Posted on 10/02/2009 10:17:25 AM PDT by rellimpank
The question of boys and hunting keeps coming up at our house, and again the other day when the boys walked off the soccer field after a game.
"Can we have a dog?" asked one of my eighth-graders.
The other twin loves to play with dogs, too. He's kind with them and calm, and dogs and little kids like him. For now, though, he refuses to do what is necessary.
"I'm not going out with a bag and pick up the you-know-what. It's not happening. Not gonna do it," he declares, and in this, we believe him.
But his brother has been quietly pleading for a puppy for months. He's the boy who has been reading the unabridged Jack London for a couple of years now. He can talk about training dogs, but only from his books and YouTube and The Dog Whisperer.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Hunt with your kids, not for them.
—that statement would make a good byline-—
A nice little Lab will quarter and point for you if properly trained -- and they're not QUITE as hyper, even the hunting bloodlines.
But bird dog guys are funny - they don't want Labs, they want bird dogs.
Folks are warned about getting a high powered field dog, meet the high powered daddy, still insist on getting a field bred pup . . . and then try to keep him in a tiny suburban house and yard (with no crate), give him nothing to do, and are surprised when he runs amok . . . ?
Poor Marley! What he needed was plenty of ducks, bumpers, long swims, and 100 yard marks. What he got was tragic.
It's hard to convey the mystical bond of a good hunting dog with his owner. Or the happiness of seeing your young'uns grow up with a Rem 870 in hand and a loyal Lab at heel.
Somebody needs to make that movie, and I know a bunch of retriever trainers who would love to be involved . . . they even have a bunch of stand-ins for the canine lead already on tap.
...the UPS man just brought my Cabela’s order and I’m opening the box now....my yellow lab Jack is curled up at my feet....I’m getting ready to put a sling on my new Winchester Super X3....my trusty old 16 ga Model 12 is in readiness as a back up gun...men in our family have hunted with that old pump gun for 80 years....all things now point towards 6:45am next Wednesday....it will opening morning of the first split of duck season...I will hear the rush of the wings as the woodies and teal buzz past the blind.....and I will renew a tradition that stretches back almost 50 years.
TAKE ‘EM BOYS!
DOGS!
Don’t cheat you
Don’t lie to you
Are glad to see you EVERY DAMN DAY
Are excited to see the same food EVERY DAMN DAY
Will always love you.
More loyal than your spouse.
Will defend you till their death.
Love children
BUY ONE!
What breed of dog would you cast for the lead? GSP is the obvious photogenic dog, although I have a soft spot for Boykins they're not as "manly" a dog as a Vizsla or Weimaraner.
Here they come boys!
My daddy has a Parker that was HIS daddy's, in 16 (it used to be the favored gauge), it's just a vanilla Parker no fancy stuff, but it's a great natural pointer. I'm allowed to use it when I'm good.
That Parker will likely be going strong three generations from now.
Thanks for the words.
You forgot the last one where they will rip a huge hole out of your heart when they die.
We just put our 14-year old mutt Australian Shepherd/ Husky down two days ago. For two nights we all slept in the living room with him, and were hugging and petting him when the vet came to the house to put him to sleep. The family all says they’ll never have another dog as it hurts too much. Of course that may change when another dog somehow ends up adopting us. They have a way of doing that.
Now you’ve gone and done it — had to Google “Boykin” to know what that was. Thanks for that little bit of education...LOL! I can see the photogenic appeal of that dog. I have a soft spot for the Brittany as my in-laws owned, hunted, and field-trialed that breed for many years.
My experience growing up was with GSP and English Setter as hunting dogs so I would be attracted to a film that featured those breeds. However, either a Vizla or Weimaraner would be good, too. Both of those breeds are easy to get multiple dogs with similar markings.
Sorry to hear about your pup.
