Feral dog hunting... memories from my youth
- Thread starter Jbabbler
- Start date
- Status
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
That tired old shotgun myth never dies...
wulfhart
Member
It's like giant fuzzy clay pigeons that bite you.
Aiming??? Come one, everybody knows shotguns can't miss and dogs are level 1's with only have 5 hitpoints with no shields.
Seriously, I would want a shotgun in this instance too. I am simply better with a shotgun at the OP's range. However, I have a feeling that dogs getting that close while hunting doesn't happen too often.
KodiakBeer
member
I grew up in farm country thirty miles out of Detroit (now suburbs...) and we used to shoot a lot of feral cats. They were everywhere and I'm sure they hugely impacted the pheasants and rabbits we were usually hunting. The thing I remember most was how hard they were to kill. A load of #6 wouldn't ever just kill them, you'd have to walk up and shoot them again from close range.
We'd occasionally see lone feral dogs (never saw packs), but I could never bring myself to shoot them. A starving mutt once followed us back to our car, and my friend took it home and it became his dog.
We'd occasionally see lone feral dogs (never saw packs), but I could never bring myself to shoot them. A starving mutt once followed us back to our car, and my friend took it home and it became his dog.
I think you missed my point. I wasn't saying that he shouldn't have adopted it. We adopted 2 of the little buggers ourselves. I'm saying that a house pet that somehow ends up alone, hungry and away from home will act completely different than he will if he joins up with a hunter pack.
You are correct I misunderstood your post.
I would add and this is a general comment not directed at you or anyone specific here that we should have sympathy for these dogs afterall they are only trying to survive-NOTE I've shot feral dogs as well, though I believe in doing it as humanely as possible and if I can get them to an animal shelter I do so
Quoheleth
Member
We had a pack take down our small herd of 4 (or was it 5?) 200lb calves when I was in grade school. Drug 'em down, hamstrung them and killed two outright. The others were mauled but left barely alive. I found them - Wednesday mornings, Dad would go to a men's Bible study at church, so I did chores - and had to put them down.
We called the local sherriff's deputy whom Dad knew and he told us that if the dogs were on our premesis we could "exercise extreme prejudice" against the dogs. The next three weekends my best friend and I hunted our adjoining pastures, he with a Ruger .308 and me with a Savage .270. We bagged a couple at varying ranges, all over 100 yards. My best shot was 200 long jogging strides. His was just short of that.
We saw a few more after than, and from the morning I had to put down the calves until I left for college, I never went out in the morning or evening without at least a .22 rifle or pistol.
Q
We called the local sherriff's deputy whom Dad knew and he told us that if the dogs were on our premesis we could "exercise extreme prejudice" against the dogs. The next three weekends my best friend and I hunted our adjoining pastures, he with a Ruger .308 and me with a Savage .270. We bagged a couple at varying ranges, all over 100 yards. My best shot was 200 long jogging strides. His was just short of that.
We saw a few more after than, and from the morning I had to put down the calves until I left for college, I never went out in the morning or evening without at least a .22 rifle or pistol.
Q
Feral dogs
Have shot a number of wild dogs in the past. Haven't seen any in a while. After a generation or two, or a old surviving wild dog, they look different . Both in appearance and mannerism. Their heads get bigger, their tails are short and scrubby. Their bodies look different. Their mannerism always looks like they are unemployed. It generally takes more than 3 inna pack to go after a person.I have run into a small pack twice, maybe 3 -5 dogs.I got 2 with a.22 both times. Over time eliminated some or all of the rest with .22 Rem Jet. Good dog surpriser.
I hunt in northern Wisconsin, we used to see more dogs , haven't seen any in a few years. We shoot every dog and cat hunting on their own .
Even seen a few dogs commit suicide.
Cisco
Have shot a number of wild dogs in the past. Haven't seen any in a while. After a generation or two, or a old surviving wild dog, they look different . Both in appearance and mannerism. Their heads get bigger, their tails are short and scrubby. Their bodies look different. Their mannerism always looks like they are unemployed. It generally takes more than 3 inna pack to go after a person.I have run into a small pack twice, maybe 3 -5 dogs.I got 2 with a.22 both times. Over time eliminated some or all of the rest with .22 Rem Jet. Good dog surpriser.
I hunt in northern Wisconsin, we used to see more dogs , haven't seen any in a few years. We shoot every dog and cat hunting on their own .
Even seen a few dogs commit suicide.
Cisco
MattTheHat
Member
I seem to recall reading that with random breeding, even pure bred dogs would return completely to the classic "wild dog" in both appearance and temperament, within five to seven generations. Don't know if it's truer or not, but it would sure explain the aggressiveness mentioned in this thread.
