doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Perhap OT, Perhaps not....

The old guy I mentioned who does not get to hunt any more (doctor's orders) can outwalk most of us. At 78, he'd grab a bottle of water in 115 temps and just take off, showing up again a few hours later. Problem is, now he gets himself lost, and he refuses to hunt on a leash. Last time out, he had to call on his cell phone so that we could go find him. Getting old is a [censored].

I guess I'm lucky in that about 80% of my waterfowling companions are under 25 and the rest are over 55. Lots of young guys interested in the sport were I hunt in Canada. Almost too many at times!

Destry

Steve,

What you've observed is an example of the symptom, not the larger problem.

I've been very, very fortunate to have been able to hunt in the field at least 2000 days thus far in my thirty-something year old life. Much of that time was spent with a fine gun, the vast majority was with a raptor practicing the ancient art of falconry. There is a relevant warning in understanding the almost extinction of falconry as a sport and what we will soon face with the firearm sportsman as well.

In the renaissance, there were literally millions of falconers in the world hunting all forms of game on 3 continents but that soon changed. Within 50 years of the proliferation of gunpowder and breech loaders, falconry was almost completely extinct. By 1880 there were perhaps 200 falconers left in all of England, for example. You see, technology, greed and the expeditious ease of killing subsumed the desire to commune with nature and partner with animals in the pursuit of game. (whether dog or falcon)

Was the near extinction of one sport sufficient for the average man's desire for a lazier, easier hunt with less philosophy, etiquette and decorum? No. Today we notice the phenomenon you've encountered where sportsmanship is lacking and only trophy hunting with multishot guns is in vogue. People prepare for hunting season by purchasing more camo covered ATVs, not by going to the skeet range to hone their point with a double gun.

This forum and a few notable societies are all that are left supporting the notion of traditional arms, traditional conservation minded hunts and purists pursuits in this era. Just as falconry nearly became an extinct sport, so too will the upland shooting sportsman if people such as yourself only refrain from keeping the traditions alive.

Hopefully I'll see you in the field this year as I too look for good covert, a brace of fine dogs and the traditional hunting implement ready to pursue game.

Without a doubt, I'm very fortunate. Like Destry, 60%, or maybe a bit more, have 40 years or less but prefer single tube smoke poles. Here's our oldest, Owen, praticing mounting a 9mm Flobert at boat-tails that were flying over this a.m. after more than 9 inches of snow last eve.



I will have the pleasure of training 2 little J�gers and I have found it is somewhat akin to training a bird dog. You don't want to hunt with a dog that will not honour another dog's point even if there isn't anything there. You don't want a dog in the blind that won't honour well and either won't get out of the blind to retrieve or continually keeps getting out of the blind to retrieve the decoys. It is an investment of time that will have huge payoffs. It's about establishing the bounds and allowing a little deviation within said bounds. When it's a pleaure to hunt with a youngster, the overall experience is pretty much unequaled for all involved, including the hounds.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Thanks to all for the kind comments..
As to the physical condition of my Dad. He is 67, nearly 68, has survived cancer, and is type 2 diabetic. He tries to stay in as good of physical condition as he can (he was a Marine--Hoorah!!) For those who have seen the disease develop in someone you know how it can affect eye sight, lower extremities, ect. He has the lower extremity problem, that's where it decided to attack him. Fortunate, I am to have him able to go at all. I just miss the long days of meandering through the coverts and chasing dogs...

Steve,
I'm very familiar with diabetes, in addition to inflammatory breast cancer; my wife has type 2 gestational diabetes and has a terrible time with her feet. The docs say that the diabetes came from her having large babies. Let's see, I'm 6'5" my wife is 6'2" you'd think that for her to have large babies would be normal, natural, and expected, it's not as if she were some tiny woman cranking out 10 lb baby's. Things like that gotta make me wonder about Gods plan, if indeed there is one.
Sorry to hear about your Dads health troubles, just be happy that you have a Dad who hunts with you. My Dad, after serving in the 101st Airborne during WWII, was discharged a mental wreck. He never ever took me hunting; it got in the way of his TV (fall football) and beer. He did buy me a shotgun one Christmas, gave me safety instruction "Now don't shoot anyone,or yourself!", and off I went after the wily squirrel and pheasant.
Steve
PS Hooray for your Dad, I'm a cancer survivor too and it's one miserable disease.

I still see many young guys in the 14-25 yr range hunting, in the area I grew up (North ID). They cut their teeth on forest grouse and now turkeys. But ultimately, most usually end up spending the majority of their hunting time pursueing big game.

Deer heads make better trophies than game birds, and that's all most of these guys care about .

Steve,

Dont lose too much hope. I'm 33 and before I was 30 I never hunted a day in my life save for being a devout fly fisher on the hunt for trout. I have a good friend I met through work who has about 25 years on me, he "likes" to fly fish and so I took him out with me a few times and showed him some "tricks to the trade" In return he convinced me to take a hunters safety course and to join him in October for some Grouse hunting here in Maine. That was a mistake as now I have more doubles then I need and a disappointed wife who claims she doesn't see me from October through December ( she had already given up on me during trout season). I love to chase the bird so much I spend countless hours ground pounding for "pats" every free moment I get during the season, and to make sure I have the free time, I actually fish less now a days. So there is new enthusiasm out there. If I knew how fun this was when I was twenty... ah but alas I did not.

I do see younger people hunting birds though, but this is where I think a difference in ethical standards comes in. Here in Maine w/ all of our logging roads, people don't bother to walk them up any more, and most of the people I see, young or old are aptly labeled "Road Hunters" Four guys in a car shooting the first grouse they see on the road doesn't meet my personal definition of sporting, but thats me. I'll be dammed to shoot one on the road, when there are enough to move on your own or with dogs by finding an old tote road through a cut or a stand of new growth. However, I do notice that the practice keeps them on the road and I RARELY see another person in actually hunting in the woods.

If you find yourself w/ business in ME from October through December, shoot me a PM

-Chris

Well an excuse to post a photo of my Grandson with his first gamebird !