Barking up the right tree
The forest is alive with noise. Poju has been barking constantly for the past half hour. He’s spotted our quarry and is urging us forward to bag the prize. I’m waiting with Poju’s handler, Miranda Frings, on the fringe of a patch of marshland, but somewhere between us and the dog my fellow hunter, Daniel Smith, is edging his way towards the sound’s source. His slow, stealthy movements are at odds with my own racing pulse. There’s a still quality to the afternoon that surrounds and emphasises the dog’s insistent barking. Then a sharp bang splits the air, followed by silence — the bird has fallen. Poju, who was named as Sweden’s champion in 2019, has done his job well and is now quiet once more.
Hunting by sound
The tactics are simple to understand, if not always to execute. Miranda releases Poju in an area she knows to be frequented by the birds
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