Hello from Kansas... almost

[308_RealFNato]

Hello guys!

I'm Paul, from Lawrence, KS, although I live abroad now, and have been for the last 11 years. I've always been an avid hunter, and I'm often bringing my dogs (a Rhodesian Ridgeback and a mutt) when in the woods. Due to the cold climate of the country I live in, the short-haired former comes with me in summer and the long-haired latter in winter! With them, I often hunt big game like deer or boars, although I sometimes hunt rabbits and wildfowl as well.

I came to this forum to discuss how to hunt big game with them in the lower 48 states, as the biggest things I ever shot at while living in Kansas were turkeys and since I might well go on a couple hunting trips in the good ol' US of A, I figured I should become more familiar with the laws and fauna I'd encounter there.

[david]

Welcome.
Do you plan to live in Kansas? Or where do you hope to hunt in the USA? The laws and available game vary a ton according to where you hope to hunt.

What type of dog is your mutt? Does he trail game? Bark while he’s trailing?

I am curious to learn about the hunting skill and style of your ridgeback. Do you have any tree climbing game where you are? Will he look at game up a tree? Bark up a tree? Bark in a hole in the ground? Try to dig game out of a hole? Trail cold tracks? Run hot tracks?

I know they were bred for lion, and we have a few of those, but the habits are somewhat different from those in Africa.

Some states are overrun with hogs. And some are just getting them. Others don’t have any.
If you pick a good hog state to live in, you will have plenty to do.

Only a few states allow you to hunt deer using dogs. I don’t think Kansas allows it.
A few states allow bear hunting with dogs, but many do not allow it or do not have bear.

If you are undecided where to live; Northern Florida has more dog hunters per-capita than any place I have ever seen. If you want to live in a culture where everyone has a dog man somewhere in the family; that is the place. There may be others like that, but I have never seen anything like it. They can hunt deer and hogs with dogs, etc.

[308_RealFNato]

Hello!

So, the plan is to do hunting trips in the USA, in different states if possible. That's why I've registered an account here, as I'd like to be able to read and ask about things regarding every potential place I could hunt in. However, I have friends and family in KS (of course), Washington, South Dakota and Pennsylvania, so I guess I'd mostly go there.

My mutt does trail game, wounded or not, but doesn't bark all of the time. My Rhodie isn't that used to hunting yet, I'm taking him along with me when I'm hunting and he trails tracks and barks up trees and down holes when he saw something hiding there.

We don't have a lot of tree game, apart from squirrels, birds and other small animals; fir and birch trees don't really allow other beasts to climb!

[david]

Off the top of my head for hunting with dogs:
Kansas: coon, coyote, fox, bobcat, birds.
South Dakota: arguably the best pheasant state in the nation. High duck population also. Racoon, coyote, fox, mountain lion/bobcat in the black hills if you are a resident.
Penn: Racoon, bobcat, canines
Washington State: Racoon is the only thing I know of where dogs are allowed. It is an anti-gun, anti-hunting political atmosphere.

I didn’t mention rabbits and squirrels. But most or maybe all of these states allow dogs to be used for these. They probably all allow dogs for duck hunting.

None of these states are well known for hog hunting, and none of them allow deer hunting with dogs, to my knowledge. Although blood trailing a wounded deer might be allowed, I don’t know.

Of the states mentioned, if you could get residency in South Dakota, it might be your best choice for someone crazy about hunting.
People travel from all over the world to hunt birds there. The western edge has more lions than any place I have ever been (only residents may hunt them). It is a coyote hunters dream come true. The hare population comes and goes, but in an up cycle would be tons of fun.
If you want to run a trapline, it is one of the top muskrat states as well.

[308_RealFNato]

Thanks for the in-depth answer! Too bad about Washington State; I thought that the very conservative countryside compensated for the liberal stronghold in Seattle.

