American hoggers

Joey, we do need to worry about how we look to the general public because the general public is who gets to vote on these measures when they come up. Look at the poor fellas in California who are about to be outlawed from hunting bear and big cats with hounds. The whole argument against that was that it was cruel to the wildlife and cruel to the dogs to "make" them hunt. There is a huge difference in using a hound to track and run an animal up into a tree, and using a dog to actually grab hold of another animal with it's teeth. That is where the public's perception of us can really hurt if we have not been on our toes in keeping ourselves regarded as empathetic houndsmen with a respect for our animals as well as the game we pursue. If we look like goofballs to the general public, they won't lose too much sleep about branding us unfeeling idiots and removing our rights and privileges to hunt with our dogs.

Honestly, as chic as it is to "rescue" animals from perceived "abuses" which typically start with whether you believe it is cruel to keep a dog outdoors with no air conditioning, I am surprised we still can hunt with dogs anymore at all. Heck, here in Texas, I am pretty certain that as of September 1 of this year it is illegal to house a dog outdoors at temps above 90 degrees. That is the type of idiocy we are up against.

Cheers
M