Result: Masters Quail Championship

Location: Albany, Georgia

Post Date: Apr 29, 2024

Submitted By: Andrew Campbell

Masters Quail Championship (front, l-r): Judd Carlton with Erin's Perfect Storm and Cody McLean with Touch's Breakaway Fred, joined by participants.

The 55th running of the Masters Quail Championship was held between March 6-8 on the south side of Albany on the legendary properties of Blue Springs Plantation and Nonami Plantation. From a field of 29 starters, 27 pointers and two setters, the experienced judges, Steve Hurdle of Hickory Flat, Mississippi, and Gary McKibben of Hernando, Mississippi, awarded the Norman J. Ellis Memorial Trophy to Erin's Perfect Storm, owned by Brad Woodie, and handled by Luke Eisenhart, with Touch's Breakaway Fred, owned by Becky and Gary Futch, and Karen and Bruce Norton, and handled by Mark McLean, as runner-up. With retirements, deaths, and illness, the trial entry numbers were the lowest in a long time.

While the trial is largely run on the same grounds as it was at its inception, this year embodied a first for two reasons. It would be the first time the Masters Quail Championship had been recognized as a one-time qualifier for the National Championship at Ames Plantation, and it would be the first time for Luke Eisenhart to claim the overall win at this event. (He had taken runner-up twice in 2020 and 2023, both to Jamie Daniels handling Miller's Blindsider.)

The Southern Field Trial Club is deeply indebted to Mr. Witt Stephens of Blue Springs and Mr. Ted Turner of Nonami for their permission to use these remarkable properties and to their respective managers, Marty Adams and Ray Pearce, for their studious stewardship. The Club is also deeply grateful to Flint Equipment for the loan of the tractor to pull the gallery wagon and for Buster Cobb's able chauffership. Thanks, too, to Steve Wiley and Insurance Market for sponsoring the delicious lunches catered by Grace's Place & Catering of Leesburg, Georgia. Last but not least, a heartfelt thanks also goes to Nestl Purina for their ongoing support of this event.

The Winners
Erin's Perfect Storm had run alone in the 15th and final brace on Friday morning. With the previous brace ending prematurely, he would be turned loose at the western edge of the Carey House Field, the brick chimney the sole sentinel reminder of the homestead that had been there. Punching out to the north, he would take the edge of the first cover crop field and then disappear into the woody median where he would be found standing at 0:03, some 125 yards north of the prominent live oak whose arches frame the main trail. Perhaps only a single would be successfully produced out of the morass of downed tree limbs ahead of the dog, but in either event, all was in order as he was taken back to the front across the Booger Field. But he would stop in its southwest corner at 0:05, looking into the boundary of young volunteer pines, a covey successfully prompted out of the broomsedge. He would stop once more at 0:13 on the slight rise to the north above the eastbound turn in the trail at the culmination of the Allison Swamp, the same location that Erin's High Note had pointed in the second brace, the birds loyal to the location. At this point, Perfect Storm would be sent out to the east even with the course's impending turn to the north, the handler comforted knowing that the dog would still be hemmed in to some degree by the Flint River several hundred yards out, a tactic of the first order. Eisenhart would continue to sing confidently to his dog as the course turned north for another thousand yards as it passed Cat Pond. With the course scheduled to turn northwest, Eisenhart would range ahead and then, apparently hearing the trace of a call from his scout at 0:28, raise his hat and immediately begin to canter across the freshly turned crop field to the right. Nevertheless, when the handler and judging party arrived at the seeming location, there was neither dog nor scout to be seen or heard. At which point, Eisenhart began a sweeping arc out to the north to reconnect with his dog. Good fortune and skill combined, as Eisenhart called point at 0:31, now some 600 yards to the north-northwest, Perfect Storm pointed on a woody corner barely 150 yards south of the prominent power lines that run west from the Mitchell Power Plant across the river. (He may even have crossed the boundary line into Nonami!) The birds, one more, were exactly ahead of the stylish dog. Needing to rejoin the actual course after such a spectacular find, the party would head south-southwest to the branch of piney woods that casts westbound towards the big rotator field. Sent down through the woods to the southwest, he would nonetheless be spied, standing at 0:43 some 15 yards out in the field to the southwest, turned back and looking head high into the bushy oak scrub on the field's edge. The birds would rise ahead of him as the judging party rode up, his manners impeccable. Taken across the rotator field and then sent out into the patchwork of fields to the south and west, he would be found standing at 0:51 directly to the front on the southwest corner of the cover crop field now set up as a five-stand clay target range. He would continue to power through the woods towards the dogleg in the powerlines some three-quarters of a mile ahead, invisible at the call of time, but readily returned well within the grace period. Perfect Storm had nonetheless demonstrated his profound sense of the front and his confidence in pursuing it; his six finds far from limiting his race but helping to mark the limits of it and affirming his commitment as a bird dog.

