******REVISED SHORTER VERSION *********

[treeing walkers]

What to thank all the people that help make this happen. I would also like to thank Emily for her great twist on what I was trying to say. In my mind that is a true hound hunter, willing to help another that lives across the US . Thanks again EMILY.

This is the revised shorten version that I came up with and sent it out to papers around Washington and we'll see if or anything happens. I'll keep all informed of the progress of this article.


Dear Editor,

I’m sending you an article hoping to get it published in your paper. This article is designed to show the public what real hound hunters are about. Since I-655 in 1996 our sport has been under attack. There has been a lot of mislead information brought out about our sport. I feel that this article will help the public get a first hand look at our sport through true hound hunters eyes. This will teach the general public about our morals and ethics and how the ban is affecting our wildlife.




Washington Hound Hunters Pursue American Tradition
Written by Treeing Walkers


Washington has forbidden this traditional pastime in pursuit of mountain lions, bears, and bobcats with I-655. In our state, for the most part, our hounds can only chase coyotes and raccoons..
The cougar management alternative that’s been used since the ban on hunting them with hounds went into effect in 1996 is to issue lots of cougar permits to hunters of other game, and let these other hunters shoot on sight any cougar they randomly encounter. That has had undesirable consequences.
Since the hound hunting ban took effect in 1996, the average big cat killed by hunters has been 3 years old, with the majority females. Prior to the ban on lion hunting with hounds, the average was 5 years old and the majority was males. The ban caused the harvest of fertile females to go way up, resulting in the steep drop in the production of new litters. It takes 40 times the hunters to get the same number of cougars removed as it did before the hound ban took place. Instead of 1,500 Washington hunters with cougar permits prior to the ban, now there are nearly 60,000, and they are killing the wrong individuals.
Only about 30% of all special permitees under the new system were actually able to remove cougars, because it is not easy to train a hound to hunt and tree game consistently. It takes a skilled/seasoned hunter to know the game’s habitat and where it is likely to be. It takes a patient hunter to get into the head of an independent-minded tree hound and to train the hound. But once the hound is trained, both hound and hunter complement each other beautifully, with the hound supplying the nose and the hunter the brains to keep the dog safe and choose which animals are suitable to harvest
Hounds are remarkable creatures with exquisitely tuned noses. They are bred to team up with humans who know how to put those noses to use. Hound dogs love using their noses more than anything in the world. Hunters that chase hounds have a very close connection to their dogs..
What my hounds reveal to me is as exciting as acquiring a new sense, but it takes a lot of training to get to the point where I fully understand what each dog instinctively knows and communicates. I know my individual dogs far better than I would if they were just pets. We trust each other and have a close bond, both in the woods and at home. My dogs are all part of my family in every way. They brighten my family's day, whether at the house or in the woods. They go for walks, rides, and even have been to the beach on vacation with us.
Some of my fondest memories involve sitting still in the dark, listening to my hound, and translating his song for a group of boy scouts or other youngsters, friends, or family. My hound is talking to me the whole time while he is out there in the pitch black night. The friends that I am introducing to the hounds ask what my hounds are saying and I love being able to explain it. New friends frequently become friends for life after sharing this experience.
While my hound is talking to me on the trail, I'm listening. This is the best part of what we do. He tells me when he has found the scent. He tells me what kind of animal it is, which direction his quarry is going and how recently it traveled there. He tells me as he gets closer and closer to the game.
Then, he gives me the "I have him!" and all goes quiet. That brief silence is my favorite time. My hound is "checking", walking around the tree to make sure that the animal that went up the tree hasn't come back down again. Soon after, he "trees"--a heartfelt bay that summons me to the tree he has sent his quarry up. Then I have to trek through whatever rough country he has crossed to see the game and bring him home safe.
This is what it’s all about for the majority of us hound hunters. Not the kill, but the bond with the dogs and their excitement in the pursuit, the song of the trailing hound and his passion for the chase, and the joyous end at the tree. The kill is rare, because hound hunters are conservative of their game. That ethic motivates the majority of hound men and women to take care of the land and always leave at least 90% of the game alive in the tree for the future for our children and grandchildren.
Some people apparently think that putting radio collars on our hounds makes the pursuit unsporting. Not true. We do that to ensure that our beloved hounds make it home safely when the hunt is over, successful or not. We rarely follow the radio signal to the treed hounds. From the time the hounds hit the ground until they are safely back in our trucks we are trying our hardest to keep up with them and hear them everywhere they go.
But sometimes they run out of our hearing, we need to be able to find them for their own safety. Most hound hunters rarely use their radio tracking equipment, leaving it at the truck until it’s apparent that the hounds are missing in action. Sometimes the hounds have crossed over a ridge or through a canyon that takes more time for me to get around than it took the hounds. When I fall far behind them, I use the radio signals to catch up. Otherwise, the dogs could be lost and starving in the woods for days.
I too will pass this great sport of hound hunting on to my kids. From it, they will learn respect, admiration, stewardship, responsibility, ethics, self-accountability, self-reliance, and team work. Most of all they will get a great amount of pleasure, the kind of outdoor pleasure that American boys and girls are missing and replacing with less healthy pursuits.
Just as with any sport there are some bad apples running hounds. No sport should be outlawed just because a bad apple or two has been involved. The hound hunting community loves our dogs and what they show us. We are not cruel, cold-blooded killers or immoral. We have a sport worth preserving and passing on to future generations, even if only a minority participates.
When I look at an old hound, I see courage, grace, and dignity, wisdom, passion and desire. When my soulful long-eared dogs hunt, they are doing what they love to do. The hunt is all about them, what they do and how they do it. I want my kids and grandkids to know the pleasure of training a hound and understanding our sport.

