We worked dogs for a very long time up a long, gradual slope to a position at the top of a rolling Oregon hill. From that elevated vantage point, I swear I could see the curvature of the earth. My moment of reflection about the bright blue sky, the puffy white clouds, and the cascading hills…came to an end in a snap: Titan, a wiry griffon, was locked up on point. I had no choice but to walk him up along the edge.

When I got close, a single chukar partridge erupted out of the grass. The bird flew in my favorite direction, a straight right-to-left, with an added variable: the cagey critter was descending the slope. If I waited too long it’d be out of range, and I reacted.