A Long Winter’s Night – Hunter’s Soul
Posted By Randy on December 27, 2012
Bodhi Carbone, contemplating the Hunt on Christmas Day 2012. Click the image to enbiggen. (Gary Carbone photo)
The cool breath of autumn that arrives here in Nova Scotia sporadically in September, always makes me want to go hunting, and the drive gets stronger as the onset of Winter makes its presence known. Whether or not I plan to go afield with intentions to take game, I find myself called to go and seek it. In this sensibility, if not in the timing, my soul is at one with that of every member of the LFM canine household cavalry, and it’s at the heart of why we enjoy bonding through tracking and search and find games so much.
Our Esteemed Friend Gary Carbone and his Dog Bodhi, of both of whom I’ve spoken many times before and will again, recently had an experience that inspired the short poem that follows. Participants in the affray were Gary, Bodhi, and a mature male Deer in the full flower of his antlerage, the allure of whom for Bodhi drowned out everything else in the world.
Without doling out all the details, suffice it to be said that all ended well with Bodhi sustaining a small wound on his face and Gary learning some hard won lessons – not least of which is just how much life he still has left in that old carcass of his – and another being why Bodhi has a 40 foot long line attached to him in the picture that appears at the top of this article.
As far as a Dog is concerned, every foray into the world outside the household door is a hunt to be engaged in as the nature of its breed dictates, and in this it will operate in the certainty that the handler is at one with the objectives of the mission. To fight this instead of becoming a part of it causes confusion in the Dog, and mutual frustration of both the Dog and handler alike. In short, it removes all Natural joy from the situation, and thus, all fulfillment. A Dog can learn self-control, but it cannot ever be what it is not, and so it falls to the handler to ensure that the vital elements of joy and fulfillment remain while the limits to self-control are mutually and realistically explored.
And so it is with Bodhi, to whom today’s poem is dedicated.
Hunter’s Soul
By LFM
The Dog would hunt the whole day through,
And dream it all the night.
His soul doth crave the quarry’s scent –
To see it put to flight!
And so it is who goes afield
With leash and Dog in hand,
Must find his joy as Leader of
A merry hunting band!
And Dog cares not if Master’s hand
Grips bow, or spear, or gun,
So long as it doth hold the leash –
Master, Dog, as one!
His joyful cry of, “Tally ho!”
His Master’s not to smother.
‘Tis better answered with, “Good boy!”
“Let’s go and find another!”
This is cool…
Immortalized in poetry, wow– Bo has certainly come a long way. Abandoned in the woods, 2 weeks in the dog shelter, and now getting his due recognition! Well, I have always really enjoyed our walks, especially in the woods. But now I can appreciate the experience on another level, thanks to “Hunter’s Soul”.
All Dogs have poetry in them, and the ones that truly touch my life have the magickal ability to bring my own poetry out of me. Those few and treasured people who have the same effect are the ones who end up on my Esteemed Friends list, which means they have, to my mind, ascended to the the level of Doghood.
” A Dog can learn self-control, but it cannot ever be what it is not…” Fabulous!
Humans that try crush Dogs’ soul.
love the header/banner picture
seems like an intriguing animal rights outfitting ad 😀
gives me a funny sense of accomplishment that I know the “stars of the blog”
dogs Will be dogs!!!!!
Thank you Sharon. Now that you’ve got friends in such high places, there’s no end in sight.
[…] As far as a Dog is concerned, every foray into the world outside the household door is a hunt to be engaged in as the nature of its breed dictates, and in this it will operate in the certainty that the handler is at one with the objectives of the mission. To fight this instead of becoming a part of it causes confusion in the Dog, and mutual frustration of both the Dog and handler alike. In short, it removes all Natural joy from the situation, and thus, all fulfillment. A Dog can learn self-control, but it cannot ever be what it is not, and so it falls to the handler to ensure that the vital elements of joy and fulfillment remain while the limits to self-control are mutually and realistically explored. ~ A Long Winter’s Night – Hunter’s Soul […]
[…] a recent telephone conversation with my Esteemed Friend Gary Carbone, we spoke of matters that included the taking on of students, and the choosing of training […]