Touch's Breakaway Fred would run in the 12th brace on the third afternoon course over on Nonami braced with Dominator's Wild Bill, his owners Nick Berrong and Jack and Sarah Schwarz riding in the gallery and handled by Jamie Daniels. Turned loose southwards from the red dirt road, the course immediately arcing east, the two dogs turning with their handlers, Fred already showing his desire to swing wide ahead of his handler. He would be found deep out to the southeast at 0:06 in the shade of a gently arcing live oak, the initial flush producing nothing but the relocation, getting the covey pinned some 25 yards further downwind. Coming back to the front, he would point another covey in an oakey thicket at 0:09, some 300 yards further east of his first find. In the meantime, Wild Bill had come to a stop in the southeast corner of a cover crop field at 0:12, but sadly, the flushing effort would only prompt some deer into flight. The course would now arc back around to the east and then south towards the access roads to the Nonami stables and equipment shed, both dogs pushing out through the woods to the left. Some 600 yards south of the workshed, Fred would spin to a stop on a north-facing slope at 0:29, the birds rising ahead of the stylish dog as the handler approached, their flight clearly seen by the judge. With the course following the main feed trail that heads south along the slope above the low valley of live oak trees, Wild Bill would pivot to a stop at 0:32 as the trail bends southeast around the head of the valley, his head looking over his shoulder, the birds behind him exactly as he indicated. Fred had pushed up across the slope out to the east in a bold, wide move, the scout then emphatically calling point at 0:34, and then as the judging party arrived, the flight of birds, although with only the scout seeing the birds leave the stylish dog, the handler would elect to take him on. He would swing across the front of the course and drop down towards the valley floor, coming to a stop at 0:39 under a live oak tree near its southerly terminus. He stopped looking upslope into the northeasterly breeze, the birds pinned directly ahead of him. With the temperatures still close to 80 degrees, McLean would take his dog over to the water trough to cool him down. The course would then make its turn to the west, Wild Bill swinging wide through the piney glades now dappled in the late afternoon sunshine and coming to a stop out to the south at 0:45. Sadly, despite an extended relocation effort, this would prove fruitless ending his bid. In the meantime, Fred had pushed out directly ahead of his handler as the course undulated over the low, woody ridges immediately south of the open rotator fields. By the time the course approached the low bowl to the south, Fred had been gone for some time, and a sense of urgency had clearly taken over. With the call of time, McLean would make a deep swing out towards Hardup Road and the original afternoon breakaway, and, upon return, be advised he only had four minutes of time remaining to produce the dog. The dog only needed two before locating the gallery wagon by himself and bringing to a close the first performance to clearly stamp itself as an all-age performance.
The judges nevertheless also acknowledged the efforts of both Haney's Storm Warning (Eisenhart) and Erin's High Note (Carlton).

