Feral dog "hunting" questions

R

rickdavis81

New member
Some of our friends have had some of their smaller dogs attacked by a pack of wild dogs here lately. One of their whippets is at the vet right now, has his skull punctured, and probaly won't make it. It's supposedly a pack of 4 or 5 and all they could currently tell me is that they look like "wolves". I'm guessing just medium sized mutts. The neighbors have spotted them also and have lost some calves to them they believe.
My question is what would you bait them with? Would my electronic coyote calls work? I've hunted coyotes quite a bit and I've dispatched a few stray trouble animals before but never purposely tried to hunt dogs. Any tips or suggestions. They own 40 acres and I'm not sure about there neighbors. One of my friends lives across the black top with 100 acres and I can hunt there if needed. It's where I target shoot anyway. So I have a little bit of land to cover all with extreme willing permission. Any tips or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks
 
A good scoped 223 is the bet advice I can give. Bait is going to bring in all the skunks, possums, cats and who knows what else.
 
You could try a puppy distress call, even domesticated dogs will usually investigate what sounds like a hurt pup.
 
I'm thinking I'll leave the AR at home and take my .308. Little more oomph. I'll have to try the puppy sound. I thought about tying up the neighbors cat.:rolleyes:
 
While feral cats are fair game in florida, Dogs are not.
they must be attacking. Would be an immediate risk of arrest to call in feral dogs to be killed.
Brent
 
i know in some counties of South Dakota you can kill tame collared dogs if they are bothering livestock! i bet missouri is the same but check
 
A dog running loose...

in my area is SOMEBODY'S property.

Therefore, shooting the dog is destruction of private property. It's illegal to let a dog just run loose, and the owner is responsible for the damage done by their dog, but it's also illegal to shoot a loose dog.

Catch-22. And good luck finding the owner and making a claim stick.

I agree w/ Flyguy SKT and Hogdogs. Check on the local laws before shooting dogs.

(Of course, there's always the SSS* rule, but I don't advocate illegal behavior.)

*Shoot, Shovel, and Shut Up
 
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Road kill deer relocated to an area suitable for shooting.
Click to expand...

That is a whole additional set of regs to research.

I'd first try animal control and see if they would come trap them. Although with budget cuts, they might just tell you they won't come. Then I would eliminate the problem.

I know it is a crazy thought, but maybe dog food.....:p
 
If the pack is truly feral garbage, dog food, road kill (dead anything), and any other source of food. A bitch in heat always works. Dog packs are active at night and spot lights might work. Carry a sidearm and a big knife since dog packs will attack people. Use the same calls you would use for a coyote. A 223 should be enough gun for most feral dogs since most are less than 100 lbs.
 
Having had to deal with this...

If you REALLY want to solve the issue, set a few Victors or Sterlings, and carry a rifle loaded with .22 shorts.

Use fox/coyote/dog urine on a fence post/weed/whatever as an attractant. Heck, take your own dog with you, and where (s)he pees, set a trap.

The feral dogs step in a trap, and you shoot them between the eyes with the .22 short.

It's quiet, subtle, and very effective.


If you just want to do it for the heck of doing it, then go out and set up the caller and call them in. Or, set out baits that they'll clean up at night when you aren't watching. You'll get a few, but they'll get wise to your ways and then they'll be even harder for the next person to deal with.

And that's all I've got to say about that.

Daryl
 
I love dogs.
I have two pet dogs, they are part of the family.


But...

I was up in north Georgia, building a house for my Mom. This was out in the country.
Every day I took my little Beagle up there, she just hung around the house while I worked.
One neighbor came over, he said a pack of dogs had killed his chickens. The lead dog was a big, ugly chow, he said.
Another neighbor came over, said a pack of dogs had killed his little Pomeranian dog.
He said the lead dog was a big, ugly chow.

