Yup. Coming down this way. Most certainly.
If not naturally through migration, then through reintroduction programs on the east coast. Timber wolf up north, red wolf in the south.
Pretty cool stuff until you understand the inevitability of the animals to prey on pets and livestock, not to mention the occasional human. Incredible animals.
Anyway - since the antis are circling no sense in chatting about hunting any further. 
We already have that interbred coyote/wolf. I am in NH, and our coyotes are bigger than the western, and they believe coming down from Canada. Probably has been going on awhile and just took time to migrate this far south.
I am not sure I want or like to be in the woods during hunting season periodā¦dogs or no dogs.
There are good hunters and bad hunters. I was strictly educated about taking a good shot and all that other hunter ethics. But, when I came up here, I was shocked how kids would go out hunting without any supervisionā¦having been shot at, I know.
So, I just do my best to not be out there and take the risk. Although, most locals know me, but its not them, its the people new to the area that scare me the worse.
Just wear that lovely green neonā¦pass wide and slow(I have one of them) Pāainātmisbehavin!
I havenāt run into a pack of hounds hunting deer (we donāt do that in our state) so I have no experience with that situation. I just wanted to say that it is nice to read a thread about deer hunting and not have any of the āSave the poor deerā or the āall hunters are idiotsā comments. I hunt deer (archery) and I hate the āhow dare youā remarks I get from other horse people (its not like I am hunting horses for pete sakes!).
I would recommend contacting a local game club or as someone else has suggested, the game warden, to ask questions. I would also encourage those who trail ride during the fall season to wear orange (particularly on the horses). I have seen orange saddle pads but you could also go to a craft store and buy some fabric to lay over another pad. You should also avoid riding really early or really late at night. This is when deer (and therefore hunters) are most active. And be careful during rutā¦ those bucks (and even the does) go a bit crazy and can be very aggressive at times.
[QUOTE=EqTrainer;5031061]
The thing you need to be really aware of is, where is the road that the hunters are sitting on waiting for the deer to come at them. They will line up and shoot into the woods at the deer coming at them. :([/QUOTE]
If Iām in the way, I donāt think my hunters will do that. 
Iām pretty obvious - I wear loud colors, and sing, and put bells on my horse.
I worry a bit about their running me over, as some of them tear around the dirt roads in their trucks following the signal from the collars. But I plan only to ride on roads from which I can escape into the woods or fields.
Iāve only seen hounds used as deer dogs here, so Iām not at all worried about dog aggression. People do use pibbles as hog dogs, but even in that case, Iād far rather meet the dogs than the hogs!:lol:
JMHO!
You can also plan your longest rides for Sundays for example. Thatās a no hunting day here but if youāre really still worried about it then plan your ride for sundays when the Redskins (or your local pro football team!) are playing a game!! :eek::winkgrin: Aināt no hunters in the woods then!!! :D:lol::lol:
Make a lot of noise too. And like everyone else said - wear neon colors. Donāt ride in early am or late pm. Midday best!
And I donāt know if you guys are really seeing wolf/coyotes crosses but most likely dog/coyote crosses that LOOK like wolves! Iāve seen coyotes here that look like wolves; large, maned, colored right. Undercoat/black tipped hairs. They were likely huskie/coyote mixes. Iāve seen german shepherd colored coyotes, solid black coyotes, lab/coyote crosses etc. Some coyotes look like large foxes even! Amazing colors. The ācoydogā is much, much more common in the east. Some things you read say we actually have very few pure coyotes in the east but that most are hybrid dog crosses genetically.
Canāt wait to see a Jack Russell/ coyote cross - itāll be a mean son of a gun for sure!! :winkgrin::lol:
I suspect with an increase of coyote wolf hybrids we will also see an increase in working livestock gaurdian dogs and not just on the big ranches.
JRT/COYOTE CROSS???:eek::eek::eek:
:lol: Thanks wateryglen, now Iāll have nightmares for sure.:lol:
Letās just hope the coyote part will civilize the critter.:lol:
Sadly, folks hunt on Sundays here. And there is no allegiance to pro football, so it doesnāt matter if the Panthers are playing or not.:no:
Friday nights? When the Loris Lions/Green Sea Floyd Trojans/other high school team/ is playing? Oh hell, yeah - Iāll have the woods to māselā then!
I live in part of VA that uses dogs to run deer. Around here it is mostly beagles that are used.
When bought the new farm we were doing some clearing. We could hear some hound-types working but I could tell they were not fox hounds. Pretty soon a little pick-up truck comes roaring up the driveway and disappears into the woods.
Later we are heading out to get some lunch and see the same pick-up truck on the road. We stop to introduce ourselves and ask what kind of hounds they have and what are they running. The gentlemen tells me that they have beagles and are running deer.
I looked at him him and said āyou know those beagles are never going to catch the that deer?ā so we had a good laugh. Those guys still release the beagles on our farm and hunt the deer.
Its actually funny to watch my fox hunters when the beagles are in full cry. They will run the field and keep track of the beagles. If the beagles run through the pasture, the fox hunters will follow along behind them.
Our area hunters use hounds to hunt deer too (legally). When people first move here (yankees, of which I used to be one! LOL) they are appalled, but really most of the hunters I know like to listen to hound music as much as we do.
They do seem to use the dogs to drive the deer as was explained. One difference I have found is the deer hounds are not used to horses and are more scared around them, but I have had some bark at me. Basically they are very submissive and donāt threaten you. I more worry about the neighborās chained pit bull for sure!
I hope you are able to meet up with them pleasantly and it doesnāt cause your horse any issues. Good luck!
Cheryl
Thanks, me, too.
I heard a pack tuning up this morning - itās not hunting season yet and they sounded different than they sound when theyāre on a deer. I donāt know what they were doing - maybe some kind of training exercise?
Anyway, I was grooming Houdini, who was loose in his field. When the hounds started, all of a sudden his muscles went hard as a rock and his head went up.:uhoh: He didnāt move, though.
I thinkā¦
Itās likely they were on a different kind of game when they sound different like that. Those of us whoāve foxhunted for a long time can tell when a hound gets on a deer scent line instead of a fox line. They sound different but it takes time to learn the subtle sound & differences. That and actually seeing the game they are on and making a mental note of what it sounds like then!! :winkgrin: Horses get to know those sounds too.
Around me at least, hunting dogs wonāt bother livestock, they train those dogs to hunt something and they get upset if they start chasing what they arenāt supposed to be chasing. . ā¦ and the single-minded intensity that those dogs hunt with is amazing. They love to hunt and once they get on the scent you canāt drag them off with a crowbar unless they lose it somewhere.
Iām not sure how the hunters know when they are ābarking up the wrong treeā so to speak, but apparently they can tell what the dogs are trailing. Here they use dogs to hunt raccoons, rabbits, boar, deer . ā¦ whatever. Folks around here eat anything that moves. A neighbor had to redbones they used to hunt racoons. . . now Iām not sure what good those things are to eat, but I donāt like them anyway, so I didnāt care that they were killing the little pests.
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