Scott Linden Outdoors

Someone asks about that dog box in your truck … the guy in line behind you is also wearing blaze orange … a window sticker of your dog breed prompts a conversation. Somewhere, some time, you’ve had an experience like that. All of a sudden, any barriers there were, fall down. If not an “instant friendship,” at least a cordial potential relationship develops for a few moments until the bank teller calls you to the window.

The old saw goes like this: actor Kevin Bacon once claimed that everyone in the world is only six degrees (of 360) apart from everyone else … we all share something that could bring us closer together, if we only knew what it was. If Bacon’s theory is sound, once we step out in the world with a dog in the passenger seat, it drops to about two degrees. If it’s a McDonald’s drive-thru and you order a plain hamburger for him, there are no degrees left as the gal in the window asks what breed it is.

In a sordid past of multiple careers as musician, teacher, fly fisher, political operative and newspaper editor, I simply can’t recall similar experiences. In your world, maybe it’s different whatever your “day job.” But there is something unique about our passion. It might be our primordial origins – we fed the tribe back in the day. It is indisputably the trans-species connection when we team up to find game, the division of labor between man and dog, with success only possible when a carefully-choreographed pas-de-deux is flawlessly executed. It is hard to contain one’s enthusiasm when explaining that magic.

What do you do when someone taps you on the shoulder and asks “what kind of dog is that?” Most fellow hunters I know will open wide and have a hard time condensing the discussion to a reasonable length!

In this realm, social media is a blessing and a curse. We “know” a lot of people. But do we really? Are Facebook friends true friends? That’s hard to say. Unfortunately, many are … until they aren’t. You’ve seen the feeding frenzy that ensues when politics (or dog breed, the Second Amendment, dog food, or football team loyalty) enter the debate. The ugly side of zero degrees of separation are on full display.

But for the most part, it’s the other way around, whether among our fellows in the sport or “civilians.” We’re on our best behavior in public, because we are anyway. Or because we know we’re on display and viewed as representative of everyone who owns a dog or wears blaze orange. You may have your own motives, but whatever it is, we have a chance to share our love for the field, the hunt, and our dogs.

And maybe make a new friend.