Since 2009, the retirement home of Shot On Site Photography... the source of the finest sighthound performance images in the world. As of August 1, 2022, the blog will become much more photo-centric. Not only will I post images from the homestead in the foothills of the Little Florida Mountains, and surrounding environs, but also tips about shooting, editing, archiving, software, hardware and more. The political rants will become few and far between (but not eliminated! It is 2022 after all!)
Monday, February 11, 2008
Unabashed Self-Promotion.
We've hooked up with Feedburner to give you the tools you need to know when something new is here. Up above, is the headline thingy.. it scrolls through the past 5 blogpost titles. The cool part is, you can grab it and put it on your own blog, your My Space, or Facebook page.. anywhere you can paste a little HTML.. even on your EMail signature. Just click the "Grab this..." line and Feedburner will walk you through the rest.
At the top of the sidebar on the right, is a link to set up EMail alerts whenever there is a change here. Simple.
If you want to subscribe to a reader, or your Yahoo, or Google, or AOL, or whatever homepage or reader you use, you can just click on the "subscribe to a reader" button on the sidebar near the SiteMeter counter. I was shocked to find, when I pasted in the subscriber counter, that this blog has..... ZERO... none, nada, zilch... subscribers. Get off your butts people!
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Meanwhile, On the Day Shift.
Yesterday, we drove out into the countryside to look at 40 acres that a friend has on the market. We took Sandia and Rally. When we parked, we let them out for a "potty break".. Sandia got leashed up, but Rally, who's been doing well of late on healing her partial torn achilles, slipped by. Well, she was staying close, so we figured we'd let her evacuate, and we'd leash her up then.
That was before the jackrabbit. And she was looking good for the first 150 yards or so. She even turned it, and was closing when...
Do I even need to finish the story?
Now we need a good orthopedic vet surgeon in southern New Mexico... and some means to pay them with.
Night Shift.
Whoa! What's this? It's night time.. this jackrabbit, being nocturnal, should be happily munching on vegetation... not running for his life! What could cause this non-standard behavior?
Well here's a clue. Scottish poacher uh, "entrepreneurial game harvester"*, Matthew, has the spotlight, and he knows how to use it!
And after a few trial runs the hounds, including Mona here, learn to follow the light, because that's where the jack is.
The biggest difference between day and night coursing is the course. Races are usually short, especially if the guy on the spot can't keep the hare in the light. From 7:30 to 10:30 last night we probably released the dogs on a dozen jacks.. maybe more, as I lost count. We drove only about 5 miles in that time, which brings up the other big difference: No Walking! (It does get a little tiring putting the car in neutral, hitting the parking brake, grabbing the camera, and jumping out the car over and over and over again.) The above is one of two that were caught.
Photographing this activity is just about impossible, so when I saw that image with Mona and the jack so close, and in the range of the flash, I was ecstatic, no matter that it's out of focus, and a little overexposed.. it's exactly what I was hoping to get on this little project.
By the way, for those who are interested, this activity is perfectly legal as long as no one is carrying a firearm. Dutch, being on the NM Fish and Game Commission made sure of that! And in this particular area, we'd be more likely to be confronted by the Border Patrol than the Game Warden.
*Thanks to Scottish native, Andrew at Regal Vizsla , for the politically correct terminology ;^)
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Return With Us Now to Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear...
Super Tuesday "Humor"
Just a sidenote... the only part of me that would touch Ann Coulter's ass is the part at the end of my leg. No, the other end!
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
And the Winner Is....
Close enough that if we lived here we could have conceivably cast the winning ballots! Our South Dakota primary isn't until June. I originally figured it would all be settled by then. Now I'm sure we'll order up our absentee ballots. We, like you, can make a difference. But who will we make a difference for? Hmmmmmmmmmmm...
...I just don't know...
Weather Pic.
When I said yesterday that I would give the dogs a break, I didn't mean it quite literally. Fanny has some kind of foot injury. Much pain, but no bruising, or swelling, or blood. Mysterious. Yesterday Buffy dropped her gracilis muscle- and - smashed a toenail. The sisters are out of commission for the rest of the season... Buffy probably for good. The good news is that the puppy is staying sound, as is Geezer-boy, Randir. Rally is an enigma. We'll test her achilles tendon this weekend up in Mountainair at a NOTRA "practice" race meet. She seems ready.
