How much to complain about neighbor's dogs?

[bjseiler]

I've had relatively little contact with one of my neighbors. The one time we talked he seemed nice enough. Not a hunter. Basically has a 1.5 acre lot surrounded by my 130 acres. He lets his dogs run loose. This is the second time I've seen them on camera clear back into my forest.

I'm going to talk to him about it. I will definitely be nice about it. I'm just asking here how much affect a dog has on deer? I'm assuming once in a while like this isn't too much of a big deal like a passing coyote but I wanted to ask.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Dogs running on occasion, IMHO, has almost no effect on deer. If they actively chase deer, that's another story. And whether they chase deer or not, if they show up in the middle of your bow hunt that's going to really give you a reason to be pissed. They shouldn't be on your land. Good luck with that conversation.

 

[bzb_1]

I had a phenomenal farm for years with no issues for about 6-7 years...Started noticing less and less deer sighting and more pics of two large mastiff dogs...I then had encounter in person with them and they challenged me...I held my ground and they left but I then really started looking for the owners. I found them and it was kinda funny. I left a note with name number etc...I then found out that we had a mutual friend and the guy was talking crap at a bar about it etc...No one is gonna tell him this that or anything else...Week later I went back and knocked again and left a note with his daughter...he called me was super apologetic and very humble and told me he wanted to get shock collars etc but needed to save a bit...I happen to be a police canine handler and told him to save his money and I dropped off my containment system to borrow my dogs learned it in about a week and I haven't had to use it since. He used my system with my advice and called me three months later to grab the system his dogs were good. Haven't had another issue.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I have dogs, and they are back in my hunting area, and food plots whenever I am back there, except during deer hunting. I will get deer picture just minutes after we leave the food plots. I have pheasant hunted areas, then dropped the dogs off and went out bow hunting, and had seen many deer. I have coon hunted land all night, with the dogs running and barking for hours prior to sunrise, and it hasnt effected peoples hunting.

But saying that, they arent your dogs, and they dont belong on your property. Have a calm discussion with the owner, most likely he will be understanding, and try to contain his dogs, but dogs dont know property lines, so it isnt their fault, it is the owners fault. I dont like to hear when people say I will shoot your dog the next time I see them here. Another thought that you can tell him you have traps out, and you dont want his dogs to get injured, that may make him a little more watchful of his dogs.

 

[SwampCat]

I have some neighbor’s dogs occasionally get on my place. I dont think an occasional dog is a problem. A couple years ago, I had a neighbors dog chasing deer on my place quite a bit. I went to the neighbor and told him coyotes were thinning out my deer and I was going to set about a dozen traps to thin them out. He did a much better job of keeping his dog up after that

 

[bwoods11]

I would address the problem nice at first. Same thing is happening to me in MN, it is nothing major but annoying, the dogs seem to like my land as a playground.

 

[j-bird]

My dogs follow me like a shadow....as such my 3/4 dogs are in the woods and plots and the like on a regular basis. They don't go that far without me however (I have NEVER got my dogs on cams without it being because I was out screwing around). I can't say I have seen any issue, but I am sure it has some impact (scent/disturbance related). I have had issues with other dogs before, most owners are pretty cool with understanding about it (I live on my property and am in a pretty rural area)...some, simply could care less, some think their dogs are entitled to go where ever they want. Sometimes....dogs just run away.....

 

[MilkweedManiac]

My neighbor has dogs that actively chase deer, so it certainly has an impact. The deer always come back, but dogs really like to run the deer most when a cold front passes through, which is also when Milkweed likes to be in a tree after that nice buck he’s been chasing.

It’s a bad combo. My neighbor has been told by more than one person that dogs should be chained up during hunting season to avoid accidents.

Personally I can’t bring myself to harm a dog (a nice dog). If I felt my kid was threatened or something I wouldn’t bat an eye. But it’s a tough situation to be in when it’s a goofy dog just doing what it’s nose was meant to do.

I’m guessing when I put my coyote traps out this year I’ll have a dog or two to release. Maybe that will have more of persuasive effect.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I give every dog one free pass. If I see it in person or catch it on camera that is your free ride. After that they go to big farm in the sky. I have damn near zero patience for dogs. Or moreso the dog owners. I have to drive 6 hours to hunt my place and generally only get to hunt Saturday and Sunday am. If my hunt is ruined by a dog it doesn’t sit well with me. Not to mention we all work hard and spend money to raise fawns and poults. Like I told my wife, these arent someone’s best friend that sleeps with them every night. These are white trash dogs that come and go and breed as they please. Bet they don’t even know what dogs they have at this point.

 

[H20fwler]

If they aren't my dogs I don't want them running on my place. Stop in and tell the neighbor your going to be trapping and you don't want to see their dogs caught in snares or traps. If they let them run feral they are irresponsible pet owners anyway call your local dog cop.

