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YANKEE TRAVELER
THE,HONOR HTJNT The last hunt in the long careerof a hard-workingand belovedEnglishseter. BY TOM KEER
eginningsand endings,beginningsand endings--theseareall most folks remember in life. You rememberyour first day on the iob, for example-when new colI-l leaguesgggled becauseyou wound up in the copy room insteadof the conference room?You rememberyour last day, dav.too, too. the one when vou you walked orrr out the front r{nnr door with a box of personalbelongingsand maybea plaquecommemoraringyour service.The majority of what happensin betweenthe start and finish-well, that'swhat getsforgotten. Hunters with bird dogs don't fall into that pattern becausewe have so many high points in our dogs' lives.r7hen we look back on the yearsand the dogs,we go through a mental highlight film. Rememberthat time Rowdy nailed the grouse?or Rebel,sfirst bird? or Albert's water retrieve?The list'goeson and on-mostly becausethat,sthe way it is. I like to think of the nameFido asbeinga derivativeof theLainfidelis, which would meanFido comesfrom fidelity.I like that, whetherit's true or not. I bet you do, too. I wasn't around for Bonnie'sfirst woodcock point, but I surewas for her last, she is a blue belton sefter,maybe 45 or 50 pounds with a gorgeousdappled face and a long, wispy tail. Shewas the product of a disciplinedoldfield breedingprogram establishedby my friend Ed Belak.Backin the day,Ed was one of the guyswhom writer and semerman corey Ford took under his wing, and the initial geneticsfor Ed's dogs camefrom Earl Twombly'ssetterline. If you don't know who the late Earl Twombly was,then you probably know two of his dogs-cider and Tober.corey Ford wrote about them, and that lineageis the foundation upon which Ed built his program-hunting a true braceof same breed,samegenderdogswith similar markingsbecausethey,rerelated. Bonnie was one of three settersthat Ed named after his belovedsalmon rivers. (Ed and Bonnie are shown at left.) Those rivers sanghim songsof raprure like the Lorelei, and he honorablynamedAnnie afterthe ste.Anne,Mira afterthe Miramichi, and Bonnie after the Bonaventure.Bonnie and Annie were mother and daughter,and sincethey had similar coloration and markingsEd oftentimesran them as a true brace. 'when we bird huntersnear the end of our careers,folks frequently say ,,he,sgetting
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The author and Ed Belakcelebratea successfulHonor Hunt. long in the tooth." Not so of revered bird dogs when they're nearing the end of their careers.Bonnie was about there, and Ed respectfully thought about starting to leave her at home during hunting trips. He thought it would be best for her-a linle wellearned R & R after a lifetime of hard work. That kind of thinking is fine if that's what the situation calls for, but I told Ed if there was any way to get her out hunting for it-then get that dog out even the shortest rctation-dadgum where she belongs! The result of our friendly debate was a sendo[f, a grand one at that. The Honor Hunt, one that would hedge every bet toward the proper capping of a wonderful career.I had iust the covert in mind. d brought his leash of settersto New Hampshire and we f, Lcarved out a plan. It was the middle of October,so bird counts would likely be jood. Bonnie needed to hunt in a small covert, preferably a flight-bird covert that was flat, open, and soft. It neededto be about 20 to 30 minutes in coveragelengh with more woodcock than grouse. Ideally, it'd be a place where we could
IO4 COVEYRISE
run her with her daughter as a true brace. The covert I named Freight tain was perfect. In this coven, there was a river bottom that sat 10 feet below a field planted with winter rye. There was a hardwood fringe at the top, and raspberriesand grapesat the end, Along the edge of the river was a run of Japaneseknotweed, in the middle of the covert was a tremendous amount of goldenrod, interspersedwith oaks, alders, and poplars. Freight Train always held birds, usually three woodcock and 4n occasionalgrouse,and for a dog it was as easyas it gets,perfect for an Honor Hunt. In the morning, we headed to the covert well before the sun crested the mountain range. Ed belled Bonnie and we rambled across