When I first learned of Sasha Siemel I was about 15 years of age and thoroughly enraptured with any Peter Hathaway Capstick or Hemmingway story which I could get my hands upon.
One day while visiting back home I was laying across my bed on a lazy afternoon during one of those frequent sunny day downpours of which the State of Florida is well known for, and I was quite thoroughly engrossed in reading a Capstick book entitled: Death In The Silent Places.
It was within this book that I started reading about the exploits and adventures of whom I consider the greatest big game hunter ever to walk the face of this earth: Alexander “Sasha” Siemel
Mr. Siemel was employed by South American Cattle Ranchers down in Pantanal to help keep the Jaguar numbers down (depredation to us Americans) and to keep their stock numbers from suffering too greatly from the big cats which number very high in that particular area. Now this in itself does not sound like such a great feat until you read about HOW he achieved his nickname: EL TIGRE’
You see Sasha only hunted the big cats with a single Spear, and a pack of trained Hound’s! And he is credited for killing over 300 of the beast’s in this very fashion. I am not saying that killing big cats with a rifle is not challenging and as a matter of fact I have killed several big cats myself using a rifle or my 44 mag. pistol, and some of those situations were very up close and very personal if you get my drift concerning the, shall we say “moisture factor”!
But, a spear and dog’s? Now that is an entirely different situation altogether and although I have done my fair share of “Live Catching” wild boar armed with nothing more than my dogs and a roll of duct tape, skewering a ferociously maddened Jaguar with a only a 7′ spear and a few baying hounds as “protection?” I would have to think long and hard before embarking upon that adventure!
Click upon this link and go read about the Greatest Hunter of our recently past century: Alexander “Sasha” Siemel
The Sonoma County rain has put the damper on my hunting ambitions this morning, although we are in dire need of the rain, I need to get my weekend “Hawg Doggin’” in. Not on this day however, the hills of Cazadero have gotten over 3 inches in the past 24 hours. Running dogs in a down pour is tough, to say the least. The scent of the hog does not stick on the ground, rooting and tracks are tough to distinguish as fresh, and if you have ever been in heavy timber during a down pour, then you know your hearing is minimal. Excuses, excuses! lol
The hunting here has been great this winter, we have been hunting every weekend since early November, and have only struck out a few times. My group of hunting buddies have done extremely well with lots of pork to put in the freezer. Reports of other people have been good as well, both on private and the public hunt at Lake Sonoma, which is open to Archers. Reports of downed hogs including tuskers have been floating around.
Dogs have done well, our younger stock, including a few pups at 8 mos. old are striking and baying. The winter “heat” has passed and a few of us have bred some dogs. A nice batch of Mcnabb/Kelpies are coming soon, as well as a liter of APBT’s from my “Honeybunch” bitch will hit the ground in late March. The dogs are in their best shape right now, for they are running hard up to twice a week.
We have a few more months of runnin’ dogs left before it starts to warm up and get real “snakey” up here! Gonna be runnin’ ‘em as much as possible until then, with a few big weekends coming up with friends. Those are the best, when a bunch of serious dog guys get together and run the hills, then sit back after and tell about the hunt. So that is my late winter, rained in, report on Hawg Doggin’. Would love to hear some stories and see some pictures if any of ya’ll could send ‘em. Send ‘em to catchdogfarmer@gmail.com!
“cut ‘em loose”
Stay Tuned!
We really need to stay tuned to the latest news and be prepared to jump into action when it comes to our HUNTING RIGHTS! Notice I say rights and not privileges because the antis would love nothing more than to make it a privilege and then turn around and take that privilege away from us.
Monday afternoon the Native Hunt crew will be at our State Capitol and you can bet we will be voicing our opposition at Wayne Pacelle, H.S.U.S. and Senator Dean Florez attempt at taking over our Department Of Fish And Game (among other animal related offices) through their newly proposed Animal Rights Caucus!
Stay tuned for more information and updates, and do not just sit at home and let this happen like Californians did concerning the Lead Ban and Hand Gun Ammunition issues which are here to stay because we just did not get up the gumption to go out and FIGHT!