The Running
The first brace was comprised of Haney's Storm Warning (Eisenhart) and Sioux Bull Run (Lundstrom), and the dogs turned loose on an overcast morning in the low 60s on the first course at Blue Springs. After a couple of early, uncertain stops for Bull Run (at which point the dog would take himself one when encouraged to move up), the first definitive call of point would come for Storm Warning at 0:06 at the head of the woody corridor on the right, the birds readily flushed ahead of him. Across the Ernest Martin Field (where longtime Blue Spring employee and dog wagon driver Ernest Martin's homestead had been), both handlers would be up in the woods to the right--from which the call of point for Bull Run would come at 0:12, the dog midway up on the slope and some 300 yards northwest of the Bay Pond, standing beneath a live oak, the birds readily flushed ahead of him. Storm Warning, too, would soon score a find of his own at 0:14, some 400 yards west of the pond, surrounded by broomsedge, the birds easily produced ahead of the stylish dog. Continuing to push south, Bull Run would come to a stop at the end of a large cover crop field on the left side of the course at 0:20 with all in order. He would be seen once more out to the east as the gallery came to the end of the long, narrow Smith Fields and approached the dogleg. This would be the last sighting of him before the judges handed Lundstrom his tracker at 0:54. In the meantime, Storm Warning had swung down towards the South Pond and then curled northeast, matching the contour of the river. He would be found at 0:47 standing just over the main trail under a cluster of moss-hung Oaks, the birds seen leaving by the judge as he approached. Taken on once more, he would swing forward along the upper edge above the river, eschewing the Show Me Bottom and swinging around the slope below the first whaleback. The call of point would come at 0:55 with the dog standing roughly mid-slope and roughly three-quarters of the way along the ridge, the birds readily flushed ahead of him. He would finish up moving smoothly out towards the second whaleback--a thoroughly competent hour behind him.

The second brace drew Touch's Midnight Rider (McLean) alongside Erin's High Note (Carlton), accompanied by his owner, Mike Sweet. Turned loose a little before the second whaleback, the weather clearing with a coming warmth in the air, both dogs would punch out to the northeast towards the red dirt road, High Note swinging wide out to the left and crossing the road, Midnight Rider turning under the road. Carlton would call point for High Note on the far front corner of the long going-away field at 0:07, the birds seen flushing ahead of the stylish dog. The call of point would come for Midnight Rider down on the right side roughly 200 yards before the first small field (in the sequence of fields that runs above the river), although, despite a thorough flushing and relocation effort, this would prove fruitless. The two dogs would reunite at 0:19 some 100 yards out on the left side of the main trail, High Note standing tall beneath an oak, Midnight Rider honoring nicely, the birds easily produced. They would both be standing again at 0:26, High Note within 100 yards of the main trail, Midnight Rider having punched out a quarter mile to the north towards the old Davis Cemetery--an unusual single ahead of Midnight Rider. Clearly, birds had come out to the main trail to feed as High Note would stop again on the left side of the trail at 0:29, just before the start of the Carey House Field, the birds still ahead of him. He would then be sent out on the right side--and as the gallery swung around to the north, a gallery rider would spy him pointed out on the point of the large field out to the southwest at 0:36, the birds successfully chased into the air. Both dogs would swing wide through the turn north, although as the temperatures continued to rise and the course began to angle back into the northwesterly breeze, Midnight Rider would be brought back to water up in the Cat Pond. Turning westwards towards the big rotator field, Midnight Rider would come to a stop some 150 yards in the woods to the north at 0:55, birds readily flown ahead of him. He would finish up his time on the ground, moving through the woods immediately before the big field. In the meantime, High Note appeared to have swung very wide around the swamp to the north--and it would take several minutes to bring him back to judgment after the call of time.

The third brace featured Haney's Easy Money (McLean) head-to-head with Shadow's Lord Magic (Eisenhart). The two dogs were turned loose some 300 yards before the big rotator field, and both would swing under its southern edge and out into the woods to the south and west of where infamous Blue Springs course marshal Sam Ellis's house had stood. McLean would call point at 0:07 some 300 yards deep in the woods to the south, the birds seen departing by the oncoming judge. Taken on, he would come to another stop at 0:11, roughly 300 yards east of what is now a five-stand shooting field, the birds again right where he had indicated they would be. He would have a couple of subsequent stops within the next quarter mile, each time McLean opting to simply take him on based on the dog's body language. Shortly before reaching the red dirt road at 0:15, Eisenhart would admit that his dog had slipped out of contact into the woods to the south and come for his tracking unit. Angling down off the powerlines and more directly southeast, Easy Money would be found standing out towards the edge of the next large rotator field at 0:23 (close to where Eisenhower had had his find just after time in 2014, after rimming the edge of the field from 3 o'clock to 11 o'clock). Dropping down to the southwest, Easy Money would stop once more at 0:30 on the north side of a pond, a large covey sent up ahead of him. Swinging under the southern edge of the next, much smaller rotator field, he would punch west and be found standing at 0:55 in the woody median between the long, skinny cover crop field to the south and the Henry Childs Field to the north, the birds again immediately ahead of him. He would finish up moving north through the woods just shy of the Ernest Martin Field.

