Author Jim Casada pauses with a pointer after a successful hunt. Good dogs are vital on upland hunts. Photo courtesy of Jim Casada

There's something about sporting dogs that stirs the hunter's soul in an incomparable fashion. Lest you have doubts on that score, let's turn briefly to the thoughts of some of America's great sporting scribes on the subject.

The incomparable Robert Ruark, describing a bird-hunting experience from his boyhood with big, rangy English pointers, wrote in The Old Man and the Boy: "That walk up to where the dogs were painted against the side of a hill was the longest, happiest journey I ever took in my life."

Similarly, Nash Buckingham, a Tennessee scribe who served as a judge at the Grand National a number of times along with devoting a lifetime to the pursuit of Mr. Bob, repeatedly waxed eloquent on the boundless joys a pointer could bring to his human hunting companion.

When it comes to evoking the deep, mystical meaning of the interaction between a man and a pointer, however, no one has ever quite matched the words of bird-hunting's poet laureate, Havilah Babcock. He reckoned that "the best legacy a man could leave his grandson is a good gun and a good bird dog."

About all I would add is that a canine companion in the form of a capable, well-trained and fit pointer brings an element to a day afield that endures in the mind long after the last covey rise and far beyond a staunch point at sunset. A pointer locked on birds is the heart, the very essence, of hunting at its finest. With that in mind, what follows is insight from some of today's finest pointing dog men, true experts as trainers and as hunters, on how to get the peak in terms of performance from your pointer.

High-dollar lawyers often begin their presentations to juries through a process known as "qualifying the witness," and perhaps that's a logical place for us to begin as well. The three "witnesses" to be presented here are George Hickox, Nolan Huffman and Rick Snipes. Hickox and Huffman are two of the best-known names in the dog-training world, while Snipes, a long-time personal friend, has to rank as the finest, most dedicated bird hunter I have ever encountered.

Hickox owns Grouse Wing Kennels (www.grousewing.com), while Huffman owns Beeline Brittanys (www.beelinebrittanys.com). In their respective fields, they have long garnered national reputations and laurels. Hickox has campaigned numerous field and National High Point champions. In his career, he has over 100 field trial placements adorning his résumé. He serves as the Hunting Dog Editor for Shooting Sportsman magazine, writes dog-training columns for both Pointing Dog Journal and Retriever Journal, and has produced a number of instructional videos on various aspects of dog training.

Huffman, who like Hickox earns his livelihood as a trainer, is virtually a legend in the highly competitive ranks of the National Shoot to Retrieve Association (NSTRA). Over the years, he has won scores of NSTRA events, and his dog, Buddy, alone has been triumphant in 32 such events. Another of his Brittany spaniels, Brave, was the 2003 NSTRA dog of the year. In the 2004 Quail Unlimited National Championship, Buddy took first place, while another of his dogs (sired by Buddy), Bear, was the runner-up.