1 78 THE COMPLETE SHOT 



much oftener than he does, but for the fact that there is around 

 the fall of the wounded in all directions the scent of other 

 dead and wounded birds. What is often asked of a retriever, 

 then, is to neglect the strongest and freshest scents and to try 

 for the weakest and oldest In order to get this work well done, 

 a retriever should be willing to range wide, outside the radius of 

 the dead birds, so as to find either the body scent of the 

 crouching wounded bird or its foot scent after it had got clear 

 of the floating scent of the many dead which fouls the ground 

 long after the fowls have all been removed from it. But the 

 misfortune is that a high ranging retriever is not always willing 

 to hunt close for dead birds and those that have not moved 

 far. However, this can be taught ; whereas there are many fair 

 retrievers for close hunting that could not be taught to hunt 

 wide for a moving " runner," for the reason that they have not 

 the necessary pluck. 



A great deal of difference of opinion exists as to whether a 

 retriever should carry a high or a low head. But there is no 

 doubt that a good dog must do both as occasion requires. Many 

 times has the author seen a high-headed retriever find the fall 

 of a wounded bird 60 yards away, go straight to the place, 

 glue his nose to the line, and never look up until the bird 

 fluttered up in his path. But even this low nose on the foot 

 scent is not invariably desirable, and the same retriever that at 

 one time worms out a line down wind will often run like a fox- 

 hound, head up and stern down, when the direction is up wind, 

 or even side wind. The higher the dog carries his head the 

 faster he will go, and consequently the sooner he will come up 

 with his game, so that to insist on retrievers carrying a low nose, 

 even in roding game, is to insist on mediocrity. Every 

 retriever should put his nose down as soon as he has satisfied 

 himself that he cannot do the work with a high head. Of 

 course a retriever cannot find even a fresh-shot bird if a man 

 is standing over it, and as the habit is for shooters and beaters to 

 go and " help " look for lost game, it follows that retrievers learn 

 to put their heads down, for they know that unless they ram their 

 noses nearly into the feathers the scent cannot be detected 



