FOREST AND STREAM 
1039 
THE YEAR OF THE POINTER 
THE SHORT HAIRED BREED WAS THE VICTOR, 
BUT THE SETTER MAY YET COME INTO HIS OWN 
F IELD trials were never so popular or so pros¬ 
perous as at present. This is because we are 
becoming more esthetic in our sports and 
pastimes. The casual observer may think it far¬ 
fetched to attribute the present great interest in 
high class setters and pointers to such a cause, 
but it is the real one. 
It may be logically reasoned out in this way: 
In the old days, when game was more plentiful 
and more evenly distributed than now, the aver¬ 
age man interested in field shooting considered 
his gun the principal accessory, for his one great 
ambition was to kill—to bring home as large a 
bag as possible. The mighty hunter was he who 
could show the most game at the end of a day’s 
hunt. He had a dog, of course. But the dog 
was usually a half-breed or of nondescript or¬ 
igin, and was only a helper, a necessary adjunct 
to the desired end. It mattered little how he 
■did his work, as long as he brought results. Both 
hunter and dog lacked genuine skill. 
Then came magazines devoted to field sports, 
and with them came higher education and loftier 
ideals. The succeeding generation grew up with 
an inborn desire for better guns and higher class 
dogs. Large bags, it was taught, were not the 
jine qua non of the gentleman sportsman. In the 
dog, it was style and finish that were sought: not 
the frequency with which he pointed, so much as 
the nature of his performance. The idea became 
general among the higher class of sportsmen that 
there was more satisfaction in killing a few birds 
skilfully, over a dog that worked scientifically, 
than in filling the game-bag in the old pot-hunter 
style. 
With this higher education, came correspond¬ 
ingly greater demand for better dogs. As this 
demand increased, sportsmen began seeking a 
way of testing their dogs in competition. Thus 
there came about the birth of a great sport— 
field trials. And a nation of dog lovers has been 
developed, among whom the majority place high- 
class work above the slaughter of birds. This 
class is growing daily, and it has been aptly said 
that the best game protector is the field trial fol¬ 
lower,—for he kills but little game. 
The season of 1915 went down in field trial 
history as the greatest of them all. Never in the 
forty odd years that the sport has been in exist¬ 
ence have there been so many trials, nor have 
there ever been so many men interested, or so 
many dogs in competition. 
The season began with the All-America trials, 
which took place at Denbigh, N. D., the first 
week in September. Prairie chickens were plenti¬ 
ful in the locality, and probably the most suc¬ 
cessful field trials ever held on the game bird of 
the prairie were those staged by this progressive 
club. Not only were the trials successful in the 
matter of good grounds and abundant game, but 
there were more starters in the three stakes than 
in any previous trial. 
It was an auspicious beginning for the season, 
and brought together a greater number of hand¬ 
lers than ever assembled for a trial before. Many 
new recruits made their debut in the All-Amer¬ 
ican prairie trials and the majority of them there 
began a successful career, going on down through 
the circuit with splendid success. Field trials are 
like baseball: there is always room at the top for 
a new man, provided he has the material to make 
good. Last season proved that there are several 
new handlers who have it. 
In the all-age stake, won by pointer Security 
(Pace and Rowe, Knoxville, Tenn.), there were 
forty-two starters. The derby, won by pointer 
Rap’s Pansy Blossom, had forty four, and the 
championship brought out a field of eighteen of 
the best known winners ever pitted together in an 
event carrying the title champion. One hundred 
and four dogs in three stakes is a record which 
it is not likely any other club will pass very soon, 
though with the present interest in the high-class 
bird dog, there is no telling what the coming 
season may have in store. 
The redoubtable Texas pointer, John Proctor, 
began his winning career for the season by out¬ 
stepping and outpointing the whole of that mag¬ 
nificent championship field, and acquiring for the 
second time the title of chicken champion of 
America. In 1913, a successful season for him, 
he won the title. When he began the season of 
1915 in the same manner, the regular followers 
began to ask the question: “Is he going to re¬ 
peat?” 
John Proctor not only repeated, he did more 
than any other field trial dog ever accomplished 
before. In this championship stake of last sea¬ 
son the competition was even keener than when 
he won the title for the first time, yet there was 
hardly a spectator on the field who did not freely 
admit that his race was in a class by itself. 
From the prairies, John Proctor was brought 
down to the Independent trials at Sparta (Illi¬ 
nois) where he won the all-age stake. Then he 
went to Georgia and won several minor places. 
In Alabama he won second to Desoto Frank, 
whom he ran against in the Southern trials. 
From here John Proctor came up to Grand Junc¬ 
tion, Tennessee, where he won the National 
Championship in another great field. Only three 
days after the conclusion of this stake, he started 
in the free-for-all championship at Calhoun, Ala¬ 
bama, and once more met Desoto Frank, defeat¬ 
ing him with something to spare. The way John 
Proctor was going last January, there was not a 
dog on the circuit that could head him off. 
Pointers, during the past season, were far and 
away ahead of setters. This is probably a tem¬ 
porary condition, and no doubt the long-haired 
breed will soon come back to its own. But the 
fact remains that the pointer, though outnum¬ 
bered three to one, captured nearly all the im¬ 
portant stakes for all-age dogs. John Proctor 
himself won all three championships on the field 
trial calendar. Security, previously alluded to, 
always a dangerous competitor in chicken trials, 
won the forty-two dog stake of the All-America 
Club at Denbigh, and was placed several more 
times in minor places in the later trials. 
