Lessons Learned from My Hunting Dogs

I suppose there are a lot of reasons why hunters own a dog. Certainly it can be argued that hunting with a dog is the epitome of conservation…meaning that game shot stands a better chance of being game found and retrieved. Yet other hunters choose to have a dog as a partner, almost like another kid in the family. To these folks the dog probably represents at least someone in the family that will listen to their commands.

But I own a hunting dog for other reasons. Certainly there’s the companionship aspect as well as the conservation component, yet I look at my hunting dog as more of a teacher. I think there are so many lessons that can be learned from a canine that aren’t easily learned anywhere else in life. In fact, I dare say this might be a better world if more people paid closer attention to their interaction with their hunting dogs.

Loyalty
No matter how upset or disappointed I become with my dog…they will always come to me looking for affection and, perhaps by some stretch of the imagination, forgiveness. If I’m upset because the dog flushed a bird too far ahead of me…they will listen to my chastising comments, but then turn around and continue on with the hunt. In other words, in my dog’s eyes I am the most wonderful person in the world. Oh sure, I’m guessing they would rather not have a raised voice scolding them…but their commitment to me will not let the words further effect their day. Heck, they are outdoors enjoying smells and the sights of paradise. Why would they let anything ruin the day for them? They realize, too, that at the end of the day…they will still get a dish of food and a tender scratch behind the ear. It always works this way…and it always should.

Positive Attitude
You know I have never walked out to the kennel and found my dog in a bad mood. Even when she was crippled up and needed surgery to repair a torn ACL in her joint…she still wanted to play and jump around (albeit on three legs). I know there have been days that my hunting dogs have not felt up to par, but I also know that even if the dogs could speak to me I would never hear an excuse. Indeed, if I need a pick-me-up all I have to do is go for a walk with my dog…and she soon reminds me that just being alive is reason enough to be happy and excited.

Hard Working
Have you ever hunted hard all day almost to the point of exhaustion? Chances are who gave up first…you or your dog? I’m betting it was you. As I think back I have only had one hunting dog who knew when to call it quits. He would go back to the truck and lay waiting for me to finish. I actually thought it was rather cute…and I didn’t come down hard on the dog because by the time the dog gave up I was usually already thinking those very same thoughts. Yet most of the hunting dogs I have known would keep going and going and not quit until they were forced to quit. When you consider that a typical hunting dog covers 3 to 4 times as much ground as the hunter, it’s pretty impressive to watch that kind of ambition at work.

Life and Death
Perhaps one of the biggest and toughest lessons I’ve had to learn in life was dealing with my dog’s mortality. That in turn forced me into thinking about the mortality of everyone I love, including my own. Death is never an easy subject…but it seems to be made even more gut-wrenching when the decision of continuing life rests squarely on your shoulders alone.

Five years ago this month I was faced with the decision euthanizing my hunting dog, Knight. It was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made. The whole process taught me that a person should never be put in a position to have to decide the life and death of a loved one, particularly if it can be avoided. Afterwards, I then made certain that with my aging mother we had all the legal paperwork in place so I would not be faced with the anguish alone again.

Certainly a hunting dog isn’t going to teach you all the lessons directly; you still have to give meaning to all those little experiences. Yet, when you take the time to extrapolate each lesson from a hunting dog, you’ll soon discover why this special canine has long been known as “man’s best friend.”

Fall Musky Fishing

October 6, 2004
Fishing
No Comments

Not too many people think about fishing this time of the year in the upper Midwest…but right now can be one of the best times to do a little musky hunting. That’s right…I call it hunting because in the fishing world there are few species you can actually target on an individual fish basis. Yet, musky fishermen do that…they learn the unique habits of their prey almost like a bow hunter who sits in ambush for that certain trophy deer.

Indeed, musky fishermen are a unique group of folks who enjoy the outdoors in a special way. They can cast all day until sore arms set in…only to be perfectly content by witnessing a fish follow their lure as it’s retrieved back to the boat. How many other types of fishermen do you know who keep track of follows and will then brag about it to their friends? I’m guessing musky anglers are one of the few…but even these close encounters will serve to fuel the passion of a true essox head.

I admit that when it comes to musky angling I’m lucky to get out but a few times a year. Still, it’s a sport that truly fascinates me. Obviously the thought of landing a trophy fish is exciting in and of itself; however, I can easily get intrigued about every facet of the sport. To be successful you need to be meticulous about your choice of equipment, you need to be in the right spot at the right time…and it doesn’t hurt to have a little luck on your side.

This time of the year one of my favorite lures to cast is called a Suick. Ask any serious musky fisherman to open his tackle box and I’d be surprised if you didn’t find one inside. Moreover, chances are if you find one you’ll find a half-dozen in an assortment of colors and sizes. Personally, I think the Suick is a bread and butter lure for the musky fisherman. It has the weight for extra long casts, depending on how it’s retrieved it can create all sorts of commotion (mimicking a wounded sucker), plus it’s a surface lure that will more likely than not cause an explosive and sudden strike. If I’m spending the time on the water casting for the “fish of 10,000 casts” then I want some drama when it finally occurs.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t relate a story that happened in Northern Minnesota on Grace Lake several years ago. I was fishing with my buddy, Mark Cook, who at the time was a Minnesota DNR Musky Researcher. We no more than landed the boat and were trolling past some vegetation near the landing when I made my first cast. BAMM!! I had a strike of epic proportions but…much to my chagrin; I wasn’t really paying attention yet. I made a critical error. Who would have thought that on the very first cast I would see hot musky action? Hell, I figured I had at least a few hundred, if not thousand, casts in me before things would get serious. Unfortunately, my lack of concentration on my very first cast proved to be the only opportunity of the weekend…and it was wasted.