We use light loads to be on the safe side, but we’re not slaying Canadas at long range or anything. Just use it in the dove field and upland (and in my dad’s case, for shooting burglars). My muddy blind gun is my Rem 870, or my old 1148.
I reload 16, and have a very nice low pressure 2 1/2” load that I use in older guns.
Condolences, and give it time, don't rush another dog. You'll know when the time is right.
What with the Cowboy Action, we HAVE to reload rifle and pistol. We'd go broke if we didn't.
....really nice!!.....a family hierloom gun in the making....was that wood standard or did you do the upgrade?...how was your shopping experiance with CSMC?
My little Choc hobnobbing with a friend's Boykin at the hunting club picnic. "And then the travelling salesdog said . . . "
"LOL! Hey Mom, did you hear that one?"
Thanks. My 12-year old daughter was saying through her tears how when she heard other kids saying their dog had died she would say “Oh - sorry to hear that” but didn’t think it was that big of a deal - its “just a dog”. Until it happened to us, now she knows how tough it is. The worst day of her life. I completely understood as this was my first dog as well!
I’m not sure what makes me sadder - the loss of the dog, or the effect it has had on my kids and wife.
That’s the exhibition wood. My experience was good, but I’m a pretty low maintenance customer.
My youngest daughter-in-law attended the first night of hunter education last night and reported afterward that there were about 20 kids under 10 years of age in the class. Considering that this is just one parish and surrounding parishes had no room in the classes, I am heartened that the tradition will live on.
Our family is big on hunting together. When one of us is fortunate enough to harvest a deer, the text messages fly and we all meet up to go and bring it out of the woods. Lots of folks don't understand what a bonding experience this is.
Needless to say our home is now being shared with two furballs who are as completely unsuited for hunting as dogs can be.
The Pug is pigheaded, stubborn, flatulent, and snores like a chainsaw. The Papillon is a ball of energy who is always glad to see everyone and anyone. His joy in life is getting the Pug to play chase with him. It's about the funniest thing I've ever seen.
And in spite of the fact that I know that someday I'm going to have to repeat the process I wouldn't have it any other way.
We have a very old Savage .250-3000 that is the same way. My FIL bought it waaaay back ... my husband killed his first deer with it 50 years ago ... I killed my first deer with it 8 years ago ... my DIL will hunt with it this year. Although uncomfortable, we still use the old piece of rope that FIL installed as a sling. We think the tradition is pretty neat.
“...we should all make so good an end.”
On Friday on his last attempt at a short walk he chased after our neighbor on a motorcyle! Monday we brought him in to the vet as he had stopped eating and lethargic. The blood work showed his kidney, liver and pacreas in failure - probably a cancer.
He still made the heroic walk to get outside to go to the bathroom until the end. (With me carrying him back inside at 3am - and glad to do it.)
I told the kids that when I’m 98 that is how I want to go. Chasing motorcyles one day, falling asleep forever the next. And told them that I hope that they are all around to help me and their siblings through it all. And clean things up when I don’t quite make it all the way to the bathroom!
You and your family have my deepest, heartfelt sympathies.
It's the funniest thing to visualize!
Your pug has a longhaired blonde trainer. LOL!
It never completely goes away. The only partial cure is a puppy.
Back in 1970 I bought a German Shorthair pup and used Richard Wolter’s book, “Gun Dog” to train her. Everything that guy said in the book worked. I ended up with an absolutely great quail dog. The only thing, when we would go fishing at one of the small lakes in the Graham mtns of AZ, Bellamy would also hold a point on the fishing line.
The training method is a bit out of date, but you're right, it works.
The tree-huggers go crazy over his supposed "cruelty", but when you're messing with dogs and shotguns you need to be sure the training's going to stick.
I prefer the Ecollar to a slingshot or a downloaded shotshell though!
There's a place for the lap dogs too . . . unfortunately my Choc thinks she's one. The Black thinks she's a licking machine.
