's both. Public land is covered up with deer dog hunters during dog season. There are also deer seasons where dogs are not allowed.

You're ok with them using dogs to hunt other animals but not deer? What so special about deer? Just long legged rats, any legal means of take is fine by me. A dead deer don't run out in front of a family's car.

Obvious you've never witnessed a deer chase. Run to catch is just a phrase meaning the dog wants to catch, never seen it done and don't ever expect to. Deer got as many tricks to throw a dog as a ridge running coon does.

Matter of fact I've seen studies of deer run by dogs safely back in their beds within 24 hours.

Gary dogs aren't allowed in all hunting zones in Arkansas so I figure the same for public ground.

deer will usually head for water with a hound on its heels, nothing beats hunting off a hound and back in the day when our grandfathers where young boys i bet every deer hunt consisted of at least one hound

Thank you.

Yep, Beagles. When I was a kid and there was rabbits here, the rabbit hunters would swap out there Beagles, that liked to run deer and the deer hunters would give the rabbit hunters Beagles that liked rabbits.;

I live in the heart of deer hound country. I grew up hunting deer with dogs. Ran off my first wife and tore up 2 good trucks hunting deer with dogs from when I was about 17 years old to my mid 20s. Had a dozen Walker hounds at my peak that would move one rapidly out of these jungle-like swamps. Those hounds and I spent a lot of time in these pineywoods. I miss it sometime but I loved it too much. It was more about the hounds than the kill.

Hunting deer with hounds is an organized and very sociable way to hunt. It is a time honored and traditional way to hunt deer in this area. Nothing wrong with venison that has been ran...thats a myth. I sold my hounds and got into bowhunting in my mid-20s. Thought Id save money....wrong.

Most of the deer dog hunting leases here are large. 10 thousand to 20 thousand contiguous acres is common size. A few clubs are almost 30 thousand acres in size. Many have 40 to 70 members...all with 4x4 pickups. All their hounds have tracking collars and the trucks have the GPS receiver with mapping. This is to keep hounds off of unwanted properties and to make retrieval of the hounds more efficient.

The deer do sometimes line out and cover some ground during the race, but most cover less than a mile...crossing private roads and clearcuts during the pursuit....which is deadly for the deer many times. Meat is split up and shared...no matter who takes the deer. Many clubs won't shoot doe deer nor spike bucks.

As a GW for the past 26 year, Ive seen some rogue deer houndsmen, but Ive also see rogue still hunters too. I will sit by the fire and socialize at any deer dog hunting camp....and enjoy these houndsmen.

I was overlooking a power line right of way when I witnessed a spike buck run down the center of the power line trail to turn to hit he thicket right under me. He stopped at the edge of the thicket, back tracked himself back to the trail, taking a big bound from there to head down the trail to enter the thicket on the opposite side about a 100 yards away. I could here the dogs coming. A group of young beagles led the way with the old dog bringing up the tail. Of course the young dogs came to the place where the deer had back tracked first and couldn't figure out what had happened. Then the old beagle showed up and without missing a beat followed that deer's track as if he had witnessed what that deer had done. Chase was on again with the young beagles leading the way and that old dog bringing up the tail. Memories....

Thank you Swamp Wolf. Good opinion.

I was reading a deer hunting history of WI and I think it was outlawed here around 1905.

I had forgot the split the meat but that was true. The meat got split into piles and drawn by lot and everyone went home with some meat.
Anyone still cut shirt tails?

It was definitely about the dogs but also the social. Us youngsters lived for time spent with the older men. There was always someone cracking a joke or giving someone a hard time. Lots of laughter and fond memories. Many of those guys are gone now and I cherish the memories.

Btw....my second wife killed her first deer...a doe....while hunting with hounds with her grandfather. She says she spent most of those days deer dogging eating stale saltines and sardines she found in her Poppa's truck.

We are still together...25 years now. We've even been deer dogging with some friends of our's a few times over the years.