In other news... my 3 week bachelorhood ends tomorrow, as I go to El Paso to pick up Margaret. And not a moment too soon.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Mountain Blanket
Can't let the day go by without at least one post. This was about 7AM MST today. This solitary-but very large- cloud hung over my favorite little mountain range for hours. That's the Capitol Dome formation on the right. I need to get out and do more of this, and give the dogs a break. Tomorrow looks promising.
Monday, February 04, 2008
The Dark Side.
This was the kind of "luck" that Notre Dame used to have before their god deserted them after the hiring of Charlie Weis. There must be supernatural forces in play here... but not benign forces. These are dark forces. These are Faustian- Robert Johnson down-to-the-crossroads kind of sinister forces. I'm convinced of it. What other explanation could there be for this...
So enjoy your brief notoriety, Eli. Down the road, the piper will still have to be paid.
Damn... I despise that whole hillbilly family ;^)
How About This Sport Fans??
HT Brian at MGoBlog . Yeah... big hint.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Freakish Dogs.
Buffy's Day. Looking Old School.
And Buffy just enjoyed herself immensely. Still the prettiest dog on the planet.
Is That All There Is?
Is Eli Manning a better quarterback than..... Peyton Manning? Sure looks that way. Is he a better QB than Tom Brady? You must be joking.
So thanks boys... for the most boring 3 quarters of football. At least the 4th quarter was... um, interesting. And, with the exception of the T-Mobile ad with D-Wade and Charles Barkley, the commercials were lamer than any year in recent memory.
And I'm out of Tequila.
Stanley Cup, anyone? I like hockey better, any way. Go Wings!
Hey look! The Biggest Loser is on NBC!
Is This It?
More Live Blogging...
If Patriots win, my pick for MVP is Wes Welker... fastest white man in the NFL.
Ohhh no. A big play by the Giants! More later.
Tom Brady & the Heartbreakers?
I know it's only half time... (great show by Petty et al, by the way), and I know the Pats have the lead, but geez.... I don't like the way this game's going.
Fortunately, they have the human equivalent of the Cray Supercomputer as the head coach, so I assume the problems will be adjusted to during the halftime. History awaits.
As to the commercials? Worst I can remember. That Doritos ad with the giant rat? WTF??
Hey Sports Fans.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
An Informed Electorate...
Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters
Friday, February 01, 2008
Kin.
Life Comes At You Fast...
No indication if Amtrak is looking into the technology for getting the trains to run on time.
Oh Good. It's Not Just Me.
I've told fellow football fan friends often.. I really don't remember this guy's career at Michigan. I'm not alone.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Unsafe in Any Decade.
Not again.
Sob!
Gleaned from Google Ads.
Every now and then something interesting pops up, up there. I saw this product advertised, but only briefly, the other day. Good thing I remembered the name of the business. This is a very interesting product. I'm trying to figure out if it's a product that would lend itself to Open Field Coursing. It's certainly less expensive than the California-made mechanical slips that most of the people are using now.
I'd like all my hunting friends to check it out and see what you think. It may need some modifications, but they wouldn't seem to be difficult. It would probably also be easy to modify for lure coursing. Check it out and send me some feedback.
Looking for dog food? Lots of ads for that up top, too. Help us out, and check them out.
Dad? Can We Go Hunting?
As usual, Buffy used her scouting talents to jump all the hares today. She just doesn't have the endurance any more to stay in the race, (and the picture). I had Sandia on a slip lead for this one. I let him free course back to the car, and on the way back Buffy jumped one for him.. they disappeared across the road, but I did see Sandia jump one of his own on the way back. Just about the time we got to the car, we got another one up, but too far away. I actually called Sandia off of it. He's one smart puppy.
Today's Nature Shot: Horned Larks. This desert's thick with 'em.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Not Politics. Aren't You Glad?
We're in New Mexico... (well, I am, anyway) to avoid this crap, but damn! This looks like a blast!
HT Paula, my BFF ;^p
Monday, January 28, 2008
We Roll 'em Out, You Pick 'em.
