doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Rifles and driving hunting limitation.

John, buck shot is dangerous for driven huntings with dogs, is not it? Some could hit the dog by chance.

Geno,

Here in southern Alabama all the hunting clubs that I know of require members to use buckshot while hunting deer with dogs. NO one in our club has ever shot a dog. The state does not have a law for this state wide however the state does require hunters to use buckshot while hunting deer with dogs on any wildlife management area. I think the theory is that buckshot will not travel as far as a rifle bullet. When I was growing up in Mississippi all of our deer hunting was with dogs in the area where I lived. Almost everyone used rifles instead of shotguns. We never had a problem and no one was ever hurt. Of course that was 40+ years ago.

Geno:
The deer can easily outrun the dogs. The deer is usually far ahead.
The dogs are very safe as well as the men. In all my years of living in both places, I never heard of either a dog or a stander being shot.
We areas we hunted were not as they are in most areas. The land was either owned or leased by a club. My club had over 6000 acres of pineland, hardwoods or rice fields. It is against the law in South Carolina to hunt on land that you do not own or have not leased. Matter of fact--if the law caught you there without permission, your gun, your vehicle and lots of fine money was taken from you. It was illegal to have a loaded gun on a road that bisected club lands.
Here in the Northeast, one can simply get out of a vehicle and go hunting, unless the land is posted. Not so where I grew up. A man's land was his and his alone. As was the game.
Hope this clears up a point or two.
Best,
John
PS---One had better not shoot one of the dogs. A good deer dog is worth several hundred dollars. We had about 50 in the club kennels. Red Bone, Blue Tick and Walker crosses were our choices.
Hounds all.

"A man's land was his and his alone. As was the game."
My thoughts exactly, and the way I run my land.
Nothing is more humbling than to have fine guns n dogs and have to knock on some poor farmer's door for a day-out.
Who's the richer!

Geno,

From the previous posts you probably deduced that in the USA each of the 50 individual states and 6 US territories determine their own hunting laws. Thus, what firearms and calibers/gauges are allowed for hunting and methods of hunting, such as driving via hunters walking or dogs, is within the right of each state.

The exception to the state by state hunting rules is Migratory Waterfowl and birds such as woodcock. The USA has a Migratory Bird treaties with Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia and must work within the limits of the treaties.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (www.fws.gov), a Bureau within the Department of the Interior determines what is allowable each year based on populations of each type of duck, goose, or bird. Then the states set their own seasons and bag limits not to exceed the upper limits set by the US FWS.

Isn't it the kind of hunting that William Faulkner described in his books?

HD,

Yes indeed it is what Faulkner described in his books.

"... the best game of all, the best of all breathing and forever the best of all listening, ......'" William Faulkner

... and the only person who used a repeating shotgun couldn't hit a thing

(BTW, did you wonder that Boon Hogganbeck couldn't possibly use an "old pump gun" in 187-s?)

Thankfully, this is NOT the law of the land however. One of the many things that makes the US a great place to live and hunt.

BrentD:
I have no wish to argue a point and respect your thoughts on who may come on your property and do as they please. I equate this notion to a stranger coming into my hen house and helping himself to my eggs and a hen or two.
If this were a fox or egg eating dog, most would shoot him.
Taking game, fish from a pond, stealing eggs and hens is all the same to most men that manage their land. Manage for trees, crops or game.
Food for thought.
Best,
John