The Little 20
I wasn’t looking for one. Matter of fact I had already decided I had too many. Seems like this has happened before. Somebody will ask me if I want something and I open my mouth to say no and yes comes out. The question was “Do you want a bird dog?”
The correct answer to that question should be NO! A bird dog in eastern North Carolina means quail dog. Since there are not enough quail left to hunt there isn’t a logical reason to own a quail dog. They have to be fed, housed and carried to the Vet. They are hyper, bark a lot and can break out of Fort Knox when they smell something they want. Even worse this dog was a field trial dog. That means he will be extra hyper and prone to run great distances. Well the reason wasn’t logical but it was in my head from 60 years ago.
I saw my Grandad the last time 60 years ago but I knew him through the stories his friends and my Dad told. He was an old farmer in eastern Pamlico County. He was mostly self-educated but evidently very smart. He was well read and subscribed to newspapers from Chicago and New York. My Mother said he was like Ben Cartwright on “Bonanza.” Most important to me was the fact that he was a “gun man.” He was known for his shooting ability and literally hunted till the day he died. He had killed two deer on the day he suffered a fatal heart attack in 1956.
Even though he hunted deer when the opportunity arose he was best known for his quail hunting. This meant he had bird dogs. Usually several of them from what I heard. Quail were plentiful then and the terrain was different. The wooded areas would have fires sweep through every year and burn the underbrush and briars. As a result the woods were tall trees and low grass or broom straw underneath. Perfect for quail!
Quail have an instinct to hide when anything approaches and unless you know they are there you will almost step on them without ever seeing one. This is where the dog comes in. The quail dog runs ahead of the hunter and when he smells the quail he freezes in place until the hunters can get in position to flush the bird. This is called pointing. Then after the bird flushes (quail launch like bottle rockets) if the hunter brings one down the dog will locate it and bring it back to the hunter. This is the retrieve. If the first dog points and another bird dog approaches he should immediately point when he sees the other dog on point even though he hasn’t smelled or seen a bird. This is called backing. Point, back and retrieve are the holy trinity for a bird dog.
All through my youth I listened to countless stories about Grandad and his bird dogs. How his dogs were so smart they could do his taxes if they had thumbs and what a good shot he was with his “little 20.” That meant he was shooting a 20 gauge shotgun for quail. It took a little detective work when I was older but I found out the little 20 was a Lefever double barrel. He liked his big 10 gauge double on ducks and geese but said the 20 was just right for walking behind a dog all day. The choice of gauge or caliber for a gun was a big deal then. Frequent shortages made planning an important part of hunting. Ammo was rationed during war years and well stocked stores were hard to find during the depression.
My Aunt shared a story that I had never heard about Grandad. She said he would sit up at night during WWll and reload his shotgun shells. They were paper casings and would have holes burning through the sides before he would discard them. Grandad read in the Raleigh newspaper that a hardware store in Raleigh NC would sell a case of shotgun shells with every shotgun you purchased from them. First thing next morning he carried her (his daughter) to Bayboro and put her on the bus with instructions and money to purchase 5 single barrel shotguns and 5 cases of shells. A case was 500 rounds packed in a wooden box. She went to Raleigh and walked to the store and bought the guns and shells. Since she was quite attractive she convinced some young men to carry the ammo back to the bus (not everything has changed!) Grandad had enough ammo to last out the war! He gave away the shotguns to his favorite farm workers.
Rhonda went with me to meet Jay the bird dog. The owner had decided Jay had some faults that he would never overcome and was giving up on him as a field trial dog. He lived in the country and when you came down his driveway you knew you were in the right spot. Lots of dog pens, lots of dogs, horses, trailers and a quail house in the field. He met us and showed us Jay. He was total energy, jumping to the top of the fence. He put Jay in the box on the ATV and got two quail out of the quail house. After he released in the field we let Jay out of the box.
It was less than a minute and Jay was “on point”. Amazing to see that bundle of energy freeze completely motionless and wait for us. We took our time getting to him and he talked about Jay’s fault. When we approached the frozen dog and kicked the grass the bird exploded from the thick grass with wing beats too fast to count. As the bird flew away he fired a blank pistol to simulate the shot. Jay remained on point without blinking. He told me “now you will see what’s wrong. He approached Jay to touch him on the head and release him from the point. As he walked toward Jay his rear end squatted about an inch. That’s it! I can’t get him to stop squatting a little and it always takes off points. He told me he had spent 8 thousand dollars on the dog but decided it was a lost case and better to move on.
Jay went home with me. Everybody else that hunts with me has faults that make squatting one inch look pretty insignificant so I reasoned he would work for me. Rhonda is a push over for a pretty dog so that part was easy but I had another hurdle. Sammy and Dexter. Sammy is a 100 pound lab that is pure love. Dexter is a Yorkie that is focused on what he wants. He is 9 pounds of I want to do this my way. You have to chase him down when he gets out and if he sees something he wants like a frog he will hunt it all day.
As I expected Sammy and Jay became friends but Dexter would attack him every time he got a chance. Since I have to pay the vet bills I will just keep them separate. As a group, bird dogs have a high opinion of themselves and won’t let another dog dominate. Jay is the same way. He doesn’t want to fight but he won’t let another dog push him around.
After an adjustment period of a lot of love Jay has become my dog. I know why Grandad loved quail hunting now. It isn’t the taste of quail (fantastic) but rather a chance to hunt with amazing dogs. The dogs hunt like they do because that is who they are. They love what they do and it shows in their work. When they team up with a hunter he should feel honored to have a partner so dedicated and he will be humbled by their ethics.
We have already had a couple of good “hunts” on released quail. No it isn’t like hunting wild birds but it is our only option. Wild bird numbers are just too low for me to shoot one without remorse. And pen raised birds taste like chicken.
After the hunt last week I went back to work on guns. I was looking for parts for a double barrel on the internet and came across a gun for sale. I have more guns than I need and no way had I wanted to buy another one. In spite of that I looked just out of curiosity. It was a Lefever 20 gauge like Grandad’s little 20. It wasn’t perfect but the ad said a gunsmith should be able to correct the faults. It came yesterday.