AdventureSheepies t1_j915yfg wrote
I’ve come across bear hunting dogs with radio collars before. One of them wanted nothing to do with me, but the other was friendly and followed me down the road. Eventually a very grumpy dude with a pickup came by and had the dogs jump into the crates in the back of the truck. I was concerned because I ran into these dogs on a road where cars were going 40+ mph.
Basically the dogs will chase an animal down until it’s exhausted and cornered, and the hunter will eventually show up and shoot the bear or raccoon or whatever. The hunter can be miles away in a truck just following from a safe distance. Well trained or no, there is no way these dogs are under control. They pass into posted land if that’s where their target runs, and then the hunters have to ask permission to retrieve their dogs.
There was an incident a few years ago where a few hikers and their puppy were attacked. https://www.vermontpublic.org/vpr-news/2019-11-26/hikers-attacked-by-bear-hunting-dogs-legislators-consider-changing-regulations?_amp=true
Rouxwillruleyou t1_j92dnwg wrote
This article so seriously downplays that incident. The guy who owned these dogs is a well known asshole and nuisance in the town I grew up in, has no respect for landowners, and is seriously nasty to deal with when asked by landowners to keep his (obviously dangerous) dogs off of their posted property. He is not from the town he hunts in but spends a ton of time roaming all over my hometown, and others, during hunting season. I am scared for my parents every hunting season because of this guy and people like him. Guys like this give the entire tradition a bad name, and this incident shows how badly things can go wrong when the dog owner is not attentive or responsible.
AdventureSheepies t1_j92fc00 wrote
That’s fair, I had only heard about the incident and this was the first article I came across.
Rouxwillruleyou t1_j92g9ws wrote
Oh not meant as a criticism of you in any way, just wanted to add how scary this actually was, the woman was rightfully scared for her life.
AdventureSheepies t1_j92hp5x wrote
All good, I just meant that there are probably better sources out there than the one I found. I love dogs, big dogs in particular, but a aggressive, 70 pound dog can kill a person, let alone an elderly person and their small dog. The outcome of that incident could’ve been so much worse.
When I ran into those dogs, it was a good 30 minutes before the hunters showed up to collect them. They had to have been a couple miles away at least. When they did show up, they came driving down the dirt path on an electrical line clearing.
I run into dogs while I’m working in the field all the time, and that was the first time I came across dogs that obviously didn’t live right where I saw them. Most of the dogs I run into are really friendly, they just come up to check me out and then go back home. I did have one incident where I was measuring a culvert, and I heard barking in the distance. Three big dogs were barreling down the road towards me and I hopped into my car through the passenger side to avoid them. That was the only time I’ve ever had a serious issue.
RandolphCarter15 t1_j91qg3b wrote
And then they probably brag about the kill as if they did all the work
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