John Wick
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Feb 2004
Location:
Posts: 27 |
Hello folks. I’ve been hearing that I’m a topic of discussion the past week so I asked my secretary to print it for me to read. Usually I don’t do that but I figure I can always learn something so I read this one. My arthritic fingers can’t type and I don’t know how to operate a computer so I’m very seldom aware of what’s going on here.
Since I’m the subject of an extensive discussion, I’d like to respond. I’ll talk into this tape recorder and Lisa, my secretary, will type it up for you folks to read if you’d like to. Thank you for the opportunity.
1. The last thing on earth I want is to be divisive or a wedge issue in this wonderful sport. Why can’t we all be cheering for each other? We all have a valuable place in this sport. We all have good ideas to offer. We all have knowledge that someone else could use. PLEASE let’s be positive and upbeat and helpful and cheerful and congratulatory to each other. A small difference in point of view should never divide us from the 95 percent of things we have in common. I dislike our political parties fussing and feuding and trying to divide us. And I HATE to see coon hunters trying to do the same thing to the sport we enjoy.
2. Thanks to those of you who spoke up for me in one way or another. I deeply appreciate it.
3. It’s plain to me and most of you that some folks have “issues” that many of us don’t understand. Volume II of Walk With Wick has an entire chapter titled “The Human Side of Our Sport.” It addresses, in the best way I can, what I’ve seen and learned and how it affects you and I every day in life and in this sport. I’ve finally come to understand that humans are more complicated than dogs and some of the reasons why. There’s not room to talk about all that here, but for those who are interested, that chapter will help you understand.
4. RedtickhunterDG made the important point that many people only know what happened the last year or two or five. I can tell you for sure that I know hundreds of people who had great accomplishments and helped our sport immensely, but much of it may have been 20 or 30 or 50 or 70 years ago. Long-term achievements don’t happen for anyone in a couple of years.
5. Laura Roeder mentioned that she ignores anyone who’s in the magazines all the time, but then she goes on to say how much she likes Vickie Lamb. Who’s in the magazines more than Vickie?
I think everyone should be judged as an individual and assumed to be A-okay in every way until they prove to be something other than that. I try to view everyone with respect, but I also have a three strikes and you’re out rule, if it’s needed. Speaking of Vickie, I think she’s great. I read all her articles, and I will read all her books. She is a dog gal for sure, and she does the very best she can to share her knowledge. We should all celebrate the fact that she’s part of our sport.
6. I often hear and read where someone recommends my books and other writings and then says they’re good for people just starting out. But I’d like to point out that the strongest endorsements I get are from people who say they’ve hunted ten or twenty years but were having much poorer results than they thought they should. More than any other group, they are the ones who tell me my books are helpful, not only to understand dogs, but to understand all aspects of our sport.
7. Nightowl24 said a bunch of very true and correct things. He also completely understands and explained why I occasionally have to remind people of a few things I’ve done. Believe me, no one has a tougher time with doing that than me, but it’s a must in marketing. Many years ago Seth Gault, then owner and editor of Full Cry magazine, explained to me that each year there’s a 30 percent turnover in subscribers. That means that each year one-third of the people reading anything are new to the subject. In order to sell books or any product in this sport, you’ve just got to continually establish a little history and credibility. Anyone who knows me at all knows that’s hard for me, but I understand I gotta do it. If you’ve read much of my writing, you know that I also try hard to use it to show that if I can do it, YOU can do it if you want to. I don’t think very many of you started out more humbly and with less knowledge or help in this sport than I did. By the way Nightowl24, you mentioned that I seemed sour in that two-page ad when I talked about how I wish I could get a royalty for my ideas. Well actually, I was saying that with a smile in my voice and a grin on my face. I just had a chat with my secretary this morning stating that we need to use smiley faces more often to make my thoughts more clear. I’m a pathetic comedian and am kind of serious so when I try to say anything joking or jovial, it’s often assumed to be serious. From here on when I’m grinnin’ in my writings, you’ll see a smiley face. Thank you for that lesson.
8. Larry Poe, I appreciate your strong support and standing up for me, but I do need to correct one thing. The time you referred to the bogus tracking system coming on the market, I did spend about $3,000 trying to expose it for what it was. As usual, my efforts were met with mixed reactions. And I can see why. People that don’t know or understand me would naturally look for a motive that wasn’t pure. That thing was called Quadro Tracker, and it was as bogus as a three dollar bill. Thousands of hunters got swindled. Steve Fielder and a few other influential people did jump on the bandwagon for it though, and I’ll never understand how that happened. BUT Steve Fielder is a good guy, and I did not call him out on it. I challenged the makers and advertisers of that product. Of course, they did not take me up on it. A few years later, those people who made and promoted this product ended up going to the federal penitentiary for several federal fraud charges. Boy did they deserve it!
Like most of us, Steve Fielder does the best he can for this sport every day. I would guess that Steve now feels he made a mistake in this particular situation, but Mr. Fielder has done thousands of good things for this sport, and he deserves a ton of credit for trying to do good things all day, every day for years. I’m not perfect. He’s not perfect. Possibly you folks reading this aren’t perfect. But Steve is a HUGE asset to our sport, and we should be thankful he’s on our team.
9. English power has a common theme and question that he or she often repeats. And the point is valid. Yes, I have bought several dogs that I believed could greatly help my breeding program. Truly top producing dogs don’t grow on trees. One male can produce many, many litters in his lifetime; females much fewer. I’ve tended to stick with my female side but have occasionally brought in a male I thought would be helpful to me and maybe some other folks too. But I have spent most of my life starting and then selling pups that I raised. I was trying to make a living with my dogs, and I never made much money keeping dogs. The only way I could make truck payments and house payments and buy groceries was to sell dogs and that usually meant selling the best I raised.
10. Coomer obviously has problems with me. I don’t have a clue what they are but he sure has a right to his opinion. In this case, we may just be two different types of folks that won’t ever be buddies, but I’d be happy to sit down with him and visit any time. I bet we have many things in common that we could agree on.
Continued below
Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged
|
10-06-2006 03:37 AM
