Hunting

CONTENTS

Hunting, Hawking, or Shooting
over Pointers and Setters in Scotland

A brief history....
We British did not create the pointer, or the English, Irish, and Gordon setters. But we had pointing dogs for netting ground living game birds at least as early as the 15th century and they were gradually improved over four centuries alongside the development of the sporting shotgun to the "Best London" hammerless ejector shotgun of today.

The first serious use of pointing dogs began in this country around 1623 with importations of setters from France. The evidence is that Louis XIII of France sent James I of England some setters; the pointers followed around 1725 with soldiers returning from the Spanish wars. James I was a fanatically falconer and the setters were used to locate game birds for this sport.

A romantic story of how these first setters may have become the ancestors of what later became known as the Laverack, then the Llewellin, setters is explained in my book "Pointers and Setters" -- but there are few hard facts and it is pure speculation. It is a pity that others have leap upon what I clearly state is fanciful conjecture, have elaborated the story, and (wrongly) concluded that these dogs were exclusively the property of the English kings! I had hoped to stimulate others with more time to further research. Instead I seem to have encouraged some into making the wildest claims of the advertising copywriter. Where is the proof?

The widespread acceptance of guns for hunting in Britain after the wars in Europe created an unprecedented demand for good pointing dogs. Before that, pointing dogs had been used by commercial netsmen for trapping birds or by sportsmen shooting birds on the ground with a crossbow, or to find game for falconers. The art of shooting flying took the imagination of sportsmen by storm as it generally required less skill. Shooting flying soon became a national pastime.

Photo: A dogging team of pointers and setters above Loch Lomond, Scotland. Photo taken around 1919.

By the Industrial Revolution, the demand for good pointing dogs was international. Fortunes were being made every day in trade with the colonies and the new rich vied with their neighbours to pose as the wealthy country sporting squire. A man was admired for his skills in the hunting field and his reputation was made if he could get his name into the newspapers for having killed a record bag of grouse or partridges. For those who could produce top working gundogs (and the best guns) the world was an open market and he could name his price.

The word "gundog" at that time meant a pointer or a setter. The first field trials and dog shows around 1859 were for pointers and setters only. The pointer, a fairly recent import in 1725, was easy enough to classify, but setters came in all shapes, sizes, and colours. A breed or strain often became established when an owner gained a reputation for breeding a particularly fine strain of dog.

Later, all the parti-coloured setters were to be lumped together to be called "English setters"; red (and red-and-white) Irish setters were plainly "Irish setters"; the black-and-tan setters were just that, until the Duke of Gordon's dogs became famous when everyone owning a "black-and-tan" claimed they were from the Duke's own kennel!

So, there is a long tradition in training, working, and shooting over pointers and setters in these islands. Those at the top end of the scale would expect their dogs to be fast, stylish, and perfectly trained. This is what modern field trials attempt (or ought!) to emulate in our pretentious modern world. This was in an era when sportsmanship was synonymous with politeness and gentlemanliness; an etiquette evolved which is still more-or-less unwritten law amongst some sportsmen in Britain today. At a top shoot in the UK, you will still be expected to conform to those rules and God help you if you turn up in a camouflage outfit with an under-over or (worse!) auto loading shotgun!

The cornerstone of our training system is the Drop, i.e. the dog goes flat down in response to a signal. Although this is an anathema to some nationalities, it is a system grounded in sound psychology. It has worked for us for over five hundred years -- our dogs are bred to it -- and we are not inclined to mend things which are not broken! We view those who train their dogs another way (or, rather, who don't train them to drop!) with amused tolerance. Well, they can't train them properly, anyway, can they? This does not mean our dogs point lieing down. They point like most other pointing dogs, where they find the scent.

In training, our dogs are taught to lie flat down in response to a verbal signal, then to a hand signal, a whistle, to a shot, and to the sight of a bird flushing. Each of these "triggers" the flat down in a properly trained bird dog. The only other thing we teach is the "come here" -- again in response to a verbal signal, hand signal, or whistle. It is on those two triggers ("Sit" and "Come Here") that all handling and control is built. We build from this foundation, with every day experience and training. Maybe we only teach a couple of things, but it leads on to dogs learning a whole spectrum of responses -- rather in the way a child learns to speak.

