Bow Hunting Wild Dogs 26.07.2023

Bow Hunting Wild Dogs 26.07.2023

I was in Florida bow hunting wild dogs.

I was with an experienced hunter that had a grey beard and he looked to be in his early sixties. He had full camo gear on. I was under his guidance and stewardship. We took our hunting bows, including night vision cameras and went out into this very tall grass and corn fields. 

The hunter was setting everything up and then instructed me what to do if this happens or if that happens. He also gave me the lowdown on what to expect from the wild dogs, how they behave and how they react to us and how they are with each other.

We hear the dogs howling. 

We head out with our equipment and stalk the dogs. We approach them and watch.

They were gathered together just outside the tall grass acting like the nuisance they are. Dominating one another by nipping and sometimes full blown biting each other. They were defecating everywhere.

The hunter and I are positioned in the cornfield watching. The hunter calmly instructs me to choose which dog I am going to aim at and he tells me which one he is going to target. We agree. I wait for his signal and he gives it. We both drawer our bows and loose them.

I just miss my target but the hunter hits his right in the kill shot area. 

The wild dogs get crazy and confused. They intensely bark at each other, foaming at the mouth and attack each other then they start to flee.

The hunter gives me the all clear and we go and inspect the area and the kill. We get there and the kill is not there. The hunter say's to me "someone has been here and intercepted and taken the kill." We can hear the dogs in the distance barking and howling but they don't sound confident like a pack should. They sounded afraid and knew we were out here somewhere.

The hunter notices some tracks, human footprints, three of them. He also see's the blood trail of the dog he shot. We follow the trail.

The trail leads to a caravan with the lights turned on. The hunter and I can hear the three men talking inside the caravan so we knock on the door. The men do not answer and all goes quiet. I open the door and go in with the hunter behind me. I remember feeling angry due to these men stealing our kill so I was ready to fight and teach them a lesson.

As I entered I saw three men, in their early twenties that had the appearance of either librarians or computer geeks. They did not look or sound like hunters at all, they certainly didn't dress for the occasion.

With authority I demanded where the wild dog was that they took and they said to us both and pointed "We put it on the table over there."

One of the men said that they were researching the animal so they could learn more about them and how they operate so to exploit their weaknesses. 

They didn't mean to cause any stress for us or steal anything from us, they just wanted to know the truth about them so they could help take them out without getting bloody like hunters do.

My attitude changed instantly to gratitude as I realized they were here to help. They even returned the arrows to both of us and made some modifications to the arrows so they had strong rope that attached to them so when we shot them, us hunters could reel the dogs in.

We thanked the three men and I apologized for my hastiness.

The hunter turned to me and said "Let's get back out there and hunt some dogs."