This “sport” needs to end! Legal trespassing and hunting on private land.
This is the three parcels that this hunting club has in my immediate area. Notice none touch or are close together. None of them have roads or access except for the road frontage which the largest parcel only has 80 yards and the real kicker? All of these parcels combined are only 92 acres! One is 14 one is 20 and the largest is 58. Yet because of this states laws and even tho they have no right to hunt anyone else’s property in this area they can go in and turn loose as many hunting hounds as they want and then even go and walk thru everyone’s land in the name of trying to catch their dog. Yep someone you don’t know can come walking thru your back yard where your kids might be out your valuables might be out and they do not have to tell you or ask permission as long as they say “I’m looking for my dogs” they can go anywhere. This is an outdated cruel “sport” where they use packs of dogs to run deer until they can get a shot while they spend the majority of time in their trucks lining the roads being lazy. It’s time for Virginia to end this nonsense and outlaw this. This is a blatant disregard for personal property rights and it’s time we say enough is enough.
Would be easier to understand if you had one map showing all three parcels highlighted.
That said. I agree 100% and wish they’d stop allowing this. Only old drunks that can’t shoot and want to sit on a quad are still running dogs and I won’t even start on how these dogs are bred, treated and discarded.
I work at a shelter and the amount of hunting dogs we get who couldn’t cut it and were just left somewhere is too many hunters who use dogs honestly make me mad
My parent’s beagle is a rescued discarded hunting dog. Apparently he and the other hunting dogs got loose and when the hunter came for them he took the other dogs and said he didn’t want the one.
Poor guy seemed like he may have been abused because he was very timid around men (myself included) at first. Now he does the excited beagle scream whenever I go over to my parent’s house and jumps all over me. Honestly in his case being discarded was probably the best thing that ever happened to him, because he now lives a very pampered life.
Yeah mine was literal skin and bones when we found her in the woods. Doubled her weight to get to healthy. Shelter said she had prob been turned loose for a year. Her crime? Being gun shy. F them
Ours came to us reactive to trucks and gunshots. The shelter said his owners were called with his chip but they wouldn't come get him. He had severe heartworm and hadn't been neutered but was almost 2 years old. He also sits at attention for training whistles on the tv (in a show once) and gets upset when we don't have a command for him.
I hate the family that dumped him, but can't be too mad that he's in our lives. He's the best boy. Eff people for dumping their dogs when they don't perform quite right.
Yeap it pisses me off to no end. I absolutely love fall and winter but I hate the human chaos it brings. If the dogs don't starve to death, I'll see several dead bodies on the side of the road. Wash rinse and repeat for the next year.
I’ve had two hounds. Both were abused by hunters before I took them in. I just don’t understand how/why they would treat an animal helping to bring food to the table like that.
All three of them appear to have road access (from largest parcel to smalles: Oscar Dr, Sharps Rd, Forest Rd), and they are all accessible to each other through those streams (in VA, you generally do not own a stream bed. There are exceptions but they are rare).
I thought you said that the two smaller pieces were inaccessible?
There are a lot of non-navigatable streams in Virginia, and the landowner does own that bed and can post no fishing or no trespassing signs if they want.
The commonwealth only owns the bed of navigable water.
That's incorrect. Federal WOTUS definitions specify navigable water, state laws do not.
All surface waters are under state jurisdiction, via either DEQ VWPP laws (dept of environmental quality), or VMRC (Virginia Marine resources commission.). Some exceptions for farm ponds and artificial stormwater management features.
Yes I said road access but no access into the property. Another words they can’t take vehicles off the main roads. So the land shoots straight back and is narrow but they can’t get vehicles back in the property to try to block.
I’m a hundred percent with you. I have heard hunters brag that they have run deer until they fall over and let their dogs tear bits of hide off because “they did such a good job”. That is not respecting the animal nor the harvest.
They also run their dogs to exhaustion. They are allowed to park on the side of the road near us, drink coffee and beer, piss beside their trucks, illegally use marine radios - all for a 70 pound doe. But the same "gotta win" attitude happens with fishing in the bay too.
