HELP!!!!!

[beaglewalkerhunter4]

I need serious help, my family is on the verge of forbitting me to hunt. I'm still a rookie here and learning lot, and i love it so much. My dad is all for it and likes it but that isn't the problem the rest of my family is against it. They say it's cruel to the dog running through the mud and tics and all this other BS and they say the dog doesn't even like to do it. And they say I killed an innocent raccoon and wasted it when i skinned him and made a hat of the hide. i tried to explain that it is benificail to the eco system and all that stuff and I'm not in it for the kll but the thrill of the chase. Nothing will get through to them! and where I hunt my grandmoms is being munipulated by my brother and sister that hounding is cruel and all that BS. so I need so 'firepower' to change their minds, please I love hounding and I dont want to lose it so i need advice. thanks to all in advance.

[Vance M.]

How old are ya

[beaglewalkerhunter4]

I'm 14

[LBell]

I would be carefull with your sought after "firepower" fighting fire with fire often only creates an inferno. I really don't know what I can say that would help, your in a really hard spot and I give you credit for standing your ground. I don't have any hard numbers but statistics show young people who are exposed to the outdoors do better as life goes on. It gives young people somthing to do other then to get themselves into trouble. It teaches them responsibilty as you know careing for and running a hound or hounds is not easy. Thats is why alot of schools are trying to get hunter ed programs and related things started in school as an elective. You can't force a dog to trail, tree or have it out on the ground with game, they do it because it's what they are bred to do and they enjoy it! thats why they keep doing it, the culling process take care of thos that don't have the desire, and those traits are not passed on. Culling does not always mean destroying the animal, it can be fixed and domesticated. Thats all I can think of right know, it's been a long day, I hope this helps some my young friend, Good Luck! and keep us posted. Lance

[beaglewalkerhunter4]

thank you for the kind advice, lance. I dont need to change their minds althogh that would be nice but just enough to the point where I'm not constantly getting critized for it.

[bluedogs]

you should try to take your brother huntin with you so he can see first hand that the dog wants to do it and that your not makin him do anything. he might also injoy it just maybe. and while you two are out you can explain to him how it all works. and how you cant make an animal do anything. if ya think of it the dog is running through the same stuff you the hunter has to run through to get to your dog(s)
and in order for your dogs to keep in the best shape posible they have to be takin care of and cared for you cant just neglect a dog and exspect it to do its best when you take it out. hopefully he will agree to go with you so he can experence it. and anyone else in your family you can get to go with you would probly help to. when i was your age my mom and dad wouldnt let me have dogs they didnt like the fact that i was out late at night running around in the woods chasing a dog around LOL the spark never went away and when i was old enough i turned that spark into a flame and my mom and dad understand more i also trapped when i was your age and my mom was agianst that till i talked her in to takin me to a fur auction i was off lookin at the furs when an older gentalman started talkin to her she made the coment about how she is not sure about all this and he told her "he could be out in the streets stealing and doing drugs" from that day on that changed her mind and although she still didnt fully agree with it she let me do it i dont know who that man was that told her that but tell ya what it helped me and houndsmen and trappers are few and far between the more younge people that get into this sport the better. wish ya luck

[arizonabeagle]

you should try to take your brother huntin with you so he can see first hand that the dog wants to do it and that your not makin him do anything. he might also injoy it just maybe. and while you two are out you can explain to him how it all works. and how you cant make an animal do anything. if ya think of it the dog is running through the same stuff you the hunter has to run through to get to your dog(s)
and in order for your dogs to keep in the best shape posible they have to be takin care of and cared for you cant just neglect a dog and exspect it to do its best when you take it out. hopefully he will agree to go with you so he can experence it. and anyone else in your family you can get to go with you would probly help to. when i was your age my mom and dad wouldnt let me have dogs they didnt like the fact that i was out late at night running around in the woods chasing a dog around LOL the spark never went away and when i was old enough i turned that spark into a flame and my mom and dad understand more i also trapped when i was your age and my mom was agianst that till i talked her in to takin me to a fur auction i was off lookin at the furs when an older gentalman started talkin to her she made the coment about how she is not sure about all this and he told her "he could be out in the streets stealing and doing drugs" from that day on that changed her mind and although she still didnt fully agree with it she let me do it i dont know who that man was that told her that but tell ya what it helped me and houndsmen and trappers are few and far between the more younge people that get into this sport the better. wish ya luck