-Matt
-Matt
FLAvalanche
Member
See!?!? How can you shoot these wonderful wild doggies? They're obviously helping our gene pool by preying on the sick, lame and lazy.
fireside44
member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2009
- Messages
- 1,145
Surprised to see this thread. I preached shooting feral dogs for some years and mostly received harsh condemnation from others, including most hunters I knew at the time, which really makes no sense. Seems now that the problem has increased over the years there are more people who see the good sense in it.
Same for cats with no collar.
Same for cats with no collar.
I was invited to go down and clear some land again this coming weekend. Apparently there is a very large pack or multiple packs taking down livestock at a neighboring farm. We called the Sheriff to ask if it was permitted and he said that it was "encouraged" and to have at it. I asked one of my friends who loves to hunt deer to come along and he looked at me with disgust. He said "I can't believe you would look at a beautiful lab with his tongue hanging out and kill him". I tried explaining to him that what he was picturing was something from a Disney movie and that feral dogs were just like coyotes. Apparently people are tossing their dogs a lot more now that the economy is in the crapper and the local governments aren't policing them like they did before.
I will be going this weekend. Now I just have to decide which rifle to use... SKS, Mak90 or M44 decisions... decisions...
I will be going this weekend. Now I just have to decide which rifle to use... SKS, Mak90 or M44 decisions... decisions...
Last edited:
LeonCarr
Member
While deer hunting one afternoon in beautiful San Jacinto County, Texas, I was watching several does on a logging clearcut when two Heinz 57 type feral dogs came out and chased them away. Neither had collars, but both had 150 Nosler Ballistic Tips from a .308 shortly thereafter.
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
Gonna get worse as the economy gets worse. Not just dogs. Horses, as well.
Justin Holder
Member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2010
- Messages
- 484
Yeah, but you can eat a horse.
mstirton
Member
feral horses?
I've seen a few strays but never a pack. Walking up on a pack in a narrow creek bed with high walls would be a little scary... also a little fun if with a buddy and 2 ARs.
I've seen a few strays but never a pack. Walking up on a pack in a narrow creek bed with high walls would be a little scary... also a little fun if with a buddy and 2 ARs.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
People have always dumped cats and dogs out in the country. Now, add horses--which can do bad things when intersecting with a car or pickup.
Safety tips: Driving at night, if you see a large animal in front of you, dim the lights and hit the horn.
If it's a deer in front of you, odds are that the deer's reflexes are to return to where it was known to be safe, so you try to steer to the deer's front.
Cows? Cows don't want to be headed back from where they were going, so you try to steer to the rear of a cow.
Horses, however, are suicidal. They will do their absolute best to remain in front of the headlights. Pray. A horse is an eight-hundred-pound bug coming through your windshield.
Hogs are boulders with legs. Don't hit one, but if you must, center it to avoid a rollover. And pray.
Safety tips: Driving at night, if you see a large animal in front of you, dim the lights and hit the horn.
If it's a deer in front of you, odds are that the deer's reflexes are to return to where it was known to be safe, so you try to steer to the deer's front.
Cows? Cows don't want to be headed back from where they were going, so you try to steer to the rear of a cow.
Horses, however, are suicidal. They will do their absolute best to remain in front of the headlights. Pray. A horse is an eight-hundred-pound bug coming through your windshield.
Hogs are boulders with legs. Don't hit one, but if you must, center it to avoid a rollover. And pray.
jimmyraythomason
Member
Not so much here but it is illegal to kill one in Alabama. The state made that a felony. Any dog that becomes a problem just disappears. No one ever knows where it went........
Zombiphobia
Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2010
- Messages
- 646
I grew up on a farm and we'd occasionally have problems with strays and ferals. They carry diseases and can cause major problems.
Had one come up and decide to hang out on our porch once, he was snarling and foaming at the mouth. A .22LR shot to the head put an end to that.
Never had large packs like that though. At the most there would be 3 or 4 together roaming for food. Besides the rabid one on our porch none of them ever showed any aggression to people.
Had one come up and decide to hang out on our porch once, he was snarling and foaming at the mouth. A .22LR shot to the head put an end to that.
Never had large packs like that though. At the most there would be 3 or 4 together roaming for food. Besides the rabid one on our porch none of them ever showed any aggression to people.
Jalexander
Member
Last spring and summer, during the height of the drouth in central Texas, we lost eight head of cattle to packs of dogs from the subdivision on the other side of my fence. The dogs weren't feral - they were pets that had banded together to roam around and cause trouble. The dogs never ate any of the cattle, either, they just ran them to death and trotted back home.
I feel bad about shooting dogs, but since they cost us over $5000, not counting the calves we won't get out of those cows... Too bad. I think we and the neighboring ranch cleaned them out pretty well, but if I never see another dog pack, it'll be too soon.
I feel bad about shooting dogs, but since they cost us over $5000, not counting the calves we won't get out of those cows... Too bad. I think we and the neighboring ranch cleaned them out pretty well, but if I never see another dog pack, it'll be too soon.
- Status
