1082 
FOREST AND STREAM 
IN THE REALM OF THE FIELD TRIALS 
ONLY A MATTER OF DAYS UNTIL THE LURE OF THE PRAI¬ 
RIES WILL CALL FIELD DOG OWNERS AND LOVERS WESTWARD 
By Rodney Random. 
I T IS only a matter of days until the field 
trial season opens on the prairies of North 
Dakota. 
Field trials on the prairies! There is a strange 
fascination, a wondrous spell, in that sentence 
to you who have been there before; it brings 
back memories of halcyon days and the ardent 
desire to repeat the experience; it makes your 
blood tingle with anticipation and causes you 
to forget the sordid things of life. 
Coming in early September after you have 
had the heat and the swelter of the city all 
summer and you are fagged and worn from 
the toil and turmoil of commercial or profes¬ 
sional pursuits, the early field trials up in those 
high latitudes are like a tonic to you and all of 
us who love to see high class bird dogs in com¬ 
petition, and so for the time being we forget 
about the busy marts of civilization and pack 
our bags for the annual pilgrimage. 
Early September is the most beautiful time of 
all the year to make this journey to the north- 
land and that is one of the principal reasons 
why the All-America Field Trial Club selects 
these dates for its great gathering of bird dogs 
and bird dog lovers. 
If you are a lover of the high class pointer or 
setter and have never attended a chicken trial 
you must take the time to do so ; it will be worth 
your while in more ways than one. If you have 
been present at one of these gatherings in former 
years, then it is needless to admonish you to go 
again, for you will do that of your own volition 
if there is a possible way of getting away from 
your business, for the drug of the prairies is 
in your veins and the call is irresistible. 
I do not know why it is, or wherefore, but 
there is a strange lure about these great open 
stretches, this country of magnificent distances 
where romance and enchantment walk hand in 
hand. Perhaps it is the ozone in the air that 
makes you feel light and buoyant and joyous, 
but you go, you see, you feel, and you come back 
a new man or a new woman, as the case may be. 
You may have been going to this land of the 
Dakotas year after year, but with each recurring 
season the same thrill steals over you as you 
inhale the intoxicating air so pure and uncon¬ 
taminated. You retire early on that first eve¬ 
ning of your arrival and you sleep on through 
the tranquil watches of the night as you have 
not slept for many months, and you arise 
promptly at the call of “Roll out!” at four in 
Master Benson, First Pennsylvania All Age. 
the morning, refreshed and ready for a day in 
the open. And it is generally a perfect day, 
for early in September they are all perfect in 
that country of exquisite charm. You partake 
of a substantial breakfast with the others of the 
little group who, like you, are in the best of 
spirits, for all who are gathered there have 
kindred tastes, and good fellowship reigns su¬ 
preme. 
John Proctor, Winner of Four Championships, 
Including the All-American Championship. 
Out in front of the hotel the vehicles are 
waiting to convey you to the field trials grounds 
and it is from these conveyances that you watch 
the performances of the dogs, for the land is 
one great open plain and you are enabled to 
drive anywhere as long as you remain behind 
the judges. 
The morning is cool and a heavy coat is 
quite comfortable as you drive out to the 
grounds. Subconsciously you absorb the things 
about you; you note the white fleecy clouds on 
a turquoise sky and the flurries of soft winds as 
they come rolling over the prairies all around 
you and then go scampering away causing the 
grasses and the vegetation to sway hither and 
thither in a series of rhythmic wavelets. Then 
you note the sun just peeping over the horizon 
line which seems miles and miles away. 
The first brace of dogs is turned loose and 
you are no longer interested in the setting; you 
are driving along back of the judges watching 
that brace of sprinters as they gallop away and 
appear as mere specks away out in the front. 
And then you hear the handler call, “point, 
judges!” and a wild ride ensues. The driver 
knows the game, and at the call of point his 
whip is out of the socket and the ponies are 
away on a mad gallop. But the other drivers 
are just as alert as yours. Pell mell the forty 
or fifty wagons go over the rising ground, down 
into the hollows, through buffalo wallows, a 
clattering, dashing cavalcade in which each unit 
tries to outdo the other and arrive on the scene 
where the dog is pointing as quickly as the 
judges. You sit tight and hold fast to the seat 
as the wagon lilts from one side to the other, 
but all this time your eyes are on the dog as 
he stands there with the transverse rays of the 
rising sun burnishing his glistening sides. The 
judges’ vehicle draws up and ‘f your driver is 
fortunate enough not to be cut out by others, he 
brings your vehicle alongside of this. The 
handler is off of his horse waiting by the side 
of his dog for the judges to order the birds 
flushed. The order is given, but as the handler 
walks up in front of his dog, he notices, and 
so do you, that another head is there just above 
the grass. It is that of the competing dog; he 
has been there for some time, but unnoticed be¬ 
cause of his attitude. It was he who caught 
the scent first and the dog which you saw there 
in the sunshine is only backing his brace-mate’s 
point. Naturally this is all the more thrilling 
for you and the other spectators, but not so to 
the handler who waits for his rival to come 
up, for the ethics of field trials would not allow 
him to flush birds which the other dog has found. 
The other handler is here by this time, he dis¬ 
mounts and walks in. At first you think no 
birds are there, but the dogs know better. They 
rush forward a few paces and stop again. Once 
more the handler fails to flush and once more 
the dogs move forward. Presently the birds 
which have evidently been running are put up 
and what a sight it is as both dogs stand 
staunchly in their tracks as the covey gets away 
with a loud whirr of wings! 
Other scenes and other episodes like this oc¬ 
cur ; sometimes in quick succession, at others 
after long intervals. You may not notice that 
the sun is up high in the heavens by this time 
and that it is becoming very warm in the glare 
of its blinding rays, but the judges do, and at 
ten o’clock, all dependent upon the temperature 
of the day, the order is given to drive to the 
noon-day rendezvous, where a recess is taken 
until luncheon time. This is served in an im¬ 
provised pavilion of boughs and twigs cut from 
the scrub poplars which abound in some of the 
protected places among the sand hills. Another 
rest until four o’clock and the day’s work is pro¬ 
ceeded with and continues until the sun hangs 
low in the western sky, like a great globe filled 
with rare red wine. You drive home in the 
cool of the evening to a warm dinner at the 
hotel and thus comes “the end of a perfect 
day.” 
Is it any wonder that those who have been 
coming to the All-America trials year after 
year are awaiting the call for 1916? The trials 
this year will take place at Denbigh, North 
Dakota, where last season the greatest and 
largest of any in the history of the sport were 
Joe Muncie, The Leading All Age Winning 
Setter of Last Season. 
