Are you really safe in the woods?

[RobRed]

A few weeks back my 75 year old father in law asked if he could walk our dog. He has bad arthritis and hooked the leash on the collar wrong. They were out walking and my dog realizes he’s free and starts darting around wanting to play. He ran up against the neighbors land a couple of times. Sure glad non of you felt the need to shoot or purposefully run over our family pet because he accidentally got loose

I’ve brought my neighbors dogs back home many times, they were all thrilled I found them. Never once had thought they should be killed

 

[earlwb]

I carry pretty much all of the time anymore. The vicious two legged kind worries me more than the wild animals do. But you never know anymore. When I was young they used to organize hunts for feral dog packs. The dogs would attack ranchers and farmers livestock. Not for food but for fun they would kill the cows or goats and leave the carcass without eating it. So we had to get rid of them. I am sure the animal rights people would all be screaming about it if they knew.

 

[smokepolehall]

A few weeks back my 75 year old father in law asked if he could walk our dog. He has bad arthritis and hooked the leash on the collar wrong. They were out walking and my dog realizes he’s free and starts darting around wanting to play. He ran up against the neighbors land a couple of times. Sure glad non of you felt the need to shoot or purposefully run over our family pet because he accidentally got loose

I’ve brought my neighbors dogs back home many times, they were all thrilled I found them. Never once had thought they should be killed

I don't just shoot a dog or cat. Everyday n night i have between 8-15 on our 4 acres here. They don't belong to me n most don't have collars on. I just make sure they don't jump on our 3 littler dogs when they go out. Other than that i just call all those others pups n talk to them while doing chores. So far i have not had the 1st one show any uglyness towards me n my 3 lil ones. I sure want it to stay that way. I really love furbabies

 

[CatamountRob]

I carry a Glock 43 when I’m picking mushrooms or out running trail cameras since I spend most of my time way out on a gated road. Not so much for animals but for the type of people I might meet out there. Sometimes I just stick it in my pocket rather than holstering it.

 

[toytruck]

I would never kill a neighbors dog or cat unless it was rabid or a threat! I let a "dog" go past me once while I was deer hunting and didn't want to alarm any deer. Once it was gone I realized it probably was a coyote. Never did see a deer...never saw that animal again.

 

[RobRed]

I don't just shoot a dog or cat. Everyday n night i have between 8-15 on our 4 acres here. They don't belong to me n most don't have collars on. I just make sure they don't jump on our 3 littler dogs when they go out. Other than that i just call all those others pups n talk to them while doing chores. So far i have not had the 1st one show any uglyness towards me n my 3 lil ones. I sure want it to stay that way. I really love furbabies

I realize there are times when action is needed. The thing that sets me off is when folks talk about a collared dog with tags barking 50 yards away as aggressive. Dogs love to bark!

Also a dog that chases a vehicle is not displaying aggressive behavior, my dog is hard wired to herd cows he will try to herd anything.

Now a truly feral dog that won’t keep its distance and is showing teeth with its ears pinned back is a different story, I never see those where I am so I don’t have that experience.

 

[MrTom]

I was picking morels one fine spring day on some land I had permission to hunt on. I parked in the owner barn lot that day to hunt below the yard. The owner and I talked a few minutes and his dog was getting a pet or two. When I left to hit the woods, he had to call his dog back and I gave it no thought. A while later I stumbled on a real prize of a tree, a huge dead elm that was still wearing about half of its bark, in spite of the bark being quite loose. Where bark had fallen to the ground most had begun to slide down the steep hillside immediately behind the tree. That's where the mushrooms were at and just thick, so I eventually got maneuvered below the bark slide and worked my way uphill since seeing the morels was easier this way. Mind you the woods were dead calm, hardly a sound and I was fully focused on the mushrooms. I had boots and long pants on but had shed my outer shirt because I was getting pretty warm. So here I was o my knees looking uphill at about a 45-degree angle when out of nowhere I feel this ice cold, wet whatever nudge me in the armpit. Inside the loose sleeve. After getting myself out of the treetops, I found the guy's dog laying right where I had been kneeling, tail wagging, looking for some petting. Apparently when the guy left for work the dog decided to see where I went. Scared the bejesus out of me. Otherwise, I haven't had any dog encounters other than coyotes. They get the benefit of hearing the gun go off.

I've seen packs of wild dogs chasing deer across fields during the season while driving from one hunting spot to another, but shooting wasn't an option. In our state its perfectly legal to take dogs that are chasing deer, when the deer are fawning but the rules to take them are too vague for me to even think about it. I already mentioned that I love dogs, but I do think if I saw dogs on a deer while in the stand, I'd send some lead that way especially if the dog are not wearing collars. In just about every county I hunt in even farm dogs are required to be collared and wearing a license and a current rabies shot tag.

It all boils down to not being the dog's fault. It's the A-hole owner that doesn't care what the dog gets into. There are a few of them that ought to get the bag over the head and some group therapy.

