Joined another club

Southside

Ten Pointer
I don't guess dogs tolerate snake bites any better than we do? Hopefully most have enough sense to pass them by.

Never considered carrying a walkboard before but have had a few times I wished I'd had one. Not sure what size motes you have there but northern tool has the 16 footers on sale currently I believe. (You could strap in on the box and if your box is aluminum it would even match)
DRS, in your last post you mentioned rattlesnakes. I was wandering about that down there. I've been told that they are plentiful in that area. Is it any more of a concern in that area than others?

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The bigger woods in the Eastern Counties do tend to have quite a few. I don't think there are more in the Northern Dismal than the other places. I do know the guys that have been hunting down there for a few years see them on a normal basis. They say they usually see at least one per trip. I know rattlesnakes tend to be more docile, more so like copperheads than cottonmouths. I'll just try to be cautious and not try to flat out step on one. Thinking about getting an adjustable walk board for crossing the canals. I already wear snake boots due to hunting some places wrapped up with cottonmouths and will likely get a pair of chaps snake proof to the waist, just in case. I have worked and hunted where there were suppose to be rattlesnakes before but never heard or seen any. Here, I'm told that is going to happen. Plenty of rabbits for them to eat. LOL

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DRS

Old Mossy Horns
Looking at some 10' walk boards that extend to 17'. All I know is there are a lot of hounds ran down there in the warmer months, both bear and deer. Don't hear about many getting snake bit. I'm sure it happens though. Over the years we have had a few bitten by some sort of venomous snake here around the house. Benadryl helps with that. I don't know about rattlesnake bites though.
 

bertienchunter

Twelve Pointer
There are plenty of Rattlesnakes in southern Bertie across the Roanoke. The club I used to hunt in we killed them pretty regular in August. Most all the pine woods have them in Bertie.
 
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JoeSam1975

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I used to hunt down there. We kept extension ladders stashed in a couple places to help cross the canals. Yes, rattlesnakes are plentiful, but no other place like it to run hounds
 
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RJ1

Ten Pointer
Didn't take my wife but one time seeing one on one of the hunting clubs I belong to downeast for her to load me,my daughters and herself up on all kinds of snake proof gear we already had boots however now I have 3 pairs of boots,2 pairs of chaps,and a pair of pants I finally had to tell her we had enough and to stop buying it. I am sure her being from Australia had something to do with it to they have some really bad to the bone snakes over there.
 

shotgunner

Ten Pointer
Check into the snake proof hip boots. Not familiar with the area you are hunting but I loved them in the Green Swamp. There are times when you can cross and they will keep you dry and safe. But when those canals are full it is a matter of just getting wet. It is fun to run hounds when you do not have to worry about them. That was the one thing I did enjoy about pen hunting. But there is nothing like running hounds on the outside when you can just listen to them work.
 
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RJ1

Ten Pointer
Lowe's has some extension scaffold planks don't know if they have one that extends out as far as you need,I have one that extends out to 20' I picked up at an auction don't use it much but its great to have around when you need it.If you are looking for chaps I recommend Turtleskin,they are a little high dollar. I have 1 pair that are knee to ankle protection and 1 pair that are full protection not only do they offer great snake protection they are great protection against those nasty thorns in thick places.
 

bertienchunter

Twelve Pointer
I am sure glad I don't hunt where those canals are prevalent. Over in Bertie and Southampton Co. Va we don't have canals like that. I have hunted several places that do and one good thing about it the dogs seem to stay in the blocks good and don't cut down the road as easily. I like hunting a mixture of terrain (fields, thickets, branches & pines).
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I am sure glad I don't hunt where those canals are prevalent. Over in Bertie and Southampton Co. Va we don't have canals like that. I have hunted several places that do and one good thing about it the dogs seem to stay in the blocks good and don't cut down the road as easily. I like hunting a mixture of terrain (fields, thickets, branches & pines).

