Sunday hunting

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by undertheradar

the big folks that own massive amounts of land way out in the country are most likely church going, god fearing people that wont allow hunting on sundays anyhow. All this did is open up a can of worms.

Just one scenario, and not too far fetched either... I hunt saturday all day with hounds. My hound gets on another large piece of property that afternoon and I cant get to him. Hes full of energy because I did not hunt him saturday morning and he ends up running deer darn near all night. I choose to leave the hound si I can get some sleep. I go back sunday morning to find my dog, I track the dog with my electronics/gps system, get close enough to him to holler and call him back to the truck. He starts coming but falls right on a deer as he was coming back to me. He runs the deer across the dirt road that I am on....

Here is where it WILL get tricky, I have my gun in the truck, I CANT shoot this deer because my dog is running it.
I CAN get a ticket for dog hunting deer on sunday, BUT the hunter who is sitting in his/her tree stand "still hunting" Sunday morning CAN SHOOT THIS DEER. This will be a HUGE problem as it happens often. OR the still hunter will be MAD at the dog and dog owner for (in my most wussy whiny voice) "ruining my hunt and chasing all the deer away" and shoot the dog.

---

Not trying to stir the pot too much here. But in the scenario you just gave, if the stand hunter (still hunting is actually walking very, very slowly while hunting) is on stand and owns or has permission to hunt that land and does shoot the deer, should he be ridiculed for shooting a deer in front of a dog who's owner couldn't maintain proper custody or control of his dog by being unable to retrieve him the night before?

I see both sides of the argument, but in this scenario I don't see how the stand hunter can be at fault for anything. Except of course if he were to shoot the dog. I don't agree with that under any circumstances ... dogs do what dogs do ... ain't their fault!

YB

YB. Don't mis interpret my post. Im not laying blame to the hunter that could shoot the deer. I blame the state. We have enough rules or laws that aren't being enforced. This will be a nightmare for the game wardens, court systems etc.
Only thing I disagree with that you said is "unable to maintain proper custody of the dog" where we hunt there are 10s of thousands acres of land between a few clubs. It is not unusual or improper to have a hound get away on another club and spend the night out.

OK UTR, gotchya! Guess I did misinterpret the post somewhat. And looking back at your post I see where you did mention a large tract of land. I was envisioning the hound running around several different smaller pieces of private, non-club property. I deer hunt in the mountains (no dogs allowed there) so I wasn't aware that it wasn't considered improper leave a hound out for the night. But given the size of the tracts of land you're hunting I can see how that could be considered the norm if one gets off on a track, and the surrounding properties are also clubs.

I agree that Sunday hunting will be opening up a can of worms. I can pretty much hunt whenever I want, but I'm in favor of it for the folks who may only be able to hunt on Sat. and / or Sun.. Then again, I also like having Sunday as a non hunting day where I can safely go in the woods to scout new areas and relocate stands etc.. It's a complicated issue.

Guess all we can do now is wait and see how it all pans out.

YB

Ok. I'll bite. Please keep in mind that most of this passage was about property rights. Not still hunting rights vs dogs or otherwise. VA happens to be one of the few states that doesn't allow Sunday hunting. Fortunately that just changed. I own property in Sussex and Franklin. One dog county and one not. Finally the state realized that they cannot tell me what I can do on my own property for 6 days that I am not allowed to do on the 7th day. I am not a dog hunter. And for you dog hunters...grab them at the end of the day. I have dog hunted before and it's fun to hear them bey. I do enjoy it too. Just grab them at the end of the day. It should not be that difficult given the gps technology and cb's etc...

And UTR "it is not unusual or improper to have a hound get away".

Honestly...you just nailed part of the problem. Your hunting hounds don't belong on my land even if they can't read. Thankfully VA got the first part right. Eventually they may get the next piece right.

NC allows hunting on Sundays. Just with Bows and crossbows. I have no problem with that. Gosh knows if they ever open it up to duck hunters it will be war between fisherman and duck hunters. The duck hunters down here act like they own the creeks and rivers. You can be polite and give them a wide berth and they still get mad. Has not happened to me personally but I have had lots of other folks tell me about it. Especially the alligator river. Those guys down that way just think they own the whole place. If NC would let them hunt Sundays, I would need to make sure to pack something that has a longer range than a scatter gun when I go fishing.CF

We've always had hunting everything on Sundays, without any restrictions in Indiana,,,the thing I like about hunting on Sundays is the weekend warriors (guys that only hunt on weekends)...they "might" hunt Sunday morning for a couple of hours, then pack up and go home to where you have the rest of the day, with nobody but you in the woods. Nice and peaceful and quite productive as they all leave to get ready to work for Mondays. Nobody around for miles. Every year,,,I find less hunters hunting on Sunday even as they are getting soft and just don't put forth the effort.

Many states have been doing it for years and I have never heard of any major problems. I sure wish we would have had Sunday hunting back when I was hunting (when I could) and working 6 days a week.

DRB what do you mean? And if you don't mind me asking, where are you from?
Judging by your reply you are part of the problem. Why such an attitude when it comes to a dog running across your property?? Do you think the dog is gonna ruin your hunt or run every deer off your property? I bet if a dog ran you a great big buck that came from 2 miles away, you'd shoot it. Do you think we'd be upset? No, because we should have killed the deer before he got to your property. That's just the way it goes.

A lot of people purchase or lease small tracts of land in a dog hunting county and then they gripe when a dog comes on their land??? Thats like moving to Va Beach near the air station and complaining about jet noise. You think me as a dog hunter wants to even deal with someone with that mentality? NOPE. I don't want to upset anyone. We own and have rights to over 500 acres here at my house. But I freaking drive an hour and 15 minutes away from Suffolk Va to get away from houses, highways, small pieces of property (a lot of different land owners), and most importantly, people, so I can hunt in peace. Some clubs do hunt way too many dogs, and cant control them. But I don't care who you are, how proactive you are, at one point or another you will have to leave a dog out. After hunt club dues, hunting and kennel licenses, bedding, vaccinations, wormer, dog food ($150/month) $1000's in telemetry, and at least $1k in gas money, do you think I want to leave a dog out over night to get hit by a car or shot by a disgruntled anti dog hunter??? Nope Id rather catch my 4 hounds up at the end of the day and go home to my family and sleep in my own bed.

UTR. My apologies...I didn't mean to strike a nerve. I mostly waterfowl hunt and do prefer still hunting. But like I mentioned in my post, I have dog hunted and enjoyed it. Not sure there is a correct answer...my point was I'm appreciative that the state addressed, what I consider to be, a property rights issue. I prefer not to argue with you about dog hunting. So I'm sorry. Sounds like you try to retrieve your hounds at the end of the day. Many others do not.

I would have preferred bow only but am sure I will take advantage of it during the rut.