Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #763343 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

Synopsis
This is a chronicle of the first hunting season with the author's Springer spaniel. "A Rough-Shooting Dog" is the compelling account of a man and his best friend - an English Springer spaniel named Jenny. The author chronicles the training and first hunting season of his beloved canine friend and hunting companion, taking the reader into the field in pursuit of woodcock, pheasant, and grouse - noting that the two are a team and must work closely together in order to be successful hunters. Fergus discusses the rough shoots: cattail slough, beaver pond, alder jungle, and old orchards - all the while teaching the reader a little about life. It is a book about the dramas, joys, and frustrations of hunting with a dog - and a reflection about land, wildlife, and the ways in which these facets of the natural world can be experienced fully through upland bird hunting.

Customer Reviews

A wonderful surprise
I found this one by accident in the local library. The title was the flash of motion; the cover confirmed that this book was, indeed, something I should have been seeking; and a few minutes' idling through the first chapter snared my full attention. Fergus is a rare combination of sophistication, rural woodsense, and honest observation (within and without). He's the "thoughtful action" sort of character, intelligent and very much at ease in his chosen home, who so puzzles and disquiets our urban cousins who simply have no frame of reference in which he fits. His springer spaniel Jenny sounds like a godsend as hunting dogs go, but with enough flaws to keep her off any pedestal, and enough love of the hunt to keep her in the field. My father's long-gone springer spaniel Maxie was the legend around our pheasant-oriented household in Nebraska, so for me, Fergus's essays about his relationship with Jenny provide insight into my father's character. Of course this book will be wrapped under my dad's tree this Christmas. Not to be missed--just don't read it in July, with grouse season several months away.