I prefer to hunt in habitat like you. I grew up hunting rolling hills with a mix of habitat and where you could actually hunt in the woods. Luckly, the first go around only a couple dogs and 3 pups (not broke) had problems with the canals. Gatlin has a few big ditches and a couple that I would call canals. Hunting the dogs there, I'm sure have helped. Going to take a few and the pups to Gatlin this week, to work on their handling. There are trade-offs for sure, but I sure did like being to relax and let them do their thing while all I had to do was listen. Hunting season may be different, but I'll surely find out.
 

bertienchunter

Twelve Pointer
Everyone I know that hunts over there likes it so far as the not worrying about the dogs. Bucks don't get too big but most of guys I know that hunt there aren't looking for horns anyway. Good Luck and have fun.
 

wildcat3

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
probably the best place in the state to run dogs. Either there or the Green Swamp in Brunswick county. Clubs there are smaller as far as acres but it’s dog club after dog club and they all work together as far as getting dogs back to each other, never seen a locked gate on any of those clubs. Huge pine plantations arnt my favorite land to hunt but that’s about the only choice the dog hunters have in North Carolina these days.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
Several places in ENC about the same size: Hoffman Forest, Green Swamp, Big Pocosin, Northern and Southern Dismal, Croatan National Forest and maybe a few more. As far as big bucks, they are few and far between but then again I never shoot anything, anyhow. LOL I like shooting, but I really like listening to and seeing the dogs work. Down at the N. Dismal I found that the game will run down the roads, watching the hounds work that was interesting.
 

wildcat3

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
When I had deer dogs there were many days I’d never take my gun out of the truck.
 
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JoeSam1975

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I know this is an old thread, but I ran into a member of the Northern Dismal this past Wednesday.....I used to hunt with him there and he said they are in need of members....just thought I would throw that out there for anyone interested.
 

RJ1

Ten Pointer
I know this is an old thread, but I ran into a member of the Northern Dismal this past Wednesday.....I used to hunt with him there and he said they are in need of members....just thought I would throw that out there for anyone interested.

I got a call from a member last week saying the same thing, even with it being as big as it is and the fact there are bear in it there is way to much competition to try an get on one for me to join it. 10 or 15 trucks riding around every day of bear season looking to get on one is not my idea of having fun. I do think it is a deer doggers dream club to join you can run for awhile without being worried about them getting off it.
 

JoeSam1975

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
$1000.00. Back when they were 4 clubs a couple of them had place to keep dogs. However, now I have no idea. DRS probably could answer that
 

JoeSam1975

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I got a call from a member last week saying the same thing, even with it being as big as it is and the fact there are bear in it there is way to much competition to try an get on one for me to join it. 10 or 15 trucks riding around every day of bear season looking to get on one is not my idea of having fun. I do think it is a deer doggers dream club to join you can run for awhile without being worried about them getting off it.

Unless it's really picked up, I couldnt tell a difference when bear season came in. Maybe it was just the area i hunted close to the middle of it all and I hunted 3 day a week then as I had a different job. There was always one older gentleman who rode around and if he found a bear, we went bear hunting cause he was always by himself and knew we would help him.
 

RJ1

Ten Pointer
Unless it's really picked up, I couldnt tell a difference when bear season came in. Maybe it was just the area i hunted close to the middle of it all and I hunted 3 day a week then as I had a different job. There was always one older gentleman who rode around and if he found a bear, we went bear hunting cause he was always by himself and knew we would help him.

I rode around it with a member a few years ago most of the sign I saw was on the outside edges of the club around the fields which are not part of the club now I am going only on what I have heard from other bear hunters that are members and I'm not saying bear hunters lie to each other but I have known them to mislead each other when hunting land is involved. I did see one catch pen and a small building with a shed on it with a few campers parked around it but like I say that was a few years ago.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
What’s the dues, anyone know ? Do they have a place to stay and keep dogs ?
There is no club house or place to keep dogs. I know of one guy who leases a house to stay while he hunts. I would say kennel them at our place but we are still over and hour away. Either way, if you want to experience hunting there give me a holler this fall. Guest do have to ride with a member.


There is always a lot of hunter turn over in the membership from what I understand. Some say it is cost too much, others I think the drive and distance they travel eventually gets to them. I love it there and would drive to hunt there. I have thought about feeding one dog at a time and letting them walk around to do their business, then keep them in the box and sleep in the truck and hunt multiple days.

Bears, we treed one in the middle of the club. One of our hounds is a coon hound, gone deer dog. She was the only one giving mouth while running I knew something was not right. We turned out on a bear feeder, unbeknownst until minutes after the fact. I recon the deer thought the bear slide made an easy crossing. :D
 

RJ1

Ten Pointer
I heard there was a few bear bait barrels in the club not my thing, but I know alot of bear hunters that do it. You all were lucky one of the guys I know that does it turned out on one a few weeks ago at a club downeast got on a sow with two cubs she sent the cubs up a tree an turned to fight the dogs he didn't have any killed but end up with a few thousand dollars in vet bills.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I heard there was a few bear bait barrels in the club not my thing, but I know alot of bear hunters that do it. You all were lucky one of the guys I know that does it turned out on one a few weeks ago at a club downeast got on a sow with two cubs she sent the cubs up a tree an turned to fight the dogs he didn't have any killed but end up with a few thousand dollars in vet bills.
When I heard it come buy, then bark start flying. I went to toning and hollering the dogs out. I agree we got lucky, I have seen what a bear has done to dogs at a field trial in the wire. I look for those barrels a little better now. I stayed away from one block where I knew a sow and cubs where hanging out around some feeders. I have actually seen more bear sign around agriculture areas in Halifax and Edgecombe counties, where I have hunted in the past.
 