Be at our States Capitol Monday February the 8th, or be prepared to let the anti’s waltz right in and take over!
Children who play outdoors seem to be less likely than their peers to develop nearsightedness. They’re also somewhat better in classroom preparedness, have longer attention spans, decreased aggression, and lowered levels of stress and depression.
So says The National Wildlife Federation
Now pardon me but has not yours truly here been making similar statements ever since the year 1990 when I first discovered the actual clinical term: WILDERNESS DEPRIVATION DISORDER.
Ever since I had read an article in J.A.M.A. about studies being done on inner city youth, and how it was discovered that due to the fact that these city dwellers, who for no apparent reason all suffered from some degrees of depression, anxiety, unexplained bouts of anger, and attention deficit disorder. And after the studies were completed it was found that all of these disorders were greatly reduced, and in some cases were eliminated completely by introducing these children (patients) into the woods and nature, I have been a very strong proponent for getting our nations youth back to nature and into the wild.
In fact I had written an article for Boar Hunter Magazine a few years back titled: YOUTH GONE WILD that addressed these very same issues which now sit before you!
The Humane Society Of The United States actually promotes NON interaction with nature, citing that nature is better off left alone and not interfered with through human contact. Animal Rights Groups like H.S.U.S. better get with the times and start understanding that todays youth NEED this interaction with nature and that this can be achieved through activity’s such as: Hunting, Fishing, Camping, Hiking, Animal Tracking Classes, Sport Shooting Events, Back Packing and also by just simply taking a walk in your local park!
Now, there have been some issues of which The National Wildlife Federation and I did not agree, but this is one in which I think that we can all agree upon so please click on over there to the N.W.F. site and show your support by signing up for their newsletter and petition, you will be glad that you did!
I know that everyone is very tired of hearing me preach but it is through this, that the message might finally get through to some of you who just sit around and let things happen instead of MAKING things happen.
We have an uphill battle against the Monster known as Animal Rights! these organizations will stop at nothing to get their totalitarian views recognized by lawmakers and eventually have ALL Hunting, Firearms, Animal Ownership and everything related continuously attacked until we are all forced into Veganisim!
Don’t believe me? just take a look at the latest from these warped individuals: H.S.U.S.
Please take the time to thank Ms. Diane Amble for all the hard work she does in fighting these A.R.G.s and their egregious encroachment upon our very freedoms!
www.cavoteralliance.com call: (712) 432-8595 Press option 7 For A Call To Action Alerts
Some people dream of worthy accomplishments while others stay awake and make them happen! ”old Chinese proverb”
I just ran across an organization of dedicated California hunters who call themselves the: WOLFPACK
This group of hunters whom are headed up by Mr. Angelo Nogara have a mission to put California hunting back on the map, and judging by the wonderful pictures on their site I would say that they are doing a fantastic job and successfully accomplishing that mission. All too often I hear of CA. hunters going out of state to hunt and I think to myself WHY?
California is one of the most beautiful states in the union and the diversity of terrain and wildlife are completely unmatched.
Where else can you go to see landscapes which range from low to high desert and in the same day go ocean fishing and then travel to mountainous terrain which matches anything that Alaska has to offer as far as sheer beauty is concerned!
Go give the Wolfpack a look see and tell them that T. Michael from Native Hunt sent you!
I just spent a very fun filled weekend with Cork Graham over at : Corks Outdoors and let me tell you, I haven’t had that much fun since our last Dove Hunt over at N.H.E. Inc,s Jolon Ranch here last year in California.
Cork taught me how to finally use that La Caja China which I purchased about two years ago and he prepared a most delicious Wild Boar whole roast that I have ever tasted. I had a real blast watching him harvest some CottonTail rabbits (they might really be a type of hare, more on that later) with his air rifle, and we even thought we might have caught some poachers out there. Turned out it was just the neighbors teaching their 10 year old grandson to shoot a .22 caliber rifle, pretty exciting for a few minutes nonetheless.