Bunch of guys rabbit hunting deer, shooting at movement.
Sorry but there are enough crazies in the woods with just the normal stuff.

And I love killing deer. 30 years so far with no beef needed.

The biggest complaint I've heard is dogs can't read private property signs.

No dog hunting derr here in WV, but I respect the tradition in other states. Boy how do I miss a lot of hunting traditions.
I have been on the giving end and receiving end of several shirt tail cuttings over the years.

I used to hunt with a large family that got together for every squirrel season opening day. The low man at the end of the day had to surrender their hat to be shot by the other hunters.

I think the biggest problem would be keeping hounds off of property they are not wanted. If I had property in a state where it is legal I wouldn't want the hounds chasing deer on my land. If it happened regularly I'd be upset.

Did it for years when I was younger. Can be fun, and can be boring. Many times the deer is a mile ahead of the dogs and might pass you before you even hear the dogs.

Seams there are always trucks on the highway, a distant train, someone running a chainsaw, and the ever-present wind that makes it difficult. Many days the dogs can't be found at quitting time. It is also expensive to feed dogs all year long. Takes a lot of land too.

Legal in Eastern NC but not in the Western counties.

I’ve done it where I was the dog!!!!lol.

If you ever hunted in the Florida think you would understand your not going to see a lot of deer crawling through palmetto, biggest thing its a traditional way of hunting in the south

I was raise running dogs back where nobody cared if you hunted on their land. If you killed it on someone place you gave them a back strap who ever own the dog got a hindquarter. It was never asked for just what you did. I have own up to 30 dogs At a time mostly redbone they would run not fast but push the deer on out for about 45 mins and come back to where I turn them out at. My dogs run in pack of 5. We had a lot of land in hunting club and hunted public land too. Put everyone in their spot and turn out dogs till noon. Then we go eat lunch and still hunt the afternoon. You know what I have killed nice bucks on food plots I turn out 50 dogs on the morning before!

I really loved it.

Not true!

Lol lots of stealth need to shoot deer with a gun 250 yards across a bean field . Make it sporting. No wepons allowed you did not make yourself and no hunting in a county you dont live in or own land in.
That would make it sporting an keep all the city people in the city. ...

"I Heard" gets tossed around alot

Fair enough.

I read. Not heard. Similar to customer ratings on Amazon? You savvy? Actual experiences by people who were actually there.

Obviously this a volatile topic. I got the answers I was looking for. Thank you for the common sense replies.

We have member bringing hounds to deer camp this year. We always had hounds at camp. Looking forward to hearing them run. old243

Its a cultural thing down here as far as I'm concerned. More like a hog scalding, where folks with similar interests get together and can rack up some much needed meat to get them through. They should openly make it legal in the counties that practice and support it in my opinion.

Hunting deer with dogs is a long standing southern tradition. Run dogs in the morning and still hunt the same areas in the afternoon. Plenty of deer taken either way. Yes it takes a fair amount of property but with good dogs you can get by with only a couple hundred acres. The last club I was in had just under 2000 acres. Split into several parcels anywhere from 200 to 600 or so acres in size. 3 generations of dogs ran that property. Older dogs teaching their pups. Dogs knew the property better than we did. They knew the property lines, usually a road or creek, and would rarely cross them. English Springer Spaniels were what we all had. They hunted close, just making the deer move. If they lost track of the drivers or crossed a stand line they would go back and find the drivers. Never ran for more than 15 or 20 minutes on any one deer without coming back. If we ever "lost" one during a drive it was usually waiting back at the turnout truck or if we were close to the camphouse it would be waiting on the porch. I don't think those dogs ever got turned around in the woods and didn't know exactly where they were at.

I've caught a couple dogs in traps that were a long ways from where they were supposed to be. And I was the bad guy, of course.