Quartering: The dogs are trained to hunt in a systematic pattern so no birds are left behind and no ground is left unsearched. This pattern is called quartering. Generally, the dog is trained to cross the wind at right angles. Given the opportunity to learn by experience, this is how dogs should hunt naturally. At the end of the first parallel, the dog turns into the wind, travels forward as far as his nose can reach, then turns to complete the next course parallel to the first. In this way, the dog covers the ground in a series of zig-zags, crossing and re-crossing in front of the handler, at right angles to the wind. Each time he runs across the wind, his nose is searching a parallel strip upwind.

Photo: Typical dogging country, north of Scotland

By crossing the wind in this way, the dog is effectively searching the air currents for the body scent of game birds immediately up wind. When the dog scents birds, it will develop a strategy according to it's experience -- to approach and fix their location. I have phrased this carefully; an experienced dog that is aware of birds up wind may not immediately begin the approach. It may often search out the sides, first, before going in and making a firm point on birds which it had found and was fully aware of several casts previously. This registering of birds up wind, without the point, may be recognised by no more than a toss of the head or the dog momentarily turning up wind.

When it is certain that it has located the birds (and not just the scent where they have been) the dog will freeze onto point. The point is a natural part in the sequence of the hunting pattern -- in short, it is the pause of a predator before it pounces onto it's prey. But in the pointing dog, the pause has been artificially extended by selective breeding and training so the hunter has plenty of time to approach for a shot.

Photo: North of Scotland. You need good dogs to find grouse in such country.

The width between the parallels, or casts, depends on the power of the dog's nose. It follows that the best dogs with the most powerful olfactory senses will be able to search widr strips and leave more ground between parallels. Also, the dogs which run wider are searching more ground.

The dogs which run the fastest, have the best noses, and run the widest clearly search more ground in a given time than any which fall short of these ideals. So the idea that our dogs are slow is not true. Certainly, there are badly trained and mishandled dogs which know that hard work causes muscle fatigue and pain, so they creep about. But that is a product of stupidity and ignorance. Work too hard when you are unfit and you suffer the consequences. But a fit dog, properly bred and trained, will seem to fly over the moor and go all day. Even so, it is usual to have a team of dogs and run each in turn, perhaps for twenty or thirty minutes, so that hunting time is optimised.

Having said that, there is a limit to the distance a man would want to walk to a point. There is also a limit to the time birds will remain lying to a point before deciding to depart. The compromise seems to equate with the formula that the best dogs cover the most ground whilst allowing a sportsman on foot to walk steadily up the centre of the beat at an easy going pace with the dog quartering in front of him. Work it out. I am no mathematician but if the man is walking at four miles an hour and the dog is covering a front 300 yards wide with 20 yards between parallels, that dog is going......well, damned fast!

Handling: The best British bird dogs are also responsive and intelligent. I can say this with some confidence because if it were not so, it would be difficult to use them for hunting as we do.

Let us consider the above scenario. We are on a grouse moor with the dog quartering away in front as we walk into the oncoming breeze. Scotland is not flat (except for the far north in Caithness, even then there are hollows and ridges) so unless checked the dog will very soon disappear over the top of a ridge, hill top, or mountain. But we train our dogs to turn to a signal so that we can turn them before they go out of sight. (The turn whistle is, in fact, an abbreviation of the "come here" -- which of course is logical). How many want to run up the side of a mountain to check whether that dog is on point over the top or doing a tour of the next county? After you, sir! So, we breed them to handle and we train them to work to our directions.

Photo: Advie Adonis pointing grouse

The Point: When the dog secures a point, the Guns (i.e. hunters) and handler can walk (note: walk not run! Only a fool runs with a loaded gun!) to the point for the shot. Usually, two Guns are plenty, but three can be accommodated. More is decidedly dangerous! The handler goes up beside the dog and the Guns will walk parallel to the dog, perhaps 15 - 20 yards out but a few yards ahead, as directed by the handler.

With a Gun on each side, hopefully the birds will be somewhere within this V-shaped formation. Handler, dog, and Guns walk steadily forward to put the birds up and to shoot. Note: In Britain, the dog moves forward with the handler to locate and flush the birds. Try doing it any other way and you quickly come unstuck. Grouse can run as fast as a man can walk and a good dog may easily scent a covey, and point, from a hundred yards and more! I should perhaps add that that unwritten etiquette dictates that each Gun shoots at the birds on his side of the covey. Quite simply, this ensures that the Guns do not both shoot at the same birds.