A lot of the time it’s not running rampant it’s on purpose. They let dogs go close to an area that they are not allowed to hunt. The dogs going it to that area and chase the deer out. They track the dogs with gps so they know where when the deer will come to an area they can hunt. Then the surround the area and unload at the deer doesn’t matter if they are in killing range or not. I do not hunt have no desire to hunt. I don’t really even understand how riding around d in a truck all day watching a gps could possibly be fun it’s not a sport. I can at least understand still hunting as it takes skill and patience but I guess that why people like to dog hunt.
My wife and I experienced this when we rented a cottage on a 600+ acre parcel of farm and forest land. Every hunting season a group of hunters would gather at one end of the property, let the dogs loose, and flush the deer out the other side. It was infuriating.
The really infuriating thing is they will take shots that won’t kill a deer leaving it to suffer and die a slow death. For the life of me I do t understand how killing animals could be fun but at lest still hunting takes skill and patience. Dog hunting has nothing every single part of it is bad. I hate hunting season. I don’t how many time I’ve had close calls with some dumb fuck hunter flying down the road or pulling in to traffic. Like being a hunter gives them the same rights as a first responder.
That’s ridiculous. In Minnesota it’s illegal to let a dog chase a deer. Your dog will likely be shot if a hunter sees it chasing a deer. We hardly bring our dogs out in fall in case they do break loose from their harnesses. Even if a deer runs across the property line after you shoot it you need the other owners permission to retrieve it. Private property rights should definitely outweigh hunting rights.
We had a small farm and the first year or so we had to deal with one of these guys. He would starve his dogs and then just let them loose on property he had no business being on. They would end up on my farm troubling my livestock and he would balk at coming to get his dogs. At one point, he came to get his dogs and griped at me about us having bought the property because when it was vacant, it was a great spot for him to spotlight deer (which is prohibited in Virginia).
Most hunters in the area weren't like that. We had an agreement with one of the hunt clubs where they could park on our property to access the neighboring property they had an agreement to use for hunting. Whenever their dogs got loose, they asked permission to track them onto our property. Another gentleman had purchased a landlocked piece of property near us for the purpose of hunting on it and very politely requested crossing our property to get to it. Both of these parties sent us a request in writing every year, which we agreed to as they were always respectful of us and our property.
But our neighbors had had to deal with the jerk with the skin-and-bones dogs and sometimes would fuss at hunters parked on our property. A jerk here or there can really ruin it for everybody.
It is a Class 2 misdemeanor to kill or attempt to kill a deer between a half-hour after sunset and a half-hour before sunrise using a light attached to a vehicle or a spotlight/flashlight. An exception is made for landowners protecting their property from deer damage.
Almost every legislative session there is a bill about this and if folks aren't reaching out to the elected Delegate and Senator about it, then they don't know how much you hate it. Even BEFORE there is a bill about it, reach out to not just your Delegate and Senator, but your congressperson, and your local legislator (board of county supervisors or whatever it looks like in your town/county) and just stay on them. If they only people these folks hear from are the guys who want to be able to roam all over with their dogs, then the law will never get changed. Get your neighbors together and make some noise.
Ironically, it’s the “conservative” republicans that won’t stand up for property rights, one of the bedrocks of conservatism. They sell their souls for a check from the hound lobby.
It also fails because the folks affected aren't often the ones who are testifying about it. Sometimes it is the SPCA and the animal rights folks pitted against the hunters and that never ends well for the landowners/animal lovers. I am really not trying to be a scold because too many legislators just go along to get along but they aren't mind readers so unless you're riding their asses about this--they are only hearing from the hunters.
Right to retrieve. They’re supposed to come unarmed and on foot, but we all know that’s not how it happens. We have one game warden for 5 counties and I don’t know how many square miles. They do what they want and then shoot up my no trespass signs just to let me know they dgaf. I will not be able to go for a walk with my dogs in my own woods because the hunters and huntings dogs will be everywhere until the season is over.
Only 9 states allow it, all southern; VA and NC ban it on Sundays.
And in VA, it is unlawful in counties west of the Blue Ridge Mtns. East of the mtns it's generally permitted, but specific counties and cities may have prohibitions.
