Gary Lewis / For The BulletinSteve Macdonald, a Navy veteran from Pennsylvania, was the winner of an essay contest, and the prize was the 11-month-old pup, donated by Sage Brush Gun Dogs.

“What brought you to this point in your life, and what made you want an upland bird hunting dog?”

In Pennsylvania, a 29-year veteran of the U.S. Navy pondered that question posed by an English teacher from the Puyallup Valley. In Eastern Washington, a German shorthaired pointer pup named Fritz learned to point, to scent-trail, to retrieve, to serve.

“What are your plans for using this dog for the sport of upland bird hunting, and how are you going to pass the tradition of the sport on to family, friends and others?”

The contest was cooked up by Heath Gunns, from Honored American Veterans Afield (HAVA); Kelly Wheeler, an English teacher; and Scott Samson, a breeder and trainer of bird dogs from Ellensburg, Washington. Any veteran of the Armed Forces had a chance to “adopt Fritz” and be trained in the field in the proper handling of the young GSP pup.

HAVA’s mission, according to chairman Tom Taylor, “is to assist the veteran’s recovery by getting them back outdoors.” The promotion ran from April 15 through May 15.

“A lifetime of service has brought me to where I am today, and it keeps me here.” So began the essay turned in by Steve Macdonald. He joined the Navy in 1985 and served through many shipboard deployments and a tour in Iraq.

Today, he wrote, he serves the systems and processes of the institution and he missed the interaction with the individuals. That led him to volunteer with a charitable group in his home state to conduct hunts for wounded warriors, a mission dear to the heart of HAVA.

While Macdonald labored over the words that were in his heart, an essay assigned by a teacher he had never met, HAVA reached out for a place to train. Through a connection with Randy VanMehren at Grace Lutheran Church in Redmond, my phone rang. My next call was to Sykes Mitchell, of Duck Creek Outfitters, based in Sisters, and a plan was hatched.

Mitchell called his father-in-law, Keith Cyrus in Sisters, who was more than happy to host a first meeting between the Navy veteran and his new pup.

On a Thursday in June, we followed Samson and Macdonald and his 13-year-old, Megan, through a field of summer green. Samson began to pass the mantle of master to the new owners. It was not a hunt but a training session, as much for the new man as it was for the dog. On every point, Samson helped to smooth the transition. And Fritz began to look to Macdonald for direction.

When we took a break, Samson walked away and Macdonald called the dog to him. Uncertain at first, Fritz looked at Samson and seemed to acknowledge there was a new master.

Back home in Pennsylvania, Macdonald and his family raise pheasants to try to re-establish wild populations and to provide birds for injured veterans to hunt.

“This spring we confirmed at least four birds made it through the winter,” Macdonald wrote in his essay. At lunch at Brand 33 Restaurant, Mitchell and Macdonald compared notes, as both are involved in similar pursuits on opposite sides of the country.

“Fritz would fit perfectly into the pheasant program, our home and as my everyday hunting buddy,” Macdonald wrote.

Fritz is not a service pup, but the therapeutic value provided by dogs to wounded veterans, Macdonald said, is widely recognized.

Fritz flew home to Pennsylvania, headed to a new life on the East Coast into the service of the country’s wounded warriors, where he will touch about 100 veterans and their family members each year.

— Gary Lewis is the host of “Frontier Unlimited” and author of “John Nosler – Going Ballistic,” “A Bear Hunter’s Guide to the Universe,” “Hunting Oregon” and other titles. Contact Lewis at www.GaryLewisOutdoors.com.