The ring of a clanger striking the iron sheet with a rhythmic dance bell with the winding wind in the fresh air of October. Then he was silent, the ears hugging to catch the slightest movement. My pace is accelerating before being interrupted by the electronic report of a GPS transmitter indicating that a dog has stopped moving. Magnificent with the pair of chapstick -shaped shells, I slide both in a pair of horizontally fixed barrels – come closer to the turn of the century that the present moment. My eyes go towards a Garmin watch decorated with an arrow, indicating the exact location of my young English setter. The dew hanging from the Alders tags is thwarted by an old tin fabric, but my boots are another story. New Age technology, presented as the solution for dry comfort, failed dramatically.
While the white dog appears, stacked, contracting the nose with the breeze disembarking, the feather on its tail depending on the step, a large gray tank pulls while the pistol swings. A pair of shots follows. There would be a few things out of words if the scene happened in the mid -1900s, but not much. Why as Uplanders do we embrace history in certain areas, but avoid others? Dogs, shells, firearms, electronics and clothes – why do many of us choose our conventional double cannons on the more efficient autoloder? Why are we still using bells when a GPS collar is just as effective? I don’t feel like I am an old curmudgeon in their thirties, and many peers feel the same. Does the eternal struggle of power between new and old? Is this the same reason why I prefer country music before my birth on the new Swill filling the airwaves?
Are the progress of hunting really progressed?
Throughout history, the objective was to continuously improve its effectiveness in the field. But why do we hang on to certain parts of history, while diving headlong into other elements of current technology? A quote that I heard recently comes to my mind, by Alonzo Martinez de Espinar, concerning the changes he saw with the dogs of technological advances in 1644:
“In the past, when this sport was practiced, dogs were very intelligent and very scientific men on this subject, and the one who was rumoring to be a sportsman fired on a dog so well formed that, like the saying, he could do everything But speak; And those who kept their dogs in food by the crossbow have always been the most eminent, because the skill of the sportsman and his dog had to compensate for the gaps of the weapon.
Today, when you no longer have to shoot with a crossbow, nobody remembers the crafts that the sportsman formerly owned … The Perdridges are slaughtered with a flying arquebus, and for this reason, they do not exist Not in number as in the past, there are also no such pointed dogs (Perros de Muestra) to find and point them with such a large intelligence that large quantities could be killed with a crossbow. At that time, athletes were the most skillful, now as missing; Because, as the game is killed more easily, nobody wants to waste their time to train dogs, because man does not have to shoot partridges on the ground; And the only use he has for dogs is to empty the game, and that does not take any training, as does the dog naturally.
He reproaches the Arquebus for having destroyed the profession of an formerly possessed sportsman, and in some respects, there are links between his comparison of weapons in the 1600s and the slight tension, the double cannon shooters with Those who opt for an automatic. There would be a solid argument for the efficiency in the camp of an autoloader, especially on open meadows. And if your first, second or third shot did not find its mark, as long as the fourth finds it. Of course, the action of the double pistol is almost infallible, and with two strangles, it makes it more versatile on the ground. Here again, reclosatats triggers of many popular over -exploits often deny this advantage, and I cannot tell you when the last time I went to a point and decided to shoot a strangulation or another.
You may disagree, but I don’t shoot double firearms to put more birds in my bag. It is nostalgia, the story and the style that signals me to remove it from the shelf. Similar to pedigrees of older bird dogs, the double pistols can be traced when they were created by Joseph Manton in the mid -1700s, which was considered the “father of the modern hunting rifle”. Even if you cannot appreciate the story, when you see the exceptional silhouette and color of a good stock and the ornamental roller adorning the side plates, it is easy to marvel at exceptional crafts. For me, it is very personal, because I had the opportunity to build a tailor -made and under, with a bust of my first Gundog, Annie, engraved on the underside of the receiver. I was able to choose the exact piece of wood to use and all the details. For me, these are dogs, and this pistol bears a legacy extending far beyond the number of birds drawn one day given.
GPS, bells and bells
I hope that I only started to rush a few feathers, because many bird hunting enthusiasts can put themselves in a tizzy on their favorite equipment. We are going to take a step back and we hope we will get agreements on something. I would not go back in the days preceding the GPS necklaces, the search for dogs or simply leaving a coat or a box in the hope of their return.
