Well, here i go getting into the middle of it. I will just come right out and say it. I dispise the whole chasing and hunting from a vehicle thing. In my area in northern Missouri the group of 4 wheel drive pickups do everything in the book wrong. You are not supposed to pursue or harrass animals with motorized vehicles or with the use of radios or phones. In addition to that you are not supposed to have a loaded gun in a vehicle. I see them do it all of the time. They also like to park in the road to listen for dogs chasing which is a real danger in most places. They also don't have permission to shoot a coyote on most people's property where they are chasing and it is illegal to shoot from a public road anyway. I try to make informed decisions before I speak and this topic really p!$$es me off!
Let me give you a short version of a true story that happened to me. It was in late February a few years back. It was a beautiful 50 degree Sunday so the kids went outside to play on the swing set. Keep in mind that I live in a very isolated place with very few neighbors and no landowners that give permission to hunt. Here came the road hunters. They stopped on every hill as far as I could see including right in front of my house. I could hear the dogs running through my place. I looked out in the hay field and a dog was chasing a coyote. The coyote would just play with the dogs. He would go over one hill and circle back and just sit down and wait as the dogs went past him and then followed his scent to him and he would pull the same move again. As I went out to talk to the guy parked in our yard and make sure the kids were ok the coyote came running between my house and me and the swing set and kids. I am not kidding. He ran within 10 feet of my kids and the dogs were not far behind. Needless to say, it scared the crap out of the kids and the worste part was when I looked down the road both directions there were guys standing in the middle of the road with their guns pointed toward our yard looking through their scopes. I was furious and sent the kids inside immediately and jumped into my pickup and drove over to the closest one. The one in the yard had left by then. The guy could tell i was not happy when i pulled up. I got out and asked what in the heck he was doing pointing a gun at my house with my kids in the yard. He just said "it isn't even loaded and i just wanted to see what was going on with the coyote" I didn't get a chance to say anything else as he sped away. I saw him talking on his CB to his other buddies and i am sure they had a good laugh. I called the game warden and he said that there was nothing i could do. As far as i can tell there is nothing i can do. It still p!$$es me off when i am setting in a bow stand and hear dogs coming.
Sorry it was such a long story but i felt it had to be told. I still see hunters running the roads and dogs chasing on posted property and i always ask myself "How can this be legal? They can't even shoot one if they see it, legally. And how can they call something "fun" that involves so many violations?"
Thanks for letting me vent. I am sure there are respectable dog hunters out there but just not in my area. And to those of you who are ethical and get permission and do things right, I mean no bad feelings. It is like every other sport. The bad players always get the attention.
MG
