Posted on 09/17/2005 9:08:12 PM PDT by neverdem
GREEN MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST, Vt. - Chomping wad after wad of Bubblicious Strawberry Splash gum and giggling as she tickled people's necks with a piece of grass she pretended was a spider, Samantha Marley could have been any 9-year-old girl.
A couple of things set her apart, though. She was cloaked in camouflage from boots to baseball cap. And propped next to her on the seat of a truck was her very own 20-gauge shotgun.
Samantha, a freckle-faced, pony-tailed fourth grader, was on a bear hunt. Not the pretend kind memorialized in picture books and summer-camp chants, but a real one for black bears that live in the woods of southwestern Vermont and can weigh 150 pounds or more.
She had won a "dream hunt" given away by a Vermont man whose goal is to get more children to hunt, and she had traveled about 200 miles from her home in Bellingham, Mass., and was missing three days of school to take him up on his offer.
"Almost everything you hunt is pretty fun," said Samantha, grinning and perfectly at home with a group of five men, the youngest of whom was nearly three times her age.
At one point, as the group crossed a wooden bridge, Samantha's father, Scott, who had accompanied her - and had filled out her application for the hunting contest - teased her that trolls lived under the bridge.
"Dad," Samantha said with bravado, "I got a gun."
The dream hunt - all expenses paid, including taxidermy - was the brainchild of Kevin Hoyt, a 35-year-old hunting instructor who quit a job as a structural steel draftsman a few years ago and decided to dedicate himself to getting children across the country interested in hunting.
His efforts reflect...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Military history is one of my passions.
"Black bears are slobs. The dogs tree the beast, and then you walk up to the tree and try to miss the dogs."
Doesn't sound very sporting, but I don't have any big qualms about it as long as there is no shortage of black bears. I do hope they try to avoid killing nursing mothers, though.
I don't eat meat Laz. Welcome back btw.
I agree.
No porn, no meat...what do you do?
I like dogfishing. You sit on the edge of a tall building with a fishing pole, and bait a hook with meat. When you get a strike, reel it in. But be sure to only catch as many as you intend to eat.
LOL
A 20 gauge shotgun slug has WAY more energy than a .44 magnum bullet. I've never hunted bear, but if I did and had my choice between the two, I'd choose the 20 gauge hands down. I'd prefer a repeater, though, maybe one of those nice slug guns made by Savage. I'm sure her ADULT SUPERVISION is armed, also.
The sport is mostly in handling the dogs. But as far as the little girl goes, one walks before one runs.
I was in ROTC doing some exercises in Mark Twain Natl Forest. Our group was trying to perform a recon patrol of a fixed point at night. We got jumped, and back then I could run pretty well. I tried to outrun the opposition, and darn it, it seemed like a bunch of them not only kept right up with me, but didn't lose a step. I turned up a hill, and could plainly hear them crunching through dead leaves just a few steps behind me.
I finally ran out of gas, and swung up into a tree.
Looking down- full moon- I saw two dogs. About half an hour later the racoon hunters caught up to the dogs and called them off. I swear, my face was shining red, brighter than the moon.
Cool stuff and very interesting. Thanks. I've mostly lived in Western PA, where wild patches are more pleasant, though we have our share of jaggers, as we call them. Must be quite a contrast from NYC!
One question.
"They can be trusted not to get on the trail of a rabbit or coon."
Are they specifically primed for coyote on this hunt or is coyote all they do?
"Military history is one of my passions."
I've gone through a quiet period on it lately, but just started reading Battles of the Bible, by Chaim Herzog (former Pres of Israel) and Mordechai Gichon (military historian). Cool stuff.
As puppies they are allowed to chase anything their little old heart desires, just to get them use to the idea of hunting. At the age of about 6-8 months they start being admonished from chasing anything other than coyote. After that If a dog leaves a coyote track to chase a deer or rabbit they are severely admonished. If by the age of 1-1/2 years they are still not "rabbit broken" they are usually shot.
The Older Hunters have a real thing about blood lines and breeding. "Ain't nuthin worse than a worthless rabbit chasin dog," is a phrase you might hear often around a campfire. They will use very definite methods to eliminate a bloodline they do not want perpetuated. The sale or giving away of such a dog might, they believe, find it's way back to their pack if allowed to live.
I brought my NYC bride to Texas to meet all the family. I had told her about Jumping cactus. She thought it one of my Texas tall tales. So one of the first things on her list was to see this B.S. about jumping cactus. The bush of course does not jump as much as explodes when disturbed. I found a perticularly healthy looking bush, Shook it little and some of the leaves flew as far as ten feet in all directions. She just looked and said, "you are not bringing back any of that to NY."
"She just looked and said, "you are not bringing back any of that to NY."
LOL! Thanks. It's all interesting.
"God’s Warriors by Dr. Helen Nicholson and Dr. David Nicole – heavy on equipment and tactics, about the crusades to take Jerusalem."
Looks like we are both reading about the Holy Land, at the moment.
Some interesting differences between the two major cultures.
Hey I'm a prairie dog shooter. Grndpa says back in the old days they tasted good and they were greasy. Good skill to have.
hehe... My lovely Terabyte and I went to the local range on our first date. She had a blast - in fact, she framed her target from that day. :)
Stop it.You are making me hungry. I will have to call home and find out when my relatives are gonna butcher a sheep. My coisins and I are good at it now.
Sorry....:))
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