Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
This is a spin-off from the ATV thread.
A problem I've watched for around a half-century of "adult awareness" here in this country is the "If some's good, more's better!" philosophy. I don't care what it is--car racing, competition shooting, SUV design, college/pro football. "More!" "Bigger!" And all that sort of thing.
Used to be, a few guys would take a few dogs and go out at night, coon hunting. They'd build a fire and sit around, listening to the dogs. It was no great problem for most folks, because the population was less; fewer "exurbanites" with their "five acres, five miles from town"; and it was not a really regular occurrence.
Dogs were traditionally used for deer hunting in the Carolinas and Florida. (Other states, too, of course, but to a lesser extent insofar as my reading has told me.) The cover was very thick, and it was common that shotguns were preferred. Overall, not all that many people hunted, with or without dogs. You must remember that for many "dog-hunters", the meat was important--much moreso than in today's world.
That has changed. I once drove Highway 98 below Tallahassee, Florida, on the opening day of deer season--and the highway was lined with trucks, waiting on the 12-Noon "Start". That struck me as a less than desirable situation--to put it mildly.
The fact remains that hunting with dogs has been going on for thousands of years. Once again, it's not dog-hunting as such that's a problem. It's how it's done, and how many do it.
Suggested reading: "The Voice of Bugle Ann"; and Robert Ruark's "The Old Man And The Boy".
Art
A problem I've watched for around a half-century of "adult awareness" here in this country is the "If some's good, more's better!" philosophy. I don't care what it is--car racing, competition shooting, SUV design, college/pro football. "More!" "Bigger!" And all that sort of thing.
Used to be, a few guys would take a few dogs and go out at night, coon hunting. They'd build a fire and sit around, listening to the dogs. It was no great problem for most folks, because the population was less; fewer "exurbanites" with their "five acres, five miles from town"; and it was not a really regular occurrence.
Dogs were traditionally used for deer hunting in the Carolinas and Florida. (Other states, too, of course, but to a lesser extent insofar as my reading has told me.) The cover was very thick, and it was common that shotguns were preferred. Overall, not all that many people hunted, with or without dogs. You must remember that for many "dog-hunters", the meat was important--much moreso than in today's world.
That has changed. I once drove Highway 98 below Tallahassee, Florida, on the opening day of deer season--and the highway was lined with trucks, waiting on the 12-Noon "Start". That struck me as a less than desirable situation--to put it mildly.
The fact remains that hunting with dogs has been going on for thousands of years. Once again, it's not dog-hunting as such that's a problem. It's how it's done, and how many do it.
Suggested reading: "The Voice of Bugle Ann"; and Robert Ruark's "The Old Man And The Boy".
Art