SoDak is actually one of the places I was looking at the most: my main concern was that my relatives there thought that what they are doing on a daily basis is legal when it isn't! And hell, even if I'm not hunting with my dogs, I'll still have a blast hunting wildfowl there. I have an ancient 16ga Remington Model 11 that's been gathering dust, and if I find good ammo, I may well take it on a trip there!

And regarding hunting in WA, is there a danger of running into aggressive wildlife such as bears? It won't be fun if I go there with birdshot in my shotgun and run into something bigger than I am.

[david]

And regarding hunting in WA, is there a danger of running into aggressive wildlife such as bears? It won't be fun if I go there with birdshot in my shotgun and run into something bigger than I am.

My family is in Washington. I am afraid to even go there because of so many anti gun, anti dog, anti trap laws. I could never learn them all. I know I can not legally trap a mole out of my mother’s lawn. I have heard that if I hand my gun to my son while I cross a fence, it is a felony.

And yes, lions are killing people in Washington because lions have no predator in Washington state. So now they have no respect for anything that moves and breathes; besides having depleated the deer and elk to the point where they have no food except liberal humans. If you are a conservative, the lions will leave you alone because you are an endangered species in Washington. If you are a liberal, You should not enter a wooded area.

It is the worldwide breeding grounds for Sasquatch. But they only want to be your friend, and, anyway, you don’t have a gun big enough to make a scratch. They come and go at will. Folks are not sure yet if they are subterranean or extra terrestrial or very sneaky. (Possibly all three).

I have not heard of Bear/human issues lately.

I will not hunt in Washington. So I guess the California invasion wins again. If you are braver than me, have at it.

[david]

SoDak is actually one of the places I was looking at the most:.. And hell, even if I'm not hunting with my dogs, I'll still have a blast hunting wildfowl there. I have an ancient 16ga Remington Model 11 that's been gathering dust, and if I find good ammo, I may well take it...”

South Dakota gets my vote. It is a hunters paradise. (Trappers paradise also). Just pack up your stuff and move there.

As far as leaving your dogs behind when bird hunting, I would pick the one that shows most likelihood of being interested in birds, And take it along. Heck take em both if you have voice control over them. You might be surprised.

I hunted with a couple mixed muts. One was part collie. One of them mixed sight hound and scent hound (which might describe the lineage of your ridgeback). They both did very well and showed me many birds I would not have seen otherwise. The hound would trail running birds and even went into a pond to get me a duck. And it is just nice to have a dog alert you that a bird has been here recently or is near. Once they knew what we were doing they were most helpful. I would have felt lost without a dog. (Besides dying of a heart attack because I would have had no clue I was about to step on a pheasant. You will see what I mean when one gets up in your face).

Some years are better than others. It depends largely on the weather during nesting and brooding season. Heavy rain/flooding can wipe them out. But some years the numbers of pheasant are unbelievable.

[308_RealFNato]

It's true that you can always be surprised by your dogs; my aunt, who married a Frenchie, brought me a Basset Fauve de Bretagne (a local small hunting dog) as a gift when I was a kid, and that little beige torpedo was so much of a great hunter that she'd bring back ducks, rabbits and other small game even when we went in the woods without a gun! And that was only after one or two actual hunts with her, where she was stellar without the slightest amount of training beforehand.

Her daughter, however, was something quite different: she was too lazy to stand and walk sometimes, and would just crawl up to you and wait for you to pet her. That's how my grandpa started calling her a "fishing dog".

...Anyways, that wasn't the main topic. I don't see myself moving to South Dakota so far because I work in a field that demands you to be in huge cities most of the time (the smallest I've ever worked in were Miami and Prague...) but if later on I manage to find something else, why not!

[david]

Rapid City, SD is too big for me. Takes five or ten minutes to get through it. Phew. It’s hard to hold my breath that long. But at least they get the occasional lion walking through town.

I hope you can break away from your city for some reality.

That little hunting dog sounds VERY interesting. Was the father of the lazy pup of a different breed?