My families is seeing it's particular sport dieing out. It was brought over from Germany in the 1870's, where they hunted wolves with dogs. From my Great Grandfather on down to two generations past me.
It's a Texas version of "riding to the hounds". Catching coyotes with dogs.
Too many highways, dogs get run over during the heat of the chase.
Gentrification, the large farms and ranches are being broken up for ranchettes.
Very few people raising sheep anymore, so predators are not the serious problem they once were.
People who complain, Understandably, about a pack of hounds running around for about 4-5 hours, baying, bugling and barking and keeping things stirred up all night.
It's coming to an end, But, the bright side is that the coyotes are encroaching on urban areas. The overpopulation of small dogs, cats and foxes will ease up soon.
Too late. Branches of the family have been here since before the Republic. Others have filtered in and out of the State for generations, almost like a scheduled rotation between here and southwestern Virginia. :-)
To many proud pictures in the sports sections of minors, some as young as seven, posing with the trophy deer, turkey, hog or javelina they just shot.
I have no problem with minors. My first hunt was at 12. I have a problem with parents who take their 9 year olds on a hunt and put a firearm into their hands. I have no control over what the parents do or don't do. That, obviously, is their choice. But, I sure as heck don't respect it. Twelve, I think, is just about the minimum age to begin.
Gentrification, the large farms and ranches are being broken up for ranchettes.
I'm not able to travel much anymore. But, I know what you mean.
Even here in San Antonio we've seen it, only the farms and ranches have become housing developments, massive indoor and outdoor malls, and all of it pockmarked with highways and freeways. Just 20 years ago we had cattle and horses grazing in the pastures. Now, the pastures are gone, replaced by a seemingly endless sprawl of urban development.
"It's coming to an end, But, the bright side is that the coyotes are encroaching on urban areas. The overpopulation of small dogs, cats and foxes will ease up soon."
I enjoyed that.