We Must Share the Woods

[Pine MT Beagle Runner]

Hey guys and gals

Has anyone else had this happen? The first weekend that we rabbit hunters are allowed back in the woods after modern gun deer season ou turn your dogs out and one comes back with a bullet hole.

Just like the seasons are scheduled, my son and myself turned the woods over to the deer hunters. We didn't even get the dogs out of the kennel for making sure that our dogs did not spook anyone's deer. We live out in the county and the dog roam the hill sides when running loose. Saturday we went to Bass Pro Shop in Tenn. Turned the dogs out late in the afternoon on sunday to work with our 5 month old pups. As usual they hit the hill side playing and romping for about 20-25min before starting to hunt. They settled down and began hunting and wasn't too long before they were out of hearing. We let them run for about 4-5 hours while we worked in the yard. Our young female came back without her littermate which is very unusual because one is never without the other. So we began calling and calling. I called for about 45 minutes then turned out the mother. Eventhough she is kenneled seperate she is still very protective and vigilent of her pups. She took out hunting for the little male and had him back in the yard withing an hour. While changing his flea collar I felt something wet on my arm and hand. I looked down and saw blood. Found a hole in his right thigh. At first I thought it was a cut from briars or barbed wire. I spread the wound open to find a chunk of muscle torn out not a cut like wire or briars leave. He had been grazed by a bullet.

I waited til late in the afternoon to give the deer hunters time to finish up. I wanted to be fair and let them have most of the day and didn't want my dogs to mess up their hunt.

Next year I will be out in the woods both weekends making as much noise as possible. I will mess up every hunt that I can. So guy if you hunt in Clay County Kentucky, Sorry about your luck. I cannot believe a fellow huntsman/woman would shoot someones dog. I can believe they will not get a shot at a deer around my house next year.

Chris Chandler

[gundog]

Are you sure a bullet caused the wound? Sound to me like a lot of things could have caused the wound you are describing.
Sounds to me like you let your dogs run wherever on someone elses property without you being there. The way I see it you are in the wrong also.
As a landowner, I don't like someones dogs running freely over the countryside and I don't care if it is spring, summertime, or fall. I pay a lot of money for the property and I try to manage for big bucks. It does not help my cause to have dogs running wild.
As a deer hunter I hate going thru all the motions to get out there and then have my hunt ruined by a free running dog.
As a dog lover, I wouldnt shoot someones dog, but..........I don't know what I would do with a repeat offender.
You are right, we do have to share the woods so use some common sense. If you have paid the money for your own land then by all means you may run your dogs 24/7 if you want. If you don't have your own land and don't have permission to hunt/train on someone elses then keep them in the kennel until you can go out with them instead of letting them roam free during deer season.

[MObeagler79]

Yeah that is pathetic, a few years ago a couple of my friends coonhounds treed right behind someones house and he went out and shot them for being on his property. Deer don't pay much attention to dogs running rabbits, they know when somethings after them or not, they may get up and move but for the most part they won't just take off haulin' out the county. Sorry to hear about your young male I hope he will be ok.

[DRamey]

The problem with some deer hunters is that they ruin it for the majority, who are ethical, conscientious sportsmen. The minority of the rest don't go into the woods except for opening weekend of deer season, and whatever days the first week they can get off work. They sit behind a desk all year, waiting for opening day to go blasting at things they have no business or right to shoot at. An outdoorsman and a sportsman can spot the obvious differences between someone's hunting hounds and junk that is roaming the neighborhood looking for trouble. At most, he could have caught your hound and returned it, and at least, he could have chased it away. The last deer I killed was arrowed a few minutes after a bunch of trail riders passed by on horses, "whooping it up." As has been stated, deer pay less attention to dogs than to men with guns.

[Pine Mt Beagles]

CHRIS
I HAVE HAD A DOG KILLED BY DEER HUNTERS .IT IS NO GOOD,, FOR EITHER RABBIT HUNTERS OR DEER HUNTERS.. I AM AN AVID DEER HUNTER MY SELF AND I LIKE TO HEAR DOGS RUNNING WHILE I HUNT IT MOVES THE DEER,GOOD BUT I DON'T RUN MY HOUNDS THROUGH DEER SEASON ANY MORE .A LOT OF THESE WAL-MART DEER HUNTERS JUST WANT TO SHOOT SOME THING.EVERY ONE KNOWS THERE ARE GOOD AND BAD HUNTERS OF ALL KINDS..GOOD LUCK AND--------------------- KEEP'EM RUNNING
PINE MT BEAGLES

[CHRIS WHITT]

If that is the way you feel you need to act to make yourself feel better then go ahead , but remember this most deer hunters travel away from home to hunt so putting a bullet in a hunter is just as easy as putting one in a hound . I know that deer hunters out number rabbit hunters 300 to 1 and their season is only a few weeks long so I respect their season by keeping my hounds kenneled until their season is over . I have seen this alot in my area and know of one man that met his death at the end of a 30.30 rifle and the shooter was never caught . I just hate for hunters to fight among themselves .
I am not saying that you shouldn't be upset because I know I would , just don't want to see anyone get hurt .

