Notice that I said “Old Virginia” in that title. I use that term to differentiate between my state (West Virginia) and the treasonous state from which it seceded (LOL).
In West Virginia, it is highly illegal to hunt deer with dogs, and there are plenty of rednecks who would happily shoot a dog if they caught it chasing deer.
In parts of the Virginia Tidewater, as well as in the plantation country of the true South, hunting deer with dogs is a time-honored tradition.
Letting a dog pursue deer is illegal in most of Canada. In Saskatchewan, a private individual can shoot a dog for doing this. However, in British Columbia and Alberta, only conservation officers and peace officers can legally shoot a free-roaming dog. In fact, two weeks ago, a pair of sled-dogs was shot near 100 Mile House for chasing a deer.
Although, incidentally, this happened to me today. Copied and pasted from Facebook.
“Got a better idea of how the Tahltans hunted wapiti with their tiny bear-dogs; and why conservation officers are the only ones allowed to call the shot if a dog should be put down for chasing wildlife.
Decided to see if I could find anything in the last 3 hours of daylight. So, after barking at a feral cat and silently treeing a few magpies, he was transversing the terrain about 200 to 300 meters ahead of me. All the sudden I saw four does running across my field of view, and a few seconds later aggressive barking.
For a moment, I thought he couldn’t had possibly found a deer since he was scolded for looking at them. However, I am still learning the different kind of barks.
Ran up to the direction of the barking, and saw young buck kicking the ground with its puny antlers pointed at the dog. The spiked deer looked like it was ready to gore the dog. Then I thought about what other people would think if they saw the scene. So, I started stomping the ground loudly toward the deer. Once the deer perked up and saw me, the it ran off. Pavel didn’t bother and stood there puzzled.
So, I put him on a lead and took him home before he got any bright ideas.
That, my friends, is why only wildlife officers should be allowed to make judgement. Not all dogs will chase deer.”
Now, laika hunters in the States say their dogs won’t give chase to deer and don’t need e-collar to break them of chasing deer. Once they realize they can’t keep up with a deer, they don’t bother trying.
Might be a different story if there is a pack of dogs (3 or more).