I killed my first deer at age 10 in Clarke County Alabama. In front of dogs. It was not a big mature buck. It was not a Boone & Crockett buck. It was a buck though.

I saw him coming through the woods in my direction. I remember raising my gun to my shoulder and then the next thing I know is that it is on the ground kicking. I do not remember aiming. I do not remember squeezing the trigger. I do not remember the recoil. I do not remember the noise of the gun shot.

It was a button buck. One shot of 2.75" 00 buckshot from my Remington 870 Wingmaster did the trick.

There was a passion for deer and deer hunting in me before that day, but that event on that day started a fire that is burning bright and hard 40 years later.

Deer and Deer Hunting. It is a passion. It is an obsession. It is a lifestyle. It is my life.

I watch a Alabama football game once in awhile, but I am not watching every game. I cannot tell you who played in the Superbowl back in January. I stopped following NASCAR when #3 passed away. Basketball? NO! Baseball? I would rather play then watch. Golf? What is that?

Being out in God's creation .... in the woods .... on the water .... no ATV, just left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot .... chasing deer, turkey, bream, catfish .... chasing reds, specks, flounder ..... enjoying the wind and sunshine ... seeing the grand beauty of Mother Earth .... feeling the dirt on my hands .... getting mud on my boots ............

Oh Lord My God, when I in awsome wonder, consider all the works They hands have made. I see the stars. I hear the roll of thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed ...... When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze ......

MOST folks on this forum believe in God, as in God of the Holy Bible, The One who created Heaven and Earth .... BUT .... live as if there is not a God.

We hate. We gossip. We are selfish and greedy. We are mean. We steal, cheat, lie. We judge others by their actions, while judging ourselves by our thoughts.
ALL of us have quirks and flaws. ALL of us are imperfect. ALL of us make mistakes. ALL of us error.

The Golden Rule is not "do unto others as you would have them do to you".
The Golden Rules is "Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and body, and love your neighbor as yourself".

LOVE for the outdoors and the deer is something all of Us Hunter have in common. It does not matter if you get out in the woods 2 times a month, or every day, ALL of us love and enjoy being outside in the deer woods. It is called "Common Ground".

But after that one common foundation, WE fall apart and become opposing teams. Gun hunters vs Bow hunters. Dog hunters vs Still hunter. Food plots vs Bait. ATV vs Walking. We differ on limits, restrictions, how to implement laws, rules and regs. Some of us shoot doe deer while others of us protect them.

Drama. Conflict. Chaos. Confusion. DRAMA!!!!
Lack of respect. Lack of Leadership. Lack of Self Discipline.

What is the biggest threat to Sport Hunting?? HUNTERS!!

2+ decades ago I could walk up to a total stranger and ask permission to hunt their property and 90% of the time would gain access. You will get turned down now 99% of the time.

Who competes for land access? Who drives costs of land up? Hunters!!

Who gets lost over dogs crossing property lines? Hunters .... on BOTH sides of the dog fence.

Who wants more, bigger, better, while complaining about costs? Hunters!!

Name the problem, trouble, conflict in the hunting world today and MOST of it comes back to us - Hunters.

Dogs? Nope, it is about Gun ownership. The attack being placed on guns should have HUNTERS up in arms, but we sit on our azz and talk chit on the internet.
How many of us are members of the NRA?
How many of us spend as much time contacting our elected officials about guns as we do sitting on our azz talking chit on this site?

Outlaw Dog Hunting? Think about this .... WHAT IF sport hunting was banned in Alabama, in America, What Would YOU Do?? Be a good little boy and follow the law? Or be an outlaw and continue to hunt?

Me? I would be an outlaw. I have a GOD given RIGHT to hunt. It is in my DNA, placed there by the God of this universe. No local, state or federal government has the right to tell me I cannot hunt. What would you do?

In the grand big scheme of things in LIFE, dogs crossing property lines is not on the list of top 100 most important things. As hunters it is important, but do not ignore the obvious things that need your/my/our attention in life.

Rethink your priorities. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. What is HUNTER's main thing? To preserve all legal methods of sport hunting we can for future generations. To conserve and preserve our natural renewable resources for future generations.

We have a NATIONAL TREASURE here in South Alabama. It is called The Mobile Tensaw Delta. Do HUNTERS (and folks that fish) spend time and energy protecting and preserving this most important treasure? No. We go hunt. We go fish. We fight and feud and argue over dogs, and limits and what the ADCNR does that is wrong and stupid in our eyes.

