Carpe diem

I remember the first time I hunted woodcock. It had rained most of the morning and threatened to continue for most of the afternoon. My hunting partner and I had talked about shooting woodcock for the better part of a year before we pulled into what we hoped was a likely-looking place to hunt.

We had pondered over maps we hoped would help us locate the russet migrants as they made their way south to our small part of the world on what was the western limit of their range. We debated the merits of 20 gauge shotguns and loads versus 28 gauge guns or those in hard-to-find 16 gauge. We narrowed our choices to a few American-made 20 gauge shotguns and loads recommended by woodcock hunters in other states. However, that particular day I ended up shooting a 12 gauge over/under made off-shore and my partner used his waterfowl gun. Go figure.

We found woodcock that day, but we also found our upland field boots leaked, our pants got soaked and the "greenbriar" thorns penetrated or tore everything we wore...including our skin. By the end of the afternoon, I doubted I would ever hunt woodcock again, much less shoot one.

I was wrong.

I saw the little 20 gauge side-by-side on the rack at a local pawnshop and decided its cracked stock and tarnished exterior did not justify its price tag. A little dickering brought the price down to a more reasonable amount and the next time I swung the little shotgun on an imaginary bird it was mine.


My woodcock hunting improved that year. I even shot a bird or two and found they made great table fare. My hunting partner and I discovered hunting boots with rubber bottoms and leather uppers that kept our feet dry and brush pants that kept our bottom halves dry and turned even the meanest of the briars we encountered in woodcock habitat.

We both graduated to side-by-side shotguns and we haunted coverts throughout the Midwest we hoped would hold woodcock. We were woodcock hunters. Yes, siree. Make no mistake about that. We had the clothing, we had the guns, we had the dogs and we thought we had the know-how. Yet, something was missing.

The little 20 gauge side-by-side just didn't "fit" as I thought it should. Its 28-inch barrels bored full and modified were choked too tightly for woodcock, but there was something right about the shotgun. It seemed to have a character just made for woodcock hunting. It just needed a little work.


After my third season chasing woodcock I could truthfully say I'd made some outstanding shots on the long-billed birds, and I'd also had some pitiful misses. My Labrador retriever (OK, I hunted waterfowl, too, so I needed a dual purpose dog. You pointing dog purists, don't get your undies in a wad) had turned in some truly phenomenal work on the little migrants and made several retrieves and finds I talk about only among those who were there. If I told you about them, you probably wouldn't believe me.

Yes, I was  enjoying woodcock hunting, but something was still missing.

A beautiful blank of Triple A grade fancy American walnut turned into an English-style stock from Bishop and Sons in Warsaw, MO, made the little 20 gauge side-by-side point where I looked when I threw it to my shoulder. Built to match my measurements, the new straight-grip stock kept my head  down and allowed for consistent mounting. Fifteen coats of tung oil brought the burl in the walnut to life.

My shooting diary helped me remember my days afield. The diaries helped bring to life the rare days when I shot a limit, legal or a smaller, self-imposed one; days when dog work, shooting and camaraderie were what I lived for; days when I felt bad about a missed shot, not for me, but for my dog - after all, he did most of the work.

For years, my hunting partners and I had discussed woodcock dogs. But our need for waterfowl retrievers surpassed the need for pointing dogs. Our Labs worked well on the russet birds and flushing the birds seemed very sporting to us. A Brittany became a family pet instead of the woodcock dog I'd hoped for. A beautiful orange-ticked, Ryman-type English setter with a great nose was added to the kennel, but due to my ignorance turned up gun-shy and got violently ill when in a moving vehicle.

A gunsmith opened the chokes on the little side-by-side making the right barrel skeet and the left barrel modified when shooting Double A skeet loads with No. 9 shot. I felt the little shotgun was finally ready.

That Saturday afternoon was a perfect woodcock afternoon: sunny skies, temperatures in the upper 40s, brilliantly-colored leaves on the trees and ground. The dogs were anxious and rested for the hunt and we knew dog work that day would be good. We could feel it. Good dog work and good company were, indeed, the order of the day. The woodcock flights were in and the shooting was good.

"Carpe diem" (Seize the day) the ancient Romans were famous for saying.

We did.

And, nothing was missing.

The Tin Cup

My grandfather was a rather large man. He stood 6'4" and when he went to the kitchen sink to get a drink, he filled an old tin cup he had purchased at a hardware store for less than a dollar and drank from it. Since large men usually require a lot of water, my grandfather's cup was enormous, well, at least in my eyes.

He used the cup for the last 15 to 20 years of his life. When he died many years ago, the only item among his possessions that I really wanted as a keepsake was that old tin cup.

