Getting Socrates Drunk

Getting Socrates Drunk

Stuck for a name, we had it when Uncle Harry christened the stray pup “Socrates,” given his proclivity to poison himself. Worse than a baby in a bathroom cabinet, right from the git-go he liked stuff he shouldn’t and revealed a fatal attraction for everything liquid....
Candid Cameron: On Vacation

Candid Cameron: On Vacation

Cameron the Weimaraner celebrates his birthday on a relaxing hunting and fishing vacation and enjoys a special birthday meal just for him! Well, if you are reading my column this week, note I am on vacation. My plans are to retrieve some pigeons I’ll ask Mike to...
Brittanys

Brittanys

An angel at home and a demon in the field, the French Brittany packs maximum ability in minimum volume. In the 30 years or so that I’ve been scribbling about gundogs, the biggest “breed story” has been the renaissance of the cocker spaniel. Finding a...
Duel On Tabernacle Mountain

Duel On Tabernacle Mountain

Partridge and setter, each super-naturally gifted within his time. Bound within the all-consuming mission each was born for: to best the other. This story is true, as true as you wish it to be…as true as the truth of all the great grouse dogs and all the great grouse...
Chesapeake Bay Retriever: A Plain Great Dog

Chesapeake Bay Retriever: A Plain Great Dog

My first hunting dog was a Chesapeake Bay retriever. That might seem a poor choice of first-time hunting dog, Chesapeakes being notoriously idiosyncratic—if you use that word to express their penchant for independent thinking. Other words would be eccentric, singular,...