In my prior entries, including my last blog entry; I got into a mix of topics, because I think a blog is more of a random conversation, not something purposed to address a specific matter. I already published quite a bit of material that is relevant to one topic and written in a more serious tone. But that doesn't reach everybody, and sportsmen in particular rarely are weaned off bullshit, so here is my bullshit...
One of the underlying messages in the last blog, was that "gadgetry" the word Aldo Leopold used almost a century ago, to warn against a craze of buying junk impacting hunting. That prediction certainly did manifest in the hunting culture, and I kicked the situation around a little.
I mentioned some of the gear I used during the final week of New York's southeast duck hunting season and east-central Canada goose season. Perhaps my wife who hunts with me will contribute her gear eval at some point in a manner connected to these blogs....
Hunting dogs are a source of confusion and misinformation and distraction in today's hunting culture. A complex cluster of influences shape the hunter's perceptions about every aspect of hunting dogs.
I am not going to address every influencer relating to hunting dogs in one blog, nor is this a start of a series, at least not yet. But tying the topic in with the last blog, a menagerie that included gear insanity, with dogs themselves, not dog products might seem unlikely.
Did you watch the movie about the large kennel that bred German Wirehaired Pointers for hunting? It was an unusually tangled conflation of truth and myth designed to garner ideological and political support by tricking the audience with an abundance of nuances so confusing but so effective it is astounding. The thought of untangling the spoof it creates gives me a headache - and this is how organizations, such as the Humane Society of America succeed. The HSOA is confusing to begin with, it is different than the HSUS (Humane Society of the US) and differs from every beggar humane society across the USA.... They share a commonality that suggests they are connected, but when it is not to there advantage, they distance themselves from each other....
But that is getting off track. These organizations used this movie to create in-fighting or get one on their side, though they want to kill both. What is interesting, is they have not committed to what denotes a "puppy mill". Of course, in reality, the term puppy mill is just meaningless propaganda. On one hand, its a large kennel that produces numerous litters. That might sound more like a "mill" to me... Yet, they also have popularized another meaningless label, that is "backyard breeder". On one breath the puppy mill is evil. In the next breath the backyard breeder is deplorable. So, they create more confusion by introducing another word: "reputable breeder"... Now one time the reputable breeder is the money man with the big kennel, next it is the operation that produces far less puppies, provided the smaller operation spends more money on each puppy than the average family spends on their children....
The movie is set in a rural area. I actually think I know who this movie is modeled about, a real dirt bag for sure, a lot like the main character, minus his good points... The scenario can be played out in many places and persons however, which makes this very angering, that the HSOA could either avoid a lawsuit or avoid paying the people the movie is based on.
So, in a nutshell, a rich old dude runs this kennel to breed and sell hunting dogs. As in real life, he has a good reputation with hunters, despite never going hunting or training any dogs. Also as in real life there is the local dog catcher out to nail dog breeders. If the breeder is producing "hunting dogs" all the better for the dog cop...
So, the old rich dude hires this vegan looking thing who actually is a spy for an animal rights group. That group connects with the dog cop, and eventually the kennel is raided and the dogs are confiscated, a practice that is growing more and more common every year.
One thing that was interesting was other characters in the movie. A couple of brothers who lived a short distance from the kennel. These brothers also bred wirehairs, the difference is they were not wealthy, were not accredited by any kennel club or breed club, and they actually hunted birds with their dogs. The movie portrayed these brothers as the proverbial "backyard breeders". To me, if I was in the market for a German Wirehaired Pointer I would seek out someone like those brothers and run like Hell from the big kennel...
Anyway, by the end of the movie the Big Kennel Owner was depicted as a hero, as someone who was charged wrongly for crimes, etc... The boys down the road were out of the movie well before the end.
Now we got the HSOA looking good, large kennels looking misunderstood, and the traditional way hunting dogs have been acquired for 200 years or more in the USA looking bad. Maybe the large kennels have better resources to fight in court, so pick on the weaker? Indeed, but the movie never quite legitimized big kennels either, nor bird hunting... What the movie did was set a mental stage and webbed a complex, tangled web....
