Deja Vu

Follow the Nose

2010: The state of California is considering loosening its regulations bear hunting to cut down a population that's quadrupled over the last couple of decades. While the lust for blood may remain constant, the Fish and Game Commission is considering allowing the use of satellite tracking to aid hunters, the Los Angeles Times reports.

On Wednesday the commissioners will vote on whether to allow bear hunting in San Luis Obispo County and to increase the hunting area in Lassen and Modoc counties. They'll also decide whether to eliminate a cap on bear kills per season and allow bear hunters to put collars with GPS tracking devices on their hounds.

1846: It hardly seems sporting to employ the low-hanging fruits of the space age, but the hunters of old had their own reliable technology: dogs tuned to the sound of the horn through genetic manipulation. One Louisianan bear hunter with a love for commas described the state-of-the-art in 1840s bear-dog breeding in Instructions to young sportsmen: in all that relates to guns and shooting.

Having then rolled up one or two heavy blankets—provided themselves with some bread, some salt, some ground coffee, a tin cup and a camp kettle or two, our hunters are ready to blow the horn for the dogs. The description of dogs that are preferred for bear-hunting is a cross of the hound, bull, and cur dog. This cross is very generally admitted by the old bear-hunters of Arkansas and Lousiana, to be preferred, for several reasons. This mongrel has, in a great degree, the fine nose and bottom of the hound, with the speed and fierceness of the genuine cur. Now, the term 'cur,' is very vague and indefinite, and is applied to many varieties of dogs. The dog we allude to, is an active dog, of a yellow colour, a pointed nose, an ear that is partly erect and partly dependent—a watchful, sprightly guard-dog. This half-breed, crossed again on the bull-dog, produced a heavier and more powerful dog. The full-bred bull-dog makes but a very indifferent bear dog; he cannot smell well, and of course is no hunter. He is a slow runner, and when he comes up with a bear, he seizes hold of it, and the bear kills him as quick as thought.

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