BigGameHoundsmen.com

Promoting hound hunting is a day to day thing. Granted it helps to have booths at the different expos. But the best promoting can happen at the gass station when you have your dogs in the back. Its not a bad thing to let a kid or two pet your dogs when their heads are sticking out of the box and it gives a guy a chance to strike up a conversation with the parents and let them know that hounds are friendly. It does help to have oficers at feild trials, but as long as there is just one person there to get people to sign up to be members of CHC then that is enough.

Ross

I agree with most of that Rossco, as for the best promoting is done at the gas station i would have to disagree, how many people can you educate while your at a gas station? now how many people can you educate at a public event? and as far as only needing one person from chc there to sign people up is good enough i disagree with as well. is all they care about is collecting peoples money? maybe it might be a good idea to have someone there just for educating others there that might not know what there about and updating the people that can't make it to sac. seems to me you should take every opportunity to educate others you would think that they understand this. but anytime you bring stuff like this up they make is sound like I'm the crazy one, huh Irv? for as much as these few come on here and boost themselves up and put others down for "not doing enough" you would think they are the only ones doing anything for our hunting rights. so i ask again how does chc promote hound hunting? and please Irv could you explain to me this "mother club" business? from what i gather chc doesn't have to put on any events cause there a mother club? i did hear it second hand. thanks Gary

Ross

This wasn't another club putting on a water race, this was a CHC planned, CHC scheduled and CHC sponsored event and when it came time to set up and run the event,
they weren't there!
I know that not all the officers can be there for all the events and I don't expect them to, but after a showing like this then they wonder why they can't get people to step up to man the booth at the sportsman expo or the other events they have a booth for membership drives.

Dale

CHC is pretty good at avoiding my question, done like a true politician. looks like CHC has learned a few things down there in sac. shame they can't answer a members questions.

BTT

First off i want to say is, I'm in the army and I have always told my soldiers that if you want to complain then that complaint better come with some kind of solution, all i have heard are people complaining about this and that but not one solution. Second these officers volunteer there time they dont get paid for it and may have things in real life that didnt allow them to come. Third I have always believed if you have a problem with somebody and want an answer a public forum is not the way to go as people are finding themselves feeling as if they have to defend themselves and a PM would probably been better so you could have gotten it straight from the horses mouth. I know i am not a member yet but 1. come up with a solution 2. volunteer your own time to the club 3. ask them first before blasting them you will get better results IMO.


Mike

Well…I am really disappointed with the accusations and demands from fellow houndsmen. The question that seems to be stirring so much is what is CHC doing to promote Hound Hunting well that is a no brainier!

They continually participate in the biggest sportsman show in California at Cal Expo, to say the least…They host a booth every year and are always looking for folks willing to volunteer their time to represent not only CHC but also houndsmen and houndswoman.

If you haven’t volunteered or stopped by the booth then I invite you to stop by and say hello to a fellow houndsmen. The booth consist of many things that promote hunting with hounds…

We provide information with hopes that they may look at houndsmen in a different way…we freely speak with anyone and everyone who approaches the booth with a question.

This last year we brought hounds to the show and the public loved them, men, woman and children all had something positive to say… Several comments were made such as:
“Wow, I thought hounds were vicious!” As there kids played with the hounds and hugged them!

We constantly need members and renewals to help us lobby for all houndsmen. I became a member for one reason, I enjoy hunting with hounds…if I sit back and do nothing then I have myself to blame for losing my privilege to hunt with hounds in California…

As we all know, we are up against strong organizations that would love to take us down. If we continue to cause dissention amongst our own, then we have allowed the Anti’s to infiltrate us within our own Castles….

So, I encourage you all to come to the next meeting and meet folks and introduce yourselves, support our common interest and lets not get to personal…

I myself was not able to attend the Water race, it would be difficult to explain to my kids why their father was not able to be home on Fathers Day, they already think I love my hounds more then the family.

Have a good weekend folks, I hope we all can come together and show our real strengths!

Gary,

why don't you share with us what the duties of a chc board member is

Put simply, the duties of each board member is to represent the opinions and desires of the membership for purposes of promoting the general welfare of the hound hunting community and to carry out the business of the organization in its governance; it is up to each board member to determine for themselves what that means exactly, and it is up to the voting membership to determine if the board members are fulfilling the expectations of the membership through their voting authority.

don't you think that you guy's would be there to at least show people that chc supports what this water race is trying to raise money for? if you guys don't even want to show up to this water race why would i want to drive three hours to go myself? i agree with you in promoting and preserving hound hunting too but please tell me why i should support a organization that don't show there support.

I'm not going to rehash what others have said, or what I have said in other topics regarding concerns as to why CHC can't be everywhere all the time. I will simply say that, if for no other reason, you should attend the event and support the organization for the greater good...that being, hound hunting.

how does me joining chc protect and promote hound hunting?

By joining CHC, you can provide:
*revenue (donations and membership fees) -
*volunteerism (helping lend a hand in CHC efforts, events, and initiatives)
*representation (sharing the perspective of hound hunters in your area or of those who pursue the same animals as you)
*information outlet (passing on the information you are provided from CHC's newsletters, meetings, Internet and Intranet sites to others who aren't members)

CHC is the single-most effective organization for protecting and promoting hound hunting in California, and by joining CHC, you can make CHC even more effective through your contributions and fulfillment of the needs indicated above.

what is chc doing to promote hound hunting?

A basic summary of what CHC is doing to promote hound hunting can be found at http://californiahoundsmen.com/Join_CHC.html.

