396 INFLUENCE OF MAN 



In the early days, probably the first dogs to be used in partridge hunting were of the 

 spaniel type. These were trained to flush grouse into a tree and '"bark them up" until the 

 hunter could arrive and shoot them down, one by one, starting with the lowest to avoid flush- 

 ing the rest. Alexander Wilson'"", 1812, cites the advantage of a "good dog": "the more 

 noise he keeps up, seems the more to confuse and stupify them, so that they may be shot down, 

 one by one, till the whole are killed." In some of the remaining wilderness areas of Maine and 

 Canada, this type of dog and hunting are still occasionally employed. 



As grouse characteristics began to change in adaptation to man's influence, this style of 

 hunting became impractical — grouse became too wary of both man and dog. Large forested 

 areas, where it could best be done, gave way, throughout most of New England, to discon- 

 nected coverts of small woodlots, brushlots, orchards and hedgerows. Thereupon developed 

 a golden era in die history of grouse hunting over pointing dogs with the setters, notably the 

 Gordon, emerging as the undisputed favorites for many years. If every dog does have its day 

 — this was surely the setter's. Strains of grouse hunting setters were zealously guarded 

 through careful breeding and selection and passed on from father to son. Only those which 

 had a great nose, and could be trained to hunt close-in, were considered. It is probable that 

 even then the patient, painstaking training of a good grouse dog surpassed the education 

 given our finest field trial champions of today. Credit for developing these great dogs must 

 be divided among the "sports" who hunted for fun, and the market hunters who had to have 

 a dog with which they could deliver the goods day in and day out. 



It was this era which produced so many of the great grouse dogs, grouse hunters, grouse 

 hunts and grouse hunting stories, and it was a sad day when old timers began to realize that 

 it was coming to a close, thirty or forty years ago. Various reasons have been cited but 

 four are given most frequently — increased wariness in the bird with accompanying reluctance 

 to "lay to the dog"; the introduction of the pheasant which spoiled many good grouse dogs 

 and grouse hunters; less breeding for the field and more for the bench and trials which 

 resulted in changed canine ideals which were not appreciated in the thick grouse coverts; and 

 periodic declines in grouse which were so severe as to discourage the breeding and owner- 

 ship of specialized grouse dogs. Probably all four operated in varying degrees in various sec- 

 tions of the Northeast. 



Towards tlie end of this period the English pointer began to take its place in the sun as a 

 grouse hunter. Its relative merits were argued at great length in sporting publications of 

 that day, even as thov still are today. It had one distinct advantai;c in that it was shorthaired 

 and did not accunmlate burrs hke the shaggy setter. Generally, it was also less timid and less 

 inclined to gun-shyness. 



The decline in specialized grouse dogs of the pointing type continued over two or three 

 decades and up until very recent years. The number of grouse hunters actually increased but 

 a greater prdjxirtiiin hunted without dogs or turned again to all-around types such as the 

 cocker or springer spaniel. These types could be made to hunt close and were particularly 

 useful in finding dead or wounded birds. They were also more adaptable to hunting for a 

 mixed bag of pheasants, grouse, woodcock or even rabbits and s(]uirr('ls. It has come to be a 

 well recognized fact that few pointing dogs, except in llicir "Id age, can be successfully 

 switched from pheasant hunting to grouse hunting, or vice-versa. It is too much to ask the 

 average dog to range wide and fast over open country for pheasants one day and then to slick 

 to the cover and hunt close for partridge on the next. 



In very recent years, it is possible that we may have entered what will prove to be another 