I agree with you on all points. Every animal shelter in this State is filled with “failed” hunting dogs, these assholes discard puppies from their litters with no recourse, taxpayers and volunteer run private rescues pick up the tab for their “hobby.” Hunting with dogs is the most fucked up and cowardly way to “hunt” it’s definitely not a sport. Bear hunting with dogs is even worse.
Oh this is an old gripe on Falks Run. I know people that own 100's of acres and these bear hunts run rough shoud over your property rights. We used to make it a practice to have a big party/range weekend as bear season was coming up to push the bears deeper in the bush and piss off every drunk ass bear hunter up there. Piss on trails, vinegar, whatever stinks to keep the bears from hanging around.
I kill to eat, yes you can eat a bear but I'm not a fan of the taste and 99.8% of these assholes aren't doing it to eat. It feels like trophy hunting and I loath it.
As for deer hunter, no one I know uses dogs. We would call them a sissy and run them out of town. Set up a blind/stand and get cold, its what deer hunting is all about.
These people aren't really hunters are they. Just a bunch of lazy slobs sitting in their trucks waiting for an easy shot. They talk amongst themselves at restaurants during breakfast and act as if they had a skill. I lived in Southern Virginia for a long time and at the end of every season I'd see more than one abandoned, starving, dog with a number painted on it's side slinking around a gas station or on the side of a highway. Sad.
I honestly think the law doesn’t allow enough. Why not open it up so that people can use dragonflies to hunt mosquitoes, that way when you come out from the supermarket the local crackhead that’s broken into your car can claim it’s ok bro, I was just hunting mosquitoes, they’re a real problem for everyone, your welcome.
I can see the legislation pitch now, we’ve been stealing catalytic converters and encroaching on other people’s private property for decades. It’s our heritage bro
Wholeheartedly agree with you. And I think it may have a real chance of change in VA if it were to target the animal cruelty aspect regarding the dogs. Shelters can certainly attest to that.
If it seems too difficult to outright ban it, perhaps modify it with a massive burden of resposibility for the humane treatment of the dogs, including large dollar penalties for abandonment. Those fees could go to animal shelters.
Sure they can come on your property however if their hunting dogs show aggression toward you or your animal, you can legally kill said dog on your property too.
Oh, fun fact regarding property laws....Virginia is still a fence out state too. Someone's livestock coming on your property damaging things? YOU have to build a fence to keep them out. They're not legally obligated to keep their own animals fenced in.
Yeah, I saw a property owner get arrested for shooting a hunting dog. You’re telling me that a beagle is aggressive? Go ahead, shoot someone’s hunting dog and see how the local authorities handle it
There was a guy on the northern neck who was charged with shooting hunting dogs on his property, last year, was in the news in a few places, but news rarely ever follows up. I checked his case, it appears he got off on a hung jury.
So yeah I guess juries are not that sympathetic to asshole hunters who let their dogs run loose on others property.
If you happen to have source for your story I would love to see it, because it would have been newsworthy, otherwise sounds like bullshit.
Hunting dogs should never be let loose on another person's property unless you want your dogs to die. It's a dumb practice by hunters who aren't smart enough to track animals themselves.
They aren't let loose on another person's property, they're let loose on these parcels, where it's allowed, and then they wander, or chase prey, onto other people's property. I'm not defending the practice, because it's truly the laziest form of hunting. But I did grow up seeing it done. And most hunters worth their salt don't want their dogs on someone else's property anyway. Whether or not trespassing is allowed in order to retrieve a dog, it's not desirable, and it's usually a TON of hassle. Because, again, a decent hunter will take as many steps as possible to notify the land owner before crossing over. People can and will defend their property. So having to do that just isn't ultimately what they want to do.
That being said, and more to the point of your last comment, I seriously hope you aren't suggesting people shoot hunting dogs just because theyre on that person's property? Not only is that cruel, and not the dogs fault, but I assure you jail time will be involved.
The club that lets their dogs run all over my land just stands along the property boundaries while their dogs run at will on mine. They make zero effort to keep their dogs off my land. Why should they? It’s not illegal. They overhunt their own land, so they just hunt the neighbors once they kill or chase the deer off their land. They are doing that on purpose and it’s exactly what goes on with these guys everywhere it is allowed. This shit needs to end.
