If the title of this article did not grab your attention, it should have! What could these three things possibly have in common? The answer, while interesting, is…well…complex, to say the least. In my humble opinion, a day spent with any of these items in your hand is a great day afield. Whether it’s a well-trained bird dog executing it’s carefully crafted and expertly honed skills across a field, a sooty old drip torch carving it’s pyric-will across the prairie, or a near perfectly constructed Adams fly elegantly teasing trout just below the water’s surface, these are the things that hunters, managers and fly fishing enthusiasts live for. The experience of each in its own unique environment is a thing of poetry. So, what ties them together at the hip? What commonalities are needed to execute each of these with a delicate blend of artistry and skill? In the spirit of continued alliteration let’s call it patience, passion and perseverance.
If you are not a patient person, dog training, prescribed burning and fly fishing are NOT for you. This cannot be overstated. Each skill will test your sanity and devotion at every possible turn. An impatient dog trainer typically pushes a young puppy too far too quickly and ends up with a jack of all trades, master of none hunting companion who kind of gets the job done but without elegance or poise. A young dog, much like a good cup of coffee, should never be rushed.
Similarly, an impatient man with a drip torch in his hand is likely to move too quickly and cause damage at his worst or be largely ineffective at his best. Prescribed fire should never be conducted in haste.
And a fly-fisherman in a hurry might as well stay at home. Casting a fly cannot be properly enjoyed without time to unwind in the moment. At the end of a hunt, a fire or a fishing trip the last thing you should say is “I wish I had slowed down.” Patience is an ingredient the recipes of these tasks cannot go without.
Goodluz
Aside from marriage, nothing will test your perseverance more than training a bird dog. The road to a finished dog is paved with failure, frustration and humility. A dog will wait until your most critical audience (hunting buddies, in-laws, etc.) is watching to suddenly forget everything you thought you taught it. It is brutal. A good dog trainer must channel their inner Rocky Balboa and keep getting up each time they are knocked down. In the final analysis though, the reward far outweighs the struggle.
Similarly, some of the best prescribed burners I know cut their teeth on some epically disastrous fires. Even with the best of planning and predictable weather, prescribed fires sometimes seem to ignore the elaborate burn plan you constructed, and you have to follow the advice of Lone Watie from The Outlaw Josie Wales and simply “endeavor to persevere” to get through it. Prescribed fire can humble a man in an instant and leave him with two choices, give up or keep lighting.
As for fly fishing, perseverance is as essential as the rod itself. If you’ve never had your line tangled in the trees behind you only to find your slack line wrapped around your feet after hours without a bite while battling an armada of mosquitoes, then I have to question how much fly fishing you’ve actually done. It’s hard. Or at least it’s harder than conventional spinning rods & reels. But as the great fictional baseball manager Jimmy Dugan said, “If it was easy, everyone would do it!” In any of these, perseverance goes a long way.
It almost seems to cliché to invoke the necessity of passion for dog training. However, your passion for the sport, for the wild game you pursue and for your dog’s success are unequivocally paramount to success. The best dog trainers I’ve ever met had more passion for the dog than the hunt. Most of them were more concerned with the dog’s success than theirs. When you view a hunt through the dog’s eyes, the measure of success changes. The dog’s passion to be out there, with you, together, connected in a shared bond and shared effort makes them the greatest hunting partners in the world. The passion you two share is what makes the pursuit all that more meaningful.
What about passion for prescribed fire? Prescribed burning is not for the faint of heart and the trials and tribulations of becoming comfortable enough to conduct a prescribed burn can erode a man’s resolve. Not everyone has been exposed to prescribed fire as a conservation management tool, so it is often less common to come across an innate passion for it. However, I’ve never met someone when, once exposed to prescribed fire, did not rapidly develop a burning passion (pardon the pun) immediately. Prescribed fire is singlehandedly one of the most important management tools in our toolbox. It doesn’t matter if you are managing for bobwhite, turkeys or deer, prescribed fire should be in your repertoire of skills. A passion for prescribed fire combined with proper training can take your management to the next level.
Rob Kinney
Lastly, let’s be honest, no one fly fishes for food. You fly fish because you are passionate about the sport, the fish, the landscape or maybe just the Zen of landing a dry fly exactly where you want it with exactly the right amount of ripple at exactly the right time. Either way, passion is what keeps you from grabbing a more conventional fishing apparatus.
It is my contention that these three qualities unite a group of natural resource enthusiasts in a manner that transcends clothing labels, gear affiliations and social media groups. What makes a good dog trainer, burner and fly fishermen are similar, not because the tasks themselves are similar but rather because effort they require and the outcomes they produce are equally rewarding. In short, if you can master one, you can master the others! The world needs more well-trained bird dogs, more prescribed fire and certainly more fly fishermen. All we need is the patience to learn these skills, the perseverance to master them and the passion to pass them on to the next generation.
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