It's really is just an old tin cup; not very pretty to look at. It has a red rim painted on it and some funny-looking peaches painted on the sides to add appeal to would-be purchasers like my grandfather. If you could buy one like it at a hardware store today, it probably wouldn't cost you more than a couple dollars - if you could find one. That's my way of saying this cup really isn't worth much to anyone but me.

But since the cup belonged to my grandfather, and because I'm rather sentimental about such things, I value this old tin cup.

My grandfather, like his father before him and mine before me, was an outdoorsman in his own right. Continuing that tradition has been a lifelong goal of mine and I feel it only right to keep a small token of those men with me when pursuing my outdoor passions.

You see, I have plans for that old cup.

Somewhere in the northern half of the Rocky Mountains, on a little-known mountain range, in a quiet,  uninhabited area, there is a bull elk with my name on it. Not just any bull elk, mind you, but a special one whose path and mine will cross one day. After he and I have looked each other in the eye and I have made the decision to squeeze or not squeeze the trigger on my rifle or bow, I'll hike back to camp, dig out that old tin cup and celebrate that bull.

I'll sit around the campfire, drinking slowly from that old cup, remembering that bull and toast my grandfather, who never saw an elk in his lifetime except in the pages of outdoor magazines.

In a harvested field in eastern South Dakota where the pheasants are thick as flies in a barnlot in July and they fly slower than I can type (which is pretty slow), I'll celebrate with that cup again.

After the day is over and the guns are cased, I'll sit by the fire and drink from that old cup. I may even call Gus, the shorthaired pointer, and take a walk, just the two of us, down the field road, slowing just a bit when we reach the spot where the double flushed, and I missed, twice. Somehow those misses will seem unimportant and the shots that connected will be all the more sweet as I drink from that old cup.

Other, less sentimental persons might say that my old tin cup really doesn't heal any of the hurts or make the joys any sweeter. And, they might be right. But I don't think so. Somehow the rack on that big elk will grow bigger, the pheasants' flights will be more erratic just because of that old tin cup.

Maybe there isn't any magic that makes that old cup special. But I like to think there is. And, if you are anything like me, you think so, too.

SHOT Show - Day 1

Trying to find the best way to tell you about all of the great products at the 2012 SHOT Show is tough. So tough, in fact, that I'm going to let my good friend Jim Shepherd tell you about the new products through The Outdoor Wire (www.theoutdoorwire.com).

What I plan to tell you about is the many good people I met yesterday during Day 1 of the show. Some of them are good friends. Others I was introduced to for the first time. The common factor these people have is their love of the outdoors. As my good friends from Mossy Oak say, "It's not just a job, it's an obsession."

Women as a group are the fastest-growing segment in the outdoors, especially when it comes to the shooting sports. No one fits that profile better than Deb Ferns, the head of Babes With Bullets and a member of the Women's Outdoor Writers Association. I met Deb on a waterfowl hunt a year ago and like a good communicator, she stays in touch. She's also a tremendous promoter of the shooting sports through her writing and Babes With Bullets events. 

Deb is a "character" and anyone who has ever met her will not forget her quick one-liners and her fun-loving attitude. She's all business when you put a firearm in her hands and she's quickly become a great friend to not only me, but many other members of the outdoor media. If you ever met Deb, ask her how she sizes waders. I promise you will laugh until you cry when she tells you the story.  If you are a writer and are looking for a good personality piece for a magazine or on-line column, do yourself a favor and interview this woman. You won't be sorry.

One of the greatest writers, not to mention the fact he wrote about the outdoors, was the late Jack O'Connor. He wrote for Outdoor Life for years and was also the author of several books about hunting. His son, Bradford, was at the show Tuesday in the Winchester booth with some of his father's firearms. I had the opportunity to speak with Bradford at length about his father and got the chance to handle one of his father's hunting rifles. Bradford spent the day posing for photos, taking about his father's hunting adventures and I imagine signing autographs. Many thanks to my good friend Kevin Howard of Howard Communications for introducing me. 

Walking the show floor I ran into long-time friend Phil Larson from the little town of Boone, Iowa. Phil has written an outdoor column for the Boone paper for longer than I can remember and has traveled the world hunting and fishing. Both Phil and I have had the privilege of serving as president of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers. Phil had never been to a SHOT Show. It was fun getting to take him around and let him also run into his many friends who are here and introduce him to some of mine.

If you are a fan of good literature, do yourself a favor and take a look at Galen Geer's "The Pines Review Literary Journal." Geer is a great writer and editor and you will truly enjoy reading the fine articles in the "Review." It is some of the best I've ever read. Contact Geer at ggeerpinesed@mlgc.com to get on the list.