These guys kept talking about calling animal control. Hell, there was no animal control in that county.
I figured my little Beagle was next to die.
My Dad had moved some stuff into the house, including a double barrel 20 gauge. He had some number 8 shot.
I knew how devastating close range birdshot was, from having seen so many people killed with it when I was a Paramedic.
I patterened that gun, 3 inches low at 20 feet.
Every morning, I loaded that shotgun and set it by the door.

Sure enough, 4 days later, here came a pack of 4 dogs, lead by a big ugly chow. They moved right in on my little Beagle, and she was smart enough to run under my truck.
That chow would charge at the truck, and growl. He was trying to flush my little Beagle. No doubt he would have killed her.
From the doorway, 20 feet away, I leveled the 20 gauge at the chow.
The other 3 dogs saw me, and they backed up a step, they knew something was wrong.
The chow kept lunging at my truck.
I fired, and it was astonishing. It blew the dog away. It was like in the movies, the dog was blown to the ground, like the earth was jerked from underneath him.
I went right up to him, he was graveyard dead. I didn't even need the second barrel.
The other 3 mutts had hauled ass, thus the drawback of birdshot, no good on a 30 yard shot.

I drove 1/2 mile away, and threw that chow into a giant, 50 foot wide briar patch. I swung the 60 pound dog around in a circle, like a discus thrower, and let fly. He landed in the middle of the patch, not visible unless you crawled into the middle of the briars.
Like Clint Eastwood said, "Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms."
I went back and washed the blood from my truck.

I Shut Up, and told no one about my work on the Neighborhood Safety Patrol.
Every time I think about that, I get a little smile. In spite of my affection for dogs, I did the world a favor that day.
No more chickens, or dogs got killed.

So, I guess you could stake out a little Beagle, that would draw the murderous dog pack.
 
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Talk to your fish and game officers and sherrifs. We had a problem with ferral dogs some years back and after some problems were noted all hunters were had the right to shot at dog packs if you felt threatend. It did take some time to cull them down . Shotgun works real well with 4 buck if you have one thats patternd for longer range. Might get several at a setting if they come in. Treat them like coyotes, they will come if in the area. This was in sw fl. Our pack had poodles ,muts, up to sheperds and black and tans. Just a mix of what people did not take care of. Just watch the high velocity guns around houses, a 22 solid will kill ,just slower.
 
I use an eloctronic game call for coyotes, and recently I was hunting across from a farm house. After a few dying rabbit sequences, I switched cards and played the coyote/grey fox fighting card. Sounded like a dogfight, and I swear there were three farm dogs withing 50 feet in about 20 seconds. These dogs went crazy over that fight sound. Thats the first thing Iwould try to bring in a pack of dogs.

I've never shot a dog and don't want to, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
 
i dont like the 22 lr unless you hit right in the head...NO animal deserves to suffer. they were put out by owners and are trying to survive...some humans do however deserve to suffer(whole other story).

so if you need to be rid of them, do your part as a decent human and make it humane!
 
Animal control by goverment employees is non existant out here. And I'm a firm believer of SSS. I know the .223 will be enough but there isn't such thing as enough gun so I figure the .308 will be better. But the faster followup on the AR would be nice. Wish the wife wouldn't get mad if I bought a AR10:D I'm thinking dog food for a few days along with road kill and then set up on them with the electronic caller. Probaly put out some game cams too. The husband thinks it might be a "big cat" which I'm skeptical but who knows. THat would be a whole 'nother level though.
 
Bacon grease soaked into poly sponges works well for a bait.... And if you miss after they eat it.... "Dog Gone" you still ain't gonna have them back after a few days...
Brent
 
Before you start shooting domestic dogs (non coyotes) you may wish to check to see if there is a law against shooting them. We used to have a bunch of wild dogs here but the coyotes took them out and have not seen any wild "domestic" dogs in years. On the other hand they are not hard to kill. I have dropped several wild dogs using CCI Stingers. Almost all were shot just one time.
 
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