Dear Brit,
I appreciate you asking me this question. Hope you don't mind that I
deleted the persons name you sent. DRINKING AND HOG HUNTING AND WHETHER OR
NOT TO HUNT WITH THAT PERSON...
First of all, I'm not against drinking and I don't want to step on
anyone's toes on this. This is actually a touchy question. But I'm
going to answer it as Best as I can with my experiences on the issue as
I would any other question.
I can personally tell you I know a good bit about this issue and
subject. Not about you or the person you mentioned in question, but the
subject.
The number one problem with a true Alcoholic is denial. If
you were
able to locate a blue book called the Big Book as referred to in AA, it
would basically state that. In fact, the very first step in the AA
program out of the 12 steps they suggest to use to stop, is probably the
hardest to say and admit. It basically says "#1 We admitted we were
powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable."
Now, who in the world wants to admit they are powerless over
anything?????? Only a sick person who WANTS to get well/better.
I
also know that no human on this earth will stop drinking unless they
want to help them selves and ask for help or have hit their bottom.
Good friends, co-workers, family and loved ones have a way of being at
their absolute worst when drinking. And the strange thing about it, is
most likely, they are are one of the nicest people you would want to
know when sober. But when their best friends are named Jose (Cuervo).
Jack (Daniels), Charles (Dickle), Ezza (Brooks), Cutty (Stark) or Bud
(wieser) and they come along for an outing, a hunt, a family gathering
with that person, That BEST FRIEND AND CLOSEST LOVED ONE (the booze
brothers) take control of their ever being and their life and the
alcoholic will love that friend over any other thing or human in the
world. And spoil everything for everybody.
I hope from my writings, that it has been evident that I love hog
hunting and training hog dogs. I also make it quite clear, that I hunt
with just a certain crew of fellas all the time. I don't hunt with
everyone. There's several reasons for that, but the main reason is we
all get along, even in those heated moments that occur occasionally that
we all have, but mainly because we all respect one another. A drunk
respects no one, and especially not his/her self. The sport of hog
hunting, as much as I love it is a adrenaline pumping event. I have
never gone on any other type of hunting, where the rush hits you as so
euphoric as when all the action of catching and throwing and the tying
of the hog occurs. Crack heads hit that pipe the first time, and for
the rest of their crack head life they are chasing after that first time
high. Heck I get high as a kite on adrenaline every single time I catch
a good boar hog. Don't you??? Its almost never ever the same, different
problems come up, such as water, mud, briars, fallen trees, dogs getting
to aggressive, hog is a bad one etc... I just know when ever I go
hog
hunting, that the drinking of alcohol BEFORE THE HUNT is not allowed.
If people want to do that, I wont be there, and my dogs sure wont.
Its
just to dangerous.
If you love this man or really care for this man, try visiting with
his family and share your concerns. Remember alcoholism is a disease,
its not the man/woman being a bad person, its that person with an
incurable disease that if treated properly can be stopped but never
cured. That person could stop today and not having a drink for 20
years, pick up that one drink and would not start over, but would start
up right where he/she stopped 20 years before.
After you talk to the family, if the feeling is mutual (and it might
not be since his/her actions usually affect the whole family too) and
you don't know what to do at that point, call your local AA group,
recovery center etc... and talk to them for suggestions. There is a
thing called intervention, which is very very strong in making the
person see themselves and how they have affected their family, friends
and loved ones, that has had a great deal of success over the years.
But even then, some of the hard cases haven't hit their bottom yet, and
some never will.
Good luck in your situation. Just remember he/she is not a bad
person, they are just a sick person that cant seem to see that they are.
God bless you,
Jim