Healthy Forests, Abundant Game, Conservation on the Allegheny
Protecting our freedoms.
MAINE ADVENTURE 2022
writing
by
Joe Ewing
Photography
by
Brenda
Ewing
and
Joe Ewing
For
more than 30 years, these three have hunted together.
(L-R)
Joe Ewing, Sr., Joe Ewing, Jr., and Andy Hoover.
Again this year, as we have done for the last
twenty years, members of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny put
together their annual pilgrimage to the Mecca of snowshoe hare hunting. We
lodged at our home away from home, the Pine Grove Lodge in Pleasant Ridge
Plantation, Maine. As they have done for the previous twenty years, the
proprietors, Andrea and Bob Howe, treated us to the finest of accommodations and
hospitality.
We’ve attempted driving straight through to
Pleasant Ridge, but a 13-hour drive is no fun, even on a good day, and there
have been plenty of bad days, weather-wise. We’ve been making this trip twice a
year for more than 20 years through all kinds of weather without problems. However,
a less-than-funny event happened on the way to Maine this year.
Traditionally we stop at a not-to-be-identified
here hotel in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Our beagles sleep in boxes in the dog
trucks—usually, two or more hounds in an insulated box. I could give you more
details, but you get the picture.
The first part of this story is Brenda’s, but
I’ll try to relay it to you with her permission. Early Sunday morning, Brenda
and I were hurrying to get to the parking lot to get the dogs out so they could
relieve themselves. I was in the bathroom when a knock came on the door.
Brenda, thinking it was Andy, immediately opened the door. There stood two
bigger-than-life, fully uniformed police officers. The first officer said to
Brenda, “are you Joseph?”
“She is not Joseph,” the second officer immediately
inserted. The officer continued, “we have a complaint from the hotel that your
dogs were out in the cold last night, and the temperature got down to 32
degrees.” I was in the bathroom only inches from the door, not believing my
ears.”
I bolted from the bathroom in my skivvies, saying, “Thirty-two is not cold. They were in boxes.”
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| Little Toby Creek Muzette Mountain Music is ready to launch off the tailgate. |
One officer insisted, “They are metal boxes.”
“Insulated boxes with more than one dog in
each box.”And they had their coats on. They were not cold,” I declared.”
The officers stated, “we will notify animal
control to take care of the problem as we don’t handle such matters.” We
thanked them, and off they went. I’ve not heard from animal control.
According to local weather records, to kick a
dead horse, the low temperature on Sunday morning, October 23, never got below
39 degrees. After the long hot summer my dogs endured, 39 degrees, 32 degrees,
or even 25 degrees is no doubt refreshing to them. They may even have been too warm.
The temperature is not the problem.
There are too many “Karens” in this world. People
who believe they know everything and, in reality, know nothing. For some
unknown reason, they feel compelled to stick their noses in other people’s
business, especially hunters. They mistakingly associate dogs with human
traits. They associate dogs’ feelings with human feelings and animal comfort
with human comfort. They mistakingly believe animals think, feel, and have
emotions like humans. You will never be able to convince them otherwise.
Under the onslaught of
pressure from animal rights and animal-welfare groups,
state legislatures have passed laws setting
up time limits or hours dogs can be outside. State legislatures set temperature
limits based on random choice or a person’s whim rather than any logical,
reasonable system. I voiced my opinion in an article in the August 2021 issue
of THE
RABBIT HUNTER
magazine called “Just Me-My Opinion,” where I
accused the animal-rights crowd of
disguising their attacks by proposing legislation under the camouflage of “animal welfare.”
Many states have passed laws trying to
restrict and abolish outside dogs. A Pennsylvania law prohibits chaining a dog
to only 30 minutes if the temperature is below 32 degrees or above 90 degrees.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) professes this law they hammered
(snuck) through in Pennsylvania during the Covid crisis is not intended to do
away with outside dogs. As a matter of course, they are insincere. In other
words, they lie. The Humane Society of
the United States unstated mission is to do away with the private ownership of
dogs altogether. Hunting dogs will be outlawed, and even a person’s pets will
be in jeopardy.
Not
only do dog laws vary from state to state, but in Massachusetts, dog laws vary
from municipality to municipality. The rules are not uniform across the state.
When going from town to town, the laws change drastically. Dog laws differ at the
city or county level. In one town in Massachusetts, residents are only allowed
to own up to three dogs, but there is no limit under state law. The bottom line,
a dog owner crossing municipal lines has no idea what the rules are or what he
can expect.
A recent law passed in the state of Maine compels
anyone 16 years of age or older who is using a dog to hunt for bear, coyote,
fox, bobcat, or raccoon; or train for bear, fox, and raccoon must obtain a Dog
Training and Hunting permit. A person or persons may not use more than six dogs
at any one time to hunt bear, bobcat, coyote, raccoon, and fox. Any dog engaged
in the above activities must have a functioning tracking collar.
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| Pleasant Ridge Plantation is located in the central mountains of Maine. |
The Maine law applies only to dogs hunting for
bear, coyote, fox, or raccoon; I do not understand why only these selected
groups. Why were my brothers singled out? How and why were these foolish laws
proposed and passed? But of f course, I know why. Laws like these are being
passed to attack hunting directly.
“Don’t
take it all for granted because it could all be taken away,” Virginia Hunting Dog
Alliance.
From
Maine to Oregon, Michigan to Louisiana, animal-rights extremists are working overtime
to pass harsh and horrible animal control laws. Recently, in St. Landry Parish,
Louisiana, a proposed “Animal Control Ordinance” seeks, among other things, to
make the use of dogs while hunting a violation of the law.
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| The writer does what he does best—eating great-tasting cookies from the Pine Grove Lodge. |
Many hunters
claim they don’t want to get involved. Why would anyone turn their back on the
sport and the animals they love?
All dog owners, especially those
with hunting and sporting dogs, must stick together, stay vigilant, and fight
against animal-rights activists (extremists) pushing anti-hunting legislation. Their
objective is to outlaw hunting with dogs. Hunters and dog owners must organize
as one! We unite by supporting organizations like the Sportsmen’s Alliance, the
NRA, the New York Houndsmen Association, the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance, the
Sportsmen’s Alliance of Maine, and many other freedom-fighting groups.
I’m sure a group in your state needs your
help. They need more than moral support. They need financial support.
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| Joe Jr. and his trophy snowshoe hare. |
Sorry, I used up so many
words. Sorry for the departure from my intended mission. I felt compelled to
get that off my chest. I never dreamed these radical extremist ideas would slap
me directly in the face.
How did the remainder of our
Maine hunt go, you ask? It was uneventful. My pickup battery went dead. Andy
put to use the jump box he carries for just such events, and I had to buy a new
battery which was minor. Thanks, Andy, for bailing me out. Everything else went
as smoothly as silk. Joe Jr. now resides in Florida and flew into Portland Jet
Port, where we met him without a hitch. We even delivered him on time for his
return flight.
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| When we crossed this line, we felt like we were home again. |
It rained a day or two, but
we never got rained out, although Brenda and I spent time in the truck. That’s
the day the battery went dead. The hounds ran countless elusive snowshoe hare, just
starting to molt for the winter. The hounds had no trouble finding hare and chased
hard all day.
The shooters weren’t too good,
though, as son Joe was the only one of us to bag a hare. He was using his .410
O/U at the time. Other times using a .410 Contender handgun and the persistent impenetrable
underbrush reduced Andy and Joe’s chances and raised the difficulty factor. The
snowshoe hare and the hounds would pass within feet without a sighting. The
beagles got to one before the hunters could retrieve it.
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