The fourth brace drew Rester's Cajun Justice (Eisenhart) alongside T S Cole Train (Phillips). The conditions for the afternoon braces on Nonami were now warm and humid, and the breeze still appeared to come from the north and northwest. Approaching the final rise before the first view of the Blue Springs headquarters, Cole Train would be found standing at 0:20 on the corner of the roughly square cover crop field on the left side of the course, birds easily produced out of the broomsedge ahead of him. Turning north parallel to the River Road, both dogs would stop just north of the equipment shed at 0:26, the birds easily produced from the broomsedge ahead of the stylish pair. Taken on, Cajun Justice would stop barely 150 yards further on at 0:28 with another covey easily flushed ahead of him; Cole Train would stop roughly a quarter mile further on in the woody median between the two long, slender, going-away fields at 0:30, another covey, too, also sent out ahead of him. Approaching the turn east towards where the Baptist Church had been before it burned three years ago, both dogs would be sent north out into the piney woods. Both dogs would be absent until Cajun Justice reappeared at the red dirt road crossing at 0:52--he would be quickly watered and sent north once more, but he would be picked up shortly afterward at 0:55. Phillips, too, would admit his dog had eluded him and come for his tracking unit at 0;55.

The fifth brace brought Woodville's Yukon Cornelius (McLean) to the line with Erin's Code of Honor (Eisenhart). They would be turned loose at the base of the two long, skinny cover crop fields headed due north. Code of Honor would be the first to get pointed at the head of those fields at 0:04, the birds easily produced from the broomsedge. Cornelius would be the next to stop at 0:09, some 100 yards west of the wide cover crop field atop the low, rising ridge that gives the first view of the rotator fields to the northwest; despite an extended flush and relocation effort, this would, sadly, prove non-productive. He would stop again some 300 yards further north at 0:12; the birds successfully pinned this time. With the course turning west and then southwest to angle underneath the edge of the big rotator field, both dogs would appear to begin that clockwise sweep and turn into the damp, westerly breeze. Code of Honor would come to a dramatic stop out towards that rotator field edge at 0:15 with everything in order. While Yukon Cornelius had been seen making the southwesterly turn, his subsequent absence prompted McLean to come for his tracking unit at 0:25. Code of Honor, in the meantime, had crossed the front down into the patchwork of cover crop fields and would be found standing at 0:28, the birds seen rising as the judging party approached. After crossing the front once more and moving out towards the rotator field edge, he would disappear behind a solitary live oak--to be called standing by the scout at 0:33, the birds once more seen leaving as the judging party approached. He would appear to point again roughly a quarter-mile further west at 0:36, but the uncertainty in his body language prompted Eisenhart to simply take him on. Heading due south, he would disappear out on the right side towards Hardup Road--and by the time the judging party reached the dirt road leading east to the golf course, Eisenhart came in for his tracker at 0:58.