 

[Suburbhunter]

I'm in the same boat. I've gotten dog pics all over my place. Chasing deer and yotes even, at all hours of the day and night. They look to be coon hounds. My property was more or less vacant, devoid of much human activity, prior to me buying it. I sent one of the owners, who actually asked me about coon hunting within the first 10 minutes of meeting him, a polite text about yote trapping and explained I was getting pics of dogs. He sent a cordial reply back. Now it's time for a face to face....

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I'm in the same boat. I've gotten dog pics all over my place. Chasing deer and yotes even, at all hours of the day and night. They look to be coon hounds. My property was more or less vacant, devoid of much human activity, prior to me buying it. I sent one of the owners, who actually asked me a coon hunting within the first 10 minutes of meeting him, a polite text about yote trapping and explained I was getting pics of dogs. He sent a cordial reply back. Now it's time for a face to face....

Cordial or not so cordial?

 

[35-acre]

It was said above but may be worth repeating for this particular case; maybe they get out every once and a while. My wife's cat does that too. It's not intentional, the cat is just a sneaky SoB! My dog on the other hand stays in our yard just based on training.

Some others have mentioned much worse examples of dogs chasing deer and showing up a lot on cams or ruining a limited-time hunt. That's a whole different story and I would be pissed. Probably not enough to harm the dog, but enough to take action. I like the idea of telling people about the yote traps. That's kind of a nice way to say - hey, keep your dogs away from my land, without having to make it confrontational.

 

[yoderjac]

I don't think the general presence of dogs has a big impact on deer in general outside the season. That is not to say that if fido's favorite hangout was Mr. Big's bedding spot, and it is frequent enough, that Mr. Big won't find a new place to bed which may or may not be on your lot. In the season, dogs just add one more thing to the pressure factor that deer feel.

Deer dogs are a different story. Unfortunately, my place is in deer dog country. While dog hunting for deer is not my cup of tea, I've got no issues with dog hunters as long as they hunt on parcels large enough that the likelihood of their dog entering unauthorized property is low. I do understand that dogs can't read posted signs, but if there is a significant chance they will encroach on the lands of another, they parcel they are hunting is not large enough.

My big issue was with dog hunters intentionally releasing their dogs along our land and going around to the other side to shoot at deer that have been chased out (or sometimes sneaking in). Our state has laws that are very favorable to dog hunters allowing them to retrieve their dogs on posted land without landowner permission.
We also have domestic dogs that come run on our land from time to time. Some don't chase deer, but others pursue them relentlessly. Depending on the stress period, that can be one more stress. This is not the same as taking a bird dog out to hunt quail, a rabbit dog to hunt rabbits, or just taking a pet for a walk.

My approach would be to simply ask the neighbor nicely to keep fido on his property. Let him know that you understand, dogs sometimes get away, but that is different from folks letting their dogs run free. It is not just deer, but other wildlife that can suffer as well depending on the dog.

We did have a neighbor who did not respond well to the nice approach. The encroachment was occurring on a weekly basis. After taking the dog back to the owner a couple of times without the behavior corrected, I began taking the dog to the animal shelter. It had a collar and they would give the dog a health check, feed it, call the owner, tell him to come pick up his dog, and charge him for the care to get the dog back. It was a small fee the county allowed them to charge, but the inconvenience of driving to the shelter and pay the fee was enough to get the guys attention.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Suburbhunter]

I'm in the same boat. I've gotten dog pics all over my place. Chasing deer and yotes even, at all hours of the day and night. They look to be coon hounds. My property was more or less vacant, devoid of much human activity, prior to me buying it. I sent one of the owners, who actually asked me a coon hunting within the first 10 minutes of meeting him, a polite text about yote trapping and explained I was getting pics of dogs. He sent a cordial reply back. Now it's time for a face to face....

Cordial or not so cordial?

Stern-fully cordial. I don’t need a bag or roofing nails dispersed at my gates. I have tons of pics of their dogs on several different cameras. I understand every once in a while. After I meet with the owners, they are pound bound. Like Jack said, hitting them in the pocket book usually hurts the worst.

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[Howboutthemdawgs]

Stern-fully cordial. I don’t need a bag or roofing nails dispersed at my gates. I have tons of pics of their dogs on several different cameras. I understand every once in a while. After I meet with the owners, they are pound bound. Like Jack said, hitting them in the pocket book usually hurts the worst.

Gotcha. I just wasn’t following. I do now.

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[weekender21]

I get more pictures of dogs on my place than I'd like. Living 4600 miles away, there is little I can do. We're moving to the property in a few years, at that point the neighbors will get one warning then it's off to the pound.

 

[Tree Spud]

The problem is that if you approach the neighbor, they know who to retaliate back against.

Call the DNR and tell them the dogs are running deer. They should come out and fine the owner and deal with the dogs and hopefully keep your name out of it.

 

[Tree Spud]

Living 4600 miles away, there is little I can do.

Where outside of the US do you live?

 

[weekender21]

Living 4600 miles away, there is little I can do.

Where outside of the US do you live?

Stationed in Hawaii.


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