F 0 REST AND S T R E A M 
705 
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The Setter Swung Into a Handsome Point in the Open Field. 
Disconcerting Tactics of the Wily Ruffed Grouse 
He is Ever on the Alert and Proud May the Hunter Be Who Succeeds in Bringing Him to Bag 
By Lucien C. Dehart. 
ROM an interesting conversation 
with the efficient game com¬ 
missioner of western Massa¬ 
chusetts, relative to the enorm¬ 
ous coveys of the above men¬ 
tioned birds, I simply had to 
visit the ammunition dealer for 
the purpose of purchasing 
more shells, then bethought me to order still an¬ 
other box by telephone. I was determined not 
to visit such a game paradise unprepared for i 
real day’s shoot; I frequently caught my 
thoughts running upon the possibility of having 
lived to see a game millenium. However, there 
was just a shade of scepticism when the dog 
was boosted into the automobile for a six mile 
run. The new law with regard to transporting 
hunting dogs is not very attractive to the hunt¬ 
ers. It is now necessary, in western Massachu¬ 
setts for the sportsman to obtain a written per¬ 
mit to carry a dog on the trolley cars. Not in¬ 
frequently one may be a long distance from the 
trolley office where such permits are issued, the 
man who issues them may not be out of bed 
when it is time to start for the cover. From the 
sportsman’s standpoint the new law is an in¬ 
fernal nuisance. My hunting chum and I were 
carted to the cover in a more refreshing manner, 
hence both the lungs and the propelling appara¬ 
tus—physical—felt more in tune for a lovely 
October morn. 
Just at seven o’clock we disembarked two 
miles south of the little hamlet of L-— and 
within a few moments received a challenge from 
an old cock pheasant. The old chap was giving 
his approval of an ideal morning and we did not 
accept it to try conclusions. The dog did not 
seem to pay any attention to the proud cock’s 
tones, nor did I care to interrupt his pleasure. 
The game commissioner had but recently, posted 
me as to the superabundance of birds. What 
should we care about the loud crowing of one 
upstart cock pheasant? He was simply ignored 
while he shouted at the old Plymouth rock roos¬ 
ter at a nearby farm yard. In less than twenty 
minutes after entering an ideal cover of small 
birch, yellow sedge grass and briars, with quite 
a number of small grain fields in the same vi¬ 
cinity, the setter picked up the trail of a pheas¬ 
ant, worked it out into a corn field and showed 
me where the breakfast had been eaten from 
corn sheaths stacked up here and there over the 
little field; then turning off at right angles the 
dog entered a thick cover, there were many 
briars and grape vines. The thought was that 
the bird would get up in the very thickest por¬ 
tion of the cover, then I would have only (he 
consolation of hearing the flush. However, (he 
setter has an attractive little trick all his own 
acquirement. If there is a possibility of head 
ing the bird off and forcing the flush toward the 
open field, a flanking move is made and the bit *1 
is pointed from the opposite direction. 
I have witnessed this tactic many times, while 
I was looking for the dog, heard the rush of a 
pheasant, and at the same moment caught sight 
of the setter pointing directly towards me. The 
bird had flushed from the dog, hence the flight 
was almost directly towards me and gave me a 
very fair shot. As the bird dropped the setter 
came out to meet me. There was a most de¬ 
cided expression of pleasure and a cheerful wag 
of the tail, which indicated to my mind “that is 
just the stunt I prepared for you, I am real 
proud of you for catching on successfully.” 
As we swung around and came out of the 
cover, on the south side, imagine my surprise 
when the setter, running across a rag-weed 
patch, swung into a very handsome point in the 
open field. From his pose and with the sur¬ 
roundings I would have said quail, beyond a 
doubt. There was not a few moments to con- 
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