austin news paper

I see nothing wrong with the article itself. The headline is sensational. But I worked for the Austin American Statesman, and I can tell you that the reports have nothing to do with the headlines, that is 100% the responsibility of the copy editors. But I think Mike Leggett did a fine job of presenting a balanced story. After all, it is true that three dogs got killed. It is also true that hogs are incredibly destructive creatures that need to be controlled by people like Mike. If you want one truth in the story, the other comes with it, that's the reality of journalism. It has nothing to do with a crazy liberal bias and everything to do with researching and reporting the facts.

So some will say if you don't like some of the facts, just hide the whole story. Considering that far worse stories are sitting around the Internet ready to be read and judged by anyone with a computer, I think that is PR suicide. I agree with Circle C that people need to stop running scared and start representing the sport in a positive light. If you want to lose your rights, the quickest way to do that is treat hog dogging like a shameful blood sport rather than a legal way to control vermin. Sure, pictures and stories will ruffle a few feathers, but a thread like this where everyone scream about the sky falling will ultimately raise more eyebrows.

That the Statesman has a hunting column at all is pretty impressive. I've been trying to place the Hunt for the Hungry story in various publications around Texas and am having a biotch of a time doing it. It isn't the dog part that turns them off, it's the thousands of pounds of dead pigs part that gets to them. For many, hunting is hunting, and unless you share stories about the reasons behind, the reputation of you folks as Bambi killers won't go away anytime soon.