 

[d414hiker]

Most dangerous thing in the woods is ticks

For what it's worth, Ive pulled engourged deer ticks off me about 10 separate timess over about 6-10 years and have been diagnosed with Lyme disease several times. The worst case affected me with two months of tiredness only (as far as I can tell anyway. With that event, I made the mistake of trying

Doxycycline. For me, the cure was worse than the disease. It made me much sicker then the Lyme disease.​

I Quit the Doxycycline after a week. After 2 months I didn't feel any illness. I'm about 5 years older now and I'm not aware of any effects of Lyme disease.
However I've met several people who say they had bad effects after getting bitten by deer ticks.

 

[Okie Hog]

It's fashionable in SW Oklahoma for folks to remove the collars from unwanted dogs and turn them loose. The small dogs are soon killed by coyotes. i've had several rodeos with stray dogs including a big Samoyed.

Few years ago i got a call from a rancher lady whose husband was serving in Iraq. Two pit bulls were chasing her cattle; i grabbed the AR-15 and was off. i killed both of those dogs. Several of the cattle were torn up by the dogs. One dog had a collar with the owners name. That person was sued.

Our county lacks a dog warden. If the dog is a threat to humans, pets or livestock you simply take care of business.

The threat is much greater in residential neighborhoods, Bubba has big bad dogs guarding his stash.

https://www.nationalpitbullvictimaw...tabase-keywords?wdt_column_filter[5]=Oklahoma

 

[MrTom]

I've had the target twice from imbedded ticks and got the Doxycycline go round. I'm on an A-Fib medication that makes taking most all of the usual antibiotics impossible for me and currently I'm on Doxy and Prednisone for bronchial issues. It's not fun stuff, especially during the summer months when a guy like to dress in short everything. Doxy can make people taking it hypersensitive to both sun and artificial sun light. And sunscreen offers no help.

 

[WP79Vet]

A few weeks back my 75 year old father in law asked if he could walk our dog. He has bad arthritis and hooked the leash on the collar wrong. They were out walking and my dog realizes he’s free and starts darting around wanting to play. He ran up against the neighbors land a couple of times. Sure glad non of you felt the need to shoot or purposefully run over our family pet because he accidentally got loose

I’ve brought my neighbors dogs back home many times, they were all thrilled I found them. Never once had thought they should be killed

Always a judgement call.

Everybody's dog or cat gets loose every now and then, so I can't fault anybody else when their pet gets loose - as long as they're making a reasonable effort to keep their pets and livestock under control. It's very irritating when you have neighbors who don't even make any effort to keep their pets and livestock on their own property, and we've had a few neighbors like that, but so far it's never gotten to the point that I would just shoot the animal.

In fact, I've never shot a neighbors animal.... but if any animal attacked me (or anybody else), or my pets or livestock, I'd shoot without a moment's hesitation if the incident occurred on my property or on public land.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I have had dogs all my life n they have always been good & nice. I treat them well, the three we have now are smaller n we keep them inside cept when they have their needs n its good outside for them to play. Maybe people don't treat theirs well, i have saw some real shabby treatment of animals in my time. I have always felt those type of people will treat other people the same way they do their animals. I have no use for those who are mean n cruel to other people or animals

People that are cruel to animals, mistreats them, and YES, leaving them outside in all kinds of weather is mistreating them. These miscreants are on step removed from treating people the same. Sadly to say, there is a lot of it in the South where 'red neck" mentality is prevalent when it comes to caring for animals. IMHO

 

[Snake Pleskin]

A few weeks back my 75 year old father in law asked if he could walk our dog. He has bad arthritis and hooked the leash on the collar wrong. They were out walking and my dog realizes he’s free and starts darting around wanting to play. He ran up against the neighbors land a couple of times. Sure glad non of you felt the need to shoot or purposefully run over our family pet because he accidentally got loose

I’ve brought my neighbors dogs back home many times, they were all thrilled I found them. Never once had thought they should be killed

I imagine the dogs you brought back were not used and abused low life macho Pit Bulls etc that are dangerous and have the worst record for attacks going!

 

[WP79Vet]

People that are cruel to animals, mistreats them, and YES, leaving them outside in all kinds of weather is mistreating them. These miscreants are on step removed from treating people the same. Sadly to say, there is a lot of it in the South where 'red neck" mentality is prevalent when it comes to caring for animals. IMHO

I can't stand any kind of cruelty to animals. Here and in rural Eastern WA there seem to be lots of people who think it's fine to transport their dog in the back of an open pickup, even when the weather is in the teens or colder. Bad enough when the dog is in an open kennel with no way to get out of the wind and cold, but if the dog is loose or is just tethered to something, in any kind of weather, chances are excellent that it will jump out at some point and either get killed outright or badly crippled. I once saw a tethered dog jump out and hang by its collar, twisting, struggling, and bouncing off the ground and the side of the truck, for close to a mile.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

I can't stand any kind of cruelty to animals. Here and in rural Eastern WA there seem to be lots of people who think it's fine to transport their dog in the back of an open pickup, even when the weather is in the teens or colder. Bad enough when the dog is in an open kennel with no way to get out of the wind and cold, but if the dog is loose or is just tethered to something, in any kind of weather, chances are excellent that it will jump out at some point and either get killed outright or badly crippled. I once saw a tethered dog jump out and hang by its collar, twisting, struggling, and bouncing off the ground and the side of the truck, for close to a mile.

