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Hound Hunting's Decline, State by State

While deer hunting is legal in every state, hunting deer with hounds is allowed in only ten states. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas allow the hound hunting of deer with large packs of dogs, while California allows the practice in a more limited context.

Alabama has reduced the number of counties open to deer hound hunting. Hound hunting has been placed under a permit program with acreage minimums in several counties.

Florida adopted guidelines in 1991 to reduce conflicts associated with deer hound hunting. These guidelines did not fully address the problems, so a dog registration program was initiated in 2004, which has since been expanded statewide. The amount of time hounds can be trained was limited to nineteen days in the fall, during daylight hours only. Hunting dogs are required to be leashed at all other times. To protect the rights of property owners, the state requires all hunting dogs to be registered and kept on registered property.

Georgia requires property owners or lessees who hunt deer with hounds to first obtain a permit issued by the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division. Georgia has also acknowledged that there is a problem inherent in allowing hound hunters to use small tracts of land due to the likelihood of the dogs straying onto neighboring property. Therefore, in order to hunt deer with hounds, property must be at least 1,000 continuous acres, and all vehicles and dogs used must be identified with a permit number. The number of counties open to deer hound hunting has been decreased from 63 in 1949 to 41 counties, or portions thereof, in 2004. Polling in 2004 revealed that 58 percent of the public opposed deer hound hunting, while only 29 percent supported it. Among hunters, 51 percent opposed the practice while 39 percent supported it.

Louisiana is currently considering restricting or eliminating deer hound hunting on all private land in the state. The U.S. Forest Service has received a large number of complaints from landowners, prompting proposals to eliminate deer hound hunting on the 400,000 acres of Kisatchie National Forest.

North Carolina has considered regulating hound hunting in the state, primarily regarding the licensing of hunting dogs and creating fines for dogs trespassing on posted land. Concerns continue to arise about hunter trespass concerns, the abandonment of unwanted hunting dogs and problems with hounds being injured or killed during the hunt.

South Carolina is currently considering measures to regulate deer hound hunting. The state is using a stakeholder involvement process in an attempt to resolve conflicts, primarily between deer hound hunters and landowners. A set of proposed changes to hound hunting regulations has been published, which mirrors many of the changes adopted in Georgia and legislation, H.B. 3723 was introduced to create a deer hound hunting license.

Texas prohibited deer hound hunting in 1990. Following failed attempts to compromise between landowners and hound hunters, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department restricted the practice, then prohibited it entirely. Prior to the practice being banned, polling revealed that 75 percent of landowners and 73 percent of hunters opposed deer hound hunting. The primary reason for opposition was because hound hunting is "unsporting and unnatural."

Virginia is currently in the process of regulating hound hunting, the primary concern being the hound hunting of deer. The Virginia DGIF initiated a process where a Stakeholder Advisory Committee was created to propose changes to hound hunting in the state. The process was initiated due to numerous complaints, primarily from hound hunters opposed to continual trespass. Polling by Virginia Tech in 2008 revealed that of landowners who were hunters (but not hound hunters), 60 percent said hound hunters "never" asked for permission to access their property and 63 percent said they or their family members had felt threatened by hounds or hound hunters.

Learn more about hound hunting.

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Hounding The Animal Shelters, Too

Landowner Complaints about Hound Hunting

Animal Welfare Concerns with Hound Hunting