Now back to breathtaking feathers. Espinar spoke of modern firearms, leading to less refined dogs. “There are also no peak dogs to find and point them with such a large intelligence that large quantities could be killed with a crossbow.” While GPS has certainly made our life easier, what have we sacrificed? Do we use this technology as a crutch, allowing rapid progress to good, but making it more difficult to go to a big one? Let us spend even less time with our dogs because we can simply hack them with a pass by knowing each of their movements?
The argument for or against is easily struck off in the name of the safety of our canine friends, because losing a dog is much less common. However, since I participated in more and more field tests, I realized how important it is to hunt down, where you cannot use an electronic necklace. If you haven’t tried to manage a dog without one, try it. Connect the transmitter to the collar, then close it and glue it in your pocket. Just listen to the bell and try to judge the distance and the steering while crossing the brush. Stay vigilant because when your dog locks 100 meters in the dense Aspen, you better pay attention. If you hunt a dog that comes out under your feet at one time or another, you will be Jones to take a look at this transmitter. It is difficult, at the very least, and why abandon such great visibility to your dog? But at the same time, many of us, the tetra hunters, would not give up a bell as early as an electronic necklace. Have you ever listened to a bell? I don’t want to hear a bell, but really listen and try to interpret, or rather to imagine, what a dog does according to his report. Is it a rhythm that clings while the dog maintains a regular approach through the post wood, or the intermittent and erratic sound when the dog works with the smell? A GPS collar cannot tell you that in real time.
Many would say that a bell is outdated and lower than a modern GPS collar. I would say that they each have their strengths and weaknesses. When a dog stops with a bell, you instantly know, against approximately five seconds, it must be confirmed to confirm that it is arrested and the minimum 2.5 seconds that need to transmit to the manager. I am often on the way to a dog stopped before the Telltale Bip and vibrates the alerts of my vest. I draw a hard line in the sand when it comes to choosing my hunting companions, and if I see a beep necklace coming out, the line would be equivalent to the Mariana trench. If a bell is the Vienna Philharmonic, then a beep necklace would be a group of high school Death. Of course, a beep collar can help kill birds, but the same goes for deforestation.
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Balance hunting traditions and technological progress
At the end of the day, hunting the birds of highlands for me concerns the dog. And as I immersed myself in the history of Gun dogs, it is interesting to learn the flow and the flow of popularity in certain breeds. Take, for example, Bracco Italiano, which many consider the ancestor of all pointing dogs. The 1700s marked the golden era for these dogs because they were favored by the Italian nobility. However, in the 1800s, the Bracco had fallen out of fashion for the settles and the more sporty pointers of England. While the game populations decreased, the Bracco could not hold a candle at the speed and the range of English dogs. At the end of the Second World War, the Bracco would have been considered in danger. I had never seen a Bracco before the mid -2000s, and now I see at least a dozen a year. I have no problem with them, but I will never direct someone towards them, and even less one myself. I believe that a pointer or a setter, which has almost as deep roots and just as interesting historical stories, are very superior animals for the way I pursued the game in North America. Is the Bracco equivalent to a double pistol and the pointer or the sector an automatic hunting rifle?
I would probably reserve the title “Autoloader of Dogs” for a versatile breed like the German pointer Wirehaired or the Deutsch Drahthaar, which is from the end of the 1800s, which makes it relatively new dog breeds. They do not exceed one aspect on another, but they are certainly an effective hunting machine in all arenas.
So why do we accept certain technological progress, while remaining closely on other old traditions? For me, it is respect and passion constantly growing for hunting birds. It is difficult to understand where we are currently when you do not understand how we arrived. Find out more about the history of the hunting rifle and bird dogs has created a more detailed tapestry of how I see sport. I certainly do not look at anyone with an autoloader, as I am known to wear one from time to time, but as my appreciation has developed, I find that less attractive. I now choose a breed of dog -based dog and I manage both a bell and GPS collar. It is a strange fusion of tradition and advancement which invents hunting, and which certainly does not disappear.