Spring Time Hot Potato.

[Walleye Express]

This was taken from another board. The first post is from the original poster. The second is mine and the third is from another poster and the last is mine.

Where to start.....

Our friend's (and my son's godparents) had a horrible incident this past week. They live in the Lansing/Harper's Ferry area, and their dog was gunned down by a "hunter". It hurts me to bite my lip and not speak my mind, as I don't wanna get booted off this site. I won't give the name of the guy that killed the dog, but I do know his name, address, phone number, and website. He supposedly guides hunting trips in that part of the state. He's from Mason City. I hope he's not a member of this site. He was either scouting or hunting for turkeys, I'm not sure, but our friend's dog showed up and started chasing turkeys. What kind of human does it take to do something like that??!! This guy is going to be in a world of trouble. A group has been started on Facebook, and alot of people have already contacted DNR, the Humane Society of North Iowa, and some similar places. This guy also shot the same dog awhile back, even! So their dog had a very rough last few months of life. My friend actually ran the guy down after it happened, and was told that he would shoot the dog again, if given the chance. We need to make sure this guy isn't allowed to guide anymore, or even be allowed to own a gun! If you need any contact info for this "man", please PM me. I have all the info you could ever need. I don't want somebody else's best friend to meet the same fate. I am open to all comments/advice. Thanks alot! Poster.

Here in Michigan you cannot legally let your dog run free either on private or public land during the spring birthing season for birds or animals. They have to be leashed or tethered while in these wooded or fielded locations until the late summer/early fall hunting/training season. If this man was trespassing on private property at the time like you say, then he is in big trouble. But I have personally seen what roaming dogs and cats can do to both birds and yearling wild game when let out to roam free. Young rabbits, deer fawns and every variety of baby (ground nesting) wild birds suffer for what amounts to just being killed because of the hunting nature of the dogs and cats allowed to roam freely. It's not their fault it's the owners fault. Having and loving 3 Labradors of my own, I would deal harshly with anybody shooting them or at them when it was legal for me to be running them in the woods or field. And God forbid it happening when I'm carrying my own gun. But I cannot in clear conscience abide by letting your pet run free anywhere during spring birthing seasons. If you were a hunter and seen all that I've seen, you might feel the same way. Capt. Dan.

Still shooting them IS WRONG! imho Poster.

I came apon a scene once when guiding for early spring Steelhead's on the Pere Marquette River. It was on our way to the launch point. A deer was standing in the middle of the road with it's stomach ripped open and her guts hanging out, staring down what appeared to be a large Pit Bull/Shepard mix. They both were bloody, toungs hanging out and worn out from what was probably a long chase. The dog seemed to be also injured from the ordeal but took off as we got out of the truck. The deer then fell on the road and could not get up. Not having a gun or good enough knife with me, I had to use my 35 pound lead anchor to crush the deer's skull and put her out of her misery. Something I surely did not want to humanely do to any animal. And the dog did not stick around long enough for me to get his name and license number, so he was free to continue chasing and killing deer in their fragil late winter/early spring physical shape, if indeed he himself recovered from his own injuries. So who do we blame in this instance? And how would you have handled the situation? And better yet, what thoughts and conclusions would you have taken away from this episode? Capt. Dan.

[1mainiac]

Well if I know whos dog it is they will get a serious discussion the first time and will wonder where fido went the second time. I have no problems killing dogs running deer or game without a handler close by. And treat it no differant than a Coyote or other vermin. But then if I had shot the dog the first time there would not be a second time needed. I remember having my neighbor come over and tell me my dog was chasing deer I asked him why he did not shoot it and he said he knew it was my dog. My answer was if it happens again let me know if he needs me to come bury it. He called me a couple weeks later to let me know I did not need to buy dog chow anymore. Life goes on letting dogs run is wrong once they start you usually can't stop them it is part of their instinct untrained hunting dogs are the worst. I also remember having a dog chasing calves around in our neighbors field and I knew whos dog it was so I called them a few min later their dad showed up watched the dog for a few min went to his truck grabed a rifle and shot his own dog. I grew up in the country we all knew the rules on pets and livestock were real simple keep em in in your pen or yard or they might not make it home for dinner. If you see any dog I own chasing deer or causing damage let me know or solve the problem I will likely be bummed but will understand. When I was about 11 or 12 I had a very dangerous dog that was well trained and never left the property someone shot him while he was chained up next to his dog house. That was wrong them idiots in TX killing a former soldier's pet was wrong but shooting a dog chasing wild game is just fine. If the dog and his owner did not learn when it was wounded the first time well the problem is solved now.

[silver one]

Dan

Will be contacting you after the third week of may as I will be fishing tournements overhere. My father inlaw and I want to take a walleye charter out on the bay.

We thought about trailering my boat over but crunched the numbers for gas,Bait, more tackle as I am more rigged up for salmon and we just cant beat it for the one time a year that we go over.

[Walleye Express]

Thank's Silver One.

Now here's more good news. I just lowered each category of my charter price list $40.00. I raised each last year to compensate for the gas prices. Right now they are just a little below half of what they were, so I went back to the old prices for now. My web site will not show this change for about a week, when my web master gets back from vacation and changes them. But take $40.00 off each category and that's the price I'll be quoting unless the gas prices sky rocket again.

[Priority1]

There are things that we need to do sometimes, that we can't talk about.