I will be 50 years old in August. I have been to "hell on earth" 3 times in this time period. I have been through the fire and I have been through the flood. Iv seen lightning flash and heard the thunder of the hardship of life in my life. It has taken me almost 50 years to learn that MOST of what I have fought and argued about and made a priority in my life has ben wasted time, energy and money and in the end, just does not matter.

I used to be caught up in the QDM & QDMA craze, and preached it and practiced it. I could care less any more. When I am on my death bed with 3 minutes of life left in me I will NOT be worried about who killed a button buck, or who killed a buck with a 12" spread. I will want God to give me more time to go hunt with the people I love.

How do WE arrive at the conclusion that shooting a button buck or jake is unethical or immoral?????? Are we stupid, dumb or BOTH????

I want all of us hunters to be on the same team - BUT - when people like "shooter" start their absolute STUPID talking of shooting dogs and some CrAzY spray thing, I want to distance and separate myself from my CrAzY counter part.

The biggest problem hunters face is Land Access.

The attack on the Constitution and our 2nd Amendment Right is unparalleled.

There are MANY things going in that impact us hunters that need our attention and resources then Dogs. Think about it.

Loved the post you are dead on united we stand divided we fall. It's the same thing going on in politics I'm afraid we're in trouble on all fronts though my friend.

Great post sir! I'll never forget as a young teenager the excitement I'd feel when those hounds were closing in...the inevitable crunching leaves, snapping twigs when that deer was coming closer and closer and closer! All I can say is I've never had the same feeling when even the biggest of bucks steps out in a food plot while I'm sitting in a shooting house. Maybe it's just me but I miss those experiences!

I don't think I have seen anybody say they want to outlaw dog hunting, they just don't want the dogs running on their owned, leased or permitted to hunt land. A lot of time the dog hunters are their own worst enemies.

Dog Hunting = Friday Night Bingo
Sittin Still Hunting = Solitaire

Both have their place. Both are valid forms of hunting when good folks who respect their neighbors engage in them.

I do not think I have SEEN anyone SAY they wanted to outlaw dog hunting. I have however heard it with my ears as it rolled off the tounge of another hunter, and I have seen it in written form, on this forum and many other forums.
There are a couple of threads on this site that do portray the opinion and intention of the author to ban dog hunting.

I agree, the dog hunter's worst enemy in regards to dog hunting is the rouge dog hunter. Doggers have not been active or pro-active enough to promote change within the dog hunting ranks, and it has bite us/them in the buttocks.
I agree, the issue is keeping dogs off of properties that they are not invited to be one. I get it. I agree that dog owners need to be responsible for their dogs.

Some if this is perception only. But perception is truth and reality in the eyes of the beholder. In the end, IF doggin is banned it will be because HUNTERs did not close rank and find a positive solution. NOT just doggers, but HUNTERs.

I ask you again .... if sport hunting were made illegal in this nation, what would you do??

If YOUR form of sport hunting came under attack, what would you do? How would you react?

Awesome Post

Great post

If you are asking me, I dog hunted for over 30 years. I had a lot of good dogs that I wouldn't take anything for. When the time came we realized that we would not be able to lease enough contiguous tracts of land that you need to dog hunt without affecting the hunting rights of the other hunters around us. It was a hard decision to make, and dog hunting was not outlawed, but it was the right thing to do. I'm not an advocate of banning dog hunting, but dog hunters need to do everything they can to keep their type of hunting on their property.

Probably figure out a way to keep doing it without stepping on everybody else's toes. Then it wouldn't be under attack any more.

There are outlaws in every form of hunting, bait can't chase deer across three properties though. Just the world we live in. We all have common ground and if certain groups were able to police themselves better these issues wouldn't be as rampant.

Here is my two cents I have learned that I can not control what happens on any property that I do not own or lease so all I worry about is what I can control. So as far as baiters, night hunters and the such, I have not seen where they cause a big problem for me and my hunting( now I do not condone any of these and if it is blatant and I have proof I will definitely be calling my local GW). On the other hand trespassing poachers and dog hunting spills over onto my land that I own or lease and therefor becomes a problem for me. I have personally seen a dog club ruin hunting very quickly and once they were removed I watched as the hunting steadily improved. Land ownership has changed and therefor dog hunters need to learn to adjust or loose their way of hunting because property rights will trump their like of hearing the hounds run in the long term. I grew up hunting with dogs but times have changed and instead of harping on how it is a southern tradition and the such they need to adapt with the times. The Alabama Dog Hunter's Association needs to do a better job of policing their own and trying to build a coalition with non-dog hunters instead of always playing the victim role because more times than not when there is a problem dog hunters have brought it on themselves. I do not care to see dog hunting outlawed, but I will say the day the dog hunting club left the lease next to mine was probably the happiest day of my adult hunting life.....so I do understand those that do.

