And mountain lion. I think it's the only large animal one can hunt with hounds here. Wish more people would do so, less cats means more deer.

Sayfullah, give it a rest. Rock Rat made an on-topic post about a hunting subject. You need to ask the doc to adjust your meds.

I too would like to see more articles about dogs other than those used in bird hunting. It's great fun to hunt squirrels with a dog.

PigHunter, hear, hear! Well put! The wackness infects almost every one of Fulla's posts. I used to hunt racoons with my best friend's brother and his hounds. Don't know anyone who does it any more.

I have a great squirrel pointer.

We have two problems with "hound" hunters in my area.
"Coyote" hunters drive public roads and shoot .22's into the air to scare the coyote's out. Once they get a "dog" running, they release their "tracking" hounds. These dogs harrass the "yote" until it begins to tire. THEN, they release the grey hounds who are sight hunters to run down and make the kill.
"Yote" hunters have absolutely NO respect for property lines. Had a bunch of grey hounds run through my pasture. It spooked a mare and her colt ran into a fence. They refused to pay ANY of the vet bill!!! Now, if I find "yote" hunters on my property, I shoot the dogs!!
HOG HUNTERS! Pretty much the same problem. Unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned, the hog hunters are becoming more and more accepted by local land owners. Though there is NO market for either the pigs OR the pork, the pigs tear up acres and acres of wheat pasture. Ergo, the land owners pretty much give them 'carte blanc'. One area I deer hunt with permission, I noticed the local deer herd had become VERY scarce. I later found out the hog hunters had been working that spot hard and had taken several pigs from it. No wonder I couldn't find a deer.

That said, the "hogs" are just nasty. Ill tempered and carry several diseases that are transmittable to livestock and destroy crops and croplands.
The "yotes" (I killed three during deer season!) on the other hand take the occasional calf but seldom cause and "real" damage! Yes, they cut down on the deer herd, but the local deer herd NEEDS thinning in our area. The state won't extend the season and the deer are getting thicker!
One 'yote hunter I accosted about his dogs running my place told me he released his dogs "...2 miles WEST of here!..." I told him I really DID NOT care WHERE he turned them loose.
"If I catch your dogs on my place again, I will start shooting and I'd rather the DOGS didn't have to pay the price for YOUR ignorance! KEEP THEM OFF MY FARM!!!"
Bird hunters?
Bring 'em on. You ask permission, you can hunt. Just don't mind the 4-wheeler following you around. (I LOVE to watch good bird dogs work!!!)

Bubba

Let me expose my inner feelings. I'm not saying I'm right, but here they are for anyone to criticize. I accept small game/bird dog hunting. Watching bird dogs work is fun and very acceptable to me. Beagle hunting rabbits looks fun, and acceptable. The guy and his squirrel dog would be acceptable to me although that is the first squirrel dog I have ever heard of...but big game? Running a deer with dogs? A deer has little stamina, and can easily be run down. Turning dogs loose that run for miles, and miles treeing a big cat, and then hours later the "hunter" shows up, and shoots it out of a tree?...not my idea of hunting in a decent sporting manner. And probably, now that I think about it, why you do not read anything on it in F & S.

Dogs as family members??? I would like to see that in your ancestral tree! Dogs are not people. Sure you shouldn't abuse them and should protect your investment in them. But I don't think you should treat them as 'family members'!

What has this country come to with treating animals as people??? Here's a link for your bleeding heart. You can watch the Sarah McLaughlin video there as many times as you want. For just 60 cents a day you'll help rescue mistreated animals...
http://www.aspca.org/

Pighnter...tell that to a woman taking her dog to the hairdresser. My dogs have always been family members. In fact, one of my pet peeves, And I have gotten up into relatives faces, and outsiders as well, and told them in no uncertain terms....a woman will have a child, and all the focus now goes onto the child at the expense of their dog. They get rid of the dog. I make them feel as LOOOOOOOW as I can. You sign a contract with the animal when you take it in. It becomes a life long member of the family. Anyone that does it different, and I come across it, they feel the wrath of the Sayfu!!!! Tells me alot about a person's character. No wonder you get along with hoski !!!!

Sayfu, I sign no contracts with 4-footed animals. I have and will get rid of problem pets in a heartbeat.

As a teen I enjoyed hunting critters with our YARD dogs. It was unheard of to bring a dog into our home unless the temps were very cold or the animal needed special care for medical reasons. A heated dog house OUTSIDE is adequate shelter in my opinion. Petting a dog and ocassionally giving attention is necessary for their mental health because they are pack animals. Just don't ask me to treat one as a person.

I think it would be great fun hunting large game with hounds.

Sayfullah, on what do you base your measurement? Seems to me you may be the one with lower values if you put you relationship with a dog over that of HUMAN family members. I bet your relatives find you to be a real joy at Thanksgiving.

Good one! Leave it to WAM to inject some humor, and grounded humor at that when things get a little too serious. I'm split on the above points. As 007 has stated, I think the first thing to consider is the legality of a method before passing too much judgement. If it doesn't fit your idea of what's sporting or what isn't, you abstain from it. For example, I don't believe baiting to be sporting, but it's legal in some areas. Every year I watch the people flock to the trout streams of PA to wait for the stocking trucks to roll, and shake my head at the 30 or so cars trailing the truck as it goes down the highway. I'm bemused by the folks who brag to me of their fishing prowess, with full stringers of trout that spent, oh, about three minutes in the creek before being yanked out and tossed up on the bank to flop around for few minutes before they die. But, it's all legal. As for animals, I don't feel that they are "people-like" for lack of a better term, but an owner should be committed to the welfare of that animal to all practibility That doesn't mean I'm gonna let 'em eat at the table, though.

WAM, I'm usually hunting on Iron Bowl days so reluctantly will have to pass, LOL! Does that mean you plan to be at the game?

So how many miles straight, and fast do you think a deer can run? My GAWD MAN! They can't run far at all, and then stop. Dogs can easily run down deer. And a house dog left out at nite will pack up, one becomes a leader, adn they can cripple, and leave for dead a lot of deer running them down. I see them in the woods, or deer areas.....dead dog.

Pig..So did you get help?...or are you waiting for ObamaCare to get passed?

Usually i hunt in thick cover so I never see deer running long distance. Couldn't find any research that indicates one way or another about deer running stamina.

Nah, man just domesticated them to sit around the fire and beg for snacks and lick the bones. +1 pbshooter!

throw the poll up on the screen. How many support deer hunting with hounds? The results would be no better than the bear bait poll probably worse. I think most would consider a high powered rifle enough of an advantage.