8PT Buck - Running Dogs in North FL

[Mudranger1]

I started my Hunting adventures in Northeast Louisiana hunting with my Uncle Marshall and Daddy when we ran dogs for Deer. You could only take Bucks back in mid 1960s and each one was a big deal. My cousins and I along with folks that worked at the paper mill with Uncle Marshall would show up early and places like Whorly Hill or Shiloh Church would be talked about. After all was said trucks would load up and the standers would be placed on old roads or older haul roads where we would wait for the chase to begin. As you stood there holding a Single shot Stevens you could hear Uncle Marshall on his horse yelling at the dogs to "Track em up!". Many times I have heard the dogs come right at me only to have a Doe with her yearling come across, then the dogs would pop out! Exciting when you are 10 or 12!!! I remember seeing Uncle Marshall come down a red clay road with a buck on the back of his TWH, man he looked like a Knight headed to a joust with his Shotgun pointed up in the air in one hand and the reins in the other. Around mid morning Aunt Betty would come by with a Thermos of hot coco and a still hot sweet potato. You drank the coco and used the tater as a hand warmer until it cooled down and then ya ate that sucker! Sometime it would get so quite in those woods the wind blowing through the trees it almost made you think you were all alone, you could think of all the things you wanted to do with your Life, stuff like that. Then you would hear a Cow or Goat Horn being blown to call the dogs in. Uncle Marshall always asked me to go with him to look for the "lost" dogs after the day's hunt. See, at just about every other intersection was a Mom and Pop store, beside it was a Dog pen where if you found someone's dog you put it in there for them to find. Each stop Uncle Marshall would tell me "Johnny, get ya a soda pop" I was so bloated with nickel sodas by the time we got back home! That is what Dog Hunting was to me. John

it's funny how memories stay so vivid sometimes. I remember staying out all night trying to find dogs. I don't remember ever losing any but my Dad talks about having to pick some up from people that had picked them up and taken them home. no corner stores anywhere near where we hunted lol. 1 of the last years we ran dog a friend of my Dad had come along with his Blue Tick Hounds. After running a deer for a while one of the dogs stayed in the woods and basically just sat down and started barking. Finally had to go into the block and bring him out. Dumb ass dogs, that guy wasn't invited back LOL

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Neat video. It is interesting to see the cultures and hunting practices of different locales. Every type of hunting and locale has it's customs of what is considered ethical or not. I find it equally interesting how some whose hunting traditions differ from others are quick to pass judgement on what is ethical or not based on what their own traditions are.

That video captured a hunting experience that I think I would enjoy some day. I'm certainly glad for the way our laws and hunting practices out west eliminate the use of dogs for hunting deer and elk since it would drastically change a lot of what I enjoy about the western hunting experience, but I can see how in the right terrrain, with the right group of people, that hunt could produce an incredible experience.


Draftstud, I'm guessing by reading your description of your memories, you can actually recall the smells and tastes of that cocoa and sweet tater!


I pity the person whose narrow and limited experience won't allow them to appreciate the enjoyment another feels from a different experience.

I thought all Valley guys hunted on the "other side of the mountain" with their 7 week season and dogs after rifle season eded?

Truthfully in areas where dogs are legal, you cant get a deer to move on its own unless you step on it. Peak rut is different but those areas have thick cover and ample habitat. I doubt most deer move more than a few feet a day unless pushed. Its exciting when things get boring and you have a dog light up at a distance. I prefer beagles to hounds though, the deer move but don't run full speed.

 

[NCSU_Lewis]

I grew up hunting with dogs in Eastern NC when there were deer in only a few areas. My Dad took me on father/son day at his club and 20 minutes after taking my stand I had killed my first deer; ruined me for life. A lot of the appeal was in hearing the dogs run and I hunted this way for four years before going into the service. Service and my private sector job kept me out West and deployed for 15 years before moving back to NC.

When I came back home there were deer in nearly all areas of the state, thick as rabbits, and the new generation of dog hunters were flying up and down the roads and two tracks in their four wheel pickups trying to cut off the deer before they got off the lease, communicating with CB's and it appeared that they were trying to kill everything on the property in the same day. In my day we had one man working the dogs and everyone else walked into the woods, stood at agreed upon places (stands) and if the dogs brought the deer to you fine, but if not there was always next Saturday. It was mostly about the hunt and the resulting fellowship, not so much about the kill.

About the same time still hunting from ground blinds and rudimentary tree stands was becoming popular and since the new genre of dog hunters and their methods didn't appeal to me I no longer cared to dog hunt. If I want to hear the dogs run there's always rabbit hunting.

Yeah its even worse now with GPS collars in eastern NC. Guys just staring at a screen racing to where it looks like they are headed. Its a blast when done right.


Nice video!

 

[Danvet]

South Alabama dog hunting was definitely exciting. If the dogs headed your way, your heart was about to jump out of your chest. I was so proud the day, close to 40 years ago, when I killed a 10 pt. on a dim two track dead end road.....that road has been called the "10 point road" to this day.

 

[widnert]

Running dogs is definitely a different way to hunt however, it was very cool to experience it myself. I totally understand the reasoning for it, after being in those "bottoms" in south Alabama. A guy could barely crawl through that thick stuff. Never mind walking well or being able to see more than a few yards. The timber farms were doable but, hardly any wildlife. The deer used those farms as a highway between the thicker stands of vegetation.

I truly enjoyed my experiences employing this method of hunting. I won't judge anyone from the South that uses it.

 

[LaSportsman]

I grew up hunting with dogs but it was nothing like that. I agree that if you haven't hunted the thick woods of the South, you shouldn't judge. I could seldom see further than 75 yards unless I was on a highline which I hated. On a highline you could see 300 yards but it was 20 yards wide and generally a deer trotted across and it was difficult to get a shot. There is no such thing as stalk. There was sit on a stand still hunting or sit on a stand with dogs.

Now, again it was quite different than the video. Everyone was in a known stand and didn't move until an all clear was blown or agreed time for safety purposes. Only people walking around were guys running the dogs and they had way more hunter orange than law required. No radio trackers. No communicating between hunters. We seldom killed the deer that was being run by the dogs and used beagles to keep it from running too fast. Mostly, we were trying to get the deer up and moving during daylight hours.

I've made one Western hunt so far - javelina - and loved it. I have my first elk hunt this fall with a cow tag. I think I will prefer Western hunting but I won't judge other styles.

To the OP, I would be careful using a drone for filming while hunting. That's a no no in AZ and I bet it is in other states as well. The line between filming for YouTube and using an artificial aid for hunting is not something I want to be arguing before a judge.