As with any undertaking the size of the SHOT Show, there are a ton of folks behind the scenes that work for months to make this event work flawlessly. Thanks to NSSF's Vice President of Marketing and Communications Chris Dolnack, Marketing Director Mark Thomas and Communications Director Bill Brussard. They and countless others from NSSF work tirelessly before, during (often well after the show closes each day) and after the show ends to make it easy for folks like me to be able to come here and work successfully. Again, thanks to those folks for their help.

New National Wildlife Refuge Announced

A great piece of information came to my attention this morning that's conservation related. Sec. of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a new national wildlife refuge, the Everglades headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area is being created. The press release is below along with a link to to a short video piece by one of my favorite non-profit groups, the National Wildlife Refuge Association.

NEW HEADWATERS WILDLIFE REFUGE AND CONSERVATION AREA WILL HELP
SUSTAIN RANCHING, INCREASE HUNTING, FISHING OPPORTUNITIES IN EVERGLADES


WASHINGTON, D.C. -­ January 18, 2012 - “The Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area exemplifies how conservation should be done,” said Evan Hirsche, president of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. “The partnership announced today by Secretary Salazar is landscape-scale, collaborative by design, resilient to the effects of climate change, and benefits sportsmen, ranchers, the U.S. military, 8 million South Florida water users, the charismatic wildlife of the Everglades, and visitors from around the world.”


Hirsche’s statement refers to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s announcement earlier today of the formal establishment of the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area in the northern Everglades, just south of Orlando. Secretary Salazar made the announcement at the Future Farmers of America leadership training center in Haines City, Florida. Hirsche and David Houghton, senior vice-president of Conservation programs for NWRA, attended the event.


The Everglades Headwaters Refuge and Conservation Area will use a combination of conservation easements, that leaves land in private ownership and on the tax rolls, as well as some land acquisition. Lands acquired as part of the new national wildlife refuge will be co-managed as State Wildlife Management Areas through a unique state-federal partnership.


“The NWRA has supported the creation of the new Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area in the Northern Everglades as part of President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative,” Hirsche said. 


“This Refuge and Conservation Area is a true partnership in action.” The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investments will complement outstanding work by the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Wetlands Reserve Program, the U.S. military’s base buffering program, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, State Parks and the Florida Department of Agriculture – as well as significant private investments by conservation groups like The Nature Conservancy and Audubon of Florida.


The Refuge and Conservation Area is a smart investment in Florida’s economy. Restoring natural wetlands and maintaining open lands north of Lake Okeechobee is by far the least costly method of storing water for South Florida. Ranching and agriculture in this region employs thousands of Floridians and contributes to our national food security. In addition, through use by sportsmen, birdwatchers and wildlife tourism, refuges and conservation areas generate an average of $4 to the local economy for every $1 invested. Finally, Avon Air Force Park provides significant positive impact to Florida’s economy while also preparing our nation’s men and women for perils overseas.


“This changes the argument about government,” said Hirsche. “It’s not about big government or small government, but good government that works for the American people. This new kind of refuge carefully looked at the issues of water, recreation, ranching, military and wildlife and strikes a balance for all.”

“While securing habitat for more than 30 threatened and endangered species, the new initiative also assures expanded hunting and fishing opportunities on future refuge lands and will help sustain Florida’s ranching economy,” Houghton said. “This refuge was born from a diverse partnership that includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of Florida, and numerous public agencies and private landowners.”

Hunting and fishing are considered priority public uses on national wildlife refuges, along with wildlife observation, photography, interpretation and education. In response to concerns voiced about public access for hunting and fishing, hunting programs on refuge lands will be co-managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as State Wildlife Management Areas, with particular interest in developing youth outdoor and sporting education programs.


“The Refuge System can now acquire land and conservation easements from willing sellers from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes to Avon Air Force Park to create the new refuge,” Houghton said. This effort would complement and leverage a long-term investment in conserving ranchlands and restoring important wetlands in the Greater Everglades made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Department of Defense, the State of Florida, Florida landowners, and non-governmental organizations, he said.


“Secretary Salazar’s announcement establishes six focus areas where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now authorized to acquire up to 50,000 acres as national wildlife refuge lands,” Houghton said. It also allows the Service to acquire up to another 100,000 acres in conservation easements. The Service would only proceed with willing sellers inside the new boundary, and areas outside of the boundary would not be eligible for purchase by the Service.


Additional information about the new wildlife refuge can be found on the NWRA website – www.refugeassociation.org.


