'We're not trying to eliminate dog hunting:' WRAL Investigates the search for a truce between hunters and homeowners
WRAL Investigates profiled the conflict between hunters who use dogs and landowners who don’t want them on their property.
"We like to get out in the woods and just enjoy peace and quiet and nature. And that’s just not happening when you have dogs barking and howling going through the woods," Franklin County homeowner Tony Stallings told WRAL Investigates earlier this month.
That tension is nothing new for leaders like Halifax County Commission Chair Vernon Bryant.
"This has been a problem, it’s been ongoing for years," Bryant said. "But we just want to make things better."
Bryant formed a committee and held a public hearing. He said the goal was simple.
"I want to be real clear, we’re not trying to eliminate dog hunting," Bryant said. "But we also want to do it in a way where it will be safe and respectful to property owners too."
Commissioners twice proposed legislation unanimously that would, among other things, restrict the release of hunting dogs to parcels at least 300 acres with written permission from the landowner.
The large land parcel would theoretically lessen the chance of hunting dogs wandering onto to someone else’s property.
Proposals for new deer dog hunting regulations have come to the state legislature for years and gone nowhere. The Halifax proposal hasn’t even been filed. Still the issue is on lawmakers’ radar, considering deer dog hunting is allowed in about the half of the state, predominantly counties to the east of Raleigh.
"Both sides really need to try to understand each other, which is a hard thing," Moore County State Representative Ben Moss (R) told us. He says that as a landowner and dog hunter. Moss and his family are part of a hunting club. He argues a few rogue deer dog hunters ruin it for those who respect landowner rights.
When asked if state lawmakers needed to get involved in the privacy fight, Moss wasn’t so sure.
"I would hate to say that we need new laws right now," Moss said.
Instead, Moss supports better communication and education for both sides, as well as stepped up staffing and enforcement help for Wildlife Resources during hunting season.
"The population has doubled since 1977. The number of officers has stayed the same," Moss explained.
However, he acknowledges the growing tension between the old and the new, "People want their land respected. They paid for it, they pay the taxes. I understand and I respect it. And then you have guys who’ve had a tradition for hundreds of years."
Moss says if education and enforcement don’t turn down the heat, then lawmakers can consider a legislative fix. Until that happens, the Halifax County Sheriff is considering hiring part-time deputies to keep the peace during hunting season.
