ITW Tracks of the StoneBear ITW= Into The West. A Journey of crossing the continent: Hunting / Photography

Tracks of the StoneBear Odyssey ROF = Ring of Fire ITW Flagg to Cody, WY

You never drink twice from the same stream.

Hunting / Photography

Circa 1984 Etowah County, Alabama

During a night wake up while flipping channels came to "The Hunt" ... generically speaking. .... some Joe Bob decked out in camo gear on his trek -- with a "Guide" stalking an Elk,... or Caribou... somewhere out in the western hinterlands.

Now I know that hunting is in our genes; it's primal. Years ago observed social settings where a predator guy would spot the insecure, vulnerable lady, single them out from the herd, and move in for the kill. should have had my camera then.

Hunting with my teenage buddy's amounted to small varmints, squirrels, possums, Quail, it was mostly shooting cans. Had many shots at deer but chose to observe rather than shoot.

After the Marines,... did not even want to touch a gun for nearly a decade. Then was fortunate enough to quail hunt with Doc.... he was a natural. One of the highlights of my life was quail hunting with Doc. The real treat was watching the bird dogs Jake, Lady, and Queen work and point a covey. It was beautiful ! I loved those dogs. ... and am thankful for those hunting trips memories.

I remember a Thanksgiving day in the early 80s, up at 4am, out in the Alabama fields at dawn with the dogs running a field perimeter, cold... freezing... 34*... and Jake would point a covey. Absolutely fantastic to see this. ... and we'd get 3 birds on the rise... a couple more singles. doesn't get much better. And we'd follow Lady and Queen onto the next field past the Alabama southern pine trees.

By 9am with 2+ dozen birds, head back. Cleaning / plucking feathers,... dressing out the birds... soaking them in saltwater for an hour. ... then a brunch dinner at noon of quail, grits and biscuits. The South is a great place ! Afternoon was watching Alabama / auburn football. Hard to beat.

knowing docs health was failing and there would not be many more quail hunts I left the 12 gauge pump in the truck and only took my camera. One of my best gifts in life was to hand a couple rolls of film to Docs family and say " this is where your Dad is happy ; this is where he's best ". I never got to see those pictures. I'm pretty sure it went right over their heads like most things.

Seeing these "hunters" out shooting and Elk, Caribou, Bear, Moose, ect... I want to ask the question : ? Is it just you or is everybody in your family stupid? Or " are you that insecure with yourself that you have to have these trophy's to prove your manhood" ? I'm sure they would point to my quail hunting as equal. I wonder.

I mean... these guys hunting-- they call it hunting-- ... let me see if I understand this correctly; they fly airplanes to their destination to hunt, then cars / trucks to the lodge / motel, eat at restaurants leading up to the "hunt", ride trucks out into the wilderness,... drive 4 wheelers from some remote point,.... THEN... you start walking / hiking -- and your guide carries half your gear (and there's some you don't even see-- camera crew ect) , and when you find an Elk or whatever, you start whispering while looking through a high powered scope on a high powered rifle... and you shoot a kill a pretty neat looking large Elk with beautiful antlers. And you high 5 the guide for a successful hunt / kill.

No, I'm not a bleeding heart liberal that lives a PETA mentality, and am a confirmed meat eater for life. But you've got to have a little sanity about these " hunts ". First of all, you're no more hunting than when I go through Costco and look at a 4 pack of ribeyes; there is no one I'm trying to fool. ?Who do you think you are fooling with the " hunting" clown suit on? ?Me? ?Us? We are not fooled, so ?who is it you think you are fooling? I think yourself. ?You want some respect and admiration? Load your pack and hike down through the bighorn canyon for a couple weeks, down into the plains -- the ancestral hunting grounds-- where the bison herds roamed for ions of time. Stalk your prey, use your SPEAR, not rifle or gun, to fell the same animal you hunted on tv... then,... we'll be impressed with your hunt ; but not until then.

Those ancestral native Indians,... when they tracked, outran, threw the spear they made,... and killed a large animal... They made that guy chief of the tribe. Hunter is a respected skill. It reflects intellect, skill, courage, and strength. And leadership. ... to kill a large beast for the tribe to have meat... that's cheif material.

Buddies Dennis, Joseph, and Henry hunt and love/ good stewards of the land too but they don't make a spectacle of hunting. Most hunters respect the outdoors, land, and wildlife; the TV hunters are ridiculous.

At the U of Alabama working in the photo lab at audio visual services, learning photography.... just glad to have lived to see this digital camera image era and am glad to put a few pix on this website. Glad I hunt w/ a camera. SBT

You never drink twice from the same stream.