I don't agree with the premise of your post. Well, I take that back. If it's about hunters banding together, I agree. If it's about forcing landowners/land leasers, etc... to be forced to allow or like your dogs running across any landowners' property without restriction, then I don't agree.

The "bad" in people and the "threat of being sued" is a big reason why you're probably denied access to land. You can blame that on attorneys (attorney's aren't "all" bad) and the people that want to blame everyone except themselves for their troubles! I.E. Like the father that is suing everyone other than his deceased 18+ year old son that fell off a riverboat on the Black Warrior River stating that "they" allowed his son to get drunk and fall off the boat. No, his son got drunk on his own but people can't be held accountable for their own actions I guess!!!

Anyway, the reason why so many hunters are against dog deer hunting is that so many (not all) dog hunters ran over their neighbors and conducted themselves in an unethical manner. And, I was one of them back in the 80's. I don't mind dog deer hunting as that's how I grew up hunting but certainly, dogs can't read property lines and if someone doesn't want a pack of dogs running across their land, they have a right to feel that way.

Why do you seem to equate QDM with "trophy" bucks or the premise that killing a button buck is bad? Trophy bucks/size of antlers are NOT the reason QDM exists. QDM is about having a quality deer herd... nothing more. Does that mean that you "can't" shoot immature bucks? NO, it doesn't. QDM just means to consider the health of the herd rather than your desire to indiscriminately burn powder and abuse the herd. I don't have a problem with what bucks anyone kills..... just don't abuse the deer herd and don't let hunting be all about the "me" and I gotta kill something but rather the conservation, give-and-take of it all.

I killed my first buck in front of dogs and it was a spike and I could not have been more proud! I am fine with anyone doing that! But, I am not in favor of any hunter intruding on his or her neighbor.

Like all things... "bad apples" and sleazy attorneys are the reason why the average person isn't allowed to enjoy what used to be free.

I can't have late night band parties in the backyard of my house because I live in a neighborhood and I would disturb my neighbors. If I lived on several acres and my late night band parties would not bother my neighbors, then I could have them. Same goes for your dogs. Do your dogs cross property lines? Why should a landowner be forced to like your dogs running on their property?

Late night band parties? LOL! I wouldn't have'em even if I could. But I wish I lived on that many acres where I could if I wanted to!!!

Great post! "I have found the enemy, and it is us".

Guys, I was just sharing my thoughts, my heart. That is all. Just asking questions that I ask myself. Putting my thoughts and feelings down in written form. Thats all.

I believe that any open "civil" debate and discussion is good. Hardly does anyone really consider the great debates surrounding the founding of this country. In the end, they all came together for the common good and drafted the documents that hold our nation together today. Those conventions were downright nasty, but in the end, they all prevailed together. That is what I see on this site. I see good-natured, old-fashioned disagreement, and that can be a good thing. What a boring world this would be if everyone was exactly the same. In the words of the greatest preacher outside of Jesus Christ Himself, "Let every man be full persuaded in his own mind".

AMEN MY BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEY NEED TO QUIT BEING CRYBABIES AND TAKE A KID HUNTING!
the quickest way to get a kid to love hunting is with dogs.wether it be running deer,treeing coons,or runing rabbits.the excitement will have them hooked.i don't dog hunt anymore because i don't have the time to work with the dogs like i did when i was young.but i hope and pray that my 2yr old girl will get to experience the trill of the chase like i once did.they outlawed deer dogin in cleburne county when i was younger,but i still remember the rush i first felt.i started coonhunting when i was 16 and loved everynight i spent listening to those blueticks. The point i'm tryin to make is we don't need to let a few bad apples deminish a sport that is a long standing tradition in the south.it's a part of our dna wether you like it our not.if you get dog huntin outlawed,what's next rifle hunting? We live in time where our rights our being took away little by little.so we need to stand together not against each other.
May god bless each and every one on this site and i pray we become a united front

I don't know a single person who has a problem with dog hunting. It's the trespassing part that gets them a little sideways.