So what does this have to do with the price of eggs? Jack-Shit actually.... But its a good topic. But any half a hunter knows his dog is one of his most important assets. Gear are assets too, and generally you pay for a dog like gear. Even if you don't and get a free dog, you are still spending money on dog food and care for the life of the dog....
One of the underlying messages in the last blog, was that "gadgetry" the word Aldo Leopold used almost a century ago, to warn against a craze of buying junk impacting hunting. That prediction certainly did manifest in the hunting culture, and I kicked the situation around a little.
I mentioned some of the gear I used during the final week of New York's southeast duck hunting season and east-central Canada goose season. Perhaps my wife who hunts with me will contribute her gear eval at some point in a manner connected to these blogs....
Hunting dogs are a source of confusion and misinformation and distraction in today's hunting culture. A complex cluster of influences shape the hunter's perceptions about every aspect of hunting dogs.
I am not going to address every influencer relating to hunting dogs in one blog, nor is this a start of a series, at least not yet. But tying the topic in with the last blog, a menagerie that included gear insanity, with dogs themselves, not dog products might seem unlikely.
Did you watch the movie about the large kennel that bred German Wirehaired Pointers for hunting? It was an unusually tangled conflation of truth and myth designed to garner ideological and political support by tricking the audience with an abundance of nuances so confusing but so effective it is astounding. The thought of untangling the spoof it creates gives me a headache - and this is how organizations, such as the Humane Society of America succeed. The HSOA is confusing to begin with, it is different than the HSUS (Humane Society of the US) and differs from every beggar humane society across the USA.... They share a commonality that suggests they are connected, but when it is not to there advantage, they distance themselves from each other....
But that is getting off track. These organizations used this movie to create in-fighting or get one on their side, though they want to kill both. What is interesting, is they have not committed to what denotes a "puppy mill". Of course, in reality, the term puppy mill is just meaningless propaganda. On one hand, its a large kennel that produces numerous litters. That might sound more like a "mill" to me... Yet, they also have popularized another meaningless label, that is "backyard breeder". On one breath the puppy mill is evil. In the next breath the backyard breeder is deplorable. So, they create more confusion by introducing another word: "reputable breeder"... Now one time the reputable breeder is the money man with the big kennel, next it is the operation that produces far less puppies, provided the smaller operation spends more money on each puppy than the average family spends on their children....
The movie is set in a rural area. I actually think I know who this movie is modeled about, a real dirt bag for sure, a lot like the main character, minus his good points... The scenario can be played out in many places and persons however, which makes this very angering, that the HSOA could either avoid a lawsuit or avoid paying the people the movie is based on.
So, in a nutshell, a rich old dude runs this kennel to breed and sell hunting dogs. As in real life, he has a good reputation with hunters, despite never going hunting or training any dogs. Also as in real life there is the local dog catcher out to nail dog breeders. If the breeder is producing "hunting dogs" all the better for the dog cop...
So, the old rich dude hires this vegan looking thing who actually is a spy for an animal rights group. That group connects with the dog cop, and eventually the kennel is raided and the dogs are confiscated, a practice that is growing more and more common every year.
One thing that was interesting was other characters in the movie. A couple of brothers who lived a short distance from the kennel. These brothers also bred wirehairs, the difference is they were not wealthy, were not accredited by any kennel club or breed club, and they actually hunted birds with their dogs. The movie portrayed these brothers as the proverbial "backyard breeders". To me, if I was in the market for a German Wirehaired Pointer I would seek out someone like those brothers and run like Hell from the big kennel...
Anyway, by the end of the movie the Big Kennel Owner was depicted as a hero, as someone who was charged wrongly for crimes, etc... The boys down the road were out of the movie well before the end.
Now we got the HSOA looking good, large kennels looking misunderstood, and the traditional way hunting dogs have been acquired for 200 years or more in the USA looking bad. Maybe the large kennels have better resources to fight in court, so pick on the weaker? Indeed, but the movie never quite legitimized big kennels either, nor bird hunting... What the movie did was set a mental stage and webbed a complex, tangled web....
