This is a tough one because nearly all Eastern hunters support baiting for black bear, but due to conflicts and trespassing, a growing number of pro-hunting non-hunters and hunters alike no longer support dog hunting unless the dogs are under the control of the owner or within owners sight or shock collar.
In the 21st Century, the act of releasing hounds in fairly populated area's to run all over other people's property is an activity that is as out of date as smoking in a hospital waiting room.
Bear baiting is no problem, but on my land I have endless headaches from people that release packs of dogs on some nearby small public parcels and they then run for miles and all over mostly private land, where they are not wanted in anyway. To make matters worse, there's several well documented cases where the houndsmen are killing bears on the private land of others, which is very illegal. Trailcams are now showing just how common it is.
My only trespass problems on my land is with hounds and their owners running bear and coyote and coming onto my land every weekend day for weeks at a time in late Summer and Fall. (Winter with coyotes). I have no other trespass problems with small game or deer hunters. In fact, I'll allow strangers who ask to hunt coyotes by calling them in.
In Michigan, hound owners can legally trespass on the land of others. So what they do is release dogs close to good private land and run all the game off that land that they otherwise could never hunt. Then, they can go onto your land, claiming they are looking for their dogs. It's all legal. Total BS.
Of all my neighbors, and everyone is a hunter, we'd all vote to ban hound hunting not because of ethics, but because of endless trespassing and the "you can't do a damn thing about me trespassing" attitude of the houndsmen I've repeatedly asked to leave my land. Keep in mind, the houndsmen are not locals or neighbors and they have only very small public parcels in which to release their dogs. There's been years where either me or my neighbors had to call the CO every weekend that they can run dogs.
I have no problem if hound hunters went to the UP where they have 1000's of public acres in which to run, but releasing 6 dogs on 160 acres of public land surrounded by private is another. Better yet, they could buy their own club and fence it and run their dogs to their hearts delight.
A solution for Michigan is allowing hounds in the UP only or banning electronics on dogs that allows them to run and be tracked for long distances. Keep the dogs on a leash and give the owners some very much needed exercise.
But the days of running dogs thru the exurbia, bedroom communities and rural suburbs are coming to an end. The houndsmen have created a situation where they have really PO'd otherwise neutral non-hunters and one where even many sportsmen are not going to come to their defense, due to their aggressive trespassing. And that's a shame.
Topic: Maine bear hunting under attack (Read 1011 times)