The sixth brace featured Miller's Blindsider (Daniels), with proud owner Nick Berrong in the gallery to watch his dog, alongside Touch's Blue Knight, owned and handled by Woody Watson. Turned loose from the road, Blindsider would make a strong, opening cast due east before being seen sweeping along the facing ridge to the south, Blue Knight initially casting out to the south before turning. After a little ragged beginning, not aided by the third course's slightly awkward start looping out to the northeast before turning south, Blindsider would come to a stop at 0:21, just over the dirt road to the stables, the birds flushing heartily ahead of the stylish dog. After crossing over the second dirt road past the equipment shed, the two dogs would be found together at 0:25 some 300 yards further south, both handlers firing at the flush of birds. Blindsider would then course out to the east to climb the low ridge on the other edge of the course--and he would be called standing at 0:33. By the time the handler, judge, and reporter made the long canter out to him, birds could not be produced either with the initial flushing effort or subsequent relocation. With the dogs having completed the next southbound leg and beginning the wide, sweeping turn around to the west (and back towards the afternoon breakaway), the call of point would come at 0:46, although there would be some confusion over whose dog it was, and indeed by the time it was clarified to be have been Blue Knight, he had taken himself on without incident. Both dogs would be together again at 0:50, Blue Knight honoring Blindsider just off the southeast corner of the rectangular cover crop field. After the initial flushing effort proved unsuccessful, Blindsider would be asked to relocate--at which point he would move up smartly approximately 5 yards and stop hard once more, the birds readily flushed ahead of him. Taken on, Blue Knight would then come to a stop of his own down on the left side of the course at 0:54, standing in a dense oakey thicket, the birds seen leaving ahead of the mannerly dog by the oncoming judge. Time would be called, just north of the prominent bowl roughly 500 yards east of the afternoon breakaway, Blue Knight's work completed--but Blindsider had somehow slipped out of contact and could not be returned to judgment in time.

The seventh brace brought Nighthawk's Rebel (Swearingen) to the line with Touch's Malcolm Story (McLean) on a cool, overcast morning. Turned loose, Malcolm Story would break up to the woody shoulder on the right, while Rebel would almost immediately go on point on the lower front corner of the woods at 0:01, the birds a good distance ahead of him. In the meantime, Malcolm Story had stayed wide coming up the right side of the woods, only to come to a dramatic stop at 0:07 in the boundary of live oaks immediately before the Ernest Martin Field, the birds seen leaving the stylish dog by the oncoming judge. Moving smoothly up through the woods, both dogs would be called on point at 0:25 up on the crest of the broomsedge section immediately before the Smith Fields, the two dogs clearly separated by roughly 100 yards, Rebel to the east, Malcolm Story to the west. Swearingen called birds in the air, but these were unseen by the judge, and the dog taken on, whereas McLean would be able to successfully flush a covey ahead of his dog. Through the Smith Fields, however, Rebel would be the first to slip out of sight, Swearingen coming for his tracking unit at 0:48 shortly after the South Pond turn to the northeast; McLean, too, would lose contact with his dog and ask for his tracking unit at the Show Me Bottom at 0:58.

The eighth brace drew Haney's All In (McLean) and Miller's Heat Advisory (Carlton). Turned loose before the first whaleback, both dogs would punch out to the northeast to disappear from view. A gallery member would spy a dog standing at 0:13 out on the left side below the first whaleback--and after some confusion over whose dog it was, the birds would rise in front of All In as McLean hustled back from the front to reclaim his dog. While Heat Advisory would get a little hung up at the road crossing before the long going-away field, McLean would send All In down the left side of the field, following the edge for almost 700 yards before crossing the field at its neck to regain the front ahead of his handler. Leaving the field and dropping down towards the River Road, All In would stay high on the wooded shoulder to the right, coming to a stop at 0:25 in its virtual center--and while the initial flush would be unsuccessful, the relocation some 10 yards further upwind into the northeasterly breeze would pin the birds ahead of the stylish dog. As this was happening, Heat Advisory would have a find of his own at 0:26 down in the pocket of woods down to the right, just before the River Road crossing. He would stop again at 0:32, some 150 yards south of the main trail in the woods before the first of the large crop fields. After an initial flushing effort, the dog would be reluctant to move up to relocate--and indeed, after a second request had been completed, he had still not gone more than 5 yards forward. Looking as though Carlton was about to take his dog on, a pair of birds left ahead of the dog, barely 2 feet from his nose. As this was taking place, All In had come to a stop at 0:36 on the left side of the main trial just before the Carey House Field with birds successfully produced ahead of him--and then come to another stop at 0:39 in the woods before the Booger Field, although despite a relocation effort this would prove fruitless. Through the zigzag past the Allison swamp and Heat Advisory would up through the gallery and then punch across the trail and out to the north, coming to a dramatic stop 200 yards out on the top of the low rise at 0:49. All In, too, had come to a stop at the same time, albeit on the south side of the main trail. Both handlers would successfully produce birds ahead of their dogs. The call of time would come just beyond Cat Pond, All In readily gathered up, Heat Advisory successfully returned after several minutes.