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1SHOT1KILL

Old Mossy Horns
I was in the N. Dismal HC since the beginning and in the Pinetown HC for 20+ years before that. The biggest mistake the old Pinetown HC ever made was merging with the other clubs to form the Northern Dismal. $1,000 for a club that has few if any quality deer and few deer period for that matter. The poaching has gotten terrible and the club officials will not do a thing about it, even when members get up in the club meetings and bragging about killing 20 to 30 deer or more a year and not tagging or registering any of them. I won't even mention the pure buttholes with little to no respect at all for fellow hunters. The N. Dismal for the last few years have been taking anyone with money in hand and they've allowed a bunch of riff raff and trash that have been tossed out of other clubs in the region, simply because they've had the money to join. I finally got fed up with it last year and will never join the N. Dismal again. It is not surprising that they are hurting for members.
 

RJ1

Ten Pointer
I was in the N. Dismal HC since the beginning and in the Pinetown HC for 20+ years before that. The biggest mistake the old Pinetown HC ever made was merging with the other clubs to form the Northern Dismal. $1,000 for a club that has few if any quality deer and few deer period for that matter. The poaching has gotten terrible and the club officials will not do a thing about it, even when members get up in the club meetings and bragging about killing 20 to 30 deer or more a year and not tagging or registering any of them. I won't even mention the pure buttholes with little to no respect at all for fellow hunters. The N. Dismal for the last few years have been taking anyone with money in hand and they've allowed a bunch of riff raff and trash that have been tossed out of other clubs in the region, simply because they've had the money to join. I finally got fed up with it last year and will never join the N. Dismal again. It is not surprising that they are hurting for members.


Over the years I have seen this happen to alot of larger clubs, no club wants to give up any land and when it gets near lease paying time an they find out they are short, money in hand is what counts. If the club leadership is not willing to punish hunters who break the law or abide by the clubs by-laws you don't have a club. Going by what I have heard some of the clubs around it have set things up alot different and have some quality animals on them, but I'm sure you know more about that than I do as I take it you are from around that area.
 
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JoeSam1975

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I was in the N. Dismal HC since the beginning and in the Pinetown HC for 20+ years before that. The biggest mistake the old Pinetown HC ever made was merging with the other clubs to form the Northern Dismal. $1,000 for a club that has few if any quality deer and few deer period for that matter. The poaching has gotten terrible and the club officials will not do a thing about it, even when members get up in the club meetings and bragging about killing 20 to 30 deer or more a year and not tagging or registering any of them. I won't even mention the pure buttholes with little to no respect at all for fellow hunters. The N. Dismal for the last few years have been taking anyone with money in hand and they've allowed a bunch of riff raff and trash that have been tossed out of other clubs in the region, simply because they've had the money to join. I finally got fed up with it last year and will never join the N. Dismal again. It is not surprising that they are hurting for members.

There has been riff-raff in those clubs for years. There also some very respectable hunters and dog men in those clubs. We kicked out several members when I was with Welch's Creek.

Also, as long as there is someone running everyday of the year, the deer population down there is going to suffer. I remember when you couldn't run from March-August...there were some nice deer killed and deer were every where. The last couple years I hunted there, deer were getting scarce. It is still a great place to run dogs and hunt, but not worth $1000.00. I'd rather spend that on dues and license and hunt in Virginia.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I was in the N. Dismal HC since the beginning and in the Pinetown HC for 20+ years before that. The biggest mistake the old Pinetown HC ever made was merging with the other clubs to form the Northern Dismal. $1,000 for a club that has few if any quality deer and few deer period for that matter. The poaching has gotten terrible and the club officials will not do a thing about it, even when members get up in the club meetings and bragging about killing 20 to 30 deer or more a year and not tagging or registering any of them. I won't even mention the pure buttholes with little to no respect at all for fellow hunters. The N. Dismal for the last few years have been taking anyone with money in hand and they've allowed a bunch of riff raff and trash that have been tossed out of other clubs in the region, simply because they've had the money to join. I finally got fed up with it last year and will never join the N. Dismal again. It is not surprising that they are hurting for members.

