MONTGOMERY — Members of the Legislative Council approved an amended rule cracking down on dog deer hunters who allow dogs to roam on private property outside of the Talladega National Forest on Thursday.
The Alabama Conservation Advisory Board passed an amendment in May to the current Dog Deer Hunting Regulation that added the following: "It shall be unlawful for any person owning, having the care of, or using any dog, to allow any dog or dogs for the purpose of deer hunting to enter onto, cross or remain upon the property of another without written permission of the landowner or lessee of the property. Written permission, which may be a paper copy, email, text or other electronic form, shall be in the possession of each person using such dog(s) on the property of another person and shall be presented upon the request of any Conservation Enforcement Officer. A first offense of the regulation would result in a written warning. Subsequent violations may result in written citations. The proposed amended regulation also states that without the permission of the owner it is unlawful to remove, tamper with or disable any GPS tracking collar or training correction collar on a dog used for the purpose of deer hunting."
The rule originally applied statewide but was passed by the Legislative Council with an amendment to only apply to property one mile outside of the Talladega National Forest boundaries.
Multiple private property owners from Talladega County testified in support of the regulation because they had repeatedly experienced problems with dogs running through their private property after being initially released on public land. The Alabama Dog Hunters Association opposed the new regulation.
House Pro-Tem Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) said he opposed the rule because he had received past threats from dog hunters.
"I'm going to warn you. You do not want to deal with dog hunting days. Last time we did this, the dog hunters pulled me aside and told me in no uncertain terms if I did not vote with them, they would burn down my house and they would burn my timber down, that they had all the time in the world to burn my stuff up. I want you to know what you're dealing with before you cast this vote. That's the reason why I'm not voting for this regulation because I can not jeopardize what I own over dog hunting a deer," Pringle said at the meeting. "I wanted to come out clearly against this rule. I do not want the dog hunters burning my stuff down. I'm going to stand with the people that threatened me."
James Endsley, of Moody, spoke in favor of the regulation at the meeting.
"There's nothing worse than you get up at 3 a.m. in the morning and you drive 50 minutes to get to your area, and you sit out there for hours, and the next thing you know you've got dogs coming through. It just runs everything off, ruins your day. Especially if you've got kids going out there with you. It just ruins your day. It's not fair to us. We lease 2,000 acres, and so when you're several hundred acres in your land and you've still got dogs coming from the national forest that far end. That means they're letting out right by your property, and it's just gotten out of hand," Endsley told council members.
He also said he'd encountered aggressive dog hunters on his property searching for lost dogs who threatened him while he was leaving his property after a hunt with his 10-year-old daughter.
"It's because of these freaking dog hunters in Talladega National Forest. They're out of control. They know they can do whatever they want to do," Endsley said.
Lane Stephens, a lobbyist representing the Alabama Dog Hunters Association, told 1819 News after the meeting on Thursday, "We look forward to continuing dialogue and working with the Legislature to come up with a proposal that will promote ethical hunting, open up lands for those who have been shut down and provide private landowners with the protections that they need."
After the rule is implemented, the Alabama Conservation Advisory Board will vote to add a week to the dog deer hunting season in the area around Talladega National Forest, according to Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Chris Blankenship.
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