Event: Shady Hills Zeena Wins, and Meredith Grade Penny is Runner-up
Result: 35th Running of the Michigan Woodcock Championship

Location: Glaldwin, Michigan

Post Date: Nov 7, 2024

Submitted By: Tammy Chaffee, Club Secretary

Michigan Woodcock Championship: Michael Penn (judge), Marc Forman with Champion Shady Hills Zeena and owner Deb Nihart, Scott Chaffee with Runner-up Champion Meredith Grade Penny and owner Dennis Keysor, and Pat Cooke (judge).

The mornings were crisp, but afternoons were brutal, the headline for this year's Championship. September into October was untypically warm and dry for Michigan, making scenting conditions difficult at best. Despite the very challenging environment, many dogs finished with multiple finds on native woodcock and grouse.

Shady Hills Zeena, owned by Deb Nihart and handled by New York pro Marc Forman, knocked down a win at the New York Championship in mid-September and came to put an emphasis on her winning ways at the famed Gladwin Game Refuge in Michigan. Drawing Courses 5-6 on day two of the championship, she put on a show with five finds--two on grouse and three on woodcock. Course 6 had just been improved upon during the summer by a group of Michigan field trialers, and the improvements proved to be award-winning. So much so that the new runner-up champion, Meredith Grade Penny, owned by Denny Keysor and handled by Michigan pro Scott Chaffee also put her winning hour together on Course 5-6 with a grouse and two woodcock finds.
Zeena's brace broke away after a tailgate lunch with temperatures in the 60s and bluebird skies, a field trialer's nightmare. Course 5 starts with an older mixed timber cut, opening up into some oak scrub, and finishes with the crossover to Course 6 in rather open fields. The first half of six is a mixture of cover and open areas, ending with an older popple cut that was added to with a new trail through a newer cut that seemed to be a favorite of woodcock. Zeena scored almost immediately with a grouse find at the seven-minute mark on Course 5.
This initial find set the tone for her hour as she combed the cover to the front. Moving on through Course 5 and onto 6, she scored again at 33 on another grouse, following that up with three woodcock finds, the final one at time.
While Zeena is a field trial veteran at eight years old, Penny is a veritable rookie at three years of age. She was the 2022-23 Michigan Derby of the Year, Flanagan Award winner, and the Purina Cover Dog Derby of the Year. She ran the last brace on day three, with the temperature again in the 60s. She lost her bracemate at the halfway point, but Penny continued, making a big impression with her gutsy, tough-minded performance for the entire 60 minutes. She scored her first find at the beginning of Course 6, following up with two woodcock finds towards the end of her hour in the cuts at the end of the course.

As with all field trials, there were many in attendance to help keep the trial running smoothly: Ruffed Grouse Field Trial President Chris Wasserman, Vice Presidents Craig Merlington and Bryan Wood, along with directors Rob Ellis, Lonnie Rademacher, and Marc Dozeman. And, as always, many, many participants pitched in whenever asked to marshal, move cars, or whatever else was needed. Board members provided tasty tailgate meals, and Betsy Dozeman provided much-loved breakfast burritos for the weekend contestants. Rich and Jenny Hollister provided the judges with steady steads for the championship, derby, and puppy stakes. Jenny was a great help in keeping everything running smoothly on Saturday, with two stakes running at the same time--always a challenge. Thanks, Jenny!

Purina provided certificates for bags of dog food for the champion and runner-up and discount certificates for the derby and puppy winners. We are thankful to Greg Blair and Purina for their continued support.

Bill Wendt was an early supporter of creating the Woodcock Championship 35 years ago. The championship was run as a classic for a few years before being granted championship status. Acknowledging his hard work, the club created the Bill Wendt Memorial Open Derby Stake in his honor. Judging this year's renewal were Marc Dozeman and Scott Johnston. This year's winner was Flambeau Moon River, a female English Setter owned and handled by Joe Colglazier. "Rem" drew Course 9 and put together a super ground race coupled with a grouse find on a nice relocation. Second was awarded to Hypointe Sharpshooter, a male English Setter owned by Nick Mellon and handled by Scott Chaffee. "Zeke" handled Course 8 with a forward race and a broke find on a grouse. Rounding out the winners for third was Prairie Forged Jay, owned by Robert Jones and handled by Tammy Chaffee. Jay cut loose on Course 7, connecting with two grouse during his 30-minute run.

The inaugural running of the Bernie Bauman Memorial Open Puppy stake was named in honor of a man loved by all and a great fan of field trials and bird dogs. His close friend Tom Vanecek, along with Bill Darr agreed to handle the judicial duties. First place was awarded to Grouse Hill Patch, a female Pointer owned by Michael Capocci and handled by Marc Forman. Second went to Grouse Hill Dixie, a female Pointer owned by John Capocci and handled by Scott Forman. Third was Shady Hills Hickory, owned and handled by Scott Forman.

Gladwin, Mich., October 9
Judges: Patrick Cooke and Michael Penn
35TH MICHIGAN WOODCOCK CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats] - 17 Pointers, 34 Setters, and 1 Irish Setter
Winner-SHADY HILLS ZEENA, F1667955, pointer female, by Erin's War Creek-Brave Heart Cassie. Debra Nihart, owner; Marc Foreman, handler.
Runner-Up-MEREDITH GRADE PENNY, F1694628, setter female, by Ponderosa Mac-Eldridge's Beauty and Beast. Dennis Keysor, owner; Scott Chaffee, handler.

Ruffed Grouse Field Trial Club
Judges: W. M. Darr and Tom Vanecek
BERNIE BAUMAN MEMORIAL OPEN PUPPY - 5 Pointers and 4 Setters
1st-GROUSE HILL PATCH, F1710162, pointer female, by Grouse Hill Rambo-All On. Michael Capocci, owner; Marc Forman, handler.
2d-GROUSE HILL DIXIE, F1710163, pointer female, by Grouse Hill Rambo-All On. John Capocci, owner; Scott Forman, handler.
3d-SHADY HILLS HICKORY, F1706949, pointer male, by Grouse Hill Bullet Proof-Shady Hills Panda Bear. Scott Forman, owner and handler.

Bernie Bauman Memorial Open Puppy: Tom Vanecek (judge), Marc Forman with Grouse Hill Patch, Marc Dozeman (club director), John Capocci with Grouse Hill Dixie, Chris Wasserman (club president), Scott Forman with Shady Hills Hickory, and Bill Darr (judge).

Judges: Marc Dozeman and Scott Johnson
BILL WENDT MEMORIAL OPEN DERBY - 4 Pointers and 15 Setters
1st-FLAMBEAU MOON RIVER, F1710595, setter female, by Grouse Busters Deacon-Grouse Busters Gracie. Isaac Colglazier, owner and handler.
2d-HYPOINTE SHARPSHOOTER, F1706315, setter male, by Dun Rovens Zip-Castle Rock's Autumn Breeze. Nicholas Mellon Jr., owner; Scott Chaffee, handler.
3d-PRAIRIE FORGED JAY, F1704524, setter male, by Jackson's Let Er Rip-Jones' Big Sky Lanius. Robert T. Jones, owner; Tammy Chaffee, handler.

Bill Wendt Memorial Open Derby: Joe Colglazier with Flambeau Moon River, Marc Dozeman (judge), Scott Chaffee with Hypointe Sharpshooter, Scott Johnston (judge), and Tammy Chaffee with Prairie Forged Jay.