In the 80 acre field below camp we often see large flocks with as many as 60 or 70 birds, about 25% being toms and jakes. The number of mature longbeards among them is usually fewer than 10. When the breeding gets hot and heavy the jakes gang up and single out a longbeard and run him off... then they move on to the next longbeard and the next and the next until only the jakes remain. The longbeards don’t have the sense to protect one of their kind - they’re too busy trying to corral a hen.
That is the exact scenario that provided two jakes with one shot for me two years ago.
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"I'm a Setter man.
Not because I think they're better than the other breeds,
but because I'm a romantic - stuck on tradition - and to me, a Setter just "belongs" in the grouse picture."
George King, "That's Ruff", 2010 - a timeless classic.
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