Reading this, Michel Comte, with his brother, Gabriel Comte, and a few friends from Lyon including the doctor Monavon,
veterinary surgeon in Saint Priest, decided to gather every information on the subject, reading all the classified of his collection of
"Le Chasseur français" and other magazines to find the address of former breeders.
The last kennels of the Allier department had shifted to more popular breeds like the German pointer.
They discovered that the last kennel having some Bourbonnais in Registre Initial (1st generation) had been the "de la Turne" kennel in Lyon.
A bitch was still living, but sterile, Junon, born in 1960 and owned by Mrs. Martin from Le Donjon.
Doctor Monavon who saw many dogs in his practice indicated them many Bourbonnais dogs originated from Lyon.
The numerous dogs founded were in fact bastards, which were called "braques de pays" (country braques),
in which Bourbonnais blood was apparent through a few characteristics (short tail, size, color of the coat, shape of the head).
With this quite diverse livestock, it remained to produce and select to extract the ancient blood. Numerous are the benevolent peoples in Drôme, Ardèche, and Vaucluse who hunted with some products of those litters that Michel Comte gave them. He was managing selection, waiting the moment when he would see some dogs deserving the name of braque du Bourbonnais.
In 1973, this moment came, and Michel Comte registered his firsts Bourbonnais to the L.O.F. (French studbook). It hadn't happened since 10 years. Here are the papers of those first Bourbonnais:
The birth of Igor, Joan, Junior and Java took place in the Comte family, but it's necessary to detail the origins of other founders of the breed:
Quetty was a female found by doctor Monavon to Michel Comte who took her. She was bourbonnais enough to be registered to the L.O.F., but was old and produced only a few puppies.
The story of Rasteau/Pyrrhus is worth telling in detail, this dog having been so important in the breed:
Doctor Bazin, President of the south-east Société Canine discovered one day a handsome "peach blossom"(fawn) Bourbonnais which was waiting for his master in Lyon.
Patient, doctor Bazin waited too, and it turned out that the master was a mistress, Mrs. Barrier-Chauvin, who was working for the O.R.T.F. (French television). The dog, Pyrrhus, had no paper, and was the offspring of Pierre
Perret's two dogs, Joséphine and Napoléon (the dog from the song), the two of them being unregistered.
There was also the braques de Mirepoix from Mr. and Mrs. Poma (letter from Jean Poma, 1982), looking for recognition, which came to us as Bourbonnais, registered in Registre Initial (1st generation). Mr. Désiré Henri, breeder and former member of the 30's club (letter from Désiré Henri, 1979) and Jean Castaing rightly warned us about the excessive in breeding of this kennel. They gave some crazy dogs, but also the first champion of spring field trial (Rocky de la Vallée de Canbière). Those dogs will totally different origins than the initial line were usefull for some outcrosses, the first one being done in 1978 (see below).
One day, crossing the bridge avec the Ardèche river in Vogüé with his family, Michel Comte saw on the bank a bitch with a ticked coat which appeared to him very bourbonnais.
After taking information, the bitch was called Gina, and was owned by Mr. Tahon (letters from André Tahon, 1978), who latter registered her (Titre Initial) to the LOF under the name of Lina.
In 1979, she will have, under the instigation of my father, two litters which will be important for the breed, with Maxi(TI) from Jean Poma, then with Luron du Rocher des Jastres. A last litter with Maxi(TI) in 1980 will give only one bitch who will not have offspring.
Latter, other dogs were registered (Titre Initial): Diane, a braque from Paris which were registered under the name of Piruit in 1980, so as Max, from Paris too.
It remained necessary to combine those new additions to the initial line in a clever way, because the reduced number of dogs didn't put the breed safe from a new extinction.
For that, Michel Comte was helped by breeders who begun to show interest into the breed: M. Barbier (affix "des Bugadiéres"), an old acquaintance who was breeding brittanies,
but began breeding Bourbonnais with "Mousse du Rocher des Jastres", M. Mercier who bought "Luron du Rocher des Jastres" and obtained the first Field trial awards with this dog.
He began breeding Bourbonnais, and brought to the breed his cousin Françoise Sarret, who latter bred under the affix "de la Croix Saint Loup ".
M. Jean Régis (affix "de Julius Forum") begun his kennel after having bought "Pink du Rocher des Jastres".
It seemed then that a club gathering all the enthusiasts was needed.