My wife Anna called him "Bulldoggy," but the pedigree read "Awbonnies Bull." He came to us in Jan 1990 as a young raw talent. Aloof almost to the point of reclusive, young Bull worked at close range and initially showed just a promise of the incredible drive that would later become his trademark. But Bull was a fast learner; with every hunt he gained experience. Later in my grouse gunning days I decided to shoot only pointed grouse, but when Bull came along, I was young and I shot wild flushes as well as pointed birds. One of Bull's early quirks was that every grouse he pointed that I killed, he would retrieve. At this time, however, he would not retrieve wild flushes. He would simply find them. But Mister, if you shot one, he'd pointed, he was on it fast and back on the double.
Bull was quickly gaining confidence and grouse wisdom. With that came the range I was seeking from a grouse dog, the better to hunt some of our wide mountain coverts with scattered birds. By season's end he was a 100 yard dog, though of course he was learning to adjust and hunt closer in the thick stuff. We hunted often, and my gunning diary shows that he pointed slightly more than half of the birds he encountered by season's end. He was hunting faster, too, and I pushed both him and myself. We were becoming a team.
I finally had the makings of the grouse dog I had dreamed of for so long. The next season seemed unusually slow in coming, but when November finally rolled around, we hit it where we had left off. During the course of our season in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, we would usually squeeze in an hour evening hunt during the week , hunt 6 to 8 hours on Saturday, and be back out Sunday afternoons for a 2 to 4 hour hunt after church. We hunted around 50 days, either alone or with the occasional companion in tow, and Bull came into his own: 109 productive points against only 5 bumps the entire season. The rules were simple - hard , wide and fast for Bull and myself. That season was his coming out party.
By the next November, true grit started kicking in. Bull was nearly 3 1/2, and his great stamina and bird sense made him a force in the grouse woods. Some grouse hunters want a dog that, once it hits a point to stay staunch until released to hunt on. That's a control issue, a cautious way to manage a dog supposedly so he doesn't push a bird into flight. I like dogs to develop enough bird sense to self relocate. You must by patient, observe carefully to know what's going on between the dog and his bird, and, ultimately trust the dog. Bull became very good at the point and run game. He followed running grouse with an uncanny knack for staying on the trail, boldly pushing them just enough to finally pin them without taking birds out. He also had become an unbelievable retriever of downed game, finding and fetching grouse my partners and I never even knew we hit.
In those days I had never even owned a e collar. Bull handled(mostly) but if he were on a running grouse you might as well get ready to hike however far it would take to find him on point with a bird. I had used bells before, but now I ran a Sonic collar, ATS made in Michigan by another English setter man, Terry DuPuis of Deadwood Kennels. This beeper was easy to hear and for the most part I could hear Bull hunting even if he rounded a point or spur on the mountain. He would run a consistent 200 yds in the open poplar woods and hit objectives such as a grape vine thicket or laurel patch, anything capable of holding birds. If pushed or if birds were scarce he might go 300 yards or more. He knew I would find him, and I did. It was tough hunting, and not for the faint of heart...or someone who hadn't learn to encourage and trust his dog.
By now Bull had developed what I would describe as grit or heart. So few ever reach such a pinnacle in grouse dog development. Few hunters ever truly know the thrill of hunting with a dog who could "make birds" when the other dogs couldn't, who could pin a grouse on one of those "out on a limb" finds and be locked down when you finally huffed on to the scene. That isn't a cut or comment meant to degrade other people's ideas about how a grouse dog should hunt. But to experience it is to know.
Any type of grouse hunting is a test of courage and will. Hunting the Appalachian mountains up and down steep slopes and over ridges tests not only the stamina but the inner fortitude of dog and man. Our rugged country and ruffed grouse shaped Bull and me, and for a number of years, we were at the top of our game.
We lost Bull Jan 1,2000, a few months shy of 12 years old. He had given his all, and I, mine.
Anna once quoted to me a novel used in her teaching, Where the Red Fern Grows: "'Old Dan only has two loves - you and hunting.' That is you and Bull. You can't get that back no matter how many dogs you go through. You were blessed to have him, Eric, and he was lucky to have you. He had such great desire to please you."
I don't use the word "great" very much; to be "great," to me, means to be singular, genuinely one-of-a-kind. To my mind, Awbonnies Bull , a dog of humble beginnings, was truly great, a grouse dog par excellence. I was so fortunate to have had such a special bond with a special dog. "Bulldog," I owe you much. It was an honor to have been your friend.