[i][/i]I also grew up running dogs. Back then, you could get free permits from timber company's with thousands of acres. This was before all the leasing started. It was a social event every Saturday in clay Co. AL. More time spent drinking coffee under the big oak where we all would meet than hunting. Those timber co woods had lots of logging roads. We made the same drives every Saturday and standing around talking about what to drive next was always fun. We would stand off two roads and the driver took the dogs in the woods and drive between them till they jumped.

Loved hearing the dogs run and wonder who they may run towards. We rarely shot the deer crossing the road because they would slip out and alots of times already be past the road when the dogs jumped. Then was trying to head off the dogs driving way too fast on those logging roads. Standers without a truck ( most of the trucks were parked except three or four) would jump in bed as we flew buy or sometimes stay in case they turn back. The shot would be when heading off the dogs. Usually the deer is seen 3 or 4 times before we knew it was a buck and that's when you may get a shot as the dogs are closer to the deer and better guess where the deer is. If they got close to private property, we would catch them if we could. If not we would wait 5hem out. There were a few different groups hunting the same area and that's where the drama came in. Lol.

People would catch each other's dogs if they were running a doe or close to private land. Get on the CB, let them know and someone came to get them or we went to get ours. The drama was the " I bet our dogs were running a buck and they caught them so we wouldn't get a shot", or if we ain't heard our dogs in a while it was " I bet somebody caught them and waiting till evening to tell us"....that kind of stuff. Their was one group that were " landowners hunting club". They owned land that joined the KC land and hunted both. They had a club house and dog pen and were bad about

catching your dogs and put them in their pen. They wouldn't announce it till dark so their pen was our first go to when we lost dogs. Dog hunting is not a very effective method. We would get 4 or 5 a season. I was ten years old the first time I was put on stand by myself. 11 years old I shot my first "solo" deer second weekend of season. My 44 caught a small 5 point. My dad had it mounted. Back then, we strapped deer our dog boxes and the shooter was done and stayed with the truck guarding their deer. I bet 100 hunters stopped and ask who shot it like always and wow what a feeling to say I did. That day comes back eveytime I look at the tiny 5 point hanging on the wall with my big bucks.

Think I was more proud of that little deer than all my others. That's all gone now and not much place for it these days. Our old stomping grounds are now subdivisions. Most of the older men including my dad are just memories themselves now. I still bowhunt a few of our old deer dog woods but there alot smaller now. Too bad folks today never got to experience those chases and all the guys I only saw on Saturday dureing gun season under that big oak tree.

For two months or so, every truck you seen had a dog box in the bed, an orange hat on the dash, and a rifle hanging in the back window. I miss it and I think it's a great form of hunting. But it not only requires a ton of land but also tolerant people. Not much of either these days.

Thanks for the ride along Shane moss. The only thing constant is change.

Lol lots of stealth need to shoot deer with a gun 250 yards across a bean field . Make it sporting. No wepons allowed you did not make yourself and no hunting in a county you dont live in or own land in.
That would make it sporting an keep all the city people in the city. ...


[/quote]
Fair enough.[/quote]

That would honestly be bad for me. My county is to populated. On the other hand maybe i would quit shooting the deer and lease it out if the prices got high enough. Ya right.

I think it boils down to what you grow up with in your area and what was seen as ok. I don't like the idea of telling others their way is wrong. In turn they may see my way as wrong. I prefer to embrace all legal methods and look forward to trying them out someday myself. At the end of the day all outdoors men need to come together. Our #'s are falling and we will all lose if we don't.

I think thats why its a hot button topic.

Example. Trapping is not fair, sporting, or animal friendly. And out numbers are the smallest I would guess. But those hound huntters sure don't like our K9 sets. Better ban trapping right? Hoynd huntters sure do out # us. Better come together insted of fight.

Trapped the delta 4 about 8 years. Had more than a few dear dogs show up at the work site. They were usually tuckered out and friendly, and wearing blaze orange callers.