Photo: The Gun walks to one side and
slightly ahead of the pointing dogs.

The dog is trained to drop flat when the birds flush or it hears a shot. Red Grouse are found in family groups or covies during the shooting season and this action prevents the dog from flushing any birds which do not get up when the first fly off. There is a brief pause. The Guns often need to be reminded that they should re-load and that there may be more birds left. Then, the dog is ordered to move on -- and perhaps some stragglers will be found and pointed for some more shooting.

Retrieving: When the pointing dog has confirmed that there are no more birds, it can be "dropped" (told to "sit") and a retriever unleashed to recover shot game. This is another hangover from the competitive shooting of the Industrial Revolution. The traditional British pointing dogs are bird finding specialists and they are not usually trained to retrieve in the UK. But many of my dogs do retrieve and it takes but a few moments to teach them to "point dead" which is almost as useful. And if we did train the bird dogs to retrieve, we would have no excuse to keep a cocker spaniel or two for picking up! But, of course, they do retrieve and some are passionate retrievers. But in the U.K., tradition dies hard.

After the birds have been retrieved, the sport continues. Because the pointer or setter is covering a front several hundred yards wide, there is no need for the Guns to "line out". They can wander along, chatting quietly to each other and enjoying the dog work and the glorious views. Shooting grouse over bird dogs is a very pleasurable activity and the sight of a dog eagerly working out front keeps the spirits up in a way no other sight can.

Red Grouse:
Photo: Red Grouse

The British Isles has the finest game bird in the world. That is the Red Grouse. It is a truly wild game bird inhabiting the wild heather-clad mountains and moorlands of the north of England, Scotland, and parts of Wales and Ireland. The only way to successfully increase their numbers is by habitat management. Artificial rearing doesn't work, except on a small non-commercial scale.

Grouse hunting in Britain is VERY expensive!! That is because all hunting land in Britain is privately owned and it costs money to manage the ecology effectively. There is also a strictly limited supply and a world-wide demand. These red grouse have undoubtedly shaped the development of our pointing dogs which, because of the demands set by the Industrial Revolution, were refined to a state of near perfection by the end of the 19th Century.

Red Grouse are generally found on upland areas where a small shrub, heather, grows on which the feeds feed. Such ground is unsuitable for horses so all our dogging is on foot. Let it be whispered that we would regard following a bird dog on a horse as "a bit soft"! Perhaps for an invalid, or someone too old or unfit to walk.... Grouse may be found anywhere on the moor. My dogs have had plenty of finds on bare ground. So a certain style of work has evolved. See the page on Training for more information on this theme.

Photo: Cock pheasant

Other Game Birds: The other species which are shot over pointing dogs are grey (Hungarian) partridges, occasionally red legged partridges, pheasants, woodcock, and snipe. Partridge shooting will be confined to the low ground where the sport is similar to grouse shooting but on a reduced scale. The dogs do not need to range so far but they need to be under tighter control.

I have had excellent snipe shooting over dogs in certain areas and some dogs become highly specialised in finding these sporting little birds. Pheasants are found almost anywhere on the low ground and they need no desciption here.

Photo (right): Grey Partridge
Woodcock shooting, my own particular favourite, is restricted to certain periods of the year and to certain areas of the country when the migratory birds arrive. Some very hot sport is possible but there are often a reasonable number of resident birds to make it interesting when out looking for pheasants even if the migrants have not arrived. This type of shooting is essentially for Scottish residents as woodcock are unpredictable. They move around according to the season and the weather.

Season: The grouse shooting season opens on the 12th August and closes on the 10th December but for practical purposes grouse shooting takes place from the 12th August to around mid October though customs vary according to location. It is a very expensive sport and the biggest demand is still for driven (or battu) shooting where grouse are shepherded towards the Guns waiting in butts or blinds by teams of beaters. It is by no means easy to shoot a bird travelling towards you at over 55 m.p.h. (with no following wind) and at eye-level too. Even more difficult with a stiff breeze behind it. But I still prefer "over dogs"! Oh yes, I've met people who thought it easy, shooting birds "up the backside". But thinking ain't shooting!