The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge Association is to conserve America’s wildlife heritage for future generations through strategic programs that protect, enhance, and expand the National Wildlife Refuge System and the landscapes beyond its boundaries that secure its ecological integrity. 

Seat 2A, Delta Flight 1917

The world looks a whole lot different from 36,000 feet than it does from my deer stand a couple of hundred feet up Saddle Ridge.  This Boeing 757 is traveling at more than 400 mph, yet it seems like it takes forever to get from Saddle Ridge to Las Vegas to attend the 2012 SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade) Show.

If it goes “bang” or has anything to with something going “bang”, it’s at this show, which is owned by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). Every hunting/shooting accessory and every firearm you can think of will be represented at this show. From handguns to AR-platform rifles to $100,000-plus shotguns, they are all here and dealers from throughout the world are here to place orders so you can walk into their stores and purchase the products.

Most conservation organizations have a presence of some sort here – either a booth of their own, one shared with another group or folks walking the floor working the media.  Might sound like a free-for-all, but actually it is one of, if not the best-organized trade show I’ve ever attended.

I’m not alone in that opinion.

I’m attending as a member of the press and will report to you daily about the show and those attending it. There will be a couple thousand members of the press here representing print, TV, radio, digital media, including bloggers like me.

This Delta fight is full of show attendees. I’m sitting next to Richard Barch, who with his family owns Michi-Gun in St. Clair Shores, MI, and there are several others sitting around us who are attending. For the next four days Richard and others like him will be meeting with manufacturers and making purchasing decisions for their stores for the next year.

I’ll let you know what I hear and see at the show. My sources tell me there will be some big announcements Wednesday and Thursday, so stay tuned.

Winter

The fields below Saddle Ridge have been beaten flat by December's cold and the Arctic blasts; and, now, Winter's continued cold only makes matters worse.

In town, my lawn resembles the fields below Saddle Ridge. Outside the city, stubble rows of picked fields run off to the wood lines, their bounties taken and stored. Furred things are in their burrows. The hawk is still and patient on his branch.

Man and land are drawn in upon themselves, counting the days, waiting it out. Winter is a season of punishing inclinations - sometimes a foe to be reckoned with, no doubt of that. But winter is also a matter of viewpoint.

One eye sees in the barren fields below Saddle Ridge the sadness of things ended or ending. Another, less troubled eye sees only the land at rest. One eye finds the leafless woods stark and unlovely. Another likes to consider that mid-Winter is nearer and the next flowering of dogwood and rosebud is closer than August will ever be. And, where the dormant lawn is concerned, not all souls cherish equally the clatter of the power mower engine.

Winter chills. But Winter also clarifies. In these silent and ordered days, the pattern of life is somehow plainer to be seen. Is the pattern immutable, or can it be changed?

In any case, the point is not to love winter, but to live with it. Is there really any choice? Did wishing every bring April in January or turn spinach into ice cream? The hawk on his branch knows that.

You and I could do worse for a model.

No whining from him, just the long patient stare of that golden eye. He will take whatever tomorrow brings him. That might easily be another blizzard. But on the other hand, his mind tells him, it could just as easily be a mouse.

One-Time Shameless Self-Promotion

Just wanted to alert the followers of this blog about my new venture. I will only promote my new venture this one time. See below:

VETERAN COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONAL HEADS

NEW MARKETING, PUBLIC, MEDIA RELATIONS FIRM

NASHVILLE, TN – Jan. 9, 2012 – Citing the need for more personalized marketing communication, public and media relation services, veteran communications professional Tony Dolle has created The Consultants Group.

Headquartered in Nashville, TN, the company’s client base includes the conservation, outdoor television and soft goods industries. Dolle, the new firm’s CEO, said The Consultants Group will actively seek clients in the entertainment industry during the first quarter of 2012. The company provides digital and social media services and specializes in strategic marketing, public and media relations. Event planning and marketing are also among the company’s areas of expertise.

“We work with the best creative service professionals, photographers, videographers, web and digital media experts and writers around the country to meet our clients’ needs,” Dolle said. Being headquartered in Nashville, TN, opens a lot of doors to the entertainment industry, which also provides many opportunities to pair the entertainment industry with the company’s current clients, he said. “The outdoor industry and the entertainment industry go hand-in-hand,” he said.

Dolle said the company’s primary focus is providing outstanding customer service. “Companies should expect and get good customer service,” he said. “At The Consultants Group, we intend to make sure they do.”

He said along with outstanding customer service, companies are looking for firms with real world experience. The staff at The Consultants Group has more than 75 years of combined experience in marketing, public and media relations in a variety of industries.

The Consultants Group can be reached at 615-870-7700 or at jadolle53@gmail.com.

-30-