Dog Chasing Deer

[triggerpress]

I was out coyote hunting today (I haven't hunted big game for years) and stumbled across a dog chasing a deer. What's the law on this?

I was walking into an area I've never called before and to get in there I had to walk through a large patch of moderately dense birch and poplar. I picked up a wide game trail that was going my way and was about halfway through when a BIG whitetail buck came charging down the trail right at me. I froze expecting the buck to see me and veer off. He just kept on coming hard. Then the realization hit me; if I didn't get off the trail he was going to stick that big rack right into my new camo jacket! When I jumped left he did too, but kept on going by me like I wasn't even there. Wierd!

Then I heard something else coming down the trail and caught a glimpse of black through the trees. "Wolf" was my first thought, but as I brought my rifle up, a big black and white dog (looked like a Husky) came into view. He had the buck's scent and stayed exactly on his track, not even seeing me. I was thinking seriously of pulling the trigger on him, but saw a blue harness/collar as he went by, so I didn't. The nearest residence is a mile away and I've a real sore spot for dogs chasing deer.

What would you do? I've never thought to enquire before, can a person legally take any action at all?

triggerpress

[elkhunter11]

Where I grew up the Fish&Wildlife officers shot dogs seen chasing deer,and other hunters normally did the same.I would have likely stepped out in front of the dog and fired a shot in front of it hoping to break off the chase.

[deanmc]

Might want to check on Alberta law on this but i had a similiar incident when i lived in BC 15 years ago. i asked a co about it and he told me to shoot the dog if it was crown land.

[6.5 shooter]

As Ralph Klien would say shoot shovel and shutup...as for the dogs in my end of the country...if they were loose and causing trouble I would follow Ralph's advice to the letter...minus the shoveling bit

[TreeGuy]

Shouldda shot it. I have in the past and will in the future if need be.

Tree

[Tuc]

I see we have a few here that don't like 'man's best friend'. I would agree with you if the dogs were running at large (wild) and doing so constantly. If a dog goes stray from the farm or is with his owner in the area and chases the occassional deer, I disagree.
I take my pooch along camping in the summer and if a deer comes in too close to camp, he will give chase, only until the deer is out of site and back he comes.

Lets just say, I'd be pretty darn upset if you shot my dog.

[elkhunter11]

I take my pooch along camping in the summer and if a deer comes in too close to camp, he will give chase, only until the deer is out of site and back he comes.

From the description given in the post,this was not the case.

I see we have a few here that don't like 'man's best friend'.

I currently own two dogs,and will likely always own dogs,but I won't let them chase deer.

[canadagrown]

I can't believe some of you would consider shooting a mans dog for chasing a deer. If someone shot my dog in the bush for chasing a deer I would shoot them and bury them out there. May sound a bit harsh but my dog is a member of my family.

[pottymouth]

So let see, so far we got guys on here, that want to shoot, dogs, helicopters, planes, and the occasional horse and that doesn't even include,extra deer and poachers.....and then we wonder why getting permission is so tough......

All i know is that, I wouldn't want to be the guy that shoots my dog!!!!
Unless you think that being famous is having your picture on the back of a milk carton

[300 wsm]

[Q. If a dog goes stray from the farm or is with his owner in the area and chases the occassional deer, I disagree.


Lets just say, I'd be pretty darn upset if you shot my dog.[/QUOTE]

yeah i agree with the above u guys shoot dogs cause they chase deer give ur head a shake thats efin ridonkulous

How much for one of these dog lis and how many can i shoot

Lets just say, I'd be pretty darn upset if you shot my dog.

Lets just say dont let your dog run wild .{Nothing personal}

[beermilk]

Lets just say dont let your dog run wild .{Nothing personal}

alot of people on here have hunting dogs be it for rabbits or upland. you shouldnt assume it is a stray

shooting a mans dog could get you shot.

best thing to do is call the co's or dog pound something other then shooting the dog hes not hurting you.

i hunt my beagle and if someone ever shot her for running deer i better not find out who it is or they will be getting a return favour.

that being said if my dog runs deer it will be punished lucky so far she hasnt ran one while we have been out but i am sure its only a matter of time befor she does

[deanmc]

LMAO last week there was a wonderful thread were people were ready to shoot a human for wanting to feed his dog deer, a gray area of law. Now we have one defending an owners right to let his dog harrass wildlife clearly illegal in even the least educated persons eyes.


Methinks some people are just looking for a fight.