amen to that bluedogs

when i was 8 years old
after reading where the red fern grows for the first time
like many boys i wanted me some coondogs too..but hell i know if my parents coulda afforded to get me some they would have... but like billy coleman in the story..we werent too well off and i had to settle with the free lab pups the neighbor had, or whatever was free...and like bluedogs, my spark never went away
used to coonhunt and squirrel hunt with a buddy of mine..he had some old red cur cross type dog named george...i didnt have no hounds till i moved to arizona..thats when i got the two beagles..and i tell ya if chasin my dogs around a pecan orchard and behind a cement factory by my house didnt keep me outta doin bad...i'd be doin bad things...

i think as we have alot to teach a hunting companion..its a generally tough job......they teach us alot more about life and ourselves then we could ever teach them about trailin an old lion track..how to trail and tree a coon, circle a rabbit or what have you

the boy could be doin MUCH worse then chasin a dog around the woods
i had a hard time gettin my mom to understand that too..she just dont like me bringing dead stuff home lol
but you keep at beaglewalkerhunter4...hopefully you'll get through to em...or in my case they'll get sick of you and just let it slide haha

[beaglewalkerhunter4]

well I think there gettin sick of me trying to change their minds! so now they dont even bother saying anything because they know I'll go off like a bomb lol. None the less, it has all worken out and I'm still aloud to run. thanks for all the advice guys, and good huntin to ya!

[bearhunter77]

What people need to understand like your family is that going over your head and trying to manipulate your grandparents isn't going to change what you love to do. This country in general has lost sight of this. There was a time long before I was alive that some people loved to hunt and others didn't. That didn't keep them from getting along. People use to respected other's beliefs. Now a days with enough money people are forcing us to live the way others think we should live. We shouldn't use hounds, we shouldn't use baits, we can't have certain firearms, we can't pray in school, can't use the word God in the pledge of alligiance are only an ounce of the tons and tons of rights we've lost in just the past 50 years. When people try and convince me that my sport is wrong and that I have no right killing animals I don't even try and debate with them. I just tell them I respect their opinion. We are hunters and love what we do. The only way we can gain the respect of those who oppose us is to set a positive example.

[beaglewalkerhunter4]

Bearhunter77, tried that approach for a year and a half, i finally had enough, decided to try and change their minds because they were speaking about something they knew nothing about.

[wyatte]

There are many different angles you can take with this subject, the fact that with out the money being spent by sportsmen on tags and lisences there would not be any game, we are the 1st line of conservation ( the anti sure don't spend any of there dollars ) there is also the history of hound hunting since Goerge Washington had hounds also the fact that one of the ways that fish and game can manage animals is by the harvest of these animals, and these are only a few of the ways to at least open there eyes to the big picture of game managment.

[arizonabeagle]

i respect what you guys said
and i believe it 100%
but the boys 14..his parents more than likely dont see him as their equal
after all your supposed to obey your parents wishes arent you?
i betcha even if a grown man tried to explain it to them they wouldnt want to hear it
most people have their own interpretations of things and the sad part about it is they aint lettin no one change that..and i'm guilty of it to an extent i wont lie
soo yeahh manipulation isnt the best way to approach things like this...but if nothin else has worked whats he got to lose?

alot of you guys probably dont get it..i've learned hound hunting for most people is a family tradition..granddaddy did it, daddy did, i do it and my boy'll do it sort of thing but for us unfortunate souls who werent born into it it seems alot harder to get started.... at least i know myself and beaglewalkerhunter4 will fight with all we got to be able to do it
encourage the boy! hell we need as many kids out there in the woods as possible and if manipulating his parents is the way he can do it..good for him! at least he aint playin world of warcraft and smokin pot like most kids

all i'm sayin is the youngsters are the future of this sport and we shoud support him and knock him for doin what he's gotta do...

[montananative]

im glad u got that resolved. im a first generation houndsman in my family. my whole family thinks its cool what me and my dogs do. BUT, i was not allowed a dog till i was 18. now ive got another pot licker too feed and im not lookin back anytime soon. i love houndin and everything that comes with it

[beaglewalkerhunter4]

I would just like to give a big thank you to everyone who gave their .02, happy huntin', Jon McMillan.