Result: Alabama Amateur Field Trial Club

Location: Blue Mountain, Mississippi

Post Date: Feb 16, 2024

Submitted By: Tessa Hughes

James R. Memorial Amateur All-Age Winners (l-r): Tessa Hughes, T. Mason Ashburn with Nosam's Silver Dollar, Greg Tapp (judge), Gary McKibben with Coldwater Paradise, Joe Hughes, Mike Small with Small's White Charger, Kenton Bryant (judge), and Ronald Thrasher.

The 2023 Alabama Amateur Field Trial took place on December 1-3 at Blue Mountain, Mississippi, at the beautiful Hell Creek Wildlife Management Area grounds. We want to express our thanks to Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks for the tremendous work they do on these grounds to make them so hospitable for our sport. We very much appreciate the time and effort the state of Mississippi puts into its natural resources so that its citizens can enjoy the outdoors at sporting events like field trials. The Club would also like to thank its sponsor, Sportsman's Pride Dog Food, for its generous and continued support of our sport. Our Club is always a joint effort, including the work contributed by various folks, including marshals Joe Hughes, Lowry Strickland, this author, and our stake manager and secretary, Greg Bain. We also greatly appreciate our club member who drove our dog wagon, my father, Ronald Thrasher. We were so happy to welcome our very capable judges this year: Greg Tapp of Somerville, Tennessee, who generously judged all three stakes; Jonathan Burch of Holly Springs, who judged the Shooting Dog stake; and Kenton Bryant of Nashville, Tennessee, who judged the Derby and All-Age stakes. We appreciate the time and careful attention each judge gave to the entries in front of them.

James R. Page Memorial Amateur All-Age
Nosam Silver Dollar, pointer male, and Coldwater Paradise, pointer female, were the first-place and second-place winners, respectively, of the all-age this year, and they were braced together in the first brace of the trial. Silver Dollar won the first-place trophy this year, securing the James R. Page Memorial All-Age out of a field of 10 all-age contenders. Silver Dollar is a beautiful white and orange pointer male owned and handled by Mason Ashburn. Paradise is an eye-catching orange and white female owned and handled by Gary McKibben. Silver Dollar secured his win with a very stylish find at 7 before the pond in the little thicket "island" on the left you pass as you leave the first big field after the breakaway and go down through the muddy area. Paradise was past Silver Dollar when he scored his find. Silver Dollar handled his bird work masterfully, standing well for wing and shot. He then carried on with the brace, rejoining his bracemate, and both dogs put on a fast-paced race in the first hour. At 48, after we came through the pine thicket "tunnel," Paradise swung in on point, standing with head and tail high, and Dollar backed her nicely. Paradise stood well for the flush, and both dogs were away again, finishing their brace strong.
The third placement in the All-Age went to Small's White Charger, a pointer male handled by Mike Small. Charger drew the third brace across Hell Creek and showed well to the front for his hour. He suffered one unproductive but otherwise ran a hard and impressive race to the front.

Blue Mountain, Miss., December 1
Judges: Kenton Bryant and Greg Tapp
JAMES R. PAGE MEMORIAL AMATEUR ALL-AGE [One-Hour Heats] - 10 Pointers
1st-NOSAM SILVER DOLLAR, 1702035, male, by Phillips Silver Lining-New Hope May. T. Mason Ashburn, owner and handler.
2d-COLDWATER PARADISE, 1684062, female, by Coldwater Spectre-Coldwater Belle. Gary McKibben, owner and handler.
3d-SMALL'S WHITE CHARGER, 1687724, male, by Phillips Off Line-Phillips North Line. Mike Small, owner and handler.

The Amateur Derby Stake
Our derby was well-attended this year, with 17 entries--15 pointers and two setters. The glorious Miss Arkansas, a pointer female handled by Mike Lemons, surged in with her beautiful high head, snappy tail, and lightning pace to seize the first-place honors. Miss Arkansas blazed her own trail through part of the third course across Hell Creek, running hard and always to the front.
Game Star, a pointer female owned and handled by Dr. Fred Corder, secured her placement with another aggressive and beautiful forward ground race. Interestingly, both the first and the second-place winners were sired by multi-champion Lester's Storm Surge.
Nosam's Silver Spark, a pointer male handled by Mason Ashburn, swooped in to seize the third placement with a find at 22. He handled his bird work well, looking classy and on point and went on to finish his 30 minutes with style.

Amateur Derby Winners (l-r): Mike Lemons with Miss Arkansas, Unknown with Dr. Corder's Game Star, Dr. Fred Corder, and Kenton Bryant (judge).

AMATEUR DERBY - 15 Pointers and 2 Setters
1st-MISS ARKANSAS, 1705667, pointer female, by Lester's Storm Surge-Game Snow. Mike Lemons, owner and handler.
2d-GAME STAR, 1704929, pointer female, by Lester's Storm Surge-Game Belle. Fred Corder, owner and handler.
3d-NOSAM SILVER SPARK, 1708198, pointer male, by Small's White Charger-Nosam's Patchwork. T. Mason Ashburn, owner and handler.

Amateur Shooting Dog Stake
Our shooting dog stake, now for this first year also a Purina Shooting Dog points stake, kicked off Saturday afternoon with 16 entries. J Maple Jester, an orange and white pointer female handled by Joe Hughes and owned by Joe and this author, took first place honors. Jester was in the second hour course, breaking away from the rock road rather than the Game Warden's house, and she stopped in the first small field at the tree line, scoring a find after relocation at 7 in heavy briars. She then continued on, hunting always hard and to the front. She suffered an unproductive toward the end of her brace and then finished her hour.
Bryant's Give It a Rip, a black and white setter owned and handled by Kenton Bryant, blew us away with a beautiful find on the first course at 7. This find was in the same general vicinity as the aforementioned little island thicket, and Rip did an excellent job on his bird work. Rip then continued on, carrying himself well, showing nicely always to the front. He ran a good strong hour, hunting well for his handler.
The Lovely Lady May, a liver and white pointer female owned and handled by Joe Hughes, seized the third-place trophy with an aggressive ground race. She was braced with Rip in the first hour of the shooting dog stake. She ran her race always to the front, making fast and strong casts and never coming off line to secure her placement.

Judges: Jonathan Burch and Greg Tapp
AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG [One-Hour Heats]- 14 Pointers and 2 Setters
1st-J MAPLE JESTER, 1675700, pointer female, by J Maple Jake-Coldwater Queen Kate. Joe & Tessa Hughes, owners; Joe Hughes, handler.
2d-BRYANT'S GIVE IT A RIP, 1701553, setter male, by Erin's Wild Atlantic Way-Cline's Live Oak. Kenton Bryant, owner and handler.
3d-THE LOVELY LADY MAY, 1702016, pointer female, by Dominator's Rebel Heir-Gal Gadot. Joe Hughes, owner and handler.

Amateur Shooting Dog Winners (l-r): Greg Tapp (judge), Tessa Hughes with M Maple Jester (scout), Ronald Thrasher, Joe Hughes with The Lovely Lady May, and Jonathan Burch (judge).