The grouse trials and prairie trials are the purest ones left. I have the old book by Horace Lytle from the 30s 40s. He said the grouse setters from Pennsylvania etc were the best ones in the country and offered evidence to back it up. Maybe he was right then and now! A fellow should try to get a copy of Lytle and Er Shelley's book to get some historical perspective on trials and training methods.

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: There are still a Few great
: venues for a real test on real wild game
: birds thank heaven.The old gene pool is
: getting pretty slim.Both you guys have an
: extra Merry Xmas
: Don
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: I agree Don but unfortunately in the East,
: wild bird trials are pretty much limited to
: grouse and woodcock. I used to go out to
: the Dakotas to train in the summer and I
: loved it there. Wide open grounds and wild
: birds! What could be better? And while
: I've only been south a few times, I was
: disappointed in what I saw the first time I
: was there. Lots of small fields (I hate
: that kind of country) primarily, dogs
: running close and handling. When I was
: younger, when I would hear people
: complaining about their lost dog, I would
: often say, "I wouldn't own a d^mn dog
: that never got lost!"
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