Rendered bear fat,Virginia Black Bear....

[Renegadehunter]

I've found that baiting is much of the slam dunk that most folks who haven't ever done it seem to think it is.

I meant this to say that baiting ISN'T the slam dunk that most folks think it is.

If there is a way to edit my original post, I didn't see it.

 

[phenix78_99]

Well, HOPEFULLY Virginia takes away something that you enjoy doing as well, the Same day they do away with Hound Hunting

Good luck with that....Bear Hunter Association has BIG pockets in the DGIF an VA Legislature, so won't happen I'd say. They were the reason for getting the separate Bear License which had been apart of the regular big game license to cut down on the number of bear hunters an thus save more bears for them.
A vast majority of hunters were against that license including me, but they went around that an got it passed! I have no desire to hunt or kill a bear, but if one happened along while I was deer hunting I might be tempted. I don't hunt public land any longer in bear territory and won't buy their bear license!

And that's how we lost it!!!! All of it!! If the uninformed public knew the work involved and the amount of game left in the tree to be ran again another day. They might have a different attitude. When bears and lions are in a tree you can identify male and female and size and choose not to take them if you wish. The average boot hunter normally shoots spontaneously and doesn't know what hes got till he rolls it over.

Wow.

First of all, I didn't personally insult anyone. I don't wish anything bad for any of you. This is the only website where I have seen a moderator do that.

Anyway, hound hunting in Virginia is becoming increasingly unpopular as the people you all consider "sportsmen" like us, mess it up for all of us. It's not the dogs, it's not the hunters that won't "stand beside" them, it's the folks that run the dogs, and the way they "hunt." I will never stand shoulder to shoulder with "sportsmen" who conduct themselves the way the a majority of the ones I have interacted with conduct themselves.

Anyway, before hunter's rights come landowner's rights, and therein lies the problem.

As far as being uninformed about the "work involved and the amount of game left in the tree to be ran again another day," I don't care. Until any of you all have lived where my family lives, you are the ones who are uninformed. From late September through January (including before and after any legal seasons) we deal with hounds crossing our 120 acre farm behind the deer/bear, etc. on their way to the river, which is about a mile away as the crow flies. Until your entire hunting day is ruined by a pack of dogs chasing a deer (usually a yearling doe) or bear through your property over and over again as it hits the river and bounces back to your property as it circles, you don't understand. Until you see that the "hunters" are parked off the road in your field drinking beer and standing in the ditch line with a gun, 50 yards from your aging parents' home, hoping a deer or bear pops out on them, you don't understand. Until you have a run in with one of these "hunters" who thinks he's been hunting that way for years, and will continue to do so, you don't understand. Until your aging father tells you over the phone while you are powerless to help him from across the other side of the world that a "hunter" threatened to beat his a$$ for asking him to get his truck off of his property, you don't understand. Until you figure out the "hunters" really have no interest in recovering their hounds until after dark just for a chance to shoot a deer or bear off of someone else's property until last light, you don't understand. Until you have someone shoot at your dog barking at the "hunters" with a .22, you don't understand. Until you wake up in the morning and find a malnourished, diseased hunting dog curled up on your porch or in your garage, feed him, show him some kindness, and then take them to the dog shelter by the pair, you don't understand. Until you have tried to feed two or three abandoned hounds who won't let anyone touch them, and watch them fade to death, you don't understand. Until you have apathetic "sheriff's deputies" and over extended conservation police officers either be unwilling or unable to address any of the aforementioned problems, you don't understand. And by the way, I have been in State or Federal law enforcement now for over 15 years, following my time in the Army, but I can't be at home all the time.

Your rights end where mine begin...if as a sportsman you don't believe that, you are wrong. I know many folks would also argue that what I have described above is the exception rather than the rule, which is a bald-faced lie. This is the rule in Southside Virginia, not just where my family lives. This is why I hope hound hunting ends in Virginia, and why it eventually will; it has nothing to do with the hounds, but it has everything to do with the people some of you suggest we should unite with. And by the way, a couple of years ago, legislation to fine "dog hunters" for running dogs across property that is posted $250 only failed to pass by one vote. So, for those of you in Virginia who think it's not coming at some point, you are sadly mistaken.

