Ben got the call out of the blue. He had never heard of Ronnie Bowles. The young man introduced himself as an aspiring amateur horseback field trailer from Maryland (Maryland, where in Hell can you run a bird dog in Maryland? Ben thought. Then he remembered its eastern shore region and its beautiful farms.) Ronnie said he had a problem he could not solve and wondered if Ben would be willing to discuss it. Ben said sure.
“Mr. Ben, my problem is scouting. As you know, everybody has to help eachother in the game now, but no body wants to trade scouting with me ‘cause I cannot find a dog that’s pointed. I can find one moving pretty good, but if it’s pointed I just don’t see it. How do you learn to see one that’s pointed?”
Ben chuckled to himself, tried to keep Ronnie from hearing him. How many times had he heard this lament? Many, over all his long years.
“It’s a problem for many. Best answer I ever heard was told me by Luke Weaver. He said he had the problem bad. Then he asked Mr. George Moreland’s (that’s Big George, Bubba’s daddy) scout, Walker Lee, who said, ‘Just look for something ain’t s’posed to be there.’ That idea in his head helped him somehow,” Ben said.
Ronnie was silent a few seconds, then said, “Thank you, Mr. Ben. I’ll try that, let you know. Thank you for taking time to talk to me.”
At the end of that season, Ronnie Bowles called Ben again. “Want to thank you, Mr. Ben. That tip on seeing a dog pointed helped. And thank Mr. Luke for me too.” Ben smiled, then after he and Ronnie hung up, he called Luke, who was in the hospital getting a pacemaker.
I was riding with Joe Bush at The Continental. I asked him how he found them so well.
Joe , in that distinctive voice said.
“You work the dog and you gets to know the dog. When he gone you say, where you reckon he gone to. And you go there and there he be”