I think I had a good conversation with a friend of yours, I can't recall his name. He was an older fellow and drove an older full size Ford Bronco with a latter strapped on top. He told me what it use to be like and that some guys are killing to many deer. On the flip side I know all the new members are not renegades, I have meet some respectful people hunting there. Yes, there are some that hunt there to kill, that was brought up at the last club meeting. However, I did not hear people bragging about how many they killed, especially not at the annual meeting. There are still plenty of deer there, my kennel partner and I haven't had any issues with our hounds not finding a deer. We have also seen seen several decent bucks for the area. I go there first and foremost to run my hounds, killing deer is not the highest priority on that list. The N. Dismal is certainly one of the better places for a houndsman to play, without causing conflict. We hunt by ourselves and have a ball. Yes, I have ran into an a-hole or two, just like most any club, but I'm not going to let that ruin my enjoyment. I have ran into the same issues in still hunting and dog clubs. You have those that don't know when to stop killing and those that want it all their way. Hard to prove any thing when you don't see it first hand and then the right person has to see it. Enforcement of rules is not always as simple as it seems. There is a lot of area to cover and 250 members, which is still lower ratio of hunters/acre than most any club. Over all I still think it is a great place for a man that likes to run hounds on deer.
 

JoeSam1975

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I think I had a good conversation with a friend of yours, I can't recall his name. He was an older fellow and drove an older full size Ford Bronco with a latter strapped on top. He told me what it use to be like and that some guys are killing to many deer. On the flip side I know all the new members are not renegades, I have meet some respectful people hunting there. Yes, there are some that hunt there to kill, that was brought up at the last club meeting. However, I did not hear people bragging about how many they killed, especially not at the annual meeting. There are still plenty of deer there, my kennel partner and I haven't had any issues with our hounds not finding a deer. We have also seen seen several decent bucks for the area. I go there first and foremost to run my hounds, killing deer is not the highest priority on that list. The N. Dismal is certainly one of the better places for a houndsman to play, without causing conflict. We hunt by ourselves and have a ball. Yes, I have ran into an a-hole or two, just like most any club, but I'm not going to let that ruin my enjoyment. I have ran into the same issues in still hunting and dog clubs. You have those that don't know when to stop killing and those that want it all their way. Hard to prove any thing when you don't see it first hand and then the right person has to see it. Enforcement of rules is not always as simple as it seems. There is a lot of area to cover and 250 members, which is still lower ratio of hunters/acre than most any club. Over all I still think it is a great place for a man that likes to run hounds on deer.

If there are only 250 members, that is a LOT less than when it was 4 clubs. We had 125 in ours alone. Yeah some were members of more than one club, but there were more than 250 combined members.
 

DRS

Old Mossy Horns
If there are only 250 members, that is a LOT less than when it was 4 clubs. We had 125 in ours alone. Yeah some were members of more than one club, but there were more than 250 combined members.
This past season there were 251 members, one more than the cut off. The goal was 250. I guess 2 people sent dues in at the same time.
 

bertienchunter

Twelve Pointer
A lot of clubs are suffering due to lack of leadership in the area. You got dog men that want to kill kill kill and then there are standers that enjoy dog hunting and want to dog hunt but they don't want to go hunting and it take a dang hour to jump a deer. When they do jump a deer it is a 50 lb doe or small buck. In my opinion the clubs work a lot better when you got a good amount of standers. Standers aren't going to continue to pay $800 to $1200 to not have an opportunity to kill a decent buck and I don't blame them. Quality clubs are getting harder and harder to find that are actually ran with good leadership. That is the main reason I started to hunt in Va was because they run the club like it is a business and everyone is on the same page about what is shot and what is against club rules. There isn't a gray area and there are consequences for breaking club & state laws. I am over the kill stage. Trust me I have killed enough 4 and 6 ptrs, I am past that. That is why I have a young rider with me almost at all times now. Let them enjoy the kill while I hardly kill any. When Va comes in I am a whole lot more determined.
 
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DRS

Old Mossy Horns
Like in many things in life, we can be our worst enemy. In this case dog hunters, some understand and others never will. I still have hope though. Before anyone, jumps on the dog hunters due to what I have said here, this behavior is in all hunting. Heck, it is all aspects of life. All I can do is be responsible, hold others accountable and live as an example.
 
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