I thought this was an open forum to discuss "anything" but clearly it is only acceptable to do so if you agree with everyone else's point of view; it's like CNN or MSNBC. Thanks for the lesson gentlemen, I appreciate it.

 

[phenix78_99]

Oh, and by the way, in Virginia, we have a right to retrieve law where anyone can come on your property at any time to retrieve their hound. Most of the time, they have no luck, and do not get their dogs back until the dog is too tired to run and piles up by the road or goes to the landowner's house, and the landowner calls the dogs' owner. While they are supposed to have no weapons in their possession, not bring vehicles on your property, make an effort to make contact with the landowner, and present identification when asked for it by the landowner, you could fit those "hunters" that do in your living room Instead, some use it as an excuse to park on your property, slip down in the woods out of plain sight, shoot the game, and get out of there with a quickness. But that is what most criminals do, they hide in the loopholes of the law and exploit them while the rest of us abide by them.

 

[munchoman]

phenix78_99, years ago when coon prices were high, I did some hunting with a group. I never seen anything like what you describe here.
But I sure as heck, would not handle a pack of dogs, running though the area I was hunting very well. What's going on at your family farm is a bunch of crap, and I hope it gets resolved.

 

[toytruck]

phenix78_99, I hope my post above didn't offend you, it wasn't meant to in anyway! I was referring to the way the Bear Hunter's went around the majority of big game hunters an got their new Bear License passed. DGIF went along with it for the extra $$$ although they will say it was to save more bears too. They also now have a extended bear chase season starting in September w/o weapons and a three day bear season before deer seasons open. Guess what happens to the deer...
I live on the western side of VA in the valley where hunting for bear with dogs is legal. I don't have a problem as such with that, but I have seen first hand bear dogs chasing deer during deer seasons when bear is also legal. Most bear hound owners won't admit it, but its just in a dogs DNA to chase a deer. These dogs have ruined more than one hunt for me.

There are a lot of slob hunters out there, I would have a big problem with the way they are treating your parents and property also.

 

[MSalyards]

I have to sense a little BS here. I have never seen a State that has hound hunting seasons during a rifle season . Maybe they do where you hunt deer with dogs. Most all hound hunters use telemetry or GPS to keep track of there dogs and they defiantly are not malnourished. There are laws for that. If you are in law enforcement why didn't you take care of the problem. Bears and dogs cant read and the few times mine have ended up on private property I always contacted the landowner prior to retrieval. You make it sound like all houndsmen are slob hunters and maybe it was an attitude that got someone threatened with a butt whipping. Maybe a simple idea of working with your local game commission or DNR so that your seasons do not coincide would help. Or maybe its just the fact that certain people are just lousy hunters and jealous of other hunters that get more game. Trust me, Ive been there and seen it all. The hippies and anti hunters have taken my seasons, both hunting and trapping away. And I have no use for bunny huggers! Rant over!!

 

[Idaholewis]

I have to sense a little BS here.

Yea, From the very beginning.

Then Mr. Virginia hops aboard with “I am looking forward to the day when hound hunting is no longer allowed in Virginia”
That is NOT what the thread was about in the beginning. NOBODY asked his opinion of Hound Hunting in Virginia. He felt the need to throw it out there due to his obvious Deep rooted problem with it.

My final take on this, From this point on, Keep it to the Original OP’s Question of “Rendered Bear Fat” If phenix78_99 would like to Debate Hound Hunting in Virginia, Then he can start his own Thread about it, and we can Debate it there

 

[toytruck]

Just to add VA. does allow dog hunting for deer in the eastern half of the state (east of I-81) during big game deer/bear season; and dog hunting is allowed in the western part of state (west of I-81) for bear only, not deer. Its been that way longer than I've been on this planet (66 years) probably since colonial times. We also have Fox hunting on horseback season, but that's another story....