[DRamey]

Rufus, I never heard the term "Wal-Mart deer hunters" but it fits way too well. I remember when we sat around in chairs at the back of the drug store in Elkhorn City because the pharmacist that owned the store hunted and sold guns and fishing tackle. We bought all our guns and ammo there, knew everybody, knew where they were hunting on opening day, and above all, had respect for them enough to go our way and wish them good luck. You would get arrested if you pulled up a chair at Wal-Mart, wouldn't want to hang out with most of the "gotta get me a box of -06's, hope the sights are still close on the 742" crowd anyway. Some change is for the better, some is just bad. Like the October-January beaglers, looking for top-notch hounds, got money to spend, how 'bout $100?!!!!!!!!!! People who were raised to feel way too special still think they are, I guess.

[Pine MT Beagle Runner]

Gundog,

I do have permission from the majority of my neighbors to hunt and train on their property as well as my own. However I do see your point about not being with my dogs. The only land near my home that I cannot hunt is a 5 acre lot adjacent to my property line that is posted no hunting. I, presumably like you, have to work for a living and am not able to run my dogs every day. So yes, from time to time I let them roam freely while I do yard work.

I work in a hospital, in the X-Ray Department, and have been hunting since I was old enough to carry my own firearm. In my line of work/hunting I have seen a few GSWs. I am pretty sure that I know one when I see it. As I posted, it was not a cut like you see from briars or barbed wire.

My point is, that as hunters, we should all respect eachother. That respect was denied me and my son. I respected the deer hunters. I followed the rules. I kept my dogs out of the woods during opening weekend when rabbit season was closed. And as DRamey posted, I can tell the difference between a hunting dog and some stray. Kill all the strays that you want, if you choose.

MObeagler79, Woody should be OK. His wound looked much better today. Bleeding is stoped. He'll have as scar about an inch long and half an inch wide as well as a creased demple about a quarter inch deep when all healed.

Chris Chandler

[Earl Marshall]

I am a deer hunter to but the wife and I was going to wal-mart today and i got a phone call from the neighbor and herd a shot on my hill my dad and I just own about 10 acres enough for him to hunt one day and me the next but anyway he went on the hill for me sence I wasn't home and he talked to the guy and told him that i wouldn't like him being on the hill wih out him talking to me first I didn't know the guy he lives about 30 miles from here don't know what he was doing up here. He Shot the big buck that my dad was after and he didn't have permission to hunt. I was very upset because he was shooting real close to my house and kennel. I think you have to share the outdoors to but you should have respect for each other as well.

[Pine MT Beagle Runner]

Thanks for the warning Chris.

Rufus, Eve and Scrap put out some good looking saddlebacked blue ticks.
So far they seem to be pretty smart and show a lot of hunt, except when they are playing. I'll let him heal up and have him back out before long.
My step-dad still wants to run his Zero dog against Buster. Maybe we can get together with RAD and all hunt soon.

This coming modern gun deer season there will be few if any deer taken around my home. I'll make sure of that. I do not know about everyone else out there, but my dogs are not pets, they are members of my family. I do not care if anyone screws with me, but noone screws with my family.

Chris Chandler

[Jr Walker]

sorry to hear about ur dog...some deer hunters are stupid (wal-mart hunters as said before) lol...I have had my times of running into deer hunters and lots of anti hunters---one of which tried to tell me what to do on my own place when we already let him put a deer block in our field so he can watch them but he got mad because i was breaking my dogs off deer and ran the deer off...so i decided to just take care of "his deer" as he says and start loading my 30-06 every weekend...hope i lay down a big buck right infront of his eyes this year were he can tell me what to do then i get my turn to tell him what to do


Funny how far hunters and anti hunters take things...only thing i shoot that isnt a deer while im deer hunting is wild dogs (help keep things out of live stock) and yotes (i can go on all day about why i would kill one of those) lol

[thornie]

Here where I live, Ohio, bow season, gun season and rabbit season are in at the same time. I hunt a lot of public land and run into the bow hunters alot. I have yet had any problems with them, due to the fact that they usally stop and ask me where I have seen deer. I always drive around to see where they are before I turn my beagles loose, and sometimes they never see deer until my dogs get a rabbit up and are running. We have a good rapour where I hunt.

[JUDE]

I normally rabbit hunt very little during deer season but when I do I make sure to keep my dogs as close to me as possible .

Select areas that are not as open , it's easier to contain the hounds that way .
Never turn out near parked vehicles or in an area where deer hunters frequent .
Wear your hunter orange and always respect others .

I personally would prefer some people around me (local area but not sitting next to me or purposely annoying) when deer hunting , deer can feed for a long time without coming out into the open areas where I live when there's no one to stir them up .

Sorry that your dog got shot , but don't let it get you shot next year .

[WILL LEFEVERS]

Rufus , didn't you say that Pine Mt. Scrub was killed that way, by a hunter? Hope your dog is alright Beagle Runner.

[ANTHONY KERR]

Here in North Carolina deer season goes on forever. Bow season is from September to November. smoke poles for a week, then guns until the first of the year. On top of that our county still allows deer hunting with dogs during gun season. We try to rabbit hunt safe areas, but sometimes still get in the way of the big clubs. We just try to hunt late morning to early afternoon in some areas to not mess up the guys in stands. I don't run at all during muzzle loader week. With no sunday hunting it is tough on a working man till after the first of the year. One good thing is that after this weekend alot of the out of town deer hunters have to go back home and you can get in some decent weekday running on farms that border leased land. I know how I would feel if somebody shot any of my dogs and it would be hard not to go castrate them on the spot, but it is all kinds of people in the woods. I have heard of cows, horses, and goats getting tagged. Everybody stay safe, stick together and watch out for the other guy.