mike martell wrote:al baldwin wrote: Elmer had used a female from Spring Creek Rock & Dohoney/s Cadicallic that was up close in Jakes pedigree.
...Now if David would chime in, if I remember correctly some of his old Oregon blood had Spring Creek rock & Dohoney's Cadillac in the pedigrees. This blood was what jarred me away from Plotts years ago...
Mike
Mike, you have a great memory and a good mind. Banjo's mom was out of Spring Creek Rock and Dahoney's Cadillac.
I know that if I see a great dog, I dont so much want to breed to him, as I want to go back to what made him and get some more. I am wondering if that is what happened here when someone ended up with a Spring Creek Rock by Dahoneys Cadallac female. Because who ever got that female went to great lengths to get her and knew exactly what he wanted and hunted her down and paid very dearly. He would
not have seen an advertisement on the dog, and likely had to get her when she was "not for sale".
I finally had a chance to read this thread. Carey told me about it many weeks ago, but I just could not get up enough courage to read it. I mean, it is like reading a book or something. If I can stop working long enough to read, I pretty much fall asleep in minutes. So I took a long nap, made some coffee, and put in on the track.
It was fun to read, and fun to learn about the people on here a little deeper. I do lament with Mike that we can not talk face to face, although, groups of people make me nervous. Probably because I used to be a pastor and it starts feeling like church. Church groups make me nervous too. You would think the whiskey might break up that church image, but then it just reminds me of communion.
I dont know. I think I am feeling something very profound here and maybe if I keep saying stupid stuff it will surface.
I doubt it.
I am trying to figure out if anyone learned anything about dogs on this thread. I am not sure it is about dogs so much as about people... Which is fine with me, I think people can be very interesting. Would like to spend time with each person here, as long as it wasn't a big group.
There are so many interesting dynamics here I could not possibly comment on all of them, but here is one that caused me to think back on my life:
Throughout my life I have been extremely blessed to have spent time with some very knowledgeable hunters and dog men. One of the first was hated by the hounding community. I mean he would walk in, and you could just feel the room get tense. I realized that I was suspect for spending time with him, and I spent about a year with him, until I moved too far away. The man was extremely knowledgeable and held back no knowledge from me. He gave me a strong foundation for hound hunting and I will be forever indebted to him for it.
But if I had built my opinion of him on what others had said, I would have missed out on one of the richest experiences of my life. If I had been unable to look past his social in-ability, I would have never found the treasure.
It was not the first time something like that had happened to me, nor the last. And I will say that some of my deepest richest gifts of knowledge and understanding have come from folks who do not know how, or are not willing to play the social games that groups require for acceptance. Their "likeability factor" was off the charts low. And in most cases, it was because they were not willing to lie. They just told the truth and groups of people really can not handle that kind of honesty. I don't know how we got here, but we are taught never to be honest about ourselves unless it is something negative. And we are taught never to be honest about someone else unless it is something positive. If you break these rules, you will not be very well liked. Or popular society does not allow it. You MUST hide the truth if you want to be well liked and accepted.
And honestly, I have never known a good bobcat hunter that was truly humble in and of himself. I have known some who learned how to control their self-adulation. I have seen those whose self praise was very sophisticated. I mean people so smart all they had to do was take key talkers with them hunting, and they never had to speak a word about their own greatness. And they knew consciously or sub-consciously that the words are even more powerful coming from some one else s mouth and not their own. But the desired results were the same, and even more effective than some one who plainly speaks the truth about himself. Because the one is thought great and humble, and the other who is equally great is just thought arrogant. It is the difference between social skills (manipulation) or the lack of social skills (often abrasive, naked truth).
Which one is actually the most skilled at self-promotion? Which one cares the most what other people think about him?
Let me just say this: if you are a successful bobcat hunter, you are a great man in deeper ways than even you have imagined. That is the truth. I think all successful bobcat hunters know they have achieved a certain level of greatness. And it is greatness that goes way beyond just being able to catch bobcats. It is greatness that speaks of a bottom end so deep you could probably accomplish about anything you really felt motivated to accomplish. But if you speak that truth you will not be well liked. If you care about what others think of you, you will need to be dishonest about yourself in front of people who dont know you or love you. Or you will need to be quiet, which is tragic also.
I myself feel greatly blessed by those people on here who have been willing to share their knowledge with me and hundreds of other readers. I see people who are very skilled socially, and know how to work a crowd. But I see many who have none of those skills, yet they have great knowledge and understanding and are willing to try and share it. When I see them speak the plain, unfiltered truth about themselves or their dogs, I cringe and brace myself and feel bad for them, because they are going to get blasted. I dont know why they keep coming back for more. I would not. But I am glad they do.
I miss Ike also.
If you are basing your opinion about someone on their social skills, or based on what others have said to you about them, I am sorry about that. You have missed out on some tremendous opportunities in life, guaranteed.
Thinking back the accomplished bobcat hunters I have known, they have been loners for the most part. They don't really know how to fit in with people, because they are not very often with people. Back in the day, I could rarely ever get even one of them to talk openly with me. Today it is a remarkable miracle that several of them come to this board and try to share openly. It is a remarkable mystery to me. I love it. It is a good time to be alive.