"To shoot a grouse exacts something from the thinking man. It requires principle, which like good manners is not old-fashioned and never has been. It is something in your heart and in your head. The perceptive gunner is immersed in the style and charm of his dog’s work and in the shot, but with it all, he is one with what happens to the bird. His shooting is not vindictive, a getting-even because the grouse is so hard to hit. To regret a miss is normal animal response to temporary failure, not to be confused with sentient “the bastard got away.” Emotions are drawn to such thin threads they reach the breaking point, but when finely-honed tensions balance, shooting becomes a spiritual thing between you and the grouse."
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George Bird Evans
George Bird Evans (28 December 1906 – 5 May 1998) was an author, an artist, a dog breeder, and a sportsman. Evans' most notable contributions are in the area of upland gunning with English Setters. Over the course of his career, Evans authored over two dozen books and several hundred magazine articles on this subject, becoming one of the world's foremost authorities on upland gunning and bird dogs.
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