58 UPLAND SHOOTING. 



to shot and wing, and retrieve; he should do all this 

 without a constant hallooing from his master; but to 

 teach him requires careful attention in the field, strict 

 discipline, and great patience at all times, and the tui- 

 tion must begin at an early age. Personally, I prefer 

 the pointing dog — and he is without any doubt the most 

 popular with woodcock shooters throughout the United 

 States — for it is half the pleasure in upland shooting to 

 see the highly trained setter or pointer at work; and 

 even if he does, in his higher-headed range, now and 

 then pass, some dense thicket that contains a bird, he 

 will more than make up for it in the pleasure derived 

 from watching his graceful attitudes when pointing, and 

 by the intelligence displayed in giving one a shot in 

 some difficult location. Killing the birds is not all there 

 is in upland shooting. 



The successful woodcock dog, whether setter or 

 pointer, must, fii-st of all, have a very sensitive nose — for 

 the bird gives out but little scent — be very obedient, 

 moderately fast and stanch, and a good retriever. He 

 should work in a restricted range, around the shooter, 

 otherwise, many a bird, with its habit of turning back- 

 ward in its flight, will be passed. A very fast dog is 

 to be avoided, but a slow, pottering one will try the 

 patience of the thorough sportsman fully as much, and is 

 perhaps the greater evil of the two. A dog that knows 

 his business may go through a cover Avith speed, untH 

 his nose teUs him birds are near; then all is changed, and 

 his caution is not excelled by even the pottering dog, who 

 would be far behind, nosing about some tuft of brakes, or 

 jogging along, poking into each clump of brush or bunch 

 of weeds. 



I hunt my setter with a soft-tinkling bell attached to 

 the collar, and from its tone judge of the working of my 

 dog, whether slow or fast, near or far away, and find it of 



