KASPAAS
KOBUS DE KOCK
I’ve been dreaming about a certain shallow little pannetjie in the Soutrivier, not far from where I live in Franskraal, a small seaside village. The Western Cape bird shooting season is (to my mind anyway) rather strange, with the duck season opening on 1 January and closing on 30 June. Readers undoubtedly know that Egyptian geese and spurwing geese are open all year round. However, this is a winter rainfall area and by the time my favourite little pannetjie is full and inundated with all kinds of ducks, the season is already closed.
Perhaps there is some method to Cape Nature’s madness – their seasons are making it very difficult for a wildfowler to get everything right. Perhaps it’s a round-about way of protecting the birds? The little pannetjie has frustrated me for many years. Until now, when we had an unusual heavy spell of rain in January. When I phoned the farm manager he told me they have already had more than 100mm of rain. “Don’t forget your gumboots,” he added. It was obviously very wet.
Trusting what I have learnt over many years of visiting this place, I just had to get out there and see for myself. Would the ducks be there this early in the year? There was also the small matter of a gundog. Who was going to retrieve for me?
So, after careful considering a whole range of options as a replacement for Polka I decided on a BBR and registered him as Kaspaas. As a very sought-after breed there was only one rather old dog that I could get at short notice. Unfortunately, I had some problems with KUSA – it took some explaining that a Bristle Beard Retriever ( baardbekapporteerhond in Afrikaans) was actually an ancient breed right from the times (pages) of Kaspaas and Nefie. Eventually I had to threaten with tant Engeltjie before they reluctantly entered the BBR as a new breed in the South African Gundog Register. Of course, I had to supply a detailed description of the “Breed Standard” of the BBR before KUSA would enter it.
So, for the benefit of all interested parties, here is the description that appears in KUSA’s books: General Appearance: A broad thick-set but well-proportioned versatile retriever. Characteristics: Powerful and immensely strong, willing and capable of carrying large numbers of spurwing geese balanced over its shoulders, especially if personally involved with collecting the birds. Limited olfactory capabilities, i.e. not known as overly “nosy.”
Temperament: Gentle and affectionate, prone to bouts of introspective sulking when deprived of wing shooting for any length of time. Inclined to complaints when wine stocks are low. Loyal with a tendency to narcolepsy after midday lunch.
Head, scull and mouth: Griffonlike covered in definitive bristles with a propensity to hide headshape and size. Neck short but well-proportioned and set in the front at base of scull between ears and beard. Coat reminiscent of the Breekwater-line of mixed salt and pepper colours, white, liver, silver, black and grey. Solid colours are highly undesirable.
Bare patches are acceptable. An occasional red nose should not be defaulted.
Body: Midline dominant but well-balanced with driving hind quarters. As the tail is rudimentary, docking is considered unnecessary.
Gait and movement: Slow and methodical plod, but highly determined. Given time can cover huge distances with heavy loads. Short coupled with powerful hind leg action.
Note: Male animals should have two normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. (Concerning the latter I personally checked Kaspaas and he complies.)
For a more graphic description I referred them to any one of T.O. Honiball’s many cartoons, every one of them almost a perfect rendition of what a good BBR should look like. Unfortunately, for some or other silly reason the humourless KUSA secretariat would not accept that link.
READY FOR ACTION
I now had a gundog and the farm I had in mind was ideal to put my new and inexperienced Kaspaas through his paces. The water was shallow and being January, hopefully nice and warm. There were also no extensive reed beds or papyrus stands to hide an injured goose. Let’s see, I thought, perhaps the old dog was up to it.
The ducks massed above us like they were flocking over the eastern shores of Chesapeake Bay, yellow bills and Cape shovelers, red-billed teal and Cape
teal, hundreds of them. The first yellow bill I shot still had some flight left in him – the wind carried the dropping, fluttering bird right across the small pan and it hit the ground somewhere close to the vegetated verge. At the shot a big flock of spurwing took off from an even smaller little side pan where they were loafing in the late afternoon sun. I did not see them on the walk in. Momentarily undecided where the danger was, they turned rather haphazardly but well clear of me and flew down the valley. Huge, lumbering beautiful black birds struggling into the strong southeaster. A magnificent sight if ever I saw one.
