Result: Region 14 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship

Location: Kirkpatrick Lake

Post Date: Oct 9, 2023

Submitted By: Sig Guggenmoos

Region 14 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship (front, l-r): Emma and Georgia Jones, Darrell Curtis with B K Spot On, Ryan Jones with Manteo's Plan B, and Lou Qualtiere and Jeanette Heise with Ten Oaks Annie A. (Back row): Dahlia, Karen and Mike Jones (judge), Sergio Velez (judge), two unknown visitors, Gar Beacom, Dave Noell, Sean Kelly, Cara Farno, Megan Bastien, Sarah Colwell.

I'll start this report by quoting a snippet of Charles Dickens. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." The rest of the statement is dropped because, for all of us over 50 years old, it will have us groaning and shaking our heads about the current state of the world. So, let's focus on the positive while explaining the opening.

Prior to the Big Country trial, I heard from Dave Fletcher that he and Dr. George Oehler formed this club and ran the first trial in 1964. Naturally, over the 59 years, there have been landowner and land use changes. We still have the base camp at the original location. After Dave left Alberta, Earl Miller led the club. The traditional dates for the Big Country trial fell in the third week of August. After Earl's passing, we changed the date to mid-September as due to the increase in cultivated crops, bird contacts in August had decreased dramatically.
So why the best of times? Holding the trial in mid-September is a gamble. You could get snow, rain, howling winds, or pleasant weather. The latter was the case this year with sunshine, brisk mornings just above freezing, and temperatures rising to 29 (84F) mid-afternoon.

The worst of times? One of our trialers experienced a medical condition requiring a hasty retreat home, substantially impacting the number of starters and the elimination of the Amateur Derby stake.

Running a successful trial is a team effort. First, we want to thank our landowners: Glen Randle, who provides our camp area, and the Conrad Scoville, Mark Crowle, and Todd Nelson families. Thanks go to our judges Bruce McGillivray, Gar Beacom, Sean Kelly, Darrell Curtis, Dave Noell, and Sergio Velez, who judged the club stakes, and a special thanks to Sergio Velez and Mike Jones for judging the Region 14 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship and Lou Qualtiere for reporting. Field trialers like to eat, and in that regard, we need to thank Milena Jones and her parents for providing us with a great meal to accompany the championship drawing on Friday evening. For the banquet on Saturday, we appreciate the Kelly family, Cara Farno and Sarah Colwell taking the lead, and Gerry Caswell taking on community hall security and clean up.

For over 20 years, we have been using Fred Arant's old dog wagon, which Arnie Brown had restored. After Bill Froes's passing, we had to pull it with a truck rather than a horse team. It was a nice piece of nostalgia, but you couldn't back that thing up, which sometimes got us into a pinch. This year, Darrell Curtis set up kennels in a stock trailer, accommodating both dogs and horses. Due to some health issues, I couldn't ride this year and, consequently, drove the dog truck, greatly appreciating the greater maneuverability and speed of travel possible.

BIG COUNTRY FIELD TRIAL CLUB
Kirkpatrick Lake, Alberta, September 15, 2023
Judges: Bruce McGillivray and Gar Beacom
OPEN SHOOTING DOG - 12 Pointers and 1 Setter
1st-TOUCH'S KATRINA, 1654628, pointer female, by Touch's White Out-House's Proud Mary, Austin Turley, owner and handler.
2d-THE ALBERTA CLIPPER, 1673818, pointer male, by Autumn Echo-Grouse Trails Sharptail. Sean Kelly, owner and handler.
3d-TEN OAKS SOPHIE'S JACK, 1694319, pointer male, by Whippoorwill Justified-Frontline Sophie Jack. Louis Qualtiere, owner and handler.

Judges: Sean Kelly and Darrell Curtis
OPEN DERBY - 5 Pointers and 1 Setter
1st-BK REAL MCCOY, 1705532. pointer male, by Bittersweet War Cry-Bittersweet Recovery, Brooke Lanning & Sergio Velez, owners; Sergio Velez handler.
2d-CARBONADO'S COUNTRY SPECTRE, 1705811, pointer male, by Brush Country Spectre-Empire On Line, Austin Turley, owner and handler.
3d-STORY TIME, 1700471, pointer male, by Touch's Malcolm Story-Seranoa's On Guard Annie, Nard Bailey, owner; Austin Turley, handler.