[cripplecreekenglish]

print it its tim,e we take back what is our right and freedomes I gave 4 yaers of my life for this country and all I want in return is to be able to run my hounds with the same free spirt as my elders

[treeing walkers]

Thanks Chris. I plan on it I just want to be sure all Washington and other hound hunters approve it so they feel good about it to, it's going to repersent all of us not just us Washington hunters but all.

[JTG]

Very nice, however I would consider changing the word "kILL" to harvest.
JTG

[Emily]

the reason I used "kill" rather than "harvest" is that "harvest" is a buzz-word/euphemism indicating to non-hunters that its just some crazy hunter talking and they shouldn't pay attention.
I don't think we should flinch from saying we kill an animal occasionally. Nothing wrong with that. If you want to convince somebody who would rather watch a nature documentary on tv or read a book than actually get out and hunt, you can quote Aldo Leopold on why you need to kill an animal at the end of the hunt (sure gets you great literature!), but you're not fooling anyone if you pretend to be "farming" wild animals. Just makes you sound like a phony. JMO though.

Thanks for the compliments, TW. I'm glad to help out with writing stuff any time. Feel free to run anything by me, any time. And thanks for cleaning up my typos and making it flow better!

[Buddyw]

Chris,
OK..

It's well written, but it's way too long. I can't sit and read this, and I'm super passonate about this sport. This might be a good piece for Coon Hound Bloodlines, or a hunting magazine. But I doubt that a news site will publish it. Most of the people reading it wont get passed the first paragraph.. If you don't have a hook in the first paragraph people are going to lose interest and few will stick it out to read the rest.

Try and find out what the average news piece is and use that size for a target. I would guess this is two to three times longer than what is normal.

Here is what I would also think about. People don't care about you.. They care about them.. Your First line is about you. Unfortunately that is a Turn off to society, You may not realiaze this but in your very first line subconsciously you are turning people away.


Think about it..
When you walk into a Salesman's office, he's not talking about Himself.. He's wanting to talk about you.. Because he knows that if he talks about himself, your not going to buy anything..

I would remember that you are trying to be a salesman here, Your not selling something for money, but you are selling something, and Your trying to sell that to allot of people.

At the very least, I would consider talking in Third person. And I would try to find a way to include the audience if possible. \

Again, Not trying to offend you... I think this is great. Just giving you the input you are asking for and what I see.

[mdufresne]

EMILY, great work on the revision. I too thought about the word kill and harvest. I think your right, non-hunters always bicker about the word harvest. Kill does get your attention. I posted one idea and I will repost it here just to make sure its seen. Should we consider changing the wording in the paragraph talking about the number of females being killed now? When we say the fertile females are being killed and talk about the death of kittens as a result we put a bad spin on hunters and we are all hunters. Someone out there might think "oh great hunters are killing alll the cats off". I just don't want hunters and houndsmen & women to split, we all need to stick together. I think the science and facts are very important to include. Not sure how to go about it I just don't want to anger other hunters that are not hound hunters. Does anyone else get that impression when reading it? It was just a gut response and as we said before once it is in print it can't be taken back.

[treeing walkers]

I too feel its a little long, but it hard to get everything that we need to say about our sport in one page. It would make it alot easier if we where not getting bashed all the time. I'm going to look up other articles and see what the length is and try one more time. After some thinking I too feel it would fit better in a hunting mag more than a paper. Back to the drawing board.

[coonfool]

it's perfect!!!

[Emily]

Everyone is correct that the piece is too long for some places. Length depends on where it is going, and news outlets all like to have somethng unique to them, so one mass mailing isn't going to get the whole thing in a lot of places.
I also agree with mdufresne that I should have been more considerate about sounding like we're bashing the 60,000 people with add-on cougar permits. There are a lot more of them than us, and we are all hunters!

Treeing Walkers, if you haven't already sent this out, revise asking an editor to publish this "article". That word gets editors' hackles up. You can say you have written a "letter" or "piece", especially an "op-ed piece" but editors like to avoid publishing any "article" or "story" that they haven't commissioned themselves. That feels to them like they are being coerced by the business end of the publication. I know that doesn't make sense to an outsider, but that's the way it is.

please feel free to email or pm me with anything you'd like help with.
Emily

[mdufresne]

It may be a little long but there is a lot to say. We need to start somewhere and see who is interested. I think its a great effort and lets hope it gets our message out. A friend just called me today after returning home and told me about a letter to the editor in the paper. It was about a disgruntled outdoor person who thought radio telemetry was not fair! This is in New England so the problem is everywhere! I'm glad someone is trying to fight it, thanks.

[Emily]

find out the name of the paper and I will try to send them a direct rebuttal!