Summative Essay

What I have learned:

There was a lot of things about being a hunting guide that I didn’t know that by doing this blog that I was able to learn.  I also knew a little about the career that I was able to add in.  Throughout this blog I have talked a lot about what it takes to be a good guide.  I watched videos, read articles and just found interesting information on the web about being a guide. Even the little things matter when your hunting matter, and having a good understanding of that allows you to improve as a guide.  I’ve learned techniques that will make a person a better hunter in the woods when going after there game.  Such as what type of clothing to wear and where to walk in the woods so that your quiet  enough not to spoke the animals. Or the caliber of gun that needs to be used when going after a certain animal.  Its the little things that really are the biggest when a person is hunting.  

There are a lot of people in the world that are against hunting.  They are always looking for ways to stop hunting.  A guide needs to know this and understand what they can do so that they are still able to have a job.  Understanding that these people exist makes that fact that when you are a guide you need to follow the rules of the country and the states that they are hunting in, even the world for that matter because there are guides all over the world.  I have learned also that hunting plays an important role in the environment.  Like the article about hunting white-tailed deer where it states the importance of hunting and what it does for the population and health of the deer.

What will happen after the blog:

For the most part being a hunting guide has just been a dream of mine.  I don’t think that I will ever become but who knows what will happen in the future.  I have always planned on doing something with the farm that i grew up on and the family business that I am being given.  Hunting though has always been a great passion of mine and if I was ever to become a guide I’m sure that I would be able to make a career of it.  Learning all that I have about what it takes to be a skilled guide will still be beneficial even if I never purse that career.  I have learned a lot of valuable information that I knew nothing about before.  Being able to research about this career which I wouldn't have done otherwise has been very helpful.  Throughout the blog though I have struggled with coming up with new things to talk about for the open posts but was able to find new things that interested me and hopefully interested others.  Hopefully all who have read my blog have learned something new cause I discovered quite a lot from this assignment, but I’m also glad its over.

Open Post #8

Since October and November in Michigan are deer season I decided to learn a little more of the hunting that is done her during this time of year in Michigan.  Its estimated that about 300,000 hunters participate in the archery season, 600,000 in the firearm and about 200,000 in the muzzleloader season.  In total it is said that about 400,000 deer will be taken this year.  Also the surveys in Michigan have showed that the leading reason many people hunt is to spend time in the outdoors with friends and family.  I find this to be true from my experiences hunting, it is one of the best parts about hunting.  This year will also be the first year that I am not able to hunt on opening day of rifle season.  I have been going out on opening day since I was 8 and I'm really not liking the fact that I'm missing it this year but that life.  Hopefully though I am able to contribute to that 400,000 deer taken by the end of the season though.

Compmanager, . "Firearm deer season starts Saturday." Tuscola Today. 14 2012: 1. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://www.tuscolatoday.com/index.php/2012/11/14/firearm-deer-season-starts-saturday/>.

Open Post #7

I was interested to figure out if guiding was a year around employment because most areas across the world usually have specific times to hunt animals.  I found this website that says there is but in a variety of ways.  The more experienced guide can find jobs for year around but for the not so experienced there are things to do in the offseason.  Many guides choose to combine there employment by doing related guiding fields.  Such as hunt elsewhere, be a fishing guide, do river trips, and so on so that they are employed year around.  It all depends on the person that you are and what you want to do.  If you don't want to employe elsewhere you can also take the time off to do other things which some might enjoy.

Open Post #6

I found this video when looking for tips on hunting.  Its not the best put together video and the beginning of it isn't relevant about the weapon that he is using but there is a lot of good information in it.  So if your interested watch it and hopefully learn some useful tips like I did. 

http://youtu.be/UxydsDXhP9M

Open Post # 5

I finally got an email back from the people I know in Australia with the answers to the interview questions and they are as follows:

Q. How did you get into this line of work?

A. We were living on the land ranching and needed another form  of income and Jim had the talent and passion of a hunter for hunting so we decided to make a business from it. We also always had people coming out to where we live wanting to hunt and we were doing it for free.

Q. What made you want to become a hunting guide?

A. Jim is a ph [ professional hunter] but he and all our guides have a passion for hunting and love for being in the woods, and this way they can be there more often.

Q. What is the worst part of the job?

A. The worst part about the job is difficult clients.

Q. What is the best part?

A. The best part of the job is when you help fulfill someones dream, getting them a trophy that they have always wanted.

Q. What education do you need to have to do this job?

A. There is no education required in Australia but in other countries there are courses. We for the most part just require experience.

Q. How many years of experience do you feel you need to have to be proficient at your job?

A. Its difficult to say each individual is different, but at least a couple of years and then everyday on the job is experience after that always learning new things>

Remixing Knowledge

 I have grown up watching hunting shows on television and one show that has always stood out to me is “Jim Shockey.”  Jim is a world class guide and a man that has traveled the world hunting.  So, I went to his website to check it out.  When you first open the website, you see a picture of a huge moose that Jim had guided an individual on, and there is a video of a hunt for reindeer.  Along with these, there are pictures of companies that fund his television shows and are there for advertising.  The website is structured to show of Jim and it is also formatted in a way so it is easily navigated by people checking it out.The background of the website is all camouflage which easily signals that it is all about hunting.  Now, having seen many of his shows on TV, I already know that he is a well recognized man in the community of hunting guides, but if I hadn’t known this, I could easily infer by looking at his website that he is highly skilled in what he does.  Everything seems professionally done showing that he takes great pride in what he does.  The audience is very clear that it is for hunters looking for a trip to go on or for the gear that a professional hunter is using for his own hunts.  I believe that just by the little bit of browsing that I did on the website that it is very successful at its purpose.  A man as highly recognized as him already has a good reputation but, by displaying a good image, just boosts his image even more attracting more and more people.

The link to the webpage:

http://www.jimshockey.com

O'Brien, Ben. Jim Shockey: Grasshopper Learns a Lesson. N.d. American HunterWeb. 14 Nov 2012. <http://www.americanhunter.org/GalleryItem.aspx?cid=45&gid=70&id=870>.

Recognizing Significance

I wasn’t really able to find an article of the significance of a hunting guide particularly but I was able to find a good article of the significance of hunting itself. I found an article about the deer hunting in the United States and why it is important.  Whitetail deer hunting is the main check that keeps the deer population healthy.  If the deer population gets to big then there are many problems that reside.  Such as the deer eat all the plants on the ground and when there are to many deer all the ground  cover starts to disappear resulting in all of the creatures that live in this ground cover to also disappear.Also overpopulation can result in diseases in the deer to be spread more.Such happened in 2007-2008 when a disease called tuberculosis was starting to be found in the upper midwest of the U.S. This disease is a wasting disease and can severally affect the deer so the population has to be in check so such things do not happen.  Another very important thing about keeping the population of the white-tail deer in check is all of the accidents caused by deer crossing the road.  Across the nation more than 1.5 million deer are hit by vehicles.  With so many deer hit there is over a billion dollars of damage to cars each year.  So if we didn't have people out hunting these deer and the guides that also bring people to hunt certain areas to manage the deer population all of these numbers even know they are large already would greatly increase along with disease being spread all over the country.  As you can see hunting in the U.S. plays a big role that people don't realize but would soon figure out if people didn't hunt.

"Deer News." New York Times. n.d. 1. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/deer/index.html>.

McGahey, Larry. Whitetail Deer Winter Snow in Michigan. 2004. DigimarcWeb. 14 Nov 2012. <http://www.lowpockets.com/wild/whitetail_deer.html>.