I'm yet to see chc at any public events where they could promote hound hunting or show the public what they are about.

In the interest of time and space, I will list only the events open to the public that CHC has attended in 2010:
*International Sportsman's Expo, Sacramento
*February Al Taucher Hunter Opportunity Committee Meeting
*California Senate Natural Resources Committee
*California Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee
*Sacramento Fish and Game Commission Hearing (regarding Mammal Hunting changes)
*DFG Bear Hunting Clinic
*Boy Scouts of America Trailblazer Event
*Ontario Fish and Game Commission Hearing (regarding Mammal Hunting changes)
*Monterey Fish and Game Commission Hearing (regarding Mammal Hunting changes)
*Wilderness Unlimited Foundation Banquet (supports disabled children and those with parents killed in war)
*July Al Taucher Hunter Opportunity Committee Meeting

Note also that in 2010, CHC has participated in events or meetings with the Humane Society of the United States, DFG, multiple media outlets (such as NPR and Associated Press), COHA, NRA, and CRPA. We are also signed up for a booth for the El Dorado County Outdoor Expo in October...yet another example of CHC board members taking time away from work and bear season to promote hound hunting at a public event.

Dale,

I do believe that his was a CHC bennifit put on by CHC! Now maybe I'm wrong, but my exspectations of CHC are to have more than One officer out of the five, and more than 4 or 5 of the trustees out of the 12

Please tell me exactly how many officers should have been there and how many trustees should have been there. What formula are you using to arrive at the numbers? While I am being a bit sarcastic and sardonic, I would hope you realize just how subjective you are being about determining how much "representation" is sufficient for you.

now I know that it was probly not a good weekend to have this event with it being Fathers Day's but the way I under stand it, this had been in the works for a few months, and if there was going to be a problem with not having but one of the officers and a few of the trustees there to help out, even for one of the two days,
I would think that this could have been dicussed at the meeting the weekend before water race,

I am not going to fault anyone for choosing the dates that they did; though I do not participate in these kinds of events no matter the weekend, there are many others who make a habit of regularly attending them on holidays such as Easter and Labor Day...to each their own.

now I wasn't at the meeting but from what I heard from the people that were there they were surprised at the lack of particapation of the managment of CHC and
my expectations would be to show the hound community that CHC managment would at least make a showing at there own FUND RAISER!

I was not aware of any roll call or survey that was done to indicate who would be there, so I don't think it was a matter of people committing to attending and then not showing up. There are some officers and trustees who enjoy or don't mind public speaking, political affairs, fundraising, or public instruction and education, so they lend their efforts there while others avoid those situations like the plague. Likewise, there are those who prefer to lend their efforts to water races and bench shows while others like me would be bored to death. As such, there is a reasonable expectation or assumption that folks will gravitate towards the efforts that interests them most or that they can provide more benefit to. Obviously, the more people who are actively engaged, the more likely all roles can be fulfilled, all tasks can be completed, and all events can be attended.

You and I have had this dicussion before, and I know that the Field Trials and Water Race's aren't somethng that all houndsmen participate in, but I not know of any other place that CHC could show there strenth to more houndsmen.

As I indicated in our previous discussion, I readily acknowledge that it is beneficial or ideal for there to be abundant representation of CHC officers, trustees, and members at hound hunting events. However, I don't think that a single water race held during a single weekend at a single location is the best place to show our strength to more houndsmen...for one, an interest in participating in a competition to see whose dog gets first across a pond and first to bark up a telephone pole is not a demonstration of strength in my opinion. Also, whatever strength would be demonstrated by such participation would be witnessed only by those houndsmen with similar interests in that sort of competition that actually attended the event. Rather, I think that CHC can best show its strength to the most houndsmen in the state through our advocacy and representation of hound hunting at the Capitol, in the media, in meetings with DFG and the Commission, and with our lobbyists and well-funded peers.

Dale

All,

For some reason that I truly do not comprehend, there continues to be apathy or outright resentment towards CHC and its efforts. I am convinced that much of this is due to the lack of visibility you have concerning what CHC is doing on your behalf...perhaps this is because I am fairly active, and have the benefit of knowing what is going on in many respects.

For this reason, I am hereby offering to host a toll-free conference call to all interested parties to be held on a date and time convenient for you. During the meeting, I would be happy to listen to and do my best to address any concerns you have about CHC and take note of your constructive and actionable suggestions for improving the organization that I would report on at the following meeting. I would also be happy to share with you in detail what CHC has done and is doing on behalf of you and the rest of California's hound hunting community.

I will host this conference call for as few or as many people are interested. Please let me know so that I can begin to determine a tentative date that would work for everyone.

blah blah blah. I couldn't make the race so obviously I wasn't there. Apparently some CHC reps weren't either. You know where I have seen them? At Fish and Game Commission meetings defending your right to run hounds and hunt bear in California. I'm sure they could have spent those days at work, providing for their families, and wrote letters or emails instead, but they chose to stand up, participate in the democratic process, shout down the lies our enemies spew, and let the Commission know that California Bear hunters will not go quitely into the night. I used to ask "If hunting with hounds is outlawed, will you be an outlaw?" now it is not if but when. So I ask "When hunting with hounds in California is outlawed, will you be an outlaw?" America's foundation is the rule of law. Without it there is anarchy. Support the CHC and it's faults, it is all we have. If you disagree with this post, let's talk about it at the next commission meeting. I'll be there to discuss bear hunting in zone x7-b with the commission. They know me, let them get to know you. check out youtube "hound hunter speaks out against HSUS". Know where you stand and stand there. -Pete