Lewis C. Morris (now owned by Haggan, of 
the Mt. Brilliant Kennels, Lexington, Ky.) was 
a formidable contestant in all stakes he started 
in. In January, 1915, he won the United States 
all-age stake in the largest field of quail trials 
that season. Second to him was setter La Besita 
(F. M. Stephenson). Two weeks later, however, 
La Besita turned the tables and won the National 
Championship, with the pointer runner-up. 
In Texas, Lewis C. Morris won first in the all¬ 
age stake. He was not in the money on the 
prairies last September, for this pointer is not a 
great chicken dog like Security or John Proctor. 
But as his handler frequently said: “He is a 
real artist on quail.” This pithy description fits 
him, for when Lewis C. Morris is at his best, 
there are few dogs, pointers or setters, that can 
surpass him in handling the wily Bob White. 
After the prairie trials, Lewis C. Morris was 
not started until the Georgia series of trials, 
where he won the two-hour subscription stake. 
He was always a good long-distance dog, and 
would not cause much surprise if he won the 
National Championship before another two years, 
provided his owner sees fit to start him. 
Another pointer that showed to good advan¬ 
tage last season was Rowena, a diminutive white- 
and-liver bitch owned and campaigned by W. D. 
Gilchrist, Courtland, Ala. She began her season 
by being placed runner-up in the All-America 
Championship on the prairies. From then on she 
gave a good account of herself in all stakes she 
started in. She finished the season by winning 
first in the all-age stake of the Oklahoma trials 
at Vinita last February. 
Still another pointer that attracted considerable 
attention was Jack Davis, Jr. He is a white-and- 
lemon, good in conformation and general outline, 
fast as a ghost, and a real bird dog. Major D. C. 
White, trainer for the Babblebrook Kennels, 
brought this pointer out as a puppy at the All- 
America amateur trials at Rogers Springs, Tenn., 
in January, 1915. The writer was one of the 
judges, and spotted Jack Davis in the first heat 
he ever ran in public. 
The dog eventually won the derby. Subse¬ 
quently he was purchased by A. G. Sage, of New 
York, _ who started him the first time in the 
Georgia all-age stake, where he won first. In the 
Southern trials a few weeks later he was placed 
third to Desoto Frank and John Proctor. In this 
latter stake, it might be mentioned parenthetically, 
there were twenty-two starters, of which twelve 
were English setters and ten pointers. The latter 
breed won all three places in the stake. 
Among all-age setters, the dog which gained 
the most prominence was Joe Muncie, a white- 
and-orange rather plain looking animal, but a 
wide, fast and easy-going dog. In the matter of 
class, there are few dogs superior to Joe Muncie, 
for he has an intelligent way of seeking the birdy 
places. While he goes as far as the country per¬ 
mits, he is one of the most easily handled dogs to 
appear in field trials in the past season or two. 
Joe Muncie is owned by J. K. Smith, of Emi¬ 
nence, Kentucky. He was handled by W. D. 
Mask, of Bolivar, Tennessee—a young handler, 
by the way, who has been quite successful. 
The dog won the all-age stake of the Great 
Western trials the week following the All-Amer¬ 
ica meeting, and later in the season he won the 
most important all-age stake on quail, that of the 
United States Club at Grand Junction, Tennessee. 
From here he was taken to Texas, where he won 
third in the Texas all-age stake, and the follow¬ 
ing week he again won third in the trials at 
Vinita. Among setters, therefore, Joe Muncie 
stands first for the season. The only other setter 
to win first in all-age stakes during the past 
season was May Blossom, daughter of Free 
Lance and Cotton Blossom. 
In the derby stakes, where the puppies compete, 
setters showed to superior advantage. The lead¬ 
ing dog was Gunner, also of Free Lance-Cotton 
Blossom breeding. This young dog won the 
American Field futurity at Sparta in November, 
was placed second in the Southern derby at Leto- 
hatchie, Ala., in December, and in January won 
the National, the Texas and the Oklahoma der- 
bys. He proved by this performance that he was 
unquestionably the best bird dog among the pup¬ 
pies of last season, for all of his wins were made 
by demonstrating his ability to handle game. 
Another good puppy among setters was Com¬ 
missioner’s Amorette O’Crahu (J. Craig Huff, 
Philadelphia) handled by John Willard Martin, 
of Newton, N. C., a young handler rapidly com¬ 
ing to the front as a developer of high class field 
trial dogs. This setter bitch with the long name 
won first in the Great Western Derby, first in the 
Southern, and was placed third on one or two 
occasions. She did not go any farther than the 
National trials on the circuit, otherwise she might 
have had several more wins to her credit. 
Old Joe’s Vic, owned by the Babblebrook Ken¬ 
nels, of Pittsfield, Pa., was another good one 
placed. Another of the Babblebrook’s was Old 
Joe’s White Fox. The latter is especially promis¬ 
ing. Only a few weeks ago she was started in 
Setter Club trials at Medford, N. J., and won 
first in the all-age as well as in the subscription 
stakes. She was then scarcely two years of age, 
so if early promise bodes good, she should make 
a great all-age contender by next season. 
