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Yoder

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I don't think most domesticated dogs are going to kill an elk calf. I know mine could care less. I never let my dogs run free. If they did, it would be an accident. If they were actually going after the elk I could understand shooting them. I could also understand your neighbor burning your house down if they ever found out. If someone killed my dog just for being on their land I'm not exactly sure I could let that go. If they were chasing livestock I totally get it.
 

Rich M

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Never say you would even consider shooting a dog. Folks get very irrational - as is already being shown on here.

You could also catch the dogs and bring them to the pound.
 

LostArra

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If the dogs are tame/friendly to humans I would pen them up or chain them to a tree with water. Then wait on the neighbors to come calling. Prior contact with the G&F would be a good idea. Every department is fretting about the world wide apocalyptic damage done by stray cats, why not stray dogs.

I would not underestimate a dog's ability to kill a calf.
 

dylanvb

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I have a similar situation but with horses. Few weeks ago the neighbors horses came on my property and got my horses worked up, my horse ended up running out the pasture fence which was just 2 strands of zebra hot wire and a solid hot wire and then attempted to jump 6 barbed wire fences before getting tangled up on the 6th and breaking his neck. I say attempted because he didn’t clear the top strand of barbed wire on every fence.
Now we can’t prove it was their horses doing but their hoof prints are all over our property and I saw their horses at 3:30am that morning out on the road meaning their horses are the only ones out running around. Every neighbor I have talked to has had problems with these specific neighbors animals getting out, cows, dogs and horses.
I met the problem neighbor a day after the accident and told him what happened and he apologized and his wife even offered to buy us another horse, idk how serious she was about that offer but the gesture was nice. I took it upon myself to befriend them even though the accident and now I text them every time their animals get out.
I’d say go talk to them and tell them what’s going on. If they can’t respect you or your property boundaries then they only have themselves to blame.
 
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Never say you would even consider shooting a dog. Folks get very irrational - as is already being shown on here.

That always cracked me up, especially on forums like this one. Guys devote their lives to killing animals. Yet if somebodys dog is running around acting like a feral animal......
 

dylanvb

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Devils advocate but do they know their dogs are doing this? Most city folk enjoy the wildlife and don’t even like the thought of killing let alone their animals doing the killing.
 

KenLee

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As I have said a number of times, I live on the summer range. Numerous cow elk calve out in my hay field. I do what I can to protect them at least until the calves are running with their mothers. Then they move onto the FS land.

A couple of years ago some folks bought a large parcel a couple miles east of me. Coming from the city they seem to think that their dogs need to run free - over everyones land.

I tend to believe free running dogs killing elk calves need to die. If I warn them then I will be a target when the dogs disappear. Hence the next time they show up on my place - they won't go home - ever.

I'm almost afraid to ask what you folks think. Think very rural and avoid your city thoughts.
If you know they are killing calves, cut em.
Most of all, quit talking/posting about it.
 
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depends on the neighbor & the dog. But we used to have a neighbor who had mutts running loose and i remember my dad called them up and told them the next time they came on our property it would be the last, couple days later they showed up and we shot both of them, threw them in the back of the truck and brought them back to owner. This was over 20 years ago & to this day we've never had that neighbors' dogs near our place since.

We have cattle, horses and dogs of our own so don't put up with other peoples mutts stirring up our livestock and potentially luring our dogs out of the yard.
 
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ELKhunter60

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My grandfather was a Conservation Officer in Michigan for many years and did SSS on free running dogs chasing deer many a time. I had a similar situation to yours when I lived in Mississippi other than instead of being 2 miles away - they could hear the first S - so I put up with it in fear of the consequences being worse than the reward.

Address it QUIETLY is my advice.
 
OP
P
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Thanks folks. I'm always interested in what people think.

The dogs are a german shepard and something bigger and black. There has been a number of confrontations between the owners and their more immediate neighbors. Some of those included lawyers.

Those folks don't seem to catch on very well. I think this will come to an end in the near future. Before I moved here one of the original migrant families (late 1800s) were prone to letting their horses roam the country side. One day they found five of them shot on forest land. Those folks still didn't hone their fence fixing skills. For ten or 15 years we had to keep our gate closed to minimize surprises in the morning.

Cofrontations have the same risk as interceding in domestic disputes. This issue will just go away one day when the opportunity occurs. The odds are they will just fill the gap with more mutts.
 

Holmes

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It's cowardly not to go talk to your neighbor first.
Don't threaten them with dead dogs.
Pretend it was you that was visiting some place where you don't know the local customs and you wish that the locals would just give you a heads up so you could fit in.
If they don't listen, then you can act.
But killing a dog because you thought a human conversation with a neighbor might be awkward is very cowardly. Our grandparents didn't fret about having awkward conversations with their neighbors.
 

Jethro

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Killing the dog should be a last resort, not option #1. If you decide on last resort option, DON'T come back here and tell us about it.
 
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