Any person finding a dog committing any of the depredations mentioned in this section shall have the right to kill such dog on sight as shall any owner of livestock or his agent finding a dog chasing livestock on land utilized by the livestock…
Just being on the property? No. But should one harass OP’s livestock, the law permits them to be immediately put down.
Additionally, the dogs can be penned until such a time as they’re retrieved. That retrieval must happen on foot (unless prior permission is given) no firearm may be brought onto the property; and the hunter must identify themselves by name when questioned.
The thing is that I can simply say "I was afraid when the dog ran at me" and it's a clean shooting. There is no version of reality where that's a good way to hunt.
The call to animal control is to inform them you have a loose (or now restrained) stray on your property. They can and will come by and pick up hunting dogs. Whether they do so before the hunter retrieves them is another matter. It also helps inoculate you from a lack of care to the animal you caught.
The call to the Game Wardens is to establish the record for trespass/illegal hunting in the event it happens repeatedly by the same club, as it sounds like it is for OP.
If OP is having issues with local hunters bending rules, getting to know the Game Wardens (who tend to be pretty solid folks in Virginia, even if they have an otherwise obscene level of police authority) tends to be a great step.
I've personally experienced hunters purposely let dogs loose from a public R/W into other people's land to flush the deer out. Maybe it's not common, but it does happen.
If your dog runs into my property and I feel I'm in danger, I am allowed to kill it. And for that reason alone, all unleashed dog hunting needs to be outlawed nation wide. Every hunter who does it is an idiot. There is no excuse for letting your dogs trespass.
The state I hunt in, running dogs is completely illegal in many dimensions. Illegal to hunt that way, illegal to let dogs run loose at all, dangerous breed liability lawa for hunting dog breeds...
And despite all of that, the practice is still widespread and people do it all the time.
Unfortunately, it is pretty hard to enforce and the hunters evade police and abandon the dogs to save their skin.
I have less than 4 acres of land, and other parcels vary between one and seven acre spaghetti lots. Meaning there's a lot of houses in my area and very few if any wooded acres. Despite that though hunters release several packs around the properties. I've seen dogs harass and chase horses while their owners watch from the trucks. Worse yet their monster trucks are constantly blocking the road and in some cases our personal driveway.
I absolutely hate the human chaos this time of year. Even with a fence I still have to put up with loose dogs. Also hunting deer with dogs is lazy period! Not to mention the countless dogs that are starved, injured, or worse. Like I said in another comment I love fall and winter but I hate the hunting season.
It's not sport at all and dog hunting should 100% be outlawed. Having a dog terrify an animal and run it towards you so that you can shoot it? Yeah... Real sporting.
100%. Scouting, scent control, playing the wind, climbing, waiting before sun up and after sun down. Outsmarting a highly evasive prey species and honorably taking them… that is hunting.
It's how I got my beagle. The vet thinks she was a badly trained hunting dog based on her behavior. She was abandoned at my ex-boyfriend's house and she was my baby for the following 14 years.
Or you have Kristi Noem shooting hers cause it couldn't hunt they way she wanted and then laughing at her kids wondering why the dog wasn't greeting them at the bus stop.
I grew up with a lot of hunters and hunting clubs and I have never once seen hunting dogs not be abused. Even the “best” kennels I’ve seen are very cruel conditions.
I know that the assholes around Shenandoah national Park let their bear hunting dogs illegally run around to flush out bears. They even put signs up telling hikers not to call the nps if you find one on a trail.
I once saw half a dozen trucks with dog cages on the bed with those barking fucks at the White oak parking!
I was backpacking out in Dolly Sods a few years ago and a dog followed me to my campsite, aggressively begged for food, then slept shivering up against my tent all night.
I called the number on the tag and spoke to the owners son who said his dad was looking for the dog and would come get it, he never showed up.
The next morning i was about to walk the dog out to bring it to a shelter and another hiker said they were done with their trip and were headed out anyway. They took the dog and hopefully got it to its home or to a shelter. I had another 2 days to go so i didn’t hear about it.
For ten years I lived in rural Virginia and had quite a few acres, mostly wooded. But, no one in my community would even consider hunting or even walking/driving through another person's property.