So what does this have to do with the price of eggs? Jack-Shit actually.... But its a good topic. But any half a hunter knows his dog is one of his most important assets. Gear are assets too, and generally you pay for a dog like gear. Even if you don't and get a free dog, you are still spending money on dog food and care for the life of the dog....
What does big business hate? They hate you spending money in a market they cannot compete in. Could Acme Archery Company open a subsidiary that makes dog food? Of course they can. But generally they do not.
So, now does the hunting industry want you buying a dog, a few dog products, and buy dog food every week or month, or do they want you buying their products, services, memberships, magazines and books, or land access? Now, outboard motors are not enough for the hunting industry, today that want you to buy things like ATVs, UTVs, snowmobiles, etc...
They don't want you to be an old-fashioned bird hunter, waterfowl hunter or beagler. Again, you ask, "But what does that have to do with hay, corn, and wheat? Plenty nimrod, plenty...
We shot the shit out of mallards and honkers the last week or so of the 2018 season.... As I indicated in the last blog, some very basic decoys and a couple of spinning wing decoys got group after group dropping right in the kill-hole.... This was aided with duck and goose calls that cost less then twenty bucks and a few basic notes, not a complex calling contest performance.
But we could not hunt were we hunted without retrievers. Boat to retrieve birds - ah, afraid not.
So, now does the hunting industry want you buying a dog, a few dog products, and buy dog food every week or month, or do they want you buying their products, services, memberships, magazines and books, or land access? Now, outboard motors are not enough for the hunting industry, today that want you to buy things like ATVs, UTVs, snowmobiles, etc...
They don't want you to be an old-fashioned bird hunter, waterfowl hunter or beagler. Again, you ask, "But what does that have to do with hay, corn, and wheat? Plenty nimrod, plenty...
We shot the shit out of mallards and honkers the last week or so of the 2018 season.... As I indicated in the last blog, some very basic decoys and a couple of spinning wing decoys got group after group dropping right in the kill-hole.... This was aided with duck and goose calls that cost less then twenty bucks and a few basic notes, not a complex calling contest performance.
But we could not hunt were we hunted without retrievers. Boat to retrieve birds - ah, afraid not.
Our retrievers are NOT the breed Nova Scotia Tollers. The Chessie for the most part can be two colors - dead grass and mud. Purportedly this is the result of selective breeding to produce a retriever that is camouflaged. Indeed mine is hard to see. The Labrador comes in several colors. Our current one is black, shiny black. A black coat may help a dog retain warmth, and, in certain circumstances be camouflaging, but it can also stand out, more so when snow is present; especially a shiny black coat.
However, a shiny black lab is a close match to the head of a Canada goose. Ever hear of "tolling" or the Nova Scotia Toller? Of course you have not, because all the quality outdoor media you consume doesn't discuss this.... Why not? Because a dog can toll ducks and geese better than any decoy or call can bring them in. We still use decoys, we flag and call, but we also use our dogs, especially the black lab to toll birds right into us.
So, the industry can make money on creating a need for the year's new decoy that is better than last years model, flags, calls, and motion decoys, but it can't mass produce hunting dogs. Why would a magazine or television show that exists for the sole purpose of selling products teach hunters a method that will make their products less important and reduce hunter frustration, as frustrated hunters continuously seek to buy a solution....
However, a shiny black lab is a close match to the head of a Canada goose. Ever hear of "tolling" or the Nova Scotia Toller? Of course you have not, because all the quality outdoor media you consume doesn't discuss this.... Why not? Because a dog can toll ducks and geese better than any decoy or call can bring them in. We still use decoys, we flag and call, but we also use our dogs, especially the black lab to toll birds right into us.
So, the industry can make money on creating a need for the year's new decoy that is better than last years model, flags, calls, and motion decoys, but it can't mass produce hunting dogs. Why would a magazine or television show that exists for the sole purpose of selling products teach hunters a method that will make their products less important and reduce hunter frustration, as frustrated hunters continuously seek to buy a solution....