Does it Pay to Hunt with Dogs?

Heretofore

In tales of the heretofore, particularly in oldtime civilizations, but also in medieval times in our own civilization, the chasin of deer with deerhounds or sighthounds was a rich man's hobby.  Certain poor foresters may also have poached deer afoot with lurcher dogs, but in those times the population of mankind was less dense in ratio to the population of the game, I suppose, than it is now.  The poachers' or foresters' dogs might have been able to find enough game for their own feed.

Kinds of Huntin

Whenever it's not just a hobby or just a sport, Huntin with dogs is done for two purposes:

1)  To get food

2)  To kill predators to protect livestock and poultry.  (To protect food.  In some cases to protect wool.)

So either way, there is an increase of food or a prevention of loss of food

... but is it ever economical to hunt with dogs?  Is it ever NOT a hobby?

Bears for Instance

Certainly huntin bears with Plott Hounds can't possibly pay more than the cost of feedin the dogs.  Who wants a bearskin coat or rug?  Not a big demand.

Even if only the dogs eat the bear's meet, there can scarcely be enough meat for more than a few days of feedin.

And my old excavation boss used to tell me, "always reckon your time".  So the time of several hours with maybe five to ten men and boys chasin a bear -- they'll never get the money back from that.  It's a hobby.

But Now there are More Deer

But then they may have protected some deer against predation by that bear.  Now their "herd" or local supply of wild deer has increased, possibly, by the death of that old bear.  Here is an article about predation upon deer by bears:

https://news.psu.edu/story/186685/2001/12/17/penn-state-study-shows-bears-are-major-predators-fawns

In Pennsylvania, bears have killed more fawns than coyotes have killed.  So let's pick a random number, say a bear kills three fawns in a season.  So by killin that bear the five-to-ten hunters and their Plott Hounds have acquired three deer (by savin their lives), a bearskin, and some bear's meat for their, say, six-to-eight hours of preparation, drivin, hikin, and cleanup.  And that doesn't count the time that it will take to kill the deer.  Still not economical.  Still a hobby.

Huntin Seasons are Short

In normal times, huntin seasons have been regulated by the counterfeit laws created by the masonic network.  Dogs must be fed durin the off season.  Not possible to bag enough game to pay for the feedin of the dogs durin the rest of the year.

How about in lawless times (if they ever should come)?  Then huntin season would be year-around.  Huntin could become a full-time job, so long as the game breeds faster than it is hunted.

Feedin Dogs with Our Own Livestock and Poultry

Would it be more economical to feed the dogs from our own supply of chickens and beeves?  Who knows?

Vegetarian Diet for Dogs

Grains and vegetables tend to be cheaper than meat.  Some dogs and cats have gotten used to vegetarian diet, and their health has been just as good as the beasts on the diet of meat.  Still I don't expect that would save enough money to pay for their services in huntin.

Rat-Dogs & Tunnel-Dogs

All of the little terriers were erst bred to hunt rats.  By that method the supply of grain and vegetables was protected.  Could that be done economically?

The German word for "badger" is "dachs".  Dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers in tunnels, thus protectin livestock and poultry.  Can it be done economically?

Article about Dachshunds huntin woodchucks, groundhogs, and whistlepigs http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/2010/04/digging-woodchucks-with-dachshunds.html

A New Breed of Dog

If some folks were to breed a kind of dog that would hunt all day without a member of mankind, alone or in a pack, and, after feedin himself, would fetch back the extra beasts that he hunted, then that could be economical.  More so if he were to eat only the predators and fetch back the deer and turkeys.

Birds' Dogs

The article linked here is thought-provokin.  It deals mostly with dogs that are used in huntin waterfowl and upland birds.

https://www.gameandfishmag.com/editorial/hunting_hunting-dogs_ra_0607_02/244554