The ninth brace drew Dogwood Bill (Stringer) head-to-head with Rester's Johnny Ringo (Eisenhart). The two dogs would be turned loose in the woods above Cat Pond, headed due west towards the large rotator field. Johnny Ringo would be the first to strike gold at 0:04, some 100 yards shy of the big rotator field, the birds directly ahead of him. Across the big field westbound parallel to the powerlines, Bill stopped in the woods to the south at 0:19, but after the flushing attempt produced nothing, he was simply taken on. Shortly before the red dirt River Road, Johnny Ringo would stop once more at 0:21 in the woods to the south, the birds easily produced ahead of him--although Eisenhart would then examine one of the dog's front feet and elect to pick him up. Some 300 yards further on, with the morning heat rising significantly, Stringer would also elect to pick up his dog at 0:26.

The tenth brace featured Rester's Cajun Spirit (Carlton) alongside Nonami's Smokin Joe (C. McLean). Cajun Spirit would not be seen much for the first 15 minutes or so as the course moved over the slow ripples of piney woods towards the Blue Springs headquarters--while Smokin Joe gave the appearance of a young dog building confidence, although, by the time the headquarters building came into view, he had just made bold, climb out over the final rise to the right. With both dogs gathered up in the hollow before the River Road, it was clear that Cajun Spirit had simply been one hill over for the first third of the brace. With the temperatures rising dramatically into the mid-70s and the wind now still, both dogs were then escorted over to the water trough to be dunked before resuming their quest. Some 200 yards north of the workshed and about 150 yards west of the road, Smokin Joe would come to a stop at 0:29, the birds rising easily ahead of him. Midway down the median between the two, skinny going-away field at 0:33, he would stop once more--the flushing effort more protracted but ultimately successful. Despite the conditions, Smokin Joe would not be deterred, coming to a stop at 0:37 in an especially tangled, oakey thicket at the head of those long, going-away fields, the birds at least easily produced from the morass. Cajun Spirit would last be seen climbing out of the top of the skinny field beside the River Road (which begins immediately after the large sinkhole), but upon reaching the dirt road crossing at 0:59, Carlton would come in for his tracking unit--while Smokin Joe would be seen still pushing out front in the woods at the call of time.

The eleventh brace brought Haney's Silver Dollar (Eisenhart) to the line with Southern Thunder (Shenker). The brace would start in dramatic fashion, with both dogs being found standing at 0:01 on the southern edge of the broad east-west cover crop field on the top of the first rise. Southern Thunder appeared to be honoring from about 15 yards, although, while his handler would stand beside him when a second covey got up immediately in front of him after the shot for the covey ahead of Silver Dollar, Shenker would rightly fire too. Shortly after making the initial turn east, both dogs would stop at 0:07 in the vicinity of a rectangular cover crop field, Southern Thunder 10 yards from its eastern edge, Silver Dollar perhaps 200 yards south. That once more, there would be coveys ahead of each of these two dogs is an illustration of the impeccable quail management program overseen by Ray Pearce at Nonami Plantation. Sweeping around under the edge of the rotator field, Silver Dollar would stop once more roughly 300 yards further west at 0:10, Southern Thunder stopping too at 0:12--birds ahead of each of them. With the course headed west towards Hardup Road, Silver Dollar would then swing across the front of the course and be found standing at 0:25 in an oakey thicket on the far side of one of the east-west cover crop fields, the birds successfully produced ahead of him. Nevertheless, as the course turned south parallel to the road, it became less and less clear that either dog had successfully made the turn, and by the time the gallery reached the main dirt road another half-mile away, both handlers came for their tracking units at 0:43.