There is no doubt in my mind that driving grouse unsettles them for shooting over pointing dogs. They do not lie readily to a point and even early in the season they can be seen rising hundreds of yards ahead of the dogs. This is very disheartening for everyone, but especially the dogs. These days I refuse to work my dogs on such ground. As driving is only economical on the moors with higher densities, shooting over pointers and setters is better confined to areas where grouse are scarcer anyway. This means that the best dogging areas are often in the wilder remoter parts of the country -- which suits me fine! We leave it to those from the show world to work their dogs on the driving moors further south....

Reporting: This is where a manageable dog is important; my pointer dog Advie Don is a woodcock specialist. He knows all the favourite woodcock haunts from one year to the next and would like to hunt "objectives" like an American if I would let him get away with it! At a point, I can get into position, then shout "Get 'em up", and Don will go in and flush the birds out. Although a very big dog, he works cover like a spaniel! Several of my dogs will come and find me if they get a point unsighted. Yes, they will back off from a point, locate me, then go back to the point! This is what the Scandinavians call "reporting" and it is highly though of. A very useful feature in thick cover and, no, they are not "soft on point", just brainy like their owner!!

Visiting and Hunting in Scotland: Because I ran a guiding/sporting agency for many years, I have to refuse to become involved in arranging hunting trips for any but long standing personal friends. I am retired from guiding. However, the various U.K. hunting magazines regularly carry advertisements for this type of sport.

A note of caution; some organizers expect eight to a dozen Guns to walk in line with a pointer or a setter or two in attendance and pass this off as "shooting over dogs". Others who do not understand dogs will engage owners of show dogs to assist with the shooting with inevitable results. So caveat emptor applies. Let the buyer beware!

There are a number of sporting agents offering shooting/hunting in Scotland. See the pages of UK shooting magazines such as Shooting Gazette and Shooting Times for their advertisements. There are no UK magazines specifically for working pointers and setters as this is now very much a minority interest.

For a web page well worth looking at go to http://www.countrysports.co.uk. This is the page for the sporting agency of the same name, Country Sports, owned and run by Michael Roberts. Lots of links there to take you to every area of interest!

One organisation that has been organising shooting over dogs for many years is Hendry Ramsay & Wilcox, 55/57 North Methven Street, Perth PH1 5PX, Scotland, UK. telephone +44 (0) 1738 443344; Fax +44 (0) 1738 443327,
Email : info@scothunt.co.uk
Major Neil Ramsay has been in the business for as long as I can remember and he offers shooting over pointers and setters on a number of Scottish estates. Check out their web page at
http://www.scothunt.co.uk/.

Here are a few details from particulars sent to me by Hendry, Ramsay & Wilcox which may be taken as representative of what is normally expected:

(1) One to three Guns per party, only two shooting at each point.

(2) There is usually a limit of 12 � brace ( that's 25 birds) per day per party.

(3) Costs vary but expect to pay upwards of �60 (60UKP) per brace (1998 prices), i.e. a minimum of �30 per bird. Your accomodation, travel, gamekeeper's tip, etc. are not included in this figure!

Overseas sportsmen interested in coming to Scotland for shooting would do well to look at The Scottish Tourist Board site at http://holiday.scotland.net/. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation has a page of useful links at http://www.basc.org.uk/links.htm through whom various sporting agencies may be contacted. But, be aware that personal recommendation is really the only reliable source of information when it comes to finding good hunting.

More useful links are http://www.host.co.uk/, the site for The Scottish Highlands, http://www.b-and-b-scotland.co.uk/ for accommodation, http://www.visit.scotland.net/ for further general information on visiting Scotland.

Field Trials: Those interested in attending field trials in the UK are advised to write to The Field Trials Secretary, The Kennel Club, 1 Clarges Street, Piccadilly, London W1Y 8AB, well in advance of their visit to ask for a list of venues.

The Book: You can read more about British dogs, their history, training methods, and hunting in "Pointers and Setters" by Derry Argue, published by Swan Hill Limited, ISBN 1-85310-239-3. Go to Firth Productions for a link for mail order supplies or order your copy from any good bookshop.

Advie Gundogs
Miller's Place, Fendom
Tain, Easter Ross IV19 1PE
Scotland UK

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