She was tied to a clothesline. She didn't look like much. She was way too skinny.

I first saw Princess when I went up pick up my boat. It was in a shed, and some renters lived in the house next to the shed. They owned Princess. My wife came home from school one day and told me that she had seen this pointer digging a hole, and that she had never seen a dog dig a hole like that since, Cocoa. Cocoa was my first pointer. She was by Allegheny Sport. She was the most exciting bird most people had ever seen. She had fire in her eyes.

I commented on the pup a few times when I went to pick up my boat. The guy was a wielder, and ran out of work.

I went to get my boat and the wife came to me, and asked if I'd take Princess. I was looking for a pup, but didn't want to get one that didn't hunt. I agreed to take her home and put her with a trainer. My wife said that we were not going to have a dog named Princess. We shortened her name to Sis, and the next day the trainer took her away.

The first time I went to see Sis, we couldn't catch her in a 4 acre dog yard. Two weeks later the trainer called me and wanted me to put her on the circuit. I told him that I didn't have the papers. He told me that he could get some.

The trainer never did do much, but Sis went on to be the best bird dog on wild birds, most people had ever seen.

Do you want to read a couple of my hunting stories about, Sis from a log I kept in 1992? You're going to get them.

good story--like to read some more.

Well, she was just 17(months),
You know what I mean,
And the way she looked was way beyond compare.
So how could I hunt with another (whoa)
When I saw her standin' there.

Well she looked at me, and I, I could see
That before too long I'd fall in love with her.
She wouldn't hunt with another (whoa)
When I saw her standin' there.

Well, my heart went "boom,"
When I crossed that room,
And I held her paw in mine...

Well, we danced through the night,
And we held each other tight,
And before too long I fell in love with her.
Now, I'll never flush with another (whoa)
When I saw her standing there

somebody owes me a new computer screen

From my 1991-1992 log:

She was the best hot weather dog I've ever seen. I took her up around coleman after I'd gotten her back from the trainer. Birds were scarce, the temperature was in the eighties, and the wind was strong out of the south. We hunted three days with five dogs and found fifteen coveys. Sis found fourteen of them. Other dogs would roll in the ponds. Sis would bite the water and move on.


November 11, 1991: I went out alone with Ginger, and Sis today. Scenting was as good today as it was bad yesterday. It was a good day. I've had good days before, but I've probably never had a better 45 minutes. Sis pointed 5 coveys in 45 minutes. She chased after a couple of the flushes, but I can forgive her when we're alone. I knocked down 6 birds and picked up 6 birds.

Footnote: There might be one covey on that pasture this year.

More tomorrow!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 12, 1992: This was a hunt I'll treasure forever. I went out this morning with ET, and SK. We hunted the Goat pasture near Wharton. It was wet and the water was standint in the low places. The quail were on the ridges.I don't know how many coveys we got up. My guess is 12 to 14. Some ridges had two or three coveys in a small area. All the coveys were pointed. Some were devided finds that we originally thought was a point and a back.

Sis made a little loop to hunt by herself.

Ginger pointed three coveys while Sis was gone. Her second was a covey that brought old memories of South Texas hunts during her prime. It's not classic, but the covey was running and she stayed with them. She knew what she was doing and we knew what she was doing. She had a perfact location when the birds stopped. She went on to point several more times including a dead bird that we had shot out of our first covey.

Ginger was always the least trouble of any dog i've ever owned. Cathy sneaked her in several times to sleep with her over the holidays. She was a lady.

We knocked down 37 birds and picked up 34 birds.

Ginger died in her kennel after the hunt.

January 25, 1992: Sis and I met Rob F, and Ron C at the pasture across from Hines nurseries. Sis found seven or eight coveys.She did an excellent job finding the dead birds. She flagged some at the beginning, but gained intensity as she pointed more singles, and the shooting picked up. We knocked down 27 birds and picked up 26.


Footnote: Everyone in the Houston area knows the location of Hines Nurseries. It's two miles from my house. There were up to twenty coveys on that section of land when I wrote this log. There are less than three over there now. First they took the cattle off of the pasture. You have to have cattle in Texas to have quail. Next they started a nursery, on the north half. You could see quail along the road all they way from there to Katy. You have to have contiguous habitat. Everything north of there is developing into subdivisions. Houston is not the heart of quail country in Texas, but what a downward trend.

We are now like my uncle's cow goldie, tied to a stake and milked at regular intervals..............

poopy ....you're gonna fit in just fine around here!........welcome

Poopypants , poopypants.............really poopypants?
anyone w/ a handle like that has got to be quite a character.
Got any stories?

Well, I guess I could start with my handle. Years ago at a trial in Tenn. I had a dog go on point in a thicket. Dang dog started jumping 90 degrees to the left, point for a minute and then jump 180 back to the right. Judge said if that dog don't have two covies you best be picken her up. Well I said if she does I need some help, judge let me use my scout to flush to the left and I flushed to the right. I walked about 40 feet to the left and ole Jess my scout walked about the same to the right.

I looked back about this time as I was getting real nervous about the whole situation and the dang dog was about to corkscrew herself in to the ground. But she never took a step just rotaten from left to right and right to left. Judge hollared unproductive and was getten back on his horse when two of the biggest covies ever seen by those assembled rose above the gallery. The dog fell over from dizyness.

