Changes.

Fighting blog burnout, I decided to play with the appearance of the blog; (Margaret said the sidebar was looking "cluttered".) Moved some links down to what is now known as the "Blogroll/Links" area, and repositioned the counter and tipjar.. Yes! the TipJar is still here! For what it's worth. Also removed the Backwards Bush clock until we get closer to a more optimistic count... later in the year. It will be back!

I'll be deactivating the current poll, so if you know folks who haven't voted, send them on over. The next one will be in the sidebar, and might be more frivolous.

Look for a couple brief restaurant reviews coming up, and a report on the little GCA AKC trial yesterday. Also, maybe a picture of what we do when we're not shooting sighthounds, mountains, or birds.

Plinked a couple of geocaches earlier today in the cemetary down the hill from the ranch. That was fun, and took all of about 20 minutes.

More coming!

Pic of the Week

We took this last weekend at the Lone Star Whippet Club trial in Ferris, TX. You only wish your animals were this well trained, and behaved. I know we do.

We're hanging around for the Greyhound Club of America AKC trial, which is being held in conjunction with the club's southern specialty, then we'll probably go up to Boswell, OK for a NOTRA this weekend. That will put an end to our "Southern Strategy", as we'll begin the long, torturous swing back to the north, going first, to the AKC trials in Wichita, and then to ASFA trials in Belvidere, Illinois. Hope Spring will be following us.

Looming just ahead, of course, is Randir's big moment at the Scottish Deerhound Club of America's national specialty. Margaret's designing a special Shot On Site T-Shirt for the show ring. There will be no sneak previews... but we'll post it up here after the specialty.

New Toys. It's a Poll!!

It's a poll! You can vote. Try it!
Playing around with more web tools. Would like to get more interactivity going in this blog, so... how about a poll?



I think I know our readers well enough to know how this one will turn out. Not sure if this free service has safeguards against ballotbox stuffing, but I guess I'll find out.

In the future, we'll probably run these in the sidebar whenever we have a provocative topic. Oh, and I'm casting the first vote!

Bracketology II. Squeakball Version.

OK.. I'll admit to somewhat more interest than I intimated the other day. I do need to know: Is Duke out yet?

Update: 10:25PM CDT: Oh yeah!

Now.. let's boot the Irish out, too!

Update: 3/16/07 6:00PM CDT: Done! I suppose it's too much to ask for Florida and their girly-man to get bounced?

Announcement!

It is with great pleasure that we announce- finally- the website for our "non-canine" images: http://www.shotonsite2.photoreflect.com . The first images are up- currently we are only offering 5x7 in 8x10 acid-free mat, and 8x10 in 11x14 acid-free mat. Soon we hope to have large panoramas (ie the Florida Mountain series in 8 x 20, etc.) and possibly poster sizes, (but first we want to look at them and make sure the quality is what we want.) All images will be signed, and shipped in sealed plastic, "ultra clear" presentation bags.

Please think about our site when it's gift-giving time for the non-dog people in your lives, or when redecorating the den. And pass this information on to those folks who may be interested.

I'm hoping to figure out- maybe with the help of some readers (you know who you are)- how to put a little link to the site on the blog. Images will be added regularly, as we travel the country.

ADDED 1:15 CDT - Well, that was quick. Thanks to Todd B., there's now a link to the new site, just to the right. He must'a known I was talking to him. :)

Someday, in the best of all possible worlds, these will all be on the walls of our coffee house/art gallery, somewhere in New Mexico. Look for us.

Their Own Worst Enemy

I guess I missed this story the first time around, but it ranks right up there with the greyhound folks in California who thought it would be cool to invite a TV film crew out to a jackrabbit hunt. Maybe you've already heard about this "hunting club" in Pennsylvania, apparently suffering from cabin fever, who charged archers $12 to shoot live, farm raised turkeys.... which were tied to bales of straw. And we wonder why the antis keep coming after us.

Eric Sharp, outdoors writer for the Detroit Free Press, has good advice for all of us in today's column, including this all-important nugget:

"...but 'fair chase' is an emotional concept defined by the human brain, not the laws of nature.

So let's put aside any notion that emotion won't or shouldn't play a role in the future of hunting, or that we hunters can simply ignore the feelings of the great nonhunting mass. They are the people who get to vote on whether we can hunt." (emphasis mine)

More Coursing.

Brush up on your Español...

As long as we're passing movies along, here's some more coursing I found on YouTube. This happens to be Galgos in Spain from a 2005 championship meet. Many who know me know I've coveted a Galgo for years, (even though the houndsmen of the southwest US consider them nothing more than another mixed breed). And if you occasionally root for the hare, (and who doesn't?), watch the move the hare makes at the end of a fairly long course, to escape.



It turns out there are lots of live (and lure) coursing videos on YouTube.. although I guess that shouldn't surprise me. Most are not put there by AR anti-hunting whackos.. but a few are. I wish someone would explain the "Borzoi Wolf Hunt" to me, though. As one commenter wrote: "That was pointless." I'd have to agree.