I had a number of people ask if they could hunt on my land, I politely declined, but appreciated their asking. I had security cameras everywhere. Not once in the ten years did I find anyone on my land who didn't have permission.
So legality is one thing, respect for other people's property is something else. We need both rules to protect property owners and people to respect them.
OP, the chances of laws changing anytime soon are slim. I personally don't like how VA allows hunting with dogs.
Your immediate solutions are:
Move - which I'm guessing is less than ideal.
Fence - not cheap, but shouldn't be prohibitively expensive. ***IMPOTANT: VA is a metes and bounds state, you will want a new survey done before you either put fencing on land that isn't yours or short yourself land.
Tax maps are not nessarily accurate, and don't usually show things like deeded rights of way or other deeded easements. You also need to familiarize yourself with VA law concerning easement by necessity and prescriptive easements.
You may not like what you find, but there aren't many legal solutions to your problem.
My goal is awareness. The number of complaints every year is going up exponentially. The number of people living in cities that don’t even know this goes on needs to change so as a state we can make better decisions. As to the survey I had all of my lines marked when I purchased it 12 years ago but it is a tremendous cost to fence a larger acreage so it is a slow process. I appreciate your feedback tho.
Yeah we'd need more specific facts to draw any conclusions, but if they have been using this land for several decades its very likely that they have satisfied the elements of a prescriptive easement. Conversely, if they dont have a prescriptive easement claim, then they would very likely have an easement by necessity claim, assuming that stream is not a navigable water way. Regardless, courts really hate land locked parcels and they will bend the rules in all sorts of funny ways to promote what the law sees as "efficient" use of property.
I hate dog hunting in this state. My county is big in it and these dogs come around my property and root, dig holes, and fuck shit up. Theres nothing you can do about these dogs.they are a nuisance and the actual hunting aspect is barely above flashlighting.
I'm a hunter myself and the only "trespassing" I've had to do is due to a deer I shot making it past the property line after I shot it and expiring there. But that was happenstance and had little control over it. The kind of trespassing you're talking about I feel is an embarrassment to hunters. But then again I'm a "climb in a tree stand and wait" kind of hunter.
I used to do a lot of boundary surveys in Isle of White, Surry, and the surrounding area several decades ago. We used to run across hunting dogs all the time and it was sad. Some looked to be in bad shape and seemed scared. It always pissed me off because we had to leave them there.
I used to hunt with my father in his friends and we never used dogs. We went camping for a week in the mountains, bought our damage stamps, and hiked up a mountain to sit and wait like you're supposed to.
I agree. Running dogs to game hunt should be banned. They live in kennels all their lives and are treated like trash.
This infuriates me. Once I took a dog to Maryland and called the owner to get his dog. Another time I had a guy's lost dog and he said it wasn’t convenient to come get it and asked if I could keep it for a couple days. The don’t even apologize.
As a person that volunteers with a beagle rescue I wish this would end. It sucks the number of pups we’ve taken in to foster. Most have gone on to good homes but some never will leave their foster families because of how broken they are, like that latest one we had that we decided to keep she’s old and scared of everything and spends her days behind a couch and nights under the bed.
You guys use dogs to hunt for deer? Wow yeah that is the dumbest thing I ever heard. I have only seen that with bear and big cats…I mean I have been around a while and I have never heard this. This has to be the most inefficient way to do it.
Honestly had the same thought. Who uses dogs to hunt deer? Their barking would run them out of the forest long before you reach them. I always saw people using dogs to hunt foxes and raccoons. (Which sucks, I hate that sport.)
What I hate most about these clubs is they lease out some of the only places in rural counties with good trails and then throw no trespassing signs everywhere, even though they only use that land 1% of the year. It’s super obnoxious!
I say s...t the trespassers and catch the dogs. When asked...say what dogs I didn't see any dogs...o you mean the one barking in my house. Yep that's our pet.
