I was shocked by one thread imparticular. Several readers were slamming the Southern style of deer hunting with dogs. If you haven't sat with your back to a tree, your young son in your lap, and listened to a pack of dogs trailing a deer, you've missed out on some large chunks of happiness. I hunt for the pleasure of being in the woods. My goal is to pass the hunting traditions on to my kids and their friends.
Dogs make for a more exciting hunt and hold young interests better than still or stand hunting.
I commend SeaPig for his statements and would also like to add a touch more to the use of dogs in hunting. For my first five years of bowhunting I came up short in the meat department. I was honestly on the verge of giving up the sport entirely. Cutting hair with my broadheads and missing opportunities completely was becoming a regular occurance with me. Now I've never deer hunted with dogs, but I've got an old huntin' buddy that went to Georgia Southern.