Judges: Dave Noell and Sergio Velez
HAWK MEMORIAL AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG - 12 Entries
1st-B K SPOT ON, 1680556, pointer female, by Fastforward's B K Gunner-Wiggins Miss Stella. Darrell Curtis, owner and handler.
2d-SCIPIO, 1671047, pointer male, by Prairie Dancing Jack-Carbonado Triple Play. Phil Wechsler, owner; Ryan Jones, handler.
3d-TRAX IVY LEAGUE, unreg., Weimaraner female, by Trax Edenrock One Night Stand-Reiteralm Legacy Von Trax. Terry Meek & Megan Bastien, owners; Terry Meek, handler.

REGION 14 AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG CHAMPIONSHIP
Lou Qualtiere

Due to unforeseen medical issues, the number of dogs remaining after the draw was reduced from 13 to 7. The Region executive and field trial chairman decided to run the remaining dogs and let the judges determine if the results indicated a stake worthy of awarding a championship or a one-hour classic.

The Running
Brace No. 1 was cast away at 8:00 a.m. east of the yard site with the temperature at 7 C with the wind out the west barely detectable. Ten Oaks Sophie's Jack (Lou Qualtiere) and Bo (Sean Kelly) hunted the mixed bluffs and pasture well, heading west before we turned east as we crossed to a new pasture. At 35, birds were seen leaving a large bluff, with Sean pointing out his dog standing in the bluff. Sean shot, accepting the stop to flush, and as we began to leave the area, Jack was found on the far side of the bluff, pointing but not in the scent cone and apparently marking the birds that had just left the bluff. The only additional action was an unproductive at 55 for Bo, with both dogs finishing strong.

Brace No. 2 saw Ten Oaks Cassandra (Lou Qualtiere) and Manteo's Plan B (Ryan Jones) cast off to the southwest into some heavy cover. Qualtiere lost his dog and, after going back to find her, returned to the front to find her picked up for some suspect bird work at 20. Plan B continued onward with a strong prairie race, rewarded with a find at 35 on sharptail; everything in order. She continued the strong race until pickup with no further bird work.

Brace No. 3 was a bye dog, Bella (Darrell Curtis), starting at the west end of the abandoned railroad bed heading east. Bella, demonstrating a far-ranging dynamic ground race as usual, pointed at 20, but no bird could be produced. Fifteen minutes later, another point produced a large covey of sharptail. Continuing on 15 minutes later into the "Bird Field" (a tract of pasture producing a bird in multiple trials before), Bella pointed confidently, but Darrell was unable to produce a bird even after a vigorous relocation. She completed the hour with no further action.

Brace No. 4, the final brace of the truncated stake, saw Meg (Dave Noell) and Ten Oaks Annie A (Jeanette Heise/handled by Lou Qualtiere). Annie was last year's Region 14 Champion and winner of three of the past four Region 14 Championships, handled for the first time by the owner's husband (Lou Qualtiere) due to a horse accident by Jeanette the week before. Upon release, both dogs drove hard with the wind at their backs towards camp, first passing through a sparse pasture, then crossing the road into a large pasture heading South. Annie pointed at 35 with Meg backing nicely, but the attempt was barren, and both dogs were moved onwards to the gate into the next pasture crossing at 40. This pasture had good cover and bluffs for the birds. Annie was found pointing at 45, 50, and 55, with Meg backing on the first two. Small coveys were produced at the first two finds, with a single bird on the last. Annie finished the final five minutes hunting short but diligently with no further bird work.

Judges Velez and Jones did not see a performance worthy of a championship and, consequently, awarded three placements.
Judges: Sergio Velez and Mike Jones
REGION 14 AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG CHAMPIONSHIP [One Hour-Heats] - 6 Pointers and 1 Setter
[Title Withheld]
1st-TEN OAK'S ANNIE A, 1658799, pointer female, by Erin's Brave Heart-Nathan's Sis. Jeanette Heise & Jeanette Heise, owners; Lou Qualtiere, handler.
2d-MANTEO'S PLAN B, 1672678, pointer female, by Manteo's Duke-Manteo's English China. Ryan Jones, owner and handler.
3d-B K SPOT ON, 1680556, pointer female, by Fastforward's B K Gunner-Wiggins Miss Stella. Darrell Curtis, owner and handler.