David Trevallion was born on July 18, 1938, in Marylebone—as he likes to say, “barely a hundred yards from Purdey’s,” that is, from Audley House, the historic headquarters of James Purdey & Sons Gun & Rifle Makers, in London. It was more like 300 yards, but no matter. This made him officially a Cockney, as anyone realizes as soon as David opens his mouth. Although he has lived in the United States for 57 years now, the classic London working-man’s accent is unmistakable. If David slipped into rhyming slang, we might think we were in an off-Broadway rehearsal for My Fair Lady. Accents ..read more

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, while discussing the double standard that keeps women from being virtuous, the Wife of Bath relates her husband’s assertion that beautiful women are irresistibly seduced, but ugly women “for as a spaynel” will leap on every man they see. While that reference does little to help us understand the origins of the spaniel breeds, it does confirm the 14th Century use of the term “spaynel or spaniel” as generically referring to a dog. Similarly, for centuries the French word for spaniel, épagneul, had broad use. Much like the terms “braque,” “griffon,” an ..read more

The fleeting hours of the sun at that time in that place were comprised of varying moments of struggle and elegance, all in equal parts. A girl in her late teens walked the rolling grasslands with determination in her legs and wonder in her eyes and hope in her soul for what may come. Her gloved hands firmly held an over-and-under shotgun given to her by her father, a tool that was loaded and at the ready. She wore a tin-packer hat to hide her face from the sun. And from underneath, the brutal wind fiercely blew the long, blonde hair behind her. The flatlands of Central South Dakota lack the ..read more

After our travel from the United States to South America, we arrived at our lodge on the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains in Patagonia. During the last leg of the journey, the blacktop road out of San Martin de los Andes, Argentina, lasted about five minutes before converting into a packed-dirt surface for the next hour and a half. Until we reached the lodge, not a single trace of human existence was visible in any direction of the Patagonian steppe…not a building…not another vehicle…not a road sign…nothing. Even the clear blue heavens were devoid of visible aircraft or their contrails cr ..read more

When the subject of dogs used for hunting from antiquity to the present comes up, a number of breeds spring immediately to mind, mainly the sight hounds. But if historical analyses, records, and Irish folklore are accurate, the Irish water spaniel may also belong in that group of ancient breeds: The IWS is believed to be more than a thousand years old. It is an absolute certainty that they are more than 400 years old because “water spagnels” are both described and illustrated in the mid-1600s book Historie of the Foure-footed Beastes. Several centuries ago, there were three types of “water sp ..read more

Large white letters against a green brick façade spelled out “Darlington Gun Works” and confirmed the location of Jim Kelly and his shop. Otherwise, it hid in plain sight among the industrial buildings that dotted the four-lane highway on the outskirts of downtown Darlington, South Carolina. Inside the small storefront, historical posters, family photos, and vintage guns hung from the wood-paneled walls. Closer inspection revealed makes and models by Westley Richards, E.J. Churchill, A.H. Fox, and Parker Brothers. Two large carousels in the center of the room held several field-grade models b ..read more

From afar, a small white farmhouse stood alone on the prairie, resembling an illustrator’s rough pencil sketch. As we drew closer, the scene slowly became a blurred watercolor as it was backdropped by the horizon’s fluorescent reds and lavenders of the fresh evening dusk. Finally, the natural angles of the gravel road and the highline poles provided a clear perspective, converging our focal point onto the painting’s vivid front porch. And, it was there, in fact, that an artist from Missouri sat on a rocking chair, surrounded by new friends from across the nation, all discussing everything fro ..read more

Nothing on this earth brings smiles to our faces more than a picture of a puppy. Admit it. This fact is undeniable. Small furry bodies warmly fit easily in two hands when held. Eager eyes twinkle with love and wonder and loyalty when looking back at you. Energy exudes as they clumsily run across the grassy yard. A puddle of a pup melts in your lap after a long day of play. A bond between bird dog and owner seems intimate and eternal, hopefully, if all goes well. Nothing shows the potential of the uplands more than a picture of a puppy. When you finally make that fateful decision to bring a pu ..read more

In the minds of most wingshooters, Argentina equates to doves—not just a few doves, but millions and millions of them darkening the sky and presenting as targets until your barrels are too hot to touch and your shoulder is so badly bruised that it is starting to show on your back. While dove hunting is big business these days in Argentina and elaborate luxury lodges cater to mostly American and European hunting tourists, a majority of Argentinians don’t bother shooting the ubiquitous doves. Their passion is the pursuit of a far less common and vastly more challenging native upland gamebird th ..read more

While the lineage of most sporting breeds begins in Europe, the Boykin spaniel started domestically in rural South Carolina as an experiment that valued performance over pedigree. Corroborated oral histories in the book The Boykin Spaniel: South Carolina’s Dog confirm the encounter between Alexander L. White, a banker from Spartanburg, South Carolina, and a reddish-brown stray he named “Dumpy,” as occurring on a summer Sunday between 1905 and 1910. Their chance meeting happened near the First Presbyterian Church of Spartanburg, but apart from these facts, the details of that day vary. Some o ..read more