What are you hunting and why is it advanced you ask? The answer is found simply in the name. Going to give you a few tips on how to take down a perpetual bachelor.
We are not talking about young pups untainted, unscathed with poetry in their eyes and we are not talking about the mommas boy in need of full domestic care. We are talking about the full grown animal in the wild. We are but animals in the end are we not? I wouldn’t debate me on that. Anywho, your dealing with a tough sort, the loners. The tigers, the sharks, this is big game and to take one down you better know what you’re dealing with.
Of course you can’t generalize the entire species. Some may be lame, sick or old and therefore easier to catch. Some, damn near begging to be caught. But you want the virile 24 point buck, you want the boy with the big tusks, the white Siberian whose stripes still shine. Then tread carefully mighty Hiawatha.
Let’s start with their strengths so you may understand the danger fully before plotting the take down. I know how some of you are and you probably already skipped this paragraph. Sigh* For you that do not wish to be gored to death I will continue.
Picture a stray dog. Not the ragged thing with three legs but the one who your scared of, the one that should be let to run off into the woods. He doesn’t need your help. He knows his environment and knows how to care for himself. You can’t keep him with some canned food and a belly rub. The career bachelor knows how to cook, clean and like the feral mutt enjoys his freedom. He is used to doing what he wants, when he wants, without answering to anyone. From dumpster to garbage can, from town to town, the rush that is the liberty of the adult male in his natural environment. Grrrrr.
They are smart, not like your cuddly golden retriever that knows all those cute tricks like putting the seat down or holding your purse. They have instinct. Multiple defense mechanisms that can leave the hunter frustrated and greatly bewildered. They are known to vanish into the fauna like ghosts. Release scents, ink and spines leaving the foiled hunter in a painful situation that stinks. Others just plainly play dead.
Say you have that all in consideration and that’s fine as long as you remain the hunter. It is all to easy to become the hunted and a quick meal. When you become the prey the game changes. But you want the same thing ….or do you? Clever buggers they be, deadly too.
It takes a little time and patience to understand your specific target. No two beasts are exactly the same and you may only get one shot at him. A good hunter uses all their talents. If you just use visual bait you will fail in the long run. They are at the time in their lives where they are often getting better looking while the females are on the aesthetic decline. If one tried to flex too much mental muscle the beast begins to relish the silence of his cave or burrow.
They aren’t going to be tricked into liking something they don’t or disliking something they like. If you even get that far where you have the courage and full body protective suit to attempt such a thing I would suggest lots of positive reinforcement. Because you want them to do something is not a good enough reason. No one wanted them to do anything before you came along. Grrrrrr.
If you are lucky enough to get near his burrow, don’t tarry long. His scent must remain the dominant scent. One could perhaps “straighten up” a little but that could lead to two things. He may be a little amused, slightly grateful or he is now plotting to dig another burrow elsewhere. One you shall never find. Clean up you own mess, leave his mess alone, unless you want him to get used to it. Appealing to the males lack of affection for domestic cleaning is a method for a hunt in a late stage but remember the two very different ways the animal may react.
Do not change your scent or appearance, if you mix into his surrounding then suddenly become something else he will run off or more likely attack and eat you. No male likes to feel as if he has been compromised or caught unaware. A true shot can only come from a hunter whose heart it true.
Weaknesses; Yes, they all like to mate and you know this. And at all times it helps to get your foot in the door, but rushing to fast might make you merely a meal and if you doddle too long he may catch your scent grow weary and move on to tougher terrain. Again, this isn’t your golden retriever, they will not suffer taunting, scolding and will not beg. You have to lure them in, not just a bait and catch.
You have to have a bit of the wild scent in your own right. Don’t want to smell too much like you’re living room. The domestic world is somewhat of a foreign scent and it may very well spook them.
They are in best season between mid November to mid January. There isn’t as much for them to do as the winter takes hold. Many of the kept males they know are out and about with their cubs and/or females. It is not the time for lone wolves. This is when they are at their weakest and most susceptible to a females charms. The male’s nesting and procreation instincts kick in. But when you miss that window things quickly change.
As the dawn of spring breaks they begin to warm up and by the summer they are way too many young females in bathing suits and too many ways for them to celebrate their freedom. The more cynical of the species will be wary when others are at their weakest namely Christmas, New Years and Valentines Day.
There is another way beside sex to gratify the male. At their peak they are also beginning to feel thing they haven’t before. Like hangovers, sore backs and pulled muscles. The maintenance the beast’s body needs is taking more work. Work that can’t be done properly themselves. If one wishes the beast to maintain their emotional needs the best way to get results is to satisfy the animals physical needs. Meaning the aches, pains and urges. You must give the adult male real good reasons to allow himself to be vulnerable. Remember, wild animal.
If you have been paying attention I have said it. How to catch and keep. Quick recap? Ok, You want marriage down the line you have to learn the prey’s specific marriage between, sex, procreation and physical maintenance. Perhaps not the heart but the spine and the key to the beast’s companionship. I am amused cause I can nearly hear some disapproval, and that is fine. You will be gored or mauled.
Now, say you have the animal in a tenuous comfort zone. Like the stray dog, no collars, no chains. Let him come and go as he pleases and give him what he wants. Do not give too much and not too little and make sure it is something your willing to give for the foreseeable future for if you change the routine the feral instinct will kick in and all the conditioning is for naught. You will be eaten, in a bad way.
You must remember that your stuff is yours and make sure he respects the boundaries and stays off the couch. You have to respect your own freedom. You cannot freely throw your time at the animal and expect him to hand you a leash he is attached to. As much as you would like drop your head and surrender you must make it a game of compromise and have him believe that he has to give to receive. If you surrender, there is no need for him to give up anything.
Maybe, just maybe he may drop a barrier or two and let you onto that pile of rags he curls up on. Subtle reciprocation should follow.
One must follow that delicate dance of the hunter and the hunted keeping that course of gentle and easy reciprocation till the mighty beast is lying there panting into the wind, squinting into the light of the falling sun. The mighty, fully maned king of his jungle, one with his natural state, at peace. FIRE!!
So sad. Anyway, Now that you have the gist lets cover a few quirks of the feral male. Some seem almost domesticated but have trouble with the female wishing to domesticate. One could dance whatever dance there is and have totally forgotten how to dance with a lady. They may not know when to hold fast that mouth of theirs. They do not actively hunt for a mate like the others. They have often forgotten that game and even if they are interested in making it an easy catch they are at a loss of what to do. They don’t know how to fetch and the command to roll over with just get you a tilt of the head and a blank stare. They forgot how to have that watered down super ego that is used to meet women. Blunt and tactless. Think Lady and the Tramp or The Aristocats, yet Ole Thomas O’Mally probably had more charm than many of these blokes.
On the other hand, you have the beast who has a taste for the easy kill. They know all the tricks. They will play fetch. They will roll over, roll you over then be gone. You may think you are chasing, think you are damn good too. Then the vultures are picking at your eyeballs and whatever else the son of a bitch left behind.
With one you have to be a bit more wary if by luck you identified his markings. The former you must be a little patient with and a little less judgemental. They aren’t playing the game the others are and at least you know a little of what you’re getting right off.
The biggest question that lingers in your mind is why are they as feral as they are? Did no one want them? Abusive owners made them run away? Just plain wild. Those are all things a good hunter will discover in time. Good Hunting.
P.S If you like spread the word, I am sure you have associated yourself with worse. Perhaps not. Still would be nice though.
