Hunting Dogs - Dogs Breeds

Instead of banning dog deer hunting, the Alabama Department of Conservation Advisory Board has approved a permit system that gives a second chance to clubs that have drawn complaints in the past.

Dog hunting has long been a thorn in the side of regulators due to the frequent conflicts that arise between hunters and nearby property owners. Most of the public comment time at recent advisory board meetings has been taken up by people speaking for or against dog hunting.

In dog hunts, dogs are released by hunters/drivers into the woods to chase deer toward a line of standers. The majority of the time, dogs are caught by the standers before they can leave the area being driven.

Sometimes, however, the dogs aren’t stopped. That — according to hunters who don’t use dogs and prefer instead to hunt from a permanent stand site — is when trouble can arise. The dogs don’t recognize property lines, fences or no-trespassing signs when chasing deer and sometimes intrude onto private property.

State officials said that is the most common complaint against dog hunters.

“The primary problem is the intrusion of dogs onto the lands of others. We also have problems with people hunting dogs from private roads,” said Allan Andress, chief enforcement officer with the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries.

Under the new system — which was approved by a 7-2 vote at the advisory board meeting on May 16 — only clubs that have complaints lodged against them would have to apply for a permit. State officials said most clubs are able to operate without aggravating their neighbors.

“We already have dog hunting permit plans in place in five counties in the state. We have observed a significant improvement in the amount of conflict in those counties,” Andress said. “In one county, we went from 24 complaints in a year to one complaint” after the permit system was set up.

Don Knight, president of the Alabama Dog Hunting Association, said the permit system would weed out the bad apples in terms of clubs that continually break the law and have conflicts with neighbors. Knight owns five beagles, though he said he once owned 24 hunting dogs.

“Before they can shut anybody down due to complaints, they have to give the club a chance to go on a permit system for a year,” Knight said. “It can’t just be a phone-call complaint. It has to be a justifiable complaint that has been investigated by the game warden. The club has to be guilty of what they’ve been accused of.”

Knight said a club would then be on a “three strikes, you are out” system, meaning three more complaints and a club would lose the right to hunt dogs on their land.

“I think it’s good for the dog hunters. They can use this as an opportunity to prove themselves,” Knight said. “The good clubs will survive. The bad clubs, who think it is their way or else, they won’t survive.

“It’s better than just banning dog hunting outright.”

Source: Al.com

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