Hunting Dogs [antikvár]

IntroductionThe time was 10 A.M., one hour after the opening of the pheasant season in North Dakota. One of the authors was hunting with his teenage son and several friends. The group had already shot three birds and now was preparing to tramp through a large uncut soil bank field. Three Labrador Retrievers were being used as flushing dogs. By the time the party arrived at the end of the field, three more pheasants and one mallard hen had been collected. But only a single shot had been fired!"How," you may ask, "could three pheasants and one duck be brought to bag with only one shot?" The answer is simple: two of the pheasants and the one mallard were found wounded in the field. The Labradors smelled the wounded birds, trailed them down, and brought them to hand. Apparently another party of hunters had tramped the field ahead, had shot the birds, but had not been able to find them, and left them to die.The above story illustrates the most convincing argument for owning a hunting dog. Dogs save game. What a pity that thousands of fine game birds are shot every year never to be brought to handall because of the lack of a good dog!There is no doubt also that hunting is more efficient when dogs are employed. It is most difficult to find and walk up a covey of quail, a cock pheasant, or some woodcock without the aid of a dog. It is even harder to walk through the mud and slime of a shallow slough to retrieve a downed duck. And it is very difficult to find and shoot a coon or fox without a good hound.Certainly a good dog can add to the efficiency of hunting and also to the joy of it. A beautiful pointer or setter in a classic pose, an effervescent spaniel merrily bounding through the grass, a dynamic retriever leaping into the air and hitting the water with a loud splash, the mournful, excited bawl of a hound on a hot trail, are sights and sounds which add to the sheer pleasure and joy of hunting.This book is written for those of you who like dogs and who want to know more about the various breeds, their uses, selection, care, breeding, training,