You would think that someone who’s spent a lifetime raising, showing, training, and hunting dogs would get used to the fact that they don’t live as long as we do.  And I guess I have, in a way, at least accepted the inevitability.  12 or 15 years is a long, long time for a dog to live, and many don’t make it that far.   Lucky, who died last night, only made it to five.

I’ve seen an awful lot of dogs come and go… show dogs, hunting dogs, and a few that were just pets.  But what they all had in common was that regardless of their “job”, what they really were was companions.  Whatever purpose these animals had, it was always tempered with the overwhelming desire to please… to make us happy.  This was Lucky in spades.

I’ve never had a “bad” dog.  Some were more independent than others, some smarter… and some, well, not so sharp. 

I’ve had a couple of boneheads who were so goofy I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around them and laugh at their lolling tongues and their rollicking, galumphing excitement whenever they saw me coming.   I’ve also had hunters, so bred to the purpose that they practically became machine-like in the field… dogs who’d rather hunt than eat. 

Lucky was a little bit of both. 

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Shooting birds on a preserve hardly compares to hunting wild birds, but it sure beats sitting in front of the idiot box watching football!  Went out with Kat (the girlfriend) and Lucky (the dog) to the Suisun Marsh Hunting Preserve today, and did our part to scare the heck out of a bunch of birds.  Ended up bringing a few home for dinner too.

Kat thought I needed a photo for the Hog Blog, so she snapped this one at the tailgate.

Got a note from Jon Bryan, over at Outdoor Odyssey blog this morning, to let me know about a story he’d just posted regarding hog hunting and such.  Little did I know I’d expect a story right out of Africa…even if it was actually Abilene.

It seems they were out chasing quail, when all of a sudden the chaser was the chased, so to speak.

In his own words…

The next thing I know, here comes Rooster fast and right behind him a really big Hog, two hundred and fifty pounds or more! Rooster is heading my way with the Hog in hot pursuit. What to do? No trees to climb. I can’t out run the Hog. Shoot him with my trusty, twenty gauge, Skeet Grade, Remington 870, loaded with number eight shot? Since Hogs have a thick, muscle like covering, over their shoulders and head, bird shot wouldn’t faze him, and my trusty twenty- two magnum, Ruger Single Six, was back in the truck.

Read the story yourself, to find out how this came to be, and how it turned out. 

As I may have mentioned, I had the opportunity to head up into the Sierra foothills this week and meet a new friend.  Bryce Mann is a dog trainer and hunting guide, and we’d been introduced through the web on Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors.  Bryce was interested in doing some writing for us at JHO, and I was interested in reports that his neck of the woods was recently being overrun by hogs.  A win-win situation, right?

I cruised up on a most beautiful spring day, and pulled into town in the late afternoon.  It was already a bit late to do much in the way of hog hunting, but we had time to get acquainted and talk a bit about all the things Bryce is involved with.  He’s a very busy man.  In addition to training and hunting, he competes with his gun dogs on several levels, and is in preparation now for a trip to the nationals in Colorado next week.

He also gives an awful lot back to the world of hunting, both through his work with Ducks Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and with a group that supports handicapped hunters, the Wheelin’ Sportsmen. 

Over the course of our day and half visit, I got to go out and work with Bryce and his dogs a little.  He needed to work with some live birds, and I just happened to have a double-barrel muzzleloading shotgun that hasn’t been fired in a while.  Over some planted birds, I got to see just how impressive his German Short-haired Pointers (GSP) could be.

Unfortunately, shotgunning requires practice.  Blackpowder shotgunning requires a LOT of practice.  Since I haven’t dragged that old gun out of the safe in a few years, I had forgotten just how much follow-through it takes to wingshoot with a smokepole. 

It was great fun for the dogs, though, and I had a ball!  Next time, I think I’ll spend a few hours at the trap range before I show up on a bird hunt with this old gun. 

In California, the debate and discussion over potential laws that would ban the use of lead ammunition is going on and is getting a bit heated.

The primary driver behind the lead ammo ban is the endangered condor.  Proponents say the lead fragments in wild game carcasses is a factor in lead poisoning deaths.  Opponents say there’s no solid, scientific evidence that this is the case. 

Anyway, not that it’s the end-all-be-all, but here’s a whitepaper from the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) that lays it out.  Interesting stuff here…

 By the way, while poking around on the web this morning, I had the chance to have a look at a few more outdoors-related Blogs.  I’ve added a couple of the better ones to my blogroll.  Have a look when you get a chance.  The additions include:

• The Sportsman’s Blog - Jim Braaten offers up a great mix of news and opinion about the outdoors and related topics.  Well-written and interesting to read.  I especially like his current post (03/13/07) with the picture of the bears on the swingset. 
• Hunting Wild Game/A Way of Life - A nice, laid back read from someone who really loves the outdoors.  I wish him luck in his quest for his own “golden pond”.
• Dave Richey’s Blog - Another great, wide-ranging site about the outdoors.  What sucked me in is his very informative post about wild turkeys. 

I’ve also added a link to my friend Bryce Mann’s Gun-Dogs.net website.   I’ll be getting to know Bryce a bit more tomorrow when I ride up to meet him in person.  I was referred to him because he’s apparently having a bit of a hog problem on his property, and my friends all know I’m eager to do a good turn for an outdoorsman in need…especially if that good turn is taking a toll on the local hog population!   I’m such a philanthropist…

More on that, later!