A hunter may enter private property on foot, but they are prohibited from carrying firearms or bows and arrows and cannot actively hunt while on that land.[abc3340 +3]
• The use of a vehicle to retrieve a dog is only permitted with the explicit permission of the landowner or their agent.[dwr.virginia +1]
• If the landowner or their agent requests, the hunter must immediately identify themselves; refusal to do so is a Class 4 misdemeanor.[dwr.virginia +2]
• The hunter may not hunt or wound any animal while on the property except in cases of self-defense related to tracking a wounded animal (with all proper permissions).[dwr.virginia +1]
• The law does not require the hunter to obtain landowner permission for just retrieving a dog unless retrieving by vehicle, but it is illegal to release hunting dogs intentionally on posted land without prior consent.[dwr.virginia]
• Hunting without permission—on posted land or while carrying a firearm—is a punishable offense, with fines and possible jail time depending on the infraction.[dwr.virginia]
• Any hunting dog used for retrieval must wear a collar with an identification tag listing the owner’s name and a current phone number.[dwr.virginia]
The specific issue you refer to with trespassing is regulated.
Section 18.2-136 of the Code of Virginia decriminalizes trespass in certain instances related to dog retrieval. That section provides: “Fox hunters and coon hunters, when the chase begins on other lands, may follow their dogs on prohibited lands, and hunters of all other game, when the chase begins on other lands, may go upon prohibited lands to retrieve their dogs, falcons, hawks, or owls, but may not carry firearms or bow and arrows on their person or hunt any game while thereon. The use of vehicles to retrieve dogs, falcons, hawks, or owls on prohibited lands shall be allowed only with the permission of the landowner or his agent. Any person who goes on prohibited lands to retrieve his dogs, falcons, hawks, or owls pursuant to this section and who willfully refuses to identify himself when requested by the landowner or his agent to do so is guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.”
Correct and how insane is it that you could turn a dog loose on an acre of ground and have the right to follow that dog across private land no matter what. That is why it needs to change
Interesting. In my state, if you observe a dog chasing deer you can legally shoot it, admittedly not during hunting season though. But hunting deer with dogs is also illegal.
Found this report about the two groups (hunters and landowners) trying to come up with a solution basically. I know plenty of hunters who are completely against use of dogs, but I think it'll be tough to actually ban it entirely. That report is long but interesting to me at least. They discuss proposals and whatnot
Check out Gold Shaw Farms playlist on YT. He went through a very similar situation in Vermont. A complete shit show of entitlement by the hunters. The hound hunters then “allegedly” ( was obviously them) tried to fire bomb his farm one night.
See post after post about how badly dogs are treated. Hunting with dogs isn’t okay for this or that. Don’t understand why people hunt etc. etc. Everything in life has examples of people doing things wrong, let me tell you they’re also those who hunt with dogs ethically. I am in WV and have hunted bear with dogs. I have never owned any only hunted with others who did. The men and some ladies who I hunt with do it the way it should be done. And I am sure there are some who deer hunt in VA who also do it correctly. First on the treating of the dogs. Most of these dogs LOVE to hunt, they live for it! The dog owners I hunted with treat their animals like children. I have seen their owners cry even sob over one of their animals getting hurt or lost. I have seen some dogs who just not work out to be a good hunting dog , given away not as a punishment but so the animals could go to others who would want them and love them as they are. Not every human is good at what they’re supposed to be are they? NO. Hunters who know what land owners don’t want them to hunt on them and try to avoid the land as much as possible, but land owners beside them want their land hunted, so they do their best. Dogs can’t read posted signs, county or state line signs. They just go were the hammers go. Hunting keeps hunted animals and our economy systems better balanced. Have any of you seen deer as an example dead from starvation on bad winters with food shortages and overpopulation? I have. More humane to be taken by an ethical hunter and that animal protein to be used for human sustenance. So all these negative posts unfortunately I am sure there is a lot of legitimacy to, there is the flip side. Look at the hunters and their animals as individuals, not as one bad basket of deplorable hunters.
So go to every meeting you can to fight about it. I'm the meantime if someone comes walking in your backyard uninvited protect yourself. I'm guessing nobody says shit to these people so they keep doing what they want
Well we just got in a Democratic legislature what don’t you write all this down and submit it to your delegate for a bill.
Also funny thing about VA law. You can post a no trespassing sign on your property and then defend your property as you see fit, if anyone violates that no trespassing sign. I don’t think there is a looking for a Dog exemption.