***************************

Tracks of the StoneBear Odyssey ROF = Ring of Fire ITW Flagg to Cody, WY

You never drink twice from the same stream.

Hunting / Photography

Circa 1984 Etowah County, Alabama

During a night wake up while flipping channels came to "The Hunt" ... generically speaking. .... some Joe Bob decked out in camo gear on his trek -- with a "Guide" stalking an Elk,... or Caribou... somewhere out in the western hinterlands.

Now I know that hunting is in our genes; it's primal. Years ago observed social settings where a predator guy would spot the insecure, vulnerable lady, single them out from the herd, and move in for the kill. should have had my camera then.

Hunting with my teenage buddy's amounted to small varmint, quail, squirrels, possums. it was mostly shooting cans. Had many shots at deer but chose to observe rather than shoot.

After the Marines,... did not even want to touch a gun for nearly a decade. Then was fortunate enough to quail hunt with Doc.... and he was a natural. One of the highlights of my life was quail hunting with Doc. The real treat was watching the bird dogs Jake, Lady, and Queen work and point a covey. It was beautiful ! I loved those dogs. ... and am thankful for those hunting trips memories.

I remember a Thanksgiving day in the early 80s, up at 4am, out in the Alabama fields at dawn with the dogs running a field perimeter, cold... freezing... 34*... and Jake would point a covey. Absolutely fantastic to see this. ... and we'd get 3 birds on the rise... a couple more singles. dosen't get much better. And we'd follow lady and Queen onto the next field past the Alabama southern pine trees.

By 9am with 2 dozen birds, head back. Cleaning / plucking feathers,... dressing out the birds... soaking them in saltwater for an hour. ... then a brunch dinner at noon of quail, grits and biscuits. The South is a great place ! Afternoon was watching Alabama / auburn football. Hard to beat.

knowing docs health was failing and there would not be many more quail hunts I left the 12 gauge pump in the truck and only took my camera. One of my best gifts in life was to hand a couple rolls of film to Docs family and say " this is where your Dad is happy ; this is where he's best ". I never got to see those pictures. I'm pretty sure it went right over their heads like most things.

Seeing these "hunters" out shooting and Elk, Caribou, Bear, Moose, ect... I want to ask the question : ? Is it just you or is everybody in your family stupid? Or " are you that insecure with yourself that you have to have these trophy to prove your manhood" ? I'm sure they would point to my quail hunting as equal. I wonder.

I mean... these guys hunting-- they call it hunting-- ... let me see if I understand this correctly; they fly airplanes to their destination to hunt, then cars / trucks to the lodge / motel, eat at restaurants leading up to the "hunt", ride trucks out into the wilderness,... drive 4 wheelers from some remote point,.... THEN... you start walking / hiking -- and your guide carries half your gear (and there's some you don't even see-- camera crew ect) , and when you find an Elk or whatever, you start whispering while looking through a high powered scope on a high powered rifle... and you shoot a kill a pretty neat looking large Elk with beautiful antlers. And you high 5 the guide for a successful hunt / kill.

No, I'm not a bleeding heart liberal that lives a PETA mentality, and am a confirmed meat eater for life. But you've got to have a little sanity about these " hunts ". First of all, you're no more hunting than when I go through Costco and look at a 4 pack of ribeyes; there is no one I'm trying to fool. ?Who do you think you are fooling with the " hunting" clown suit on? ?Me? ?Us? We are not fooled, so ?who is it you think you are fooling? I think yourself. ?You want some respect and admiration? Load your pack and hike down through the bighorn canyon for a couple weeks, down into the plains -- the ancestral hunting grounds-- where the bison herds roamed for ions of time. Stalk your prey, use your SPEAR, not rifle or gun, to fell the same animal you hunted on tv... then,... we'll be impressed with your hunt ; but not until then.

Those ancestral native Indians,... when they tracked, outran, threw the spear they made,... and killed a large animal... They made that guy chief of the tribe. Hunter is a respected skill. It reflects intellect, skill, courage, and strength. And leadership. ... to kill a large beast for the tribe to have meat... that's chief material.

Buddies Dennis, Joseph, and Henry hunt and love/ good stewards of the land too but they don't make a spectacle of hunting. Most hunters respect the outdoors, land, and wildlife; the TV hunters are ridiculous.

At the U of Alabama working in the photo lab at audio visual services, learning photography.... just glad to have lived to see this digital camera image era and am glad to put a few pix on this website. Glad I hunt w/ a camera. SBT

You never drink twice from the same stream.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Hunting / Photography