In another incident with Mark, we were fishing on a different lake but this time in the boat with us was Mark’s wife. Mark and I were at the bow and stern of the boat casting feverishly working the shoreline. Mark’s wife was in the middle mostly just passing time with us. Eventually she picked up a bass rod and cast a hot-pink bass spinner bait to pass the time. After a few casts she suddenly had a huge musky follow the pink bait back to our boat. When she seen the size of the enormous fish following her lure…she got scared and quickly pulled her lure out of the water. Here we were seriously casting a complete menu of musky baits with no success…only to be out-done by a fisherman casting a lure that by all estimations should not equate success. You can imagine how fast both Mark and I worked the water after switching to anything pink we could find in our tackle boxes. Once again…opportunity missed and all we had to talk about is what could have been.

Perhaps to me that is one of the reasons that musky fishing is so intriguing. It’s not easy…and you never know what’s going to work. Even the experts who seemingly have musky hunting down to a science are fooled more often than not. Then again, if boating a musky was commonplace it probably wouldn’t be associated with the well earned mystique it carries in the fishing world.

In my mind a perfect fall day would be one spent grouse hunting in the morning…and musky fishing in the afternoon. Only, in my mind the next time I go musky fishing I plan to get the damn fish in the boat and not just take home the fond memories of what should have been.

**NOTE**: Mark Cook has since retired from the MNDNR and now owns a bait shop in Bemidji, MN called Bluewater Bait & Sports.

Know Where Your Money Goes!

If you donate money through work-sponsored charitable causes…have you taken the time to check on for what that money is being spent? Similarly, when the neighborhood charitable fund drive comes knocking at your door…what groups are getting their hands on your hard earned money?

One of my biggest pet peeves in life is groups that ask for my money and then use that money to work against my beliefs. Case in point: Today in the Minneapolis StarTribune there’s an article that talks about the entire board of directors of the local Minnesota Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation resigning their positions. Why? The official response is because of “philosophical differences.” Truth is, however, one of the big issues that has dogged the local chapter for many years involves hunting. Here’s what the StarTribune said:

“The local board also objected to other directives that included no granting of wishes that involve hunting or firearms, a decision that dates to a Minnesota hunting wish that sparked national controversy in the 1990s….”

“Tensions between local and national offices date at least to 1996, when Make-A-Wish Minnesota granted an Alaska bear-hunting trip to Erik Ness, a White Bear Township teenager suffering from brain cancer. Animal rights groups and some other chapters objected, and in 2000 the national Make-A-Wish Foundation banned wishes involving hunting. Ness died in 1999 at age 21.”

Why would any sportsman want to contribute money to a group that would not honor the wish of a dying child…even if that child wanted to go hunting? Frankly, I think the concept of making dreams of dying children possible should not be governed by whether or not a bunch of decision makers personally approve of an activity…especially when the activity is perfectly legal for the child, or any healthy child to participate in.

But let’s get serious here. This is all about politics and how a non-profit organization will cower to big money interest. In this case, the big money is from the very groups looking to put us sportsmen out of business. It’s obvious these “anti” groups threatened the national M-A-W Foundation through coercive tactics likely involving their membership boycotting their financial support. In so doing, it was much better for M-A-W to disappoint a single dying child, than a large group of potential donors.

I was outraged when I first heard this story several years ago and now today it makes me even more upset to see this all finally come to a head. On the other hand, the former local board of directors, including the former local president, Karla Blomberg, deserves a hearty THANK YOU from all of us who purport to be sportsmen in this great state. Thankfully, young Erik not only experienced his dream hunt once…but also again later in the year when he was finally successful in his hunting efforts.

Back in the mid-90s it was the local Minnesota Chapter of M-A-W working with the Minnesota Safari Club chapter conducting private fundraising efforts to get young Erik on his hunt. The money could not come from M-A-W because of the raging controversy that continues to this day, hence the recent resignations. The national organization of M-A-W has since issued the following policy:

“it is not in the best interests of the children we serve for us to continue considering wishes that involve firearms, hunting bows or other hunting or sport-shooting equipment.”

Well, folks…read that policy statement one more time. If it isn’t in the best interest of the M-A-W Foundation to serve kids who have deep desires to partake lawfully in the sports that we embrace…why then would we support financially a group that so blatantly slaps all of us in the face? I think it’s high time all of us sportsmen flex our power and withhold any future contributions that may go directly or indirectly to groups such as this. Instead, check out organizations such as www.HuntofaLifetime.org. This organization, although I do not necessarily endorse it per se, seems much more worthy of our funds than M-A-W Foundation.

No, I think this time the national Make-A-Wish Foundation has really shot itself in the foot. When it cannot work with a local board of directors and president who obviously could set aside politics and facilitate the wishes of a dying child…then I suggest this is an organization led by people who can go without all of our support. Let them get their money from the animal rights groups and others with whom they’ve proven to favor based on their past and present ill-conceived actions.