Mysterious Traveler Entrances Town With Utopian Vision Of The Future
Listen. It beats the latest "State of the Union Address".
If you don't vote, don't bitch.
Proof-readers Wanted
Yes
No
Thank you
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Rear End's the First to Go.
That's what they say, anyway. Here's more proof that Randir is a biological freak! Remember, this is an eleven and a half year old -male- Scottish Deerhound. And... he'd just had 4 or 5 (short) runs on jackrabbits prior to this leap.
Forgive the quality.. I shot this with the phone :)
Saturday, January 26, 2008
What Bulgarians Want.
I don't know what's more disturbing.. the search, or the fact that we had a post that was, at least on the surface, relevant.
I'm going to go out on a limb, and say this visitor is an old Soviet Bloc female Bulgarian Olympic weightlifter.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Making Great Dogfood.
Then follow the steps in the slide show... (advisory: If you're used to getting your meat in a bag at a fast food drive-thru, or in the shrink-wrapped, styrofoam packages I mentioned previously, these images may not be your cup of tea)
For detailed step-by-step instructions, click on the slide show.
Must be a lot of tryptophan in jackrabbit. All the resident hounds have been sound asleep since dinner!
Milestone: The Best Ever.
A New, Completely "Natural" Feed From Nutro?
This fella's documented from the chase to the dog food dish. Next jack, I'll try out Steve Bodio's recipe... I'm thinking I'm going to like it. Dogs are already half out of their minds here, and it's still outside in the crockpot.
That's coming up in a future post. Hang in there.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Eight More Years!
Today's Feature: Fanny!
Hard to believe this hare got away. But Fanny's going on 8, she's not 8 months old. She's running well enough to get entered in Dutch Salmon's Desert Hare Classic, though.
We started of with Fanny free coursing, and Sandia on a slip lead for the first time. He was in this course, but I held him up just a little too long, so he didn't make the pictures. They ran about a half mile, and both came back quickly.
Then we jumped one that was too far out.. Fanny took off anyway, but I held Sandia. The course took Fanny back towards the car, so I started walking that way with Sandia. I watched as Fannt flushed another on her way back... a very fuzzy, distant telephoto shot shows that she should have come back with tail fur in her mouth! She was soooo close all day.
Before Fanny made it back to us, we jumped one for Sandia to run on his own. There are some pictures, but this is Fanny's day. :) He disappeared over a ridge pretty quickly. There's a good sized valley, with lots of brush, so I knew he'd be back soon. And he was, just about the time Fanny got back, so I leashed them up, as they'd had enough work for one day... Fanny 3, Sandia 2, and it was starting to sprinkle.
As we left the field I saw my old friend, the Golden Eagle on a power pole. Magnificent creature!
Wow! A Record-Setting Day.
And based on the new country counter we've put on the sidebar, we're actually getting readers from other coutries.. I mean other countries besides the Netherlands. ;-) South Africa? Bahrain? Austria? Yemen? Sweden? Argentina? Vietnam?...... Vietnam? (No, I don't have any children there trying to hunt me down... that I know of.) A quick check on SiteMeter shows that many of the visitors from these other countries... 30 different countries!, actually spend time here, and read stuff. Others, for whatever deviant reasons, get here from Google searches that take them to the screwing deer photo I used in a previous post. Many others come here from Patrick's blog, or Steve Bodio's Querencia, which is odd, since he doesn't have a link to us there.
Anyway... thanks for visiting. I'll try to make it worth your while to keep coming back. For instance, I'm taking Sandia out again today, so we can beat the possible "wintry mix" that's coming tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Family that Preys Together...
Monday, January 21, 2008
Oh Wait! This is Really It!
Let Sandia loose with Buffy and the auld warrior, Randir, and they almost immediately got into action.
Sandia can close! This hare is in peril.
And look who's joining in!! (Shh.. let him think he's helping.. he's 11 1/2 now, after all).
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Semper Fi.
I've enjoyed watching the Silent Drill Team ever since I first saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show back in the early '60s; or was it the '50s?!? Yikes! I'm old.
Some of you know that while I was a "Navy guy" for 4 years, my last year, 1969, was spent with the Fleet Marine Force in VietNam, with a Marine rifle company. I have a lot of respect for them.
Semper Fi.