I would guess it's about 10% about the deer. Most of it is about the dogs and a mixed group of men having fun. I know guys who just stayed in the camp house that enjoyed to cook. Others would drive out at night just to shoot the bull around the fire. Others would cuss and drink and others would preach and everyone got along.
I think it's funny now but at the time, I did not think it was not funny. My son and his grandfather where sitting on a cooler drinking a coke, under a shade tree shooting the bull. I could see them at a distance with their shotguns leaning against a tree. Deer could have ran them over and they could not have cared less. I came home and told my wife, still mad and she just shrugged her shoulders.
Those where good times.

I would love to hunt deer with dogs. Unfortunately not legal here.

I grew up hunting rabbit with dogs, coon with dogs, squirrel with dogs, pheasant also. If it would've been legal to hunt deer with dogs, I'm sure I would have.

Legal in eastern Virginia I've never been but if a state says it's legal to do and they regulate it then what's the problem.

" I've read"...."I've read"...

No understanding of how different each States cultures are.

True 330. That's why I'm asking opinions. Nebraska has always been still hunting other than the guys chasing them with pickups. I guess that's a cultural thing too. To each his own. I prefer quiet when I'm outdoors.
"I've read I've read" Yes that's how people get information....right or wrong. I read all the responses above too. If everyone was the same it would be a boring world.

1. People can shoot from trucks in Nebraska?

2. And we would still huddle in caves banging rocks together to make a fire.

People can shoot from trucks in every state. Not legal but they can. And they do. Every law in the books is broken in every state.
I didn't know banging rocks together could start a fire. A piece of steel is helpful I think "I read" somewhere. I also read that you shouldn't believe what you read.

I thought it was legal in Montana or Wyoming. I had a guy that was a friend of my wife's family that moved to one of those states and went hunting with some guys he worked with. He freaked out when they blasted a deer from the truck and in front of the GW. He said it must be legal because all the GW said was good shot.

Steel can be found in rocks. They tend to be heave and rust covered. But I have never tried it. Matches and factory fire starters are more efficient

Yep, different states have different laws. We have to respect that.
I like the good old "strike anywhere" matches myself but even those aren't what they used to be. Used to be able to rip one along a stretch of denim jeans and they would light. Or a thumbnail. I don't think the matches today would do that.

A history of matches....originally called a Lucifer. Still not sure where that came from.
https://medium.com/study-of-history/a-short-history-c52a80c69d5e

Talked to a guy I took Turkey hunting last spring a retired eye Doc that lives in town he hunts all over even Africa. He took a huge gator that was full of old alligator and dog tags they found while cleaning it. Between alligators, snakes and spiders I’m thinking running them with dogs fills the need to move deer.

Just because I don’t do it does not mean it should not be done that’s the worse thinking there is that’s liberal thinking to a tee!

People have issues with coyote calling contest in places coyotes are considered vermin that’s just crazy the main goal is to ruin the desire more then caring about any coyotes. Strangulation through regulation the red tape method is a death of 1,000 cuts.

Years ago when there was not so many deer, like these days. The deer, especially the big bucks, would hide out in the thick river bottoms. Using dogs for deer became illegal, but since Texas is mostly private and they felt it was their land to do what they wanted, many long term hounds hunters could not let it go. At first they used hounds and changed to beagles for two reasons one is, they would not run the deer so far and the other, it would look like they where rabbit hunting.

As a trapper, I hate deer dog season. There are dogs everywhere on public land making it almost impossible to trap. But as a coon hunter, I'm not crazy about the thought of 220s possibly being set anywhere, and I'm sure the deer dog hunters feel the same. I've never shot a cross bow, never hunted ducks, or turkeys. Shooting pigs and coyotes from airplanes doesn't seem very sporting, but neither does shooting deer behind fences. Despite that though, I think that all the above mentioned methods of taking animals should remain legal. Just because I don't enjoy doing some of them, doesn't mean that others don't. I would much rather see a 12 year old boy standing in a deer drive with dogs, than in his mother's basement shooting make believe people in Call of Duty. I'd be happy to see a wounded veteran, or an older gentleman who can't walk much anymore shooting a deer behind a fence (or at a feeder) than sitting around feeling sorry for themselves.

