476 RECREATION 
come up within a few yards and deliver a neck 
shot with his .38-55 high power. So far, not a 
dog has been killed, not a bear missed, though 
the game has been played for five consecutive 
seasons—but, then, the big Swedish-Canadian 
hasn’t a nerve unstrung in his body, and 
pots his bear as coolly as most of us would bring 
down a snipe. 
Indians use nothing but very small curs for 
bears, claiming that a small, active dog runs no 
risk, while a big, savage animal will lead but a 
short and, possibly, not a very merry life. A 
bear’s hug is neither good for man nor beast. 

The Quail Dog 
It seems from the opinions expressed in 
RECREATION that sportsmen differ as much 
about hunting dogs as they do about guns. 
While not a dog fancier nor a trainer of cogs, 
I have had many years’ experience in quail- 
shooting in many of the Southern States, from 
Virginia to Florida, and have trained’ my own 
dogs. I have used both setters and pointers, 
and from my observations, the pointer is te dog 
anywhere south of Tennessee. 
A well-bred dogiseasy to train, but first-class 
dogs are very scarce and hard to get. No mat- 
ter how well a dog has been trained, nor how 
fine his nose may be, he will never be a really 
good dog in the hands of a man who does not 
know how to hunt him. 
The dog should be trained in yard to “‘heel,”’ 
to “hieaway”’ and “‘fetch”’; that is all the yard 
training necessary. A dog that doesn’t point 
from instinct is not worth breaking. He should 
be taken into the field as soon as he is able to 
stand the fatigue of a hunt, and be hunted alone. 
He will point sparrows and field mice and chase 
them at first, but let him go; don’t scold nor 
whip him. 
When he finds birds (quail), if he flushes them 
and chases, don’t shoot, but call him back and 
give him a gentle whipping. Having marked 
the birds, have him hunt the cover back and 
forth, making him cover the ground thoroughly 
—always well ahead of you. If he flushes a 
bird, don’t shoot, but call the dog in and whip 
him again. When he points, make him hold his 
game for, say, one or two minutes. Then flush 
the bird and cut it down, but make the puppy 
drop at thefire and hold until you order “‘ Hie- 
away.” If he points again before the dead bird 
is reached, repeat. 
When the puppy reaches the point when the 
dead bird is marked, call ‘‘Dead” to him and 
make him find it. He will point it. Tell him 
then to “‘ Hieaway” and when he gets the bird in 
his mouth, call to him to “Fetch.” Ifhedoes, 
pet him and make much of him and you will 
have made a retriever of him, from that mo- 
ment. 
Hunt him this way all the time and never walk 
over cover where birds are scattered until your 
dog has covered the ground thoroughly. When 
the ground is open and the fields are large, as in 
the South, after the dog has learned to range, 
he must be directed where to hunt and taught 
to change his direction and hunt out likely cover 
by wave of the hand. Never allow him to select 
his own course and hunt ‘fon his own hook,” 
for if you do, you will have to spend most of 
your time hunting your dog, instead of birds— 
if he is a wide ranger. 
It is not the wide ranger that is always the 
best dog. Such a dog, if he has a good nose, 
may find more coveys, but the sport is had and 
the bag is made on the scattered birds. No mat- 
ter how fast your dog may be, unless he can be 
made to hunt your ground, point the single 
birds, “‘drop to shot” and find and retrieve the 
dead birds quickly, he will_give no sport, nor 
will you get a good bag. 
The dog must understand he is to find and 
point the bird before he can have the pleasure of 
mouthing it. You have only to kill it when 
found; he to find it when dead and bring it to 
you. This is the culminating pleasure of the 
hunt to him, so if the hunter in his haste “walks 
up”’ the scattered birds himself, without having 
them first pointed, his dog will soon expect him 
to do it all the time and will be ruined for single 
birds. A slow dog, with a good nose, well 
trained on single birds, will give much more 
pleasure and success to the sportsman than the 
stylish wide ranger, not trained to hunt close for 
the scattered birds. 
It is impossible to determine the quality of a— 
dog until he is trained and hunted by a sports- 
man who knows how to handle him. The best 
dogs I ever owned were two pointers which I 
obtained after they were two years old. I can 
say of these dogs what few can vouch for any 
dog, that after years of hunting I never knew 
one to flush a bird. Ifa bird was on the ground 
they would retrieve it, no matter what water it 
crossed or thicket it hid in, and I do not recol- 
lect ever losing a bird that I saw was wounded. 
Rome, Ga. Wm. M. G. 
QF 