The twelfth brace saw Dominator's Wild Bill (Daniels) and Touch's Breakaway Fred (McLean) brought to the line and is already covered in the placements.

The thirteenth brace featured Erin's Wild Atlantic Way (Eisenhart) drawn with Touch's Smooth Rider (McLean), two of his owners, Bruce and Karen Norton, riding to watch their dog. This pairing was actually a repeat from the fourth brace of the 2024 National Championship at Ames Plantation three weeks before. Turned loose on a cool, damp, still morning, both dogs would push out into the woods to the south, Wild Atlantic Way swinging down through the Bay Pond Hollow and then coming to a stop at 0:14 in the broomsedge out towards the rotator field. An extended flushing effort would produce nothing--and while being called back to his handler after the relocation effort, he would stumble across a bird, his handler immediately picking him up. Shadow Rider would also be found on point soon thereafter at 0:16, out on the northwest corner of the Henry Childs Field, the birds seen leaving by the oncoming judge. Pushing down the wooded left side of the second of the two Smith Fields, Shadow Rider would stop once more at 0:31; the bird boosted out of the oakey tangle ahead of him; he would stop once more just beyond the dogleg after the Smith Fields exit at 0:36, once more birds sent skyward ahead of the stylish dog. His scout would find him standing next at 0:44, buried in the tall broomsedge to the west of what I call the 'Deerstand Field.' (It hasn't had a deerstand in it for a couple of years and now has a four-lane strip of volunteer pines across its western lobe; this is the field the course crosses diagonally on the way towards the South Pond.) Shortly before the call of time, Smooth Rider had been seen out in the woods to the north before the first whaleback--and he would be returned to judgment shortly afterward. In the history of this event, only one freshly minted National Champion has won this championship (Miller's Blindsider in 2023), perhaps in no small part because to have won at Ames less than three weeks before required a herculean effort on the part of a dog. This is to say that Smooth Rider lived up to his name, strong and smooth, but perhaps as a result of his own five-find, three-hour effort at Ames, his degree of punch was not quite that of the winners.

The fourteenth brace brought James Pond Knightranger (Watson) to the line with Aucilla Jim (Flowers), with owner Gene Brown riding in support of his young dog. Turned loose between the first and second whalebacks, Jim would drop down into the bowl below the second and disappear from view. As the gallery cleared the second whaleback, the call of point would come from deep in the swampy bowl at 0:08--and indeed, Jim would be standing close to his point-last-seen, the birds rising as his handler dismounted. Across the red dirt road, Knightranger would move down the right side of the long going-away field and come to a stop at 0:15, some 200 yards shy of the narrow neck of the field--and then be forced to stop again at 0:16 as soon as he was turned loose for a random single getting up in front of him. He would stop once more at 0:22 with a strong find out on the left side, the birds sent out skyward, the dog turning to mark their flight. Approaching the Carey House Field, Knightranger would continue down the left side of the woods and stop once more at 0:34 beside the stand of young pines across from the solitary brick chimney of the old homestead--the birds successfully produced ahead of him. In the meantime, the judges had not seen Jim in a significant period of time and took Flowers his tracking unit. With his own rational perspective on his dog's performance, Watson would also elect to pick up his dog at that point, ending the brace.

The fifteenth and final brace featured Erin's Perfect Storm and is covered in the placements.

Albany, Ga., March 6
Judges: Steve Hurdle and Gary McKibben
MASTERS QUAIL CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats] - 27 Pointers and 2 Setters
Winner-ERIN'S PERFECT STORM, 1692323, pointer male, by Chelsea's Thunder Bolt-Erin's Bet On Me. Brad Woodie, owner; Luke Eisenhart, handler.
Runner-Up-TOUCH'S BREAKAWAY FRED, 1680750, pointer male, by Touch's Mega Mike-Touch's American Baby. Bruce & Karen Norton, Gary & Becky Futch, owners; Mark McLean, handler.