Talking about making a good end . . . my dad says he wants to be shot at the age of 101 by a jealous husband -- with cause! (j/k, mom would kill him first . . . )
....I think family guns are wonderful...the older I get, the more the fellowship of the hunt means to me....and with family guns I connect to my forebearers hunting experiance...if you maintain an old gun it will last for ever....the oldest gun in my battery is a .44 Colt that my g-g-uncle carried when he rode in Stuart’s cavalry during the late unpleasantness...it is clean, oiled and wrapped in an old tee shirt...given the current state of affairs in this country, it just may be recalled to service one day.
....BTW I just wrote John Kass an e-mail thanking him for writing such a great column....please join me....we need to encourage people like him in these P.C. times....thank you.
When our first Aussie died, my wife cried for two days and said she’d never have another dog. After a year she was ready to fill the void. I told her we could afford any breed she wanted. Now we have two Aussies.
What a great family heirloom! You keep that one wrapped up safe, and get a replica to shoot! We have a couple of guys in the cowboy club who go to all the trouble of shooting the old cap and ball revolvers. You can identify them not only by all the hoorah at the loading table while they’re fiddling with their powder charges as well as the small buckets of cleaning/soaking solution they haul to the UNloading table — but also by the huge clouds of smoke that obscure the later targets in the series. They all pray for a breeze!
Good idea. Will do.
We lost our 10 year old Golden Retriever to an awful disease last spring. Gave ourselves time to grieve and allow the busy-ness of the summer to pass by. Toward the end of August, we began looking and just got our new boy, Charlie, on Wednesday. He’s a 14 week-old “nordic” Golden Retriever, almost white or creamy colored. Lower to the ground and a bit stockier than a standard Golden. Hopefully, we’ll have a nice long road to travel together.
I've been blessed with 3 sons. The older two sons are accomplished hunters who respect the game they seek. They also respect firearms and handle them with care and skill.
My youngest son is an adopted 8 year old. I'll leave him at home for the duck opener, but we'll do some squirrel hunting Sunday afternoon. It will be his first real hunt. I can't tell you how much we both are looking forward to it!
I'm privileged to have grown up in a rural family of hunters. Being able to pass along my meager hunting skills to my children has been a further privilege. We share a bond when we are in a duck blind, deer stand or fishing boat. I can't adequately express how important that bond is...
3 daughters ... all have joined me on opening day for pheasant. All are a better shot than I am ... ahhh withe age comes slower reflexes and I don’t care waht they say 20/20 corrected will never match the eyesight of yout.
You have obviously raised fine sone .. Keep up the good work.
I gave up duck blinds, decoys and wet dogs years ago. A nice walk along railroad tracks and ditches .... I get the same results. Damn Canadian though sure screws up a point system.
“What breed of dog would you cast for the lead? GSP is the obvious photogenic dog, although I have a soft spot for Boykins they’re not as “manly” a dog as a Vizsla or Weimaraner.”
As long as you get Weims without a chest blaze, they look SO much alike that non-Weim people have a hard time telling them apart. GSPs can be like that if you get the ticked (roan) or liver ones.
“Wow, a Viszla or a GSP - hope they have plenty of dog experience because they are going to have their hands full. It’s like having a top fuel dragster in the house.
A nice little Lab will quarter and point for you if properly trained — and they’re not QUITE as hyper, even the hunting bloodlines.
But bird dog guys are funny - they don’t want Labs, they want bird dogs.”
GSPs are not THAT bad. Try a Pointer (English) or a Britt sometime! Vizslas are getting to be pretty bad, because they are trendy right now, like the Weims were a few years back. GSPs are a LOT more forgiving of training mistakes than the weims, V’s, etc. It’s also very easy to get a good basic hunting GSP.
OK! I’ve liked the GSPs I’ve met, and my Labs have always liked them too . . . even the male who decided to lift his leg on my Choc’s head!
My ambition in life is to become the man my dogs think I am
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