Then a lot of gyppos swarmed from lower down the valley and flew to safety up against the opposite bank where they settled in an open field. With safety in numbers and clear visibility for hundreds of yards in all directions, they obviously felt pretty safe. Those gyppos are clever birds.
It was going to be a tough first retrieve for Kaspaas, with the bird far off and somewhere in between the grass, brakbossies and short restios. A winged bird can crawl deep into vegetation and give you a damn difficult time to find. Even when dead, the wind alone could have blown the bird into deep cover. Kaspaas will have to use his nose. I was rather worried, the breed is not known for their good noses. Not like a blood hound or a spaniel anyway. However, at times it’s not too bad at sniffing out a coffee Pinotage or a well-wooded Cabernet, but that’s about all.
Anyway, what could I do, so I sent him off on the long retrieve, all around the pan right to the other side where his attention was momentarily distracted by a beautiful terrapin shell, which he would have retrieved if it wasn’t for all the ants still working on cleaning the rotting carcass. I was quite relieved when Kaspaas obeyed my frantic shouts, the stinking carapace would have been too much for me. Dogs seems to enjoy the smelliest stuff!
Not very fast but methodical and thorough, I thought, as I watched and evaluated the BBR. He took direction quite well and intelligently, systematically quartered the area where I thought the yellow-billed duck could be, kicking below dense clumps of grass and stomping in and on others. Then he found the duck where it was washed up against some grass, open and in plain sight, still bobbing on the surface. It was an immediate confidence booster for the dog and I thought his step was a lot lighter, making quick time back to our hide. His first retrieve was a great success.
The next duck fell right in the middle of the pan. This was the big moment… his first full on water retrieve was staring him in the eye. I could see Kaspaas working out the possibilities. The wind was blowing hard and given enough time would probably blow the duck across the pan where he could then pick it up on the lee shore. He kept looking at the bird and realised that, at the rate it was drifting, the maths did not add up. It would probably take until deep into the night and then the bird would be lost in the dark anyway. I encouraged him strongly.
Now is not the time to be a pansy I told him (intrinsic motivation) show your breed and get out there and fetch the bird. I cannot quite remember how long it took him to make up his mind but I was on the point of throwing in a couple of “damns” and “bloodies” when I noticed that he was pulling off his gumboots. (Why he insists on wearing those awful green koöperasie boots when he was naturally endowed with the most wonderful pair of number eight flat feet, not webbed but equally effective, only he will ever know.)
Then the pants came off too. Obviously scared of them getting wet. That wouldn’t do for a top-notch retriever I thought, perhaps he was worried about the southeaster blowing too cold around his wet legs. When he eventually entered the water it was a wonderful sight to behold: “No other dog got into the water that way, practically and easily and beautifully and at the same time as though he was conferring a warm and generous favour to the pan by stepping into the water.” Vintage Hemingway.
Kaspaas had nothing to fear. The water was nice and warm, and only came up to his knees. Back on dry land the BBR proceeded to put on his trousers and the green boots, which he then had to get rid of again when the next duck hit the water. Thinking that it would simply be better to leave the green boots off, he quickly changed his mind when a gyppo fell in between the bushes and he had to run for it, still barefoot. Shame, it obviously hurt his feet. Will have to add “soft feet” to the breed standards.
HEADING HOME
Loaded with several spurwing, gyppos and ducks Kaspaas complained bitterly when I asked him to carry the ammo satchel and deck chair as well, so I offered to carry the gun. It kept on slipping off his back anyway.
“I’m thirsty, a cold beer would be nice now,” said Kaspaas.
“Strange,” I replied, “you normally drink Chenin Blanc. You should have drunk more water, you were in and out of the pan all afternoon.”
“The brak water gives me the squirts.”
“It’s fresh now, after all the rain. I’m impressed, you’re retrieving was not too bad.”
“Loop bars,” said Kaspaas, “it was excellent, flippen fantastic I would think, I haven’t lost a single bird. And now you make me carry all this stuff.”
“OK, thanks man, you are a good gundog.”
“My mother said that too.” “I think it’s OK if we go on another outing.”
A smile lit up Kaspaas’s face. It was pitch dark when we got back to the car. A million stars sparkled above Kaspaas and me. Hell, it was good to be back in the veld again.