the long, grass field to the river bottom. It was still cold, the morning dew hadn't yet burned off, and scenting conditions were excellent. Bonnie bounded gracefully, with the energy of a dog much younger and healthier than she was. Her castswere smooth, graceful, meticulous, and in a few moments she was locked up. Bonnie moved, no bird flew-it was a point on fresh woodcock chalk, as droppings are called. Onward we went through the covert, and by the time we worked to the deadfall, no birds were pointed, no one was home. It's disappointing when you have difficulties finding a fust bird for a puppy, but that pales in comparison to finding an agingdog its last bird. For sure I felt bad about it, particularly sinceit was the first time in my life that Freight Train held no birds. Ed did not run Bonnie again that day, and instead savedher for tomorrow. 'We were a bit pensive around the dinner table, making small talk and trying to be convivial. Our conversationswere a bit forced, we didn't have much to say,so we called it a night early, barely putting a dent in the bourbon bottle. Next day, I wasn't optimistic when I turned on the coffeepot in the predawn light.'We were berween moons so there wasnt
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rr lot of night light, ancla lorv-pressure systenrnroved into the rrrngeand stalled.There were no frrlsedawn rirys of rlour.rt:rir.r orange ancl purple light pushing over the nrountirintops,and inste:rdevcrl'thingrvasblack and grav. I tr-rlnecion the rrlclio and the forecirst crrlled for rain. I stepped ont() the porch for confirrnartioniurcl iurmediirtely f-elt the rvincl blorv from the' southeast.Even a rookie wooclcock huntel knorvsthat tl-reflightsare strong on a cold, bright night when thc wincl blows fronr the northwest... ancltl-riswrrsjr-rst the oppositc.Were I a betting r.nirn,l'cl l-r:rvebet thilt no birds rnigrateclclorvn thirt night. We drank our coffee rrnd loacleclup thc dogsirnd our trucks in silence. Ed anclI lurd six otl-rerclogsto run so we headcclto the covcrts nrrnredG<xrclShephercl,Black Dog, Cernetery,, SpilledMilk, and (lravel Pit. In all the covcrts,rve r.rrovccl only tr'vo woodcock irnd iour grousc.C)rra nornrrrlclaywe'd hrrver.novednvo dozen bircls, but tl-ratclich't happen.Thalt wirsn't the really brrclnews-wl-rich \\,rrswe still had to hit FrcightTrain rrnclmn Bonnie. ..,.;tlw,tys tteedto bg fa6sd,irrtclwhen we ltxrk at theltt we f I rerlize thrt, sonretinres, life just isn't firir.Neither Ed nor I r'vrrs optinristicrlb()ut11nerv flight of rvooclcockmigrating into Frcight Train ovcrnight.OLlr questto put [J()nnieon w<xrdcockwrls lln cxercisein futility,anclour plarrto rirrgout an illustriouscrrrccr backfired. It rvas m-viclea,anclI dcservedthe blarne. Ed belled Bonnie for her one mn. I was thankful he dicln't holcl the nrinimal bircl cor.rntagainst me, ancl he wi-rs,in frrct,a good sport. Rlther thrrn complrrin,hc deciclc'cl to run Borrnie rvith Mira rrsa trlle bracc.Birdsmake the bird dog, and no bircis ancla dollar won't br.ryrr cup of coffee,but off we went.
Now that Bonnie'scareerhas ended, Ed Belak'ssetter Cassie (above)will carry on the caninetradition in the coverts. Sometinresa cage nratch comes from working two dogs together,particularly if they're botl-rcornpetitiveand related,but this parirof llcl'swas different.They worked wcll, they had run together before, and they cast perfectly throLrghthe goldenrod, zigzaggedtheir rviry tl.rror.rgh the knonveed,and zipped along the river.This wrsn't their first covert together.Their bells clar.rged arrd rang,with Bonnierrnging out a bit more than Mrra. SLrddenly, Bonnie'sbell stoppedringing-she was locked on point. Mirzr'sbell stoppecl, tcro.An honoredpoint on the Honor Hur.rt. . . but was it chalk? I was closestto Bonnie'sstylish point, so I steppedin front of her.Up rvent r pair! One flew on a 45-degree:rngleto the right rrnclone on rr 90-degreerngle to the left. Two shots were fired and two birds fell. The covert was complete,the seasonwi.rs cor-nplete, and, most important, a lifetin'rewas complete. Beginningsirnd endings,beginningsand enclings,that's all iolks remernber.\Will that be the caseabout Bonnie? Ed will haveto be the judge.
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