Show RAY frost brown stubble and G GRAY the green of the pines but even better looking the black and white or the brown and white of a pointer or setter better freezing into action on the covey point the only competitor who reaches top competitive form as immovable as marble quail hunting with a good dog may not be the king of sports but a good many millions think so go and their day far ahead and the dog is really the king of this autumn and winter k thrill this occurred to us ns when we ran ww into andy sage the tong long island sportsman who owns and develops more champion field trial Grantlan dRice flos dogs than anyone vve tye can recall off hand his dogs have won the national championship six times four of them m in a row against the former record of two in a row they have also won the big futurity seven times in a row and they will be just as hard to beat in the coming tests on ahead my best dog mr sage said is ariel winner of six championships ariel is now seven years old but can still range with the best there are three fundamental qualities that make a great bird dog scent speed and stamina in field trial tests there is also the matter of ranging class or form to be considered in my opinion it is harder to breed and develop a champion dog than it is a champion horse hoise there are many good bird dogs of course but few great ones that can win championships against the best ariel is my pick but luminary far behind field trial thrills clyde morton trains the sage entries in a secluded hamlet known as alberta ala which far away from selma seima these championship field trials range all the way from saskatchewan and duluth to east tennessee and while there are no windows no football or baseball cheering they have just as great a thrill for those who love the hunting dog and who travel far distances to see the best at work the judges in these championship tests give their time attention and devotion to their work without any pay and they contribute a big part to any field trials success the thousands of ex servicemen and millions of others now in the woods and fields enjoy a double thrill the first is the work of the dogs without any question the most eager form of life in pursuit of the quarry the next thrill comes at the coveys coneys rise when the tense tenie silence is suddenly broken by the whirr of many wings an easy looking target but an elusive one except for the experts the first average tendency is to shoot too quickly and also to blaze away at the covey in place of selecting a single or double target one of your correspondents greatest shocks is to fire and see no feathers fall where so many feathers seemed to be at a close and range when you take up the major thrills of sport the football player can offer a long run through a broken field or a long completed pass the golfer has his long iron dead to the pin the baseball player can counter with the home run or the triple the horse player will take his chance on hitting a 50 to 1 shot on the nose or winning a husky daily double the elusive turkey you can hear the clamor of the 10 million fishermen moving from trout out to bass to salmon to tarpon but ut the nearest thrill to the dogs arking working and the covey rise is to see e a wild turkey light in a tall pine close to your hideout hide out and then try w ta spot him later only 20 ya yards ads away Is all 20 pounds of him suddenly vanish anish and yet you know he is there here ere is the greatest of cfall all camou biage ge artists the incomparable will 0 the wisp yes evet even with a few occasional diamondbacks diamond backs thrown in ill take turkey key hunting and give you the memory of of a 40 foot putt with the statch all squared on the green no wonder andy sage would rather have ave ariel than another man 0 war or w would he bield beld trials now cover a big part 01 the country for example duluth has as become in this a le leading center aspect respect where next spring duluth sportsmen expect to hold one of the leading acting trials of the season thelast the east RISO 0 o has its trials and its share of good dogs for or here is sport in the final mean iiii of the word |