November 8, 2009 in Outdoors

A bird hunter’s affinity for big-running dogs

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Scout, a lean, rangey English setter, gets mixed reviews from hunters for doing his bird-finding work out of gun range. But with a big heart, a bloody tail and the genetics to hold a staunch point, a big-running dog delivers.
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‘That’s a great bird dog: He hunts real close.”

Those two phrases run together in the gun dog world as commonly as closed minds and cranked up E-collars.

Let’s be clear upfront: I enjoy following any good working dog that excels at what it’s bred to do, whether it’s a pointing German shorthair, a flushing springer spaniel, a water-loving Lab, a brush-rooting beagle or a sheep-herding border collie.

For the past 27 years, however, I’ve owned Brittanys and English setters that tend to get up and go. I consider their noses a ticket to adventure.

They are not in the …

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