I agree with you 110%!

 

[Filthy Bore]

I agree with my family now about having some sort of communication or system in place when I venture out into the woods. That being said, I also agree of the many dangers that we stumble upon out there. I was tracked by a mountain lion in Nebraska once on a turkey hunt due to my ignorance of the den I was walking by. Never even seen it, only the tracks in my boot prints. That made me a little more aware of my surroundings. I've had a few run ins with coyotes,raccoons, skunks, snakes, and bulls.But what really made me freak out the past few years was the now dead ash trees falling. I avoid really windy days now and always carry my phone when I go out. I don't want my family to worry about me while I'm enjoying the outdoors. So I try to take more precautions. I feel for the guy in Georgia as we normally wouldn't think much about dogs attacking. That would be absolute hell! This would change your every day life as many of us have dogs and you would lose trust and develop a fear of them.

 

[fishhawk2700]

A few weeks back my 75 year old father in law asked if he could walk our dog. He has bad arthritis and hooked the leash on the collar wrong. They were out walking and my dog realizes he’s free and starts darting around wanting to play. He ran up against the neighbors land a couple of times. Sure glad non of you felt the need to shoot or purposefully run over our family pet because he accidentally got loose

I’ve brought my neighbors dogs back home many times, they were all thrilled I found them. Never once had thought they should be killed

I don't arbitrarily shoot any dog that I see in the woods or around the farm. I have called neighbors to come get their dogs many times and if they don't, animal control gets called. Our county has a leash law but some people think they can just let their dogs run. Sometimes those dogs that are allowed to run free start chasing deer. once they start chasing deer, the next step is chasing livestock, and around a dairy farm, well, that's not going to happen. I don't have a problem with dogs, I just have a problem with ignorant dog owners that don't take proper care of them.

 

[WP79Vet]

I agree with my family now about having some sort of communication or system in place when I venture out into the woods. That being said, I also agree of the many dangers that we stumble upon out there. I was tracked by a mountain lion in Nebraska once on a turkey hunt due to my ignorance of the den I was walking by. Never even seen it, only the tracks in my boot prints. That made me a little more aware of my surroundings. I've had a few run ins with coyotes,raccoons, skunks, snakes, and bulls.But what really made me freak out the past few years was the now dead ash trees falling. I avoid really windy days now and always carry my phone when I go out. I don't want my family to worry about me while I'm enjoying the outdoors. So I try to take more precautions. I feel for the guy in Georgia as we normally wouldn't think much about dogs attacking. That would be absolute hell! This would change your every day life as many of us have dogs and you would lose trust and develop a fear of them.

I have a Garmin In-Touch Mini. I really should carry it whenever I'm out by myself.... but at least I carry it when I'm big game hunting.

 

[JeffB1961]

I can't stand any kind of cruelty to animals. Here and in rural Eastern WA there seem to be lots of people who think it's fine to transport their dog in the back of an open pickup, even when the weather is in the teens or colder. Bad enough when the dog is in an open kennel with no way to get out of the wind and cold, but if the dog is loose or is just tethered to something, in any kind of weather, chances are excellent that it will jump out at some point and either get killed outright or badly crippled. I once saw a tethered dog jump out and hang by its collar, twisting, struggling, and bouncing off the ground and the side of the truck, for close to a mile.

we see folks around here with loose dogs on their flatbeds fairly often . it both pisses us off and scares us for the dogs ! we just can't drive behind them so we pass and hope the dog get home ok . yeah , they have probably rode that way for years but i always think what if the driver has to swerve or brake hard because of traffic or something on/near the road .

 

[kerryman71]

We live in the city, but in a fairly wooded area, so we often get coyotes walking along. At one point we had a red fox family come around a couple years in a row.

My PITA neighbor has a couple of those small yippy dogs. Never on a leash, always come running at people as their walking, going to their car etc. We get the obligatory "Don't worry, they don't bite" If you were ever a paper boy, you'd realize those are famous last words.

They let the dogs out late at night when his dirtbag of a girlfriend's daughter comes to pick up her kids, so we get to hear the yipping and yapping. Eventually he goes out and stands there yelling for them. One time I said to my wife "I wish a few of the coyotes would show up right now!" She said it isn't the poor dogs fault. I told her I meant so it could rip his ass to shreds, not the dogs!