Reading this, Michel Comte, together with his brother Gabriel Comte and a few friends from Lyon, including Doctor Monavon, a veterinary surgeon in Saint-Priest, decided to gather all available information on the subject. They went through all the classified ads in his collection of Le Chasseur français and other magazines to find the addresses of former breeders.
The last kennels in the Allier department had switched to more popular breeds, such as the German Pointer.
They discovered that the last kennel to have Bourbonnais in the Registre Initial (first generation) had been the "de la Turne" kennel in Lyon.
One bitch was still alive but sterile: Junon, born in 1960 and owned by Mrs. Martin of Le Donjon.
Doctor Monavon, who saw many dogs in his practice, told them that many Bourbonnais dogs originated from Lyon.
The numerous dogs they found were in fact crossbreeds, known as "braques de pays" (country braques), in which Bourbonnais blood was apparent through a few characteristics (short tail, size, coat color, shape of the head).
With this rather diverse stock, the task remained to breed and select in order to bring out the ancient blood. Many kind-hearted people in the Drôme, Ardèche and Vaucluse hunted with some of the puppies from the litters that Michel Comte gave them. He directed the selection, waiting for the moment when he would see dogs deserving the name of Braque du Bourbonnais.
In 1973, this moment came, and Michel Comte registered his first Bourbonnais with the L.O.F. (French Stud-Book). This had not happened for ten 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 is necessary to detail the origins of the other founders of the breed:
Quetty was a female that Doctor Monavon found and gave to Michel Comte, who took her in. She was Bourbonnais enough to be registered with the L.O.F., but she was old and produced only a few puppies.
The story of Rasteau/Pyrrhus is worth telling in detail, as this dog was so important to the breed:
Doctor Bazin, President of the Société Canine of the south-east, one day noticed a handsome "peach blossom" (fawn) Bourbonnais waiting for its owner in Lyon. Patient, Doctor Bazin waited too, and it turned out that the owner was a woman, Mrs. Barrier-Chauvin, who worked for the O.R.T.F. (French television). The dog, Pyrrhus, had no papers and was the offspring of Pierre Perret's two dogs, Joséphine and Napoléon (the dog from the song), neither of which was registered.
There were also the Braques de Mirepoix belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Poma (letter from Jean Poma, 1982), who were seeking recognition for them; they came to us as Bourbonnais, registered in the Registre Initial (first generation). Mr. Désiré Henri, a breeder and former member of the club in the 1930s (letter from Désiré Henri, 1979), and Jean Castaing rightly warned us about the excessive inbreeding in this kennel. It produced some wild dogs, but also the first champion in spring field trials (Rocky de la Vallée de Canbière). These dogs, whose origins were totally different from the initial line, were useful for some outcrosses, the first of which was made in 1978 (see below).
One day, while crossing the bridge over the Ardèche river in Vogüé with his family, Michel Comte saw on the bank a bitch with a ticked coat who looked to him very much like a Bourbonnais. After making inquiries, he learned that the bitch was called Gina and was owned by Mr. Tahon (letters from André Tahon, 1978), who later registered her (Titre Initial) with the L.O.F. under the name Lina.
In 1979, at my father's instigation, she had two litters that were important for the breed, first with Maxi (TI) from Jean Poma, then with Luron du Rocher des Jastres. A last litter with Maxi (TI) in 1980 produced only one bitch, who had no offspring.
Later, other dogs were registered (Titre Initial): Diane, a braque from Paris, which was registered under the name Piruit in 1980, as was Max, also from Paris.
It remained necessary to combine these new additions with the initial line in a clever way, because the small number of dogs did not safeguard the breed against a new extinction.
To do so, Michel Comte was helped by breeders who had begun to show an interest in the breed: Mr. Barbier (affix "des Bugadières"), an old acquaintance who had been breeding Brittanies but began breeding Bourbonnais with "Mousse du Rocher des Jastres"; and Mr. Mercier, who bought "Luron du Rocher des Jastres" and won the first field trial awards with this dog. He began breeding Bourbonnais and brought his cousin Françoise Sarret into the breed; she later bred under the affix "de la Croix Saint Loup". Mr. Jean Régis (affix "de Julius Forum") started his kennel after buying "Pink du Rocher des Jastres".
It then seemed that a club gathering all the enthusiasts was needed.