I have been chastised for challenging the relevance of Teddy Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold as they relate to what is happening today, as well as what is out of date....
I really don't like Roosevelt. First of all, he had less to do with inventing the funding of conservation known today as the model than he is given credit for. Indeed as President of the US he signed a bill into law, a bill crafted by two members of Congress (Pitman and Robertson) and then approved by the rest of Congress.
First of all, good old Teddy was a trophy hunter. He even is on the record as stating that large animals such as elk are more valuable than small ones such as golden-winged warblers. Try that one in 2018.
I really don't like Roosevelt. First of all, he had less to do with inventing the funding of conservation known today as the model than he is given credit for. Indeed as President of the US he signed a bill into law, a bill crafted by two members of Congress (Pitman and Robertson) and then approved by the rest of Congress.
First of all, good old Teddy was a trophy hunter. He even is on the record as stating that large animals such as elk are more valuable than small ones such as golden-winged warblers. Try that one in 2018.
Rocco Racco (pictured above) was hung after trial for killing a PA game warden after the warden, Seely Houk, killed his favorite hunting dog. Houk was reputed "so zealous [in] his pursuit of Italian trespassers and poachers, that even local officials had begun to wonder if he was overstepping the mark."
Second, my ancestral background is Italian. Roosevelt did not like Italian-Americans, who according to him, were poaching too much. His attitude likely encouraged state wildlife agencies, particularly the Pennsylvania Game Commission to have their fish cops harass Italian American hunters, who mainly sought upland game birds and rabbits. One citizen was so enraged at the harassment and the shooting of his dog, he murdered a Game Commission Warden.
No, Roosevelt is not my cup of Tea, and neither is the organization with his namesake.....
No, Roosevelt is not my cup of Tea, and neither is the organization with his namesake.....
After nine Italians were tried and found not guilty of murdering New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessy, a mob dragged them from the jail, along with two other Italians being held on unrelated charges, and lynched them all. The lynchings were followed by mass arrests of Italian immigrants throughout New Orleans, and waves of attacks against Italians nationwide.
What was the reaction of our country's leaders to the lynchings? Teddy Roosevelt, not yet president, famously said they were "a rather good thing."
Interestingly Roosevelt spared a would-be assassin that shot him in the chest from being hung. To me, the very different outlook between a lynching of unconvinced men and his attacker's pardon signals a mental defect.
Aldo was a genius in his time, but half of his dogma is outdated today, yet, he is still treated like the messiah.... Nevertheless, Aldo did have a few timeless theories and made a few predictions that came to fruition.
One of Leopold's warnings was about the commercialization of hunting through privatization and also through gadgetry. Indeed hunters are under the spell of hunting industries, as well as Organizations and their doctrines, the the media.
I am a waterfowl hunter among other things. Back in the day, we did not buy much, for a number of reasons, one of which was there was not much to buy, even if money was not an issue.... Today, it is much different.
Let me go over the past week's waterfowl hunting and gear performance.
Decoys: I don't go hog-wild with decoys in terms of having ultra-realistic blocks, a great many, magnums, etc... I look for what is the easiest to deploy, and conditions such as water level will determine what deploys that particular day. This week the conditions called for floaters and rig-em-right decoy anchor lines, which I have been using for some time, yet remember the days before these were discovered. The lines worked without any failure. That is the case over the long term as well. Nothing notable about the blocks, the birds liked them, but I cant say it was the flocking or magnum size, because they were not those... Plain and they worked.
Spinner Decoy: worked. No kidding, but speaking of "kids"... If the topic of geese and spinner decoys comes up, a barrage of people will claim they work for ducks but scare geese. Nonsense, they draw both ducks and geese. But what is notable is how so many hunters have the cojones to give advice as if they are gurus, when they obviously have not logged in many hours afield. There are many topics with long-standing myths that sportsmen will defend even though these myths are completely false... That spinners scare geese is one of them. Now, indeed, if you are on the verge of spot burning geese that have had experience with your spread, they will avoid it, and that may explain the myth origin such that a few anecdotal experiences are projected too far and too wide; what else is new? In any event, unless a few old ganders have had a couple run ins with spinners and lived to tell about it, geese actually respond well to spinners. The idea every goose in the flyway or most of them, will flare from spinners is complete bunk. New to hunting? Stick around and you will discover most of what is accepted (or taken) as fact is complete rubbish.
So if someone is not selling a product or access they are selling a concept... Quality Pheasant Management - give them a year and harvest mature cocks with beautiful tails and long spurs... couldn't resist that one... Or come train your dog with us, using our methods, for the ultimate hunting dog...
Here is my favorite - don't give your state wildlife agency or the US Fish and Wildlife Service money, give it to us and we will restore the grouse, and quail, and pheasant...