We also got to take a traditional Long Bow archer out to the newly leased ranch over in Priest Valley, The Meyer ranch is very beautiful and just as wild and pristine as the N.H.E. Inc. owned ranch just down the street from there.
We really missed Phillip Loughlin from The Hog Blog being there with us but a nasty virus knocked him down at the last minute, that’s alright though because I know that we will do it again real soon.
There is a really interesting discussion brewing over at the YOU TUBE forum which shows complaints concerning allowable content being published. It seems that some people believe that the hunting videos should be banned entirely from the free site, and if hunters do not get themselves involved in the discussion then that just might wind up happening over there.
Go over and put your two cents worth forth and see what the controversy is all about for yourself!
To protect your investment in your dogs should be a priority to you as a dogman. Your dogs put it out there for you in the woods, and you as a responsible owner, and ambassador of hunting with dogs, should take advantage of the means available to you! Nutrition, goes with out saying, a quality chow and supplements should be a staple in your kennel. I am not gonna jump on a soapbox and rattle off brand names but if you have a kennel of working dogs, you should not be feeding out from Safeway at 12 dollars a 40 lb bag. What you put into these athletes is what you will get in return. There are several “quality” chows available at fairly reasonable prices. What I am saying is do your research, find a chow that fits your budget, yet gives your dogs optimal nutrition, and benefits as working dogs.
Another thing to consider as a “Hog Dogman” is protecting your dog in the way of “cut protection”, ie. cutvests and cut collars. The various styles, which I have touched on in previous writings, should be considered here. If your dog is a gritty dog, then with out question should be vested up. Nothing troubles me more than seeing, or hearing of a dog getting injured when all precautions were not taken. People argue a dog loses mobility with a vest, this is true to an extent, but vet bills are expensive, and dogs being down on injury is a burden too. I have also heard, “I want my dog to respect the hog, a vest is a false sense of security”, true, but all it takes is once!
I do not vest up my strike dogs, I am comfortable with their style, and their ability, however when running with Bulldogs I do vest or collar them up. And I do ALWAYS vest and collar up my bulldogs. Many of my close buddies have their own views and takes and have some damn good dogs, they run vestless and get it done without recourse. I however, know first hand vests save dogs!
There are many of manufacturers out there with various sizes, materials, and styles of vests and collars. They range in price from fifty dollars anywhere up to one hundred and fifty dollars. Ask around and keep in my the style of dog you have. I stress the importance of knowing a bit on field first aid as well, from simple to advance, this could save time and unnecessary vet bills and even save a dogs life. Have a field kit with some basic items such as sterile water, gauze, betadine, benedryl, wraps and tape. Be able to stabalize the dog and get him to the vet if needed.
If all bases are covered and you keep your dog in working shape, you should be able to have a long healthy hunting relationship with your dog. Take all precautions, keep up on his health and be prepared in the case of field injury and you will be amazed. You and your best friend will bring home plenty of bacon!
“cut ‘em loose”
A little while back, I posted up a video I saw on YouTube called “I Like Guns”. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was written by an Aussie named Steve Lee. All I knew was that it was kind of funny, and it made a pretty good point at the same time.
For those who don’t know, Australia has enacted some pretty insanely strict gun laws. They’re not quite on par with Great Britain, but well on the way. For the video, Lee apparently had to go to Cambodia just to shoot several of the weapons you’ll see him shooting. But what fun!
Well, apparently the video has made quite the splash on YouTube, and the song has been downloaded pretty heavily on the CD Baby website as well. This is described in an article from the Sydney Morning Herald:
Mr Lee, who usually performs with his wife and four children, was inspired to write the song many years ago because of negative media coverage of guns.
“When you watch movies firearms are portrayed as a bad thing … I wanted to show that they can be used for fun and sport and not violence.”
I like that attitude. Even more, I like that this is really turned into a burr under the saddle of the Aussie gun-control advocates.
The President of Gun Control Australia, John Crook, said the song was irresponsible for portraying guns as fun and non-violent. “Guns are designed to kill. The gun control laws we have in Australia have only been obtained after thousands of people have been killed.”
With that in mind, how could I help but share this video one more time…
Damn, I like guns!
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