Result: North Country Bird Dog Club

Location: Augusta, Wisconsin

Post Date: May 29, 2024

Submitted By: Roger King and Brent Sittlow, with help

The phrase "Perfect Storm" echoed in my head as we planned the North Country Bird Dog Club spring trial. Note: The North Country is an affiliate of the Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association, which was formed in 1968.

The Open Shooting Dog was to start on Friday, with a winter storm bearing down upon us most of Thursday evening, leaving 4-5 inches of snow. Club officials and judges met and decided to go ahead with the Open Shooting Dog starting at 8 a.m. Friday's running included trudging through the newly fallen snow, negotiating slippery hills, and walking nearly 12 miles for the six braces planned. We were honored to have two relatively young judges from our neighbor to the west, Minnesota Grouse Dog Club. Ryan Hough has successfully trialed and run grouse dogs for years and is wise beyond his age. Chris Bye has a keen sense of bird dogs and performance objectives while maintaining a positive outlook. Chris is also the president of the Minnesota Grouse Dog Association and has been trialing for many years. Both are a pleasure to be around, exuding positive attitudes and given the conditions on Friday, it went without a hitch.

The following are excerpts from Ryan Hough, Open Shooting Dog judge:
First place: Cedar (Lindsey Saetre) had a powerful race, scorched the course, and reached for the front. She had three finds, including two in the last 10 minutes and a nice back. At 8, into Horse Creek course as it turns sharply to the north, Cedar went the wrong way. Instead of standing there yelling, Lindsay took the turn and kept calling for her, essentially "pulled her forward." It worked, and she was back with us in less than a minute or two, reaching for the front. A great handling decision! The speed, intensity around game, and raw power won her the blue.
Second place: Lily (Jordan Pharris) had a wide-ranging race; very nice to watch moving and snappy on the ground. Manners around game are outstanding, and so are style and finesse. She was composed for her first find, just off the course on the other side of a thick pine tree. Her bracemate stopped on a "whoa" but remained somewhat loose. Three grouse flushed directly over Lily, not all at once, one every 10 seconds, and then a late one 25 seconds later; she didn't flinch. In the last five minutes, Lily's bell fell silent again. Her bracemate's bell then stopped. We decided to check that first, in case both dogs came together. Both dogs were found, and Lily never flinched on another grouse. She had fantastic composure around game with some added pressure from her bracemate. This was the best and cleanest grouse work we saw in the trial.
3rd place: North Slopes Allie (Ed Graddy) had a reaching-forward race for the entire hour, stayed in likely bird cover the entire time, and looked good doing it. She's a peppy, happy-going dog. In the last 10 minutes, we lost her bell. Scout and judges (the bracemate had been picked up early) started to look with the handler.
Allie was found by the other judge and marshal; she had been standing for a long time. We saw fresh grouse tracks in the snow in front of her; the handler and I followed those, trying for a flush. No dice! With about three minutes left, the handler releases Allie for relocation. The dog stops again with about 10 seconds left in the hour, and a strong flushing attempt was made. The time was up by 3-4 minutes, and the handler decided to relocate the dog one last time. As we're walking back to the dog for the relocation, the gallery, another judge, and marshals called, "Bird." A grouse blasted out from where the dog was standing--an exciting finish!

With a second winter storm bearing down on us (predicted 8-12 inches of snow), the field trial committee determined for the running of the trial and the safety of the participants, it would be best to finish the Derby on Saturday. This would mean limiting the Open Derby to a dual course setup and not the original desired plan of continuous courses.

At the evening judges' dinner, one of the Derby judges had an unfortunate health event that forced him to withdraw. Our prayers go out to him! We were 12 hours from breakaway the following morning. Greg Johnson was our savior. He agreed to judge with Brent Sittlow. Greg is a seasoned grouse hunter and successful handler who recently came off competing in the Invitational, which selects the top 12 grouse dogs in the nation to compete. Brent Sittlow has been a grouse hunter and successful field trialer for some 30+ years and is a highly sought-after judge in the cover dog circuit.

The Open Derby boasted a considerable entry of 24 dogs. Judges Johnson and Sittlow would have their hands full looking over all the contestants on two courses. Conditions were clear and cold, with crunchy snow, to start the stake. Moving into the afternoon, the snow softened, with some bare patches opening on the forest floor. Consequently, the spring migrating woodcock were more available to the afternoon braces.
First place was awarded to Big Big Energy (Jordan Pharris), a puppy-aged Setter male who tore up the H course's west side like a veteran. His forward race extended to the cover available to him, always hunting and never wasting a step on the path. It was a mature performance for any stake, let alone a puppy-aged derby.
Second place went to Little Rolling Baby Momma (Josh Matel), an attractively proportioned Setter female. She ran the first brace of the day in single digits and crunchy snow. She covered the ground with plenty of pace that extended when needed--easy handling and always forward, requiring very little direction from her handler. With 30 seconds left in the brace, a grouse was escaping from her general location, where she was found staunchly standing. That was a perfect punctuation to her brace.
Third place was Northwoods Cedar Edge (Eric Saetre), a diminutive Setter female with a lot of promise. She was flashy, forward, and sparkled on the ground. She was seeking the right cover and doing it with purpose. She was showing the potential needed to make a high-quality shooting dog.

Cover dog trials are unique in that they typically run on continuous courses (no bird fields) on wild birds. This requires a huge amount of up-front work, much of which is cutting, maintaining, and rerouting courses through the woods, swamps, over hills, and through thick brush. CVGDA maintains eight full one-hour courses over 16 miles of Eau Claire County Forest. Thank you to Mike Luebke, Colin Peterson, Tim Callahan, Ben Mergens, Bert Benshoof, Rod Lein, Jim Kleve, Denny Baumann, Roger King, and Tom Goltz for many days in the woods preparing courses. Also, thanks to the Eau Claire County Parks and Forestry group led by Josh Peterson, including Jody Gindt and Jake Tumm. They facilitate our usage of the Eau Claire County Forest which is recognized in the top echelon of all cover dog venues in the nation.

Augusta, Wis., March 22
Judges: Chris Bye and Ryan Hough
OPEN SHOOTING DOG [One-Hour Heats] - 8 Pointers, 15 Setters and 1 German Shorthair
1st-NORTHWOODS CEDAR, 1691883, setter female, by Erin's Prometheus-Northwoods Carly Simon. Eric & Lindsey Saetre, owners; Lindsey Saetre, handler.
2d-RUFFED COUNTRY SWEET LILY, 1688167, setter female, by Northwoods Rob Roy-Northwoods Minerva. Dani McNeil, owner; Jordan Pharris, handler.
3d-NORTH SLOPES ALLIE, 1683547, setter female, by A Keystone Kid-Signature Ridge Cody. James Graddy, owner and handler.

Judges: Greg Johnson and Brent Sittlow
OPEN DERBY - 5 Pointers and 20 Setters
1st-BIG BIG ENERGY, 1705733, setter male, by Northwoods Atlas-Clover Valley's Millie. Jordan Pharris, owner and handler.
2d-LITTLE ROLLING BABY MOMMA, 1711373, setter female, by T's Sunrise Percy-Lolla's Gunslinger. Josh Matel, owner and handler.
3d-NORTHWOODS CEDAR EDGE, 1703153, setter female, by Snyder's Pioneer Scout-Northwoods Cedar. Eric & Lindsey Saetre, owners; Eric Saetre, handler.