the most magnificent show on earth

Angry, high-strung city folk should not wield guns.
A public park is just that; a PUBLIC park. Everyone should work to share it.
If I can put so much effort into timing my runs so that I'm hitting the middle of the day (NOT prime deer hunting hours), cutting by my number of runs per week and making them as fast as possible so as to allow deer hunters their piece and quiet, the least they could do is NOT shoot near my team! I'm pretty close to irate right now. Yes, it's deer season. I get it. My entire family hunts. But guess what? We hunt on our own land, not in a public park. If we did hunt in a public park, we would not assume ownership. Good lord. I was hooking up today, just ready to leave the chute and a gun fired. It was 10:30 am. All of my dogs were wearing a orange reflective collars, one of the leaders was wearing an orange cape/vest. I was wearing a legal, orange vest. I had yellow rain gear on. I have an orange caution sign wired to the front of my rig. Don't panic- no one shot a dog. But seriously? Shooting that close to the camp ground? My grandpa walked up to the people, who had fired FROM ON THE TRAIL. They were pissed that we were running (in not so many words). Dumbass #1 remarked, "I thought I saw a deer." My grandpa responded with a sharp, "You didn't see a deer, you saw a dog. Six of them. With a person." My entire run, from the time we drove in until the time we loaded and left, took 45 minutes. Can we not share for less than an hour? Once again, it's a blanker blanking PUBLIC park. And once again, YES, it's deer season, I get it. Do the hunters really think they OWN the place? There were at least 10 bikers at trail head and, the previous night, another dog team. The crazy gun idiots just don't care. What really makes me mad? When I run dogs, I always strive to be courteous to other trail users. Ideally, I'd let my house dogs loose to chase my team, but I don't do that at a PUBLIC park. There are horse people out there. I respect THEIR RIGHT TO A PEACEFUL TRAIL by leashing all dogs. With the bikers, I announce when I'm passing and try to allow them to move off the trail so I don't clip them. This is because I RESPECT THE FACT THAT WE ARE ALL SHARING THE SAME TRAIL SYSTEM AND HAVE TO LEARN TO DEAL WITH IT. Being stubborn and shooting your gun towards people, even if you think they shouldn't be there, is not a fucking smart idea. I would put "public" in capitol letters again, but what's the use? If the rest of us have to share the trail system EVERY DAY, then why do the hunters think they can OWN it the minute they buy a doe tag?
But, I'll use my own advice and refuse to be stubborn about it. It's not worth the risk running among those crazies who prefer to hunt along a PUBLIC trail system. My dogs are more important than defending a principle. I pity the fool who mistakes Keytone for a deer and must answer to me in response....
I'll do my running at home for a while, thank you.


On a lighter note, despite the happenings, the hounds were awesome. Freddie and Heini lead. They took every single turn, and it felt like they added a lot of speed. I will be leading them more often! Man, they were phenomenal. I ran the sibes and Brew at home. Each dog ran two laps. It was a nice break for Brew. Oakley lead a lap around the field and then pretty much quit working. May and Joppie were the best. They held the line out during hook up. Where in the world did they learn THAT?! Haha I was so unbelievably impressed! Props to me, I guess. Oh, and Star actually lead too. With Oak- before she quit. Star ran without a neckline and worked out great. These babies are something else. Well, okay...Brother might end up being my pet...but he'll be my pretty pet. Their daddy wasn't half bad today either. Kuz only ran one lap- he has always been a one time kinda guy. He lead fine, but was slooooow. I'm glad I let him go a little this season, because he really doesn't pull anymore..which is a huge sign that he's done. Kuzin ALWAYS pulls. But he doesn't anymore. The retired Kuzin doesn't need to, so I guess that all works out just fine.

I've been trying to find the perfect meat/dog food ratio. I'm getting closer, but it's still not perfect. I'm not running until Monday...and THAT run (and the rest of the week) will be at home...not at Ft. Custer. I don't need anymore "thought I saw a deer" heart attacks.