Later the judge was given me and the dog the first place trophy and a ladigo leather flushing whip and asked if the dog had ever done anything like that before. I told him no and when she did it this time I didn't know whether to poop or go naked. He said he figured it was the former and every since the field trial boys been calling me poopypants. Don't know that I take to that to well but sure enough liked that little gyp. As she grew older and gained more experience she'd point several singles at a time and dang near do a 360. Folks used line up during the season to hunt over the old girl. When she passed we put up a head stone with a dog pointing left and one pointing to the right.

Always wanted some pups outa her but not sure I'd know whether to poop or you know go naked if I had another one like her. Those were some good old times...............

Well poopy I figured you for a character and you sure didn't disappoint!
I don't know where to start.
Let's see. I don't believe I caught the name of this whirling dervish.
Also, how was she on a back?
You know all that jumping around might un nerve a less seasoned shooter.

Well there Tex she was out of dog named Builders Addition and we ended up registering that little gyp as Addition's Spinner if memory serves me and it don't sometimes. I always put her down with one dog so as not to confuse her, so she only backed one dog at a time. I believe if given the opertunity she might just back a bunch of them but like I said didn't want to confuse the little girl. Her call name was Girl but most folks that new her called her Spinner.

Spinner .................well what else could you have called her. Good dog handling, you know only hunting her w/ one dog at a time.
poopy(still can't wrap my brain around that), I'm sure gonna enjoy you on the forum!

January 30, 31, and February 1, 1992: Sis, Gene D, and I were the guests of Ed B and his cur named Guy on their lease near Pettus. Ed's wife saw someone throw Guy in a ditch when he was a puppy. Friends of Animals would not take him because he was not eight weeks old. Ed had several hundred dollars of water hoses and other chewables invested in him when he was six months old. The first time he took Guy hunting he knocked down 21 birds and Guy retrieved 20 of them.

Guy was offended when Gene sat in the right front seat of the pickup. That was Guys's seat. He later warmed up to Gene when he found out that he was a good shot.

Guy won't eat dog food on a hunting trip. He prefers T-bones, fried catfish, hushpuppies, and cookies.

Sis found 6 coveys Thursday afternoon, 16 Friday, and 9 Saturday morning. It was rough country so I did not use the collar on her. She moved around on some coveys and flagged some. We moved six additional coveys with the truck.

Guy made some remarkable retrieves. We only lost 2 birds. One was in a hole and we made Guy leave it after a valiant effort to dig it out. We refused to let him go after the second, because it was in prickly pear.

We knocked down 73 birds and picked up 71.

February 8, 1992: Sis and I hunted the pasture across from Hines Nurseries with Ron C, Berry G, and Peter P. Peter was a shooter. He shot a side by side and doubled twice. Sis did fine. She pointed seven coveys. We failed to find three or four coveys on the south end of the pasture. They could have been out in the green oats. We knocked down 17 birds and picked up 17.


Footnote: Ron was the saes manager for Hines Nurseries. They owned the pasture. Peter owned a chain of retail nurseries in N.O. He was good but I was stroking him a little. Ron mailed him a copy of my log. He came back to hunt a couple of years after that, and made Hines his exclusive wholesaler.

Also, I'm picking some of the better hunts. Some of them were not that good. I email fishing reports to the Chronicle, but I don't report when I didn't catch any fish. This was not one of my best years.

Good stories Bill. Wonder if it will ever be that way again.

February 21, 22, and 23, 1992: Sis, Bubba W, Truman P, and I met Ron P at Truman's ranch north of Stephenville. We hunted a couple of hours Friday afternoon, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon. We found four coveys Friday afternoon, sixteen Saturday. Sis did fine. We had three other dogs and Sis found 14 coveys. The birds held as well as I've ever seen them at the end of the season. The birds were somewhat scarce, but better than two years ago. It'll be very good next year with a good hatch this summer. You can't hunt with Ron and not have a good time. Truman was a wonderful host. The camphouse was decent (three baths, three bedrooms, maid service and a well stocked kitchen). It was a fitting end to a good year. We knocked down 21 birds and picked up 20.

Summary: It was a good season. I can't wait until next year. We knocked down a total of 498 birds and picked up 479. We only shot un-pointed birds on the Pettis hunt. I hunted 48 days.

The season won was saddened by the death of Ginger and the loss of Mel's eye. ( Mel was a Brittany. Someone shot his eye out. I was not there)

Footnote: Most of my hunts that season was on a lease near Columbus. We limited ourselves to 6 birds per hunt. I never really saw the local decline coming, because I didn't hunt that area again for several years.

Nice stories Bill - I keep trying to write a log of my hunts and experiences but I don't do a very good job of staying with it. I'd like for my grandkids to be able to read and experience it in the years to come. I must do better.

Thanks for posting.

Pictures were much more difficult to come by back in those days. I'm now using pictures to re-live my hunts. I have dozens of my current dogs. I only have a cuple of Ginger and Sis.

Here's Sis and me on the pasture near Columbus;



Here's Ginger and Sis;



I don't have a scanner. I had to use a poor man's scanner. I took pictures of old photographs. I remember that I set up the second picture with a cripple from my vest.

I enjoy reading your hunting log. It reminds me of my grand father. He raised, trained and hunted with English pointers for as far back as I can remember. Its been sixteen years since he past away.

Great thread Bill, enjoyed the glimpse into the past experiences of a man and his dogs. I wish it was still like that- as far as the birds go anyway.

Great Stories Bill. Makes me want to try to keep up my log on my first bird dog. Keep'um comin!

Here you go;

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