[elkhunter11]

May sound a bit harsh but my dog is a member of my family.

Do you let your children run loose committing illegal acts?

Lets just say dont let your dog run wild

Exactly.

Now we have one defending an owners right to let his dog harrass wildlife clearly illegal in even the least educated persons eyes.

But it's okay,the dog is a member of his family.

[dgl1948]

A reasonable dog owner will not let his dog run deer. If a dog starts running deer it is next to imposable to stop them.

This is from the Sask. Wildlife Regs.
Dogs
19(1) No person shall use a dog for hunting big game or permit a dog accustomed
to pursuing big game to run at large in a locality where big game is usually found.
(2) Any dog found chasing big game may be killed by any person without
incurring any liability.

For those who put there dogs life above a humans, you should seek help.

We operate a farm near a community. We have had some of these family pets start running our livestock. When we approached the owners, the response was that their dogs would not do this. They are part of the family. I am not sure what they thought when these pets stopped returning home.

[Forest Techer]

Charge the owner with ruinning your hunt, charge him again with harassing wildlife, charge him again with trying to hunt big game with a dog. But the first thing you think of is shoot him?>no warning shot? no grabbing the collar? no looking for an owner?

First off a dog can't catch a deer unless there were some extenuating circumstances. (I've heard many stories and most often envolve night time and fences or something of the like)

If the dog is wild (wouldn't trust anyone here to make that call) or threatens someone thats different.

The day this board starts advocating shooting pets is a sad day. From now on when I hear people I don't respect talk about hunters as "trigger happy"(in the bad sense) I now have to think of some of the people on this board. People who are just looking for an excuse to shoot something.

I COMPLETELY understand why horses and livestock get shot now. There are individuals out there that will justify it to themselves and they don't really give a damn about anyone else.

God forbid a kid looses his f'n dog one afternoon and one of you clowns are around.

[classiccanadianblizzard]

Originally Posted by pottymouth

So let see, so far we got guys on here, that want to shoot, dogs, helicopters, planes, and the occasional horse and that doesn't even include,extra deer and poachers.....and then we wonder why getting permission is so tough......

All i know is that, I wouldn't want to be the guy that shoots my dog!!!!
Unless you think that being famous is having your picture on the back of a milk carton

X2

[elkhunter11]

Charge the owner with ruinning your hunt, charge him again with harassing wildlife, charge him again with trying to hunt big game with a dog. But the first thing you think of is shoot him?>no warning shot? no grabbing the collar? no looking for an owner?

First of all,you have to find the owner,then you have to prove it was his dog.And I for one,am not going to try and grab a strange dog by the collar.

First off a dog can't catch a deer unless there were some extenuating circumstances. (I've heard many stories and most often envolve night time and fences or something of the like)

Dogs don't have to actually catch a deer to cause it's death.The link below explains this.

http://www.almaguinforester.com/article/126210

[MK2750]

Originally Posted by Forest Techer

First off a dog can't catch a deer unless there were some extenuating circumstances. (I've heard many stories and most often envolve night time and fences or something of the like)
.

The dog doesn't have to catch the deer, just run him into a sweat in cold weather. The animal is unable to recover from the body temp loss and freezes to death.

MK

Elkhunter beat me to it

[Forest Techer]

oh i understand that completely.

It does not mean that every deer chased in cold weather dies. Also a 3min run and that deer is on its own again. In open country or bush it is pathetic to see a dog try and chase a deer.

I spoke with a rancher that grazes public land (West of Cow lake) and I was told that 300 head of cattle and the only losses he takes is from dogs chasing his cows and one breaks a leg. I believe what he told me as the truth and also that to this rancher dogs could be more hazardous then wolves or grizzlies or cougars (things people look for excusses to kill). He would have more reason to shoot a dog then anything I've heard here. He was smart enough to admit the dog wouldn't be the one to pay for being a dog it would be the family that owns him that would suffer for him shooting the dog.

At least if I went to grabbed the collar and it was aggressive I could say I tried, THEN SHOOT em if you want. Why not Boot the sht outta him?

[elkhunter11]

At least if I went to grabbed the collar and it was aggressive I could say I tried, THEN SHOOT em if you want. Why not Boot the sht outta him?

