Many years ago, while mulling over my finances, I wondered to a friend how much money I could save by going deer hunting. After my friend described the costs (license, gun, ammunition for practice and hunting, processing, and freezer storage) and difficulties (I realized I'd have to get the deer to jump into the truck before I dispatched it--yes, I know that's illegal, I was kidding!), I decided to go on sneaking up to meat in the frozen food aisle.
But then I met Tawna Skinner, Anita Andrus, and their assorted wire-haired pointing griffons. Tawna invited me to watch them train their dogs at a wetland near town. I saw dogs and people working together to catch and retrieve wild birds--just the right size for me to wrestle into the truck. I still don't hunt my own meat, but I've learned about remarkable human-canine partnerships. I wrote about them in Gals with Griffons, in the fall, 2022 issue of Big Sky Journal.