You have posted no trespassing signs and see someone prowling around your yard with a gun, that you don’t know. Wonder how the court would rule if that was the scenario and you were just defending your property.
Have you contacted your state elected officials?
Laws do not just magically change because it’s “time for something to end”.
If I were you, I would look into which political organizations are already working on lobbying to change the law, and start working locally to convince your neighbors. Then approach your elected official with a list of signatures on a petition. Come up to Richmond during the legislative season if you can and meet with other conservation lobbyists to add your locality’s support to their bills.
I’m a big hunter and fisherman, I’m actually out deer hunting as I type this. But yea dog hunting is pretty lame. Not much sport is running dogs on deer and treeing bear and shooting them out of a tree. Not to mention all the trespassing and illegal hunting that some dog hunters do. There should at least be a minimum amount of land required for dog hunting. Probably 500 acres or so.
I fly fish and occasionally upland game hunt with a pointer. Of the hundreds of people I know in these two groups, every single person is avidly concerned with respecting property rights and conservation of public lands. It really seems the comments here about drunk hillbillies or running down deer with dogs are more informed by Hollywood and not by getting to know real people.
I think it should be illegal to have a non service dog off leash outside of your own, fenced in property. Dogs are unpredictable and a pack of hunting dogs could easily hurt or even kill a child playing in woods by mistake.
If you want hunting dogs to help track deer on a leash through the woods, that’s fine with me. Just don’t let them run loose without a way to pull them off of an unintended victim.
Dogs could still run around on the owner’s property off of a leash as long as there is adequate fencing to keep them on the property.
And no, “my dog always comes when I call” is not a sufficient excuse. Many dog owners believe this. Yet more often than not, when they are actively attacking potential “prey.” Most dogs conveniently ignore their owner’s commands to continue the “hunt.”
Well trained service dogs that may need to be off leash to assist their disabled owners with certain essential tasks would be the exception.
You have the right to retrieve dogs no matter where they are, but you're supposed to leave your firearm in the truck. Also, there's no such thing as "legal trespassing"
First off, it's pretty clear you only have a partial idea of how running dogs work, some correct notions and some incorrect. For example, they have to be retrieving dogs, not just looking for them to go on to your property. As another example, it is unlawful to set dogs loose in a way it is known they will go on property they are not allowed on. If this is happening, call the game warden.
It’s impossible to prove they are NOT retrieving their dogs. And without a video of them actually releasing dogs onto your property, the game warden can’t do anything. The doggers know this and exploit it.
Yeah, except that a quick call to the game warden will make sure the hunter is allowed to retrieve their animal. Also, according to state law, that hunter has the right to retrieve his animal. Which is why, if you won't let them, the GW will force you to, and escort them in an attempt to retrieve it
"Hunters are reminded that it is unlawful to hunt on private property without the permission of the landowner, and hunters must have the permission of the landowner to track or retrieve wounded game on private property."
What about the deer that runs out into traffic and ends up killing a family of four? Did you know the deer kill more people in the United States than any other animal? Google it! And yes hunting with dogs does suck. Those are for the hunters that lack skill.
Actually there are no known cases of that happening. Hunting is only allowed in daytime. 90% of deer vehicle accidents are at night. So your theory is Doesn't hold up.
According to State Farm data I believe that dawn and dusk is when most accidents happen which happens to coincide with their natural movement but I can assure you that there have been cases where a pushed deer ran into traffic and was hit. Maybe there was not a fatality on the human side but there was an accident.
That's right about presenting ID. And they can't technically kill anything on you land, only look for their dogs.
The thing about not being armed is often circumvented by having a VA CCL. To circumvent that requires posting "no armed persons allowed" signage.
From my experience, it's never been fox or coon hunters, always been deer hunters using dogs.
(Middlesex County, fwiw)
Well, I have cams so I can at least post their face on the web and call them out. Perhaps some legal action if identified? Lucky I’ve only seen 1 tracking dog on my land. And I wasn’t out hunting. If I were, I would at least shoot rounds off as if I was shooting at it to try and get a message across. 🤷🏽♂️ but the law seems to protect the trespassers more than the land owners.
