Deer dogs - a hunting memory...

[jerp]

I don’t think this is legal anywhere anymore but at one time it was pretty common even in parts of Texas. Back in about 1980 I was invited by a co-worker to deer hunt with him. He was a member of an old–timey deer hunting club that for decades had leased a big chunk of timber company land near El Dorado, Arkansas. Each member had built his own little cabin and they had a big mess hall/kitchen. As a condtion of membership each of them had to keep and maintain a string of at least five deer dogs. This was a very new and strange way to hunt deer for me but I just decided to go with the flow. An hour or so before daylight the dozen or so hunters were dropped off at their stands. Right at first light, whoever was in charge of the dogs that day started releasing them in groups of two all over the property. About the time I started hearing baying in the distance the woods came alive with deer going every which way – some running full tilt, some sneaking along in the brush. Soon shots were going off all over the place. Within an hour or two every hunter had shot a deer. ( I killed a spike) This was a “if it has horns, shoot it!” kind of crowd. One guy “accidently” shot a doe and was the subject of much derision and ridicule. I was looking at this big pile of forkhorns, sixes and basket eights, and my friend informed me “that’s about as good as we ever do – we just don’t have any big bucks around here” (hmmm, wonder why?) One other random memory from that trip. There was an ancient black man named Morehead (or Mo-heed as everybody called him) that had apparently been squatting on this timber land for many years. He had to be in his 80’s and had lived in a shack in the woods pretty much his whole life. When he started hearing shooting he knew it was deer season and he’d ride his mule into camp where he would gut, skin and quarter your deer for $20. One morning I saw him grab a roll of toilet paper and head for the woods. One of the guys said “Mo-heed, you don’t need to go in the woods, we have a commode in the back of the mess hall. He said, “Yessir, I saw that but somehow it just don’t seem right to move my bowels in the house ” With my city boy upbringing it never occurred to me that some folks had never used indoor plumbing!

[jerp]

Now that I think about it, wasn't hunting deer with dogs legal in some East Texas counties well into the 1980's?

[rjet]

I grew up using dogs for deer hunting. Pretty much 12 ga with 00 buck shot was the norm. Was very exciting to hear the dogs running deer, the closer they got the more the ole blood got to pumping.
We never had the success that you did but there was usually a few deer killed each day. Many different camps would get together and run drives together. Once leasing started things changed.

I would not mind listening to a good chase sometime again but sure am glad to be hunting somewhere now where you dont have dogs stirring up the natural order of deer movement.

[rjet]

Now that I think about it, wasn't hunting deer with dogs legal in some East Texas counties well into the 1980's?

I believe that is right. I remember reading an article when they banned it about some of the yahoos setting fire to the woods in protest, was a long time ago.

[JP8]

We still use deer dogs in Eastern NC, I have been going home for two weeks every year and hunting there. It is a whole different ball game than sitting in a stand, it gets your blood pumping when you hear dogs running in the woods and have no clue what is going to pop out.. I've seen bears, fox, coyotes, rabbits, it just all depends on the dogs. What I like about eastern nc, is you have hunting clubs so the whole lease thing hasn't taken over yet. Couple hundred bucks a year and you can hunt a few thousand acres of land. Unless something has changed you also can't hunt deer off bait in NC, so no feeders.


This video just gives you an idea of what it sounds like to hear the dogs in the woods..
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw4lfEAGXA4&feature=related"]Deer Huntin With Dogs 4 - YouTube[/ame]

[jerp]

You are right JP8. People can say what they will about this method of hunting but you can't deny that it is incredibly exciting. When those dogs start getting closer and closer and you start to hear crashing brush it is an adrenaline rush like no other.

[Russ79]

JP8, you are right about eastern North Carolina. My dad was from Pinetown and most of that part of our family still lives in the Washington, NC area. My dad and I have been there to visit family for that last 12 or 14 years and I have hunted the farm my dad was raised on. Running dogs is they way they hunt, both for deer and bears. You can use feeders for deer but it is against the law to bait for bears. One year I set a feeder up for the deer but there is so much farming that it really isn't necessary.

[Russ79]

Oh, and hunting clubs there is basically the same as a lease here except they may have 50 or 60 club members on 2000 acres. I'll be leaving on Oct. 21 headed there for a week of hunting.

[JP8]

JP8, you are right about eastern North Carolina. My dad was from Pinetown and most of that part of our family still lives in the Washington, NC area. My dad and I have been there to visit family for that last 12 or 14 years and I have hunted the farm my dad was raised on. Running dogs is they way they hunt, both for deer and bears. You can use feeders for deer but it is against the law to bait for bears. One year I set a feeder up for the deer but there is so much farming that it really isn't necessary.

Pinetown is where i went to school and hunted some areas there. Washington is where we go when we "go to town". Im from Bath..

[ShockValue]

I grew up in Mississippi and this is how we hunted. Very rarely did we ever just go "stand" hunt. I shot my first deer, a yearling spike, after a beagle jumped him. I never owned a rifle until I moved to Texas. Always hunting with shotguns and buckshot.

We rarely killed more than one deer in a drive and that was with 20 - 30 people and a dozen or so dogs. It's not as easy as you would think.

Heart pumping, adrenaline filled excitement!!! Nothing like it.

They still do it in MS but I think there are only a few weeks a year for "dog season".

[JP8]

What hunting club do you hunt with? Ours has about 30 members and cost 300 but military and college hunts free. My aunt owns some of the hunting land also..

[Razorback01]

There was nothing more exciting outside of Leola, Arkansas than a "race". Race as the dogs runnin deer, back when the season was only a couple of weeks, rather than a few months. Doe season was Thanksgiving weekend, once every two years.

The dogs were more of a challenge than the deer. Beagles or Walkers, males or jips. We raised several litters of both, just like now with feeders/stands, theft of dogs was common.

[Landrover]

Very rarely did we ever just go "stand" hunt. I shot my first deer, a yearling spike, after a beagle jumped him. I never owned a rifle until I moved to Texas. Always hunting with shotguns and buckshot. We rarely killed more than one deer in a drive and that was with 20 - 30 people and a dozen or so dogs. It's not as easy as you would think.

Heart pumping, adrenaline filled excitement!!! Nothing like it.

They still do it in MS but I think there are only a few weeks a year for "dog season".

Growing up in Louisiana was exactly the same! No such thing as using a rifle....maybe a el-cheapo Marlin .22 for squirrels or snakes. Walker Hounds and beagles and each man/boy positioned throughout the swamp on foot. Talk about action!!! Love it and always will!!! I agree not tons of deer killed but everyone got some meat when the guns were put up for the day.

[JP8]

Man i wasnt going to NC this year but all this deer dog talk makes me want to make a road trip...anyone down lol

[rjtkdplus]

This is how we did it in Florida and Alabama also.