If you reach out and grab the collar of a big dog and it turns on you,the dog can do a lot of damage before you can recover enough to shoot it,to say nothing of the threat of rabies.And if you kick the crap out of the dog,assuming that it doesn't get the best of you as you try,you might end up facing cruelty to animals charges.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by Tuc

I see we have a few here that don't like 'man's best friend'. I would agree with you if the dogs were running at large (wild) and doing so constantly. If a dog goes stray from the farm or is with his owner in the area and chases the occassional deer, I disagree.
I take my pooch along camping in the summer and if a deer comes in too close to camp, he will give chase, only until the deer is out of site and back he comes.

Lets just say, I'd be pretty darn upset if you shot my dog.

We just had a case in the county, where a pack, there is no other word, of someones dogs killed a bunch of sheep. The owner, on seing his bloody animals decided they had "just" gotten a deer. Legally, I don't think you'd have a leg to stand on. You're admitting you let your dog chase deer, which is illegal in itself. If you're as attached to your dog, as you claim, better tie the bugger up.
Grizz

[sonny]

Check with Fish @ Wildlife, During hunting season in Alberta, dogs must be kenneled or tied up , it is against the law to have dogs running at large in Alberta during hunting season.

[beermilk]

Originally Posted by sonny

Check with Fish @ Wildlife, During hunting season in Alberta, dogs must be kenneled or tied up , it is against the law to have dogs running at large in Alberta during hunting season.

hmm intresting this goes even if the dog is there for the purpose of hunting? so all these guys on here with pointers and bird dogs for whatever use upland, waterfowl rabbits this kind of stuff everyone of them are commiting a crime ?

[Forest Techer]

Punish the owners then.

Nobody brought up animal cruelty when there was talk of shooting on site

thanks beermilk

Sonny maybe you ment..
It is illegal to be accompanied by a dog while big game hunting except for cougars.

Pack of dogs killing sheep yea shoot em. Dog attacking people shoot it. Dog trespassing i would understand shooting it. Dog breaking laws (on public land), find the owner and report him. The answer to soo many questions on this site is shoot'em. Car theives, to stray dogs to politicians use a brain cell every once in awhile Bullets can't solve all your problems

[sonny]

Beermilk, It against the law to have dogs running at large during hunting season. If you are bird hunting , rabbit hunting, you have control of your dogs,

[elkhunter11]

Nobody brought up animal cruelty when there was talk of shooting on site

Providing a dog with a quick kill by shooting it is no more cruelty than shooting a deer with a high powered rifle.Beating either severely,is animal cruelty.

Dog trespassing i would understand shooting it. Dog breaking laws (on public land), find the owner and report him.

Perhaps I missed something,but I didn't see anything in the OP's post about this being on public land.How do you know that it wasn't on private land that the OP had permission to hunt on?

[beermilk]

Originally Posted by sonny

Beermilk, It against the law to have dogs running at large during hunting season. If you are bird hunting , rabbit hunting, you have control of your dogs,

ok right on wasnt sure how that would be taken because it kind of seems to be a gray area there. once the dogs are off leash and searching for game you could make an argument that they are at large.

[Forest Techer]

I was giving examples of situations i see acceptable to do something about it. I never said it was or wasn't anything.

If someone kicked my dog instead of shooting it, he'd get a christmas card from me.

I'm gonna leave this alone because I believe deanmc is right and I think people know better but I will say this.

I work 250+ days a year in the bush, away from roads trails cutblocks everything. Sometimes in cutblock and sometimes near hunters. NOT EVERYONE is a hunter and other people have rights to go to work without getting shot for it. I have the option to carry a handgun or shotgun for protection but I don't, I have 2 dogs. I concentrate and work hard during the day and i don't focus on bears and cougars and other dangers, my dog can and a gun can't. If I carried a gun before I had dogs and shot a bear everytime it was within 30 yrds there could have been over a dozen dead bears. Instead I got a dog that is alert and looks out for my back all day long! If there is a noise I'm not aware of or a smell she checks it out without me being aware. The first season with her I never saw a bear that wasn't already running away from me. You shoot the dog that has had my back all these years and you better have a good reason thats all I'm saying.

By having my dog with me I've saved many bears from pointless death. And you could argue the bears would associate humans with being chased by dogs and have a greater fear of humans.

[mulecrazy]

If it seems as though it is a one off chance the dog is chasing the deer not a chance will I shoot it. What if it is just some random people who went for a nature hike with their pet and it got away from them. Shooting that dog would be a mistake and quite immature. If I have seen the dog do it before or know a hunter is using it too hunt on purpose I would consider shooting it for sure. Heck, in norway it is common to use dogs to hunt moose, much like we use them for cougars.