Sadly, some of the organizations hunters think are hunting organizations are really Trade Organizations. And, some of the hunting organizations are really subsidiaries of the same trade organizations.... So are the magazines and television shows about hunting...
Avery Products: I have had a lot of Avery stuff. Half of it is junk or not useful, but a lot of it is great. Decoy bags, not bad. Dog vests, generally do not fail you afield. Handmuff (mainly for shells, food and gear) good product. Decoy retriever - useful tool saves a lot of effort.
Drake Products: Drake jacket - piece of shit, not waterproof or water resistant, "breathable" means the wind chills you all day... Drake union bibs - good product,
Cabelas waders - depends, it is luck of the draw; some last, some don't.
Filson hat- works well.
40 year old face mask from Kmart, works great.
Winchester steel target loads and Kent 3 inch no. 2 steel great ammo....
Rig em Right: decoy lines, above, love them, Recon decoy bag, also a great product....
Calls - I use the cheap ones not priced like musical instruments, works for me.
Macallister sweater - not as great as it was promoted when they still made them, but pretty good.
I can list all the failures over the years, but I wont. The point is Aldo made at least one point that carries weight today "Gadgetry will kill hunting". Don't be a sucker (not sure who first said that, maybe it was Teddy but I doubt it).
One of Leopold's warnings was about the commercialization of hunting through privatization and also through gadgetry. Indeed hunters are under the spell of hunting industries, as well as Organizations and their doctrines, the the media.
I am a waterfowl hunter among other things. Back in the day, we did not buy much, for a number of reasons, one of which was there was not much to buy, even if money was not an issue.... Today, it is much different.
Let me go over the past week's waterfowl hunting and gear performance.
Decoys: I don't go hog-wild with decoys in terms of having ultra-realistic blocks, a great many, magnums, etc... I look for what is the easiest to deploy, and conditions such as water level will determine what deploys that particular day. This week the conditions called for floaters and rig-em-right decoy anchor lines, which I have been using for some time, yet remember the days before these were discovered. The lines worked without any failure. That is the case over the long term as well. Nothing notable about the blocks, the birds liked them, but I cant say it was the flocking or magnum size, because they were not those... Plain and they worked.
Spinner Decoy: worked. No kidding, but speaking of "kids"... If the topic of geese and spinner decoys comes up, a barrage of people will claim they work for ducks but scare geese. Nonsense, they draw both ducks and geese. But what is notable is how so many hunters have the cojones to give advice as if they are gurus, when they obviously have not logged in many hours afield. There are many topics with long-standing myths that sportsmen will defend even though these myths are completely false... That spinners scare geese is one of them. Now, indeed, if you are on the verge of spot burning geese that have had experience with your spread, they will avoid it, and that may explain the myth origin such that a few anecdotal experiences are projected too far and too wide; what else is new? In any event, unless a few old ganders have had a couple run ins with spinners and lived to tell about it, geese actually respond well to spinners. The idea every goose in the flyway or most of them, will flare from spinners is complete bunk. New to hunting? Stick around and you will discover most of what is accepted (or taken) as fact is complete rubbish.
So if someone is not selling a product or access they are selling a concept... Quality Pheasant Management - give them a year and harvest mature cocks with beautiful tails and long spurs... couldn't resist that one... Or come train your dog with us, using our methods, for the ultimate hunting dog...
Here is my favorite - don't give your state wildlife agency or the US Fish and Wildlife Service money, give it to us and we will restore the grouse, and quail, and pheasant...
Sadly, some of the organizations hunters think are hunting organizations are really Trade Organizations. And, some of the hunting organizations are really subsidiaries of the same trade organizations.... So are the magazines and television shows about hunting...
Avery Products: I have had a lot of Avery stuff. Half of it is junk or not useful, but a lot of it is great. Decoy bags, not bad. Dog vests, generally do not fail you afield. Handmuff (mainly for shells, food and gear) good product. Decoy retriever - useful tool saves a lot of effort.
Drake Products: Drake jacket - piece of shit, not waterproof or water resistant, "breathable" means the wind chills you all day... Drake union bibs - good product,
Cabelas waders - depends, it is luck of the draw; some last, some don't.
Filson hat- works well.
40 year old face mask from Kmart, works great.
Winchester steel target loads and Kent 3 inch no. 2 steel great ammo....
Rig em Right: decoy lines, above, love them, Recon decoy bag, also a great product....
Calls - I use the cheap ones not priced like musical instruments, works for me.
Macallister sweater - not as great as it was promoted when they still made them, but pretty good.
I can list all the failures over the years, but I wont. The point is Aldo made at least one point that carries weight today "Gadgetry will kill hunting". Don't be a sucker (not sure who first said that, maybe it was Teddy but I doubt it).