People hunt/trap/fish for different reasons. Gary says he enjoys silence when he hunts. Sometimes I do too, but nothing gets my blood pumping more than hearing a hound chasing a coon through the woods at night. I've never hunted a deer at a feeder, but thinking I should buy a feeder, because I hunt deer for only one reason and that is for meat. I don't look at killing a deer any differently than I do a domestic pig or cow. I wouldn't turn my cows or pigs loose and then try to stalk them to shoot them, lol. If I want sport, I'd go squirrel or bird hunting.

Just because people harvest animals in a way different than you do, doesn't mean it's wrong.

I 100% agree. It's not public land here, but the land owners would let the dog hunters know when they set out snares. Not many people use 220's and if they did they would let the hound hunters know. If they need meat they would hunt stands, but running hounds is not about the game, it's about the hounds and the chase. Dogs hunting with men as a team, is really something special and I don't care what your hunting. Nothing like a boy and his dog hunting together.

we should remember not to judge another's hunting method too harsh

and remember we are judged harshly for our trapping techniques even when they are 100% legal and allow for animals to be released unharmed if non target

every culture and area has their own idea of fair chase.

Here is what I know about hunting deer with dogs, most of the people that I have encountered doing it are more interested in the dogs than the deer and that is a good thing because they don't seem to kill many deer. Also they are like all hunters some are straight arrows, some like to cut corners and some are pure outlaws, this has nothing to do with hunting with dogs or not as this applies to every kind of hunting and life in general. Sure some release their hounds right on the boundary of a tract that they don't have permission to hunt on knowing the dogs will immediately cross the boundary but then I have known bowhunters that sneak onto land they don't have permission to be on because they know there is a trophy class buck using the property. It is not reasonable to lump all dog hunters into one pile any more than it is reasonable to lump all trappers into one pile. It is not for me but I do understand the draw of it if you enjoy running dogs.

Dogs that run deer end up dead here. We don't shoot them but everyone else around here does

It’s illegal in Missouri, but it’s still commonly done in the eastern Ozarks.

I live in Minnesota where dogs end up dead because they might be chasing deer, or thinking about chasing a deer. Folks around here are paranoid about their deer and have no understanding about hounds. Alot of great hound hunting traditions have been lost due to paranoia about a hound crossing someone's property.

I grew up around it. I hate it. It would be helpful if there were a separate dog season. Dogs are a nuisance to those who have spent a lot of time & effort in preparing a stand & they don't respect property lines as already mentioned. I did not share any meat with dog runners. I am a hunting dog fan, just not for deer, at least during regular season.

Here in MS there are separate dog vs no dog deer seasons. But, without actually going to count the days, it seems like the dog hunters get a lot more days.

That's how I wish it were. Hate when the bucks are already up and chasing and hear dogs being turned loose. Dogs would be beneficial the last two weeks of gun season when deer rarely move during daylight hours.

My kind of people . Thank you for sharing that .

Some of the most enjoyable hunting I’ve ever done was with a jump dog. Only work on wood lots two to twenty five acres The dog stays out in front only fifty to one hundred yards and once he jumps a deer only runs at a few yards and comes and turns back.
You make 5 to 7 drives a day depending on how many do you shoot or kill. You use one driver and one dog.It gets excitIing

Here in France and most of Europe, the great majority of big game hunting is done with dogs. It would be impossible to control the wild boars any other way. We hunt with two small groups... a group of 8 or 9 for roe deer and red stag on Tuesdays and a group of about 17 or 18 for boar and stag on the weekends. Dogs all have GPS collars.

I'm about the only guy in either group who asks for a couple tags for individual hunting, archery or rifle. I usually get my two during the rut and then my wife and I hunt with the groups. Took some getting used to, but I enjoy it. Folks are nice and the dog guys really cover some ground during a day.

Pete