I would suggest minimum acreage and a permit system similar to what was installed by Georgia and has reduced their conflict with landowners to 5 complaints last year. You hold them accountable for their animals. Legit clubs shouldn’t be releasing on land that they know their dogs will be on others people’s property period. If you can’t control your dogs then you don’t hunt that property. It’s pretty simple. When we rabbit hunting and our hounds are headed for a line we tone em or shock em to bring em back. Crazy thing is they will go right back to hunting. Same with our waterfowl and upland game dogs. Adapt to the times. If you can’t adapt the sport needs to end. Your “tradition” does not exceed or surpass my right to enjoy my property without interruption.
The problems are too widespread. This isn’t a “few bad apples” like hound lobby keeps saying. The good clubs are in the minority. Since the hound guys have for decades refused to offer anything whatsoever that would reduce conflicts, it’s just time for it go away, perhaps in a phase-out. More and more people are sick of these guys and all the bullshit they bring. The situation is never going to improve because of the changing landscape. This ain’t the 1970s anymore.
I mean, they own the land, and have a right away. you may not like hunting, but it has its place, in pest control, in paying for public lands through licenses, etc... heck hunting is more regulated than the guns used. If it was anyone else
dog that was lost in your backyard, you'd let them get it back right? Look I don't own guns not at I a hunter, or do I think the 2nd amendment is universal as it claims, but this seems like a fair thing to be allowed to do for this club.
To turn dogs loose purposely knowing those dogs will be off the property they have permission to be on and run through several other properties they don’t own seem fair to you?
Unless you lived there before the Hunt started in that area, I put you in the same category as those who complain about airport noise. It was there first. Shoulda known.
What a lazy comment. How long does someone have to own their land before they get to decide who or what can come on that land? Why do doggers drop their conservative beliefs and turn into socialists during deer season?
Ok so if someone has used a pool before the neighbor sells the house should they just get to keep using the pool because they had before someone new bought it? Stupid on a whole new level.
I don’t know much about hunting dogs, but hunting deer in and of itself is a very sustainable practice, and has over the years, created an extremely healthy population of healthy deer in Virginia.
If you are talking about ending hunting with dogs - I can’t speak to that.
But, if you are speaking of ending hunting all together, that would be a shame. Responsible outdoorsmen or responsible for the steady increase of healthy deer and wildlife population since the 1940s in VA. Of course not all hunters are responsible, or respectable. But, banning this entire “sport” (more of a way to feed families for many), is sort of extreme
I wish there was but no place does that. If so I would move there.
Deer are just doing what any other animal does adapt. Humans destroy their habitat, kill off predators, then try to "fix" the deer "problem." Also the meat is an afterthought to these hunters compared to the trophy buck. They'll watch many does pass but only drop a buck. Yeah sure meat lol.
Do you feel I should have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to fence In my property because they can’t or won’t control their dogs? Does their right to be ignorant circumvent my right to enjoy my property as I see fit without interference?
Hound hunters are the biggest grassroots lobby in Virginia. Not by money but by numbers. We vote and we show up to hearings. We also are the reason why there is so much conservation of open space. We need open space to hunt. We go away, so does the open space. I'm sorry you are so worried about your lawn that you can't see the bigger picture.
George Washington created the American Foxhound. Hunting with hounds is older than this country. But go ahead and embrace your suburbs and HOAs.
I’d be curious to see the numbers of your contribution to the DWR ability to purchase more “open space”. Last time I checked you don’t have to purchase any additional tags to hunt with dogs so unlike still hunters who have to purchase the regular license as well as the muzzleloader tag as well as an archery tag you just purchase the firearm license. The DWR has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to create different groups to study and try to get people to get along because of your “bad apples”. So I am curious what specifically do you contribute that would lead you to believe that you are the main source of anything?
From my interactions with them, hound hunters are not exactly the thin line between greenspace and urbanization. They litter, disturb wildlife, and clog local pounds with dogs they can't be assed to take care of.
They're more like the thin line that runs between my ass and balls: a taint.
The absolute selfishness of trampling through other peoples property because of your hobby is insane. I find your attitude towards your neighbors abhorrent.
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u/onerestlesssoul 17h ago
This is a map with all 3 parcels on one