Farris philosophy

A philosophical position from Bob Ferris, a hunter and a dog trainer. David Sparks, sportsman spotlight. Speaker2: I'm probably headed into the final years of my career as a dog guy. I still love to train dogs. I still love to hunt behind dogs and seeing a really outstanding dog. I don't care what breed it is, it's one of the most enjoyable parts of my world. Speaker1: A lot of bird hunters will tell you they go hunting as much to watch the dogs as to actually hunt. I've done a. Speaker2: Lot of hunting in my life, a lot. I've probably killed 30 bull elk. I've got a grand slam of sheep hanging on the wall. You couldn't get me to kill another elk. You couldn't get me to shoot another deer. I have no interest in it. But I have the memories. The same with bird hunting. I'll go sit in a duck blind with my grandkids. I love to call ducks, but I never take a shotgun. I just soon watch them miss and I can laugh at them. Same thing. Pheasant hunting. I really don't need to kill another pheasant in my life, but I love to watch the dog. I don't think it's unfair to the dog to let them find a bird and point it, and to flush it and just say bang. I don't think the dog really keeps score and they don't mind if I don't shoot them. You know, when I do go bird hunting, oftentimes I'll take a bird out of the freezer and do a little retriever training while I'm out. Maybe I'll drag a bird off and leave it. And then on the way back to the truck, I'll let the dog find that just so they get to have a retrieve or two. Again, I just am not into the killing part. Still very active training dogs. Speaker1: His passion.