Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Tuesday, January 1. 2013

Black Lab, white snow, mating Great Horned Owls hooting in the distance - a fine New Year's Day

And cold, beady-eyed Red-Tails hunkering in the trees.


It's always been a challenge for me to capture the features of a Black Lab's face. How about you?



That "6 and a half" year-old tags along to learn about hunting and dog-handling. He can handle a .22, however. Start them young, and keep the country traditions alive before they become overly-citified, overly-metrosexualized, and overly-computerized.


Posted by Bird Dog at 18:35 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

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Looks like a perfect day! So good to see new hunters, too.
#1 Alex G on 2013-01-01 18:54 (Reply)
Excellent photo. Reminds me of hunting as a lad in Michigan with my Father. Did not mind the snow and cold back then.

Crunching thru the snow -you could often make a pretty good guess how cold it was by the way the snow sounded as you walked thru it.

Pretty good memories, thanks!
#2 Ron Snyder on 2013-01-01 18:59 (Reply)
It's very hard getting pictures of black labs' dear faces. We had two in a row in England, and all the old pix are either flash monster doggie glow eye and black bodies or black silhouettes against sunny landscapes. Snow is the worst! Sometimes sideways light helps (a fire can throw some light and catch their eyes and whiskers and features into relief). Also, the background matters. The best pictures I've ever got of black labs have been in the water where light is reflecting off the water and catching their fur at different angles. Plus, when they're wet, and their fur clumps, they have more texture and are more visible in light...Also, mud makes them more visible...and they're usually really happy when they've been in it.
#3 retriever on 2013-01-01 20:30 (Reply)
Hey Reteiver
How's the Subaru?
Reading this post, the boy's got bb/pellet guns for Christmas. Pigeons are the primary target. It took many misses before "Dad, we got 4 of them!" Watching them shoot, observing, I must have knocked 50 pounds of guano off the ledges in the barn.
We have a Beagle, joined us a year ago Feb 10th from Barrow alaska. It was -60 when he left to come join us in "cat chasing paradise."
Wait. We're talking about Lab's. Puddles (the lab) is snozing by the door, beating the chickens back from his dog food.
Gotta love those free range, dog food raised eggs.
Happy New Year.
Jerry
#3.1 Jerry on 2013-01-01 22:32 (Reply)
Hey, Jerry, Happy New Year! The Subaru is very dog friendly (our pooch used to be miserable on long trips in the back of the Explorer--vibration?--but is quite content now) and good in snow: last year we had an unexpected October blizzard in New Hampshire one night and had to drive thru 12 inches of snow on dirt roads and it was fine. Only disappointment is gas mileage (I think the higher ethanol counts in gas are messing with that)
#3.1.1 retriever on 2013-01-02 21:14 (Reply)
Where's that youngun's safety orange? Train up right in the way they should go...
#4 twolaneflash on 2013-01-01 22:25 (Reply)
Yes, right. He stays near somebody with blaze. Plus we never shoot low.
#4.1 Bird Dog on 2013-01-02 06:46 (Reply)
You have to be a little strange, I suppose, to consider walking in the cold snowy wilderness a good time. I accepted my personal diagnosis years ago. Went out a few days ago for a couple hours with hope, but very little expectation of seeing anything. Spent two hours following tracks in the fresh snow and didn't come close to raising my gun. Enjoyed it much more than sitting in the house. I feel sorry for people who have to go to the gym for exercise.
#5 dirk on 2013-01-02 10:33 (Reply)
White snow is a strange name for a black lab and those owls must have been real horny.
#6 MnJack on 2013-01-03 19:35 (Reply)

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