The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1922-09-07
. Ward Co. Fair-Sept. 1915 =
THE HUNTING DOG

Cnru Cle printed pages Oh DOCKS, CNe
writings of the ancient Egyptians,
and the picture writings of the cave
man, we have evidence of the fact
that the dog, Of one type or another,
has been used by sportsmen as COM
panion and aid on their hunting ex-
petitions.
Every sportsman who has enjoyed
the experience of owning hunting
dogs can tell you of particular one
which has been an outstanding exam
pie of marvellous intelligence. The
pleasure of teaching an intelligent
dog to obey his master is one that
only experience can give. The man
who broke his dog, which, while more
or less brutal, still gave some plea
sure because Of the obedience which
was given from fear. Then the fell
low who taught his dog, which was
an opposite of the method used by
the first. And then there was the
trainer who used a combination Of the
other two. All these were effective
and gained the desired results accord
ing to the makeup of the particular
dog upon which it was used, and the
temperament of the man using it.
This was followed by the pleasure
and the thrill of seeing them at work
in the fields, and the knowing that
when the time came they would show
you without fail the exact location of
the game sought. Why man, who en-
dowed with attributes not given to the
lower classes of animal life should find
it necessary to call upon the dog to
assist him in gaining results has al
ways been more or less Of a mooted
question. Perhaps because he was
enabled to get greater results in a
short time, perhaps because of ma
tural desire to save himself from eff
fort, and again for the pure love of
seeing a we'll trained animal perform
his duty.
l believe that North Dakota is
unique in the fact of being the only
state in the Union to prohibit the use
of the bird dog for hunting purposes.
That the prohibited use of hunting
dogs is not without precedent, we
have only to go back a few years to
the time when laws were enacted to
prevent the hunting of deer with dogs;
this brought about many controvers-
les, personal fights, and there are
known instances of murder being
enforced. These laws have become, by
common usage and experience, to be
looked upon as matter of fact. We
no longer hear of the deer hounds.
1t is unquestionably fact that if the
present North Dakota laws are kept
on the statute books, it will be but a
few years before the bird dog has be-
come extinct so far as our state is
concerned. At the present time there
is a great deal of talk going on, pro
and con, and there seems to be no
doubt but what this question will be
Brought before the legislature at the
session in 1923, and the advocates Of
both sides will undoubtedly marshall
all the forces and arguments to gain
the desired ends. To me, at this time,
the question is not one of. the right to
use, or not to use dog, but rather
the question as to the conservation OF
our native game birds for the future
generations. We who have lived in
North Dakota for the past three or
four decades have had the experience
of hunting our native game during
time when there were no restrictions
or at least none that were enforced
on the time we could hunt or the
that we might kill. We have
seen the sentiment grow, that game
should be protected. Laws have been
enacted and enforced. The time limit
for open season has been advanced
from time to time until now only a
month is given in which it is lawful
to hunt the prairie chicken and the
grouse. We have seen the centers of
game distribution moved further and
further West in the state. We have
seen the supply diminished until it
seemed that it were no use to 60
afield. At the present time we are
an open season when
there has never been greater num-