******REVISED SHORTER VERSION *********
Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:24 am
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.
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.