Result: NGSPA Pheasant Championships

Location: Bloomingdale, Ohio

Post Date: Jan 3, 2025

Submitted By: Anthony Rusciano

NGSPA Pheasant Open Shooting Dog Championship (top row, l-r): Anthony Rusciano, Chris Goegan, Tim McClurg (judge), Robert Reynolds, Dan DiMambro, Chris Catanzarite (judge), Chris Young with In Country's Hurricane Jane, April DiMambro with Chicoree's Four Leaf Clover, and Fred Ryan.

This was the 51st year the NGSPA Pheasant Championships was being held, and we were faced with a hard decision to move grounds from Wye Island, Maryland, to Mingo Sportsman's Center Field Trial Grounds, Bloomingdale, Ohio. Wye Island has been home to our Championship for over 40 years and has a great deal of history and memories made there. The decision to move grounds was not easy, but ultimately, we felt that the future was not a positive one remaining on the island. The possibility that we could soon be losing another field in the middle of our course and the challenges we faced for the past few years in finding adequate cover for the Pheasant did help make the choice to move slightly easier.

Bill Monk, a board member at Mingo, deserves all the credit for allowing the NGSPA Pheasant Championship to run on these highly sought-after field trial grounds. Bill, a German Shorthair owner and field trialer himself, provided the Pheasant Championship the opportunity to conduct our Championship to follow the National Pointer Pheasant Championship. Following this National event granted our participants and their dogs the opportunity to have an abundance of pheasant finds.

Unlike Wye Island, where a dog had to stick to an edge and have the wind in their favor to run across game, at Mingo Field Trial grounds, a dog had to be a bird dog and hunt for game. The fact that Mingo grounds are better suited for the sport we compete in and better for our bird dogs is why moving grounds proved to be the best decision for our championship. There was plenty of game to be found. I believe almost every dog encountered a pheasant. Many dogs had multiple finds throughout their brace, and some were able to pin down coveys of pheasants with up to a dozen or more flying in one find.

The NGSPA Pheasant and Region 3 Championships received the approval to run their 2024 Championships at Mingo late during the summer and already had many of their judges selected to participate at their normal dates in November at Wye Island, Maryland. The challenge was to pivot and move two championships to the new grounds at Mingo in a very short time frame. Unfortunately, many of the judges had prior commitments that prevented them from being available for our new date a month earlier in October. A tremendous thanks goes to Chris Young, Chris Goegan, Art Terstage, and others who stepped up and helped supply judges for both championships. Planning a huge event such as the Pheasant Championship is difficult and time-consuming enough without the added stress of changing venues. We had to count on other field trialers from the area who were more familiar with the grounds to step in and help, and we are grateful for all their assistance. During the running of the event, last-minute changes had to be made, and Rich Robertson, Fred Ryan, and Kirk Loftin had to step in and judge a stake. We appreciate them lending a hand especially with their busy schedules of caring for their own strings of dogs. We are extremely grateful to those who helped us by taking some of the pressure off of Dayna and me.

Purina Pro Plan has sponsored the NGSPA Pheasant championship for many years, and we would like to let Purina and Greg Blair know that we appreciate all they do for our sport. Thank you to Dogs Unlimited, who also sponsors all NGSPA Championships. Thank you to Jen Goodall for again taking the entries and doing a stand-up job organizing the paperwork. A special thanks goes to our judges for taking the time out of their busy schedules and away from their families to sit in the saddle and watch our dogs. Once again, a huge thank you to Bill Monk and the Mingo Sportsman Center Field Trial committee members for allowing the NGSPA Championships to conduct our events on their grounds. To all the Mingo members who either volunteered to plant birds for us or worked in the clubhouse, we appreciate your time and support. Lastly, we would like to thank the NGSPA board of directors for trusting us to run this event.

The NGSPA Pheasant Championships started on Friday, October 2, 2024. We could not have asked for better weather, and the Mingo Field Trial grounds were in excellent condition, with ample areas of grasses and food plots that went on as far as the eye could see. Many attendees travel thousands of miles to compete with their dogs and have fun trying to pin down a few pheasant finds. Not only did our 300 game birds stick around in the vast cover, but hundreds of pheasants were still present from the previous event. A lot of planning and time goes into running the Pheasant Championship. We are VERY APPRECIATIVE to all the professional handlers and amateurs who select this championship to attend and support.
Due to too many new hurdles with running this event on new grounds this year, we, unfortunately, do not have a brace by brace write-up. Just ask anyone in attendance, and they will be sure to tell you that this year was a step in a much better direction than the past few years, and the pheasant finds were plentiful.

With an abundance of finds came improved opportunities to better judge a bird dog's ability to not only hunt and find game but to do it multiple times throughout the hour-long brace. Not many dogs went birdless, making the competition more challenging and keeping everyone on the edge of their saddle. There is always room for improvement, and the Pheasant Championship is already excited and looking forward to 2025 to make this event the best we can offer our participants. We look forward to seeing all our NGSPA field trial friends attend this event in 2025 and welcome any newcomers to join us.
Congratulations to all of the 2024 champions and runner-up champions.

NGSPA Pheasant Open Shooting Dog Championship
From Brace 8a, named champion was In Country's Hurricane Jane ("Janie"), owned by Robert Reynolds and Chris Young and handled by Chris Goegan. From Brace 12a, Chicoree's Four Leaf Clover ("Chloe"), owned by Fred Ryan and handled by Dan DiMambro, was named runner-up champion.

The Pheasant Championship would like to thank all those who participated in this stake.

Bloomingdale, Ohio, October 2
Judges: Chris Catanzarite and Tim McClurg
NGSPA PHEASANT OPEN SHOOTING DOG CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats] - 37 German Shorthairs
Winner-IN COUNTRY'S HURRICANE JANE, F1672744, German Shorthair female, by Hi N's Bodacious-Slaterock Mattie Clark. Robert Reynolds & Chris Young, owners; Chris Goegan, handler.
Runner-Up-CHICOREE'S FOUR LEAF CLOVER, F1706674, German Shorthair female, by Twin Creeks Running Rocky-Hi N's Allison Miranda. Fred Ryan, owner; Dan DiMambro, handler.

NGSPA Pheasant Amateur Shooting Dog Championship
From Brace 5a, named champion was WFK Rio Grand Nash ("Rio"), owned by Peter and Diane Coppens and handled by Peter Coppens. From Brace 1a, M's Sky High Little Missy ("Missy"), owned and handled by Charles Gonzalez, was named runner-up champion.

The Pheasant Championship would like to thank all those who participated in this stake.

NGSPA Pheasant Amateur Shooting Dog Championship (top row, l-r): Fred Ryan (judge), Jack Alexander (judge), Anthony Rusciano, Dan DiMambro, Peter Coppens, and Art Terstage with WFK Rio Grand Nash. (Not pictured): Chuck Gonzalez and M's Sky High Little Missy.

Judges: Jack Alexander and Fred Ryan
NGSPA PHEASANT AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats] - 20 German Shorthairs
Winner-WFK RIO GRAND NASH, F1701938, German Shorthair male, by Jackson Brown Wagoners Lightin-WFK Who Datz Big To Do. Peter & Diane Coppens, owners; Peter Coppens, handler.
Runner-Up-M's SKY HIGH LITTLE MISSY, F1698294, German Shorthair female, by Riden High Rudy-Chicoree's Sparkle In Her Eye. Charles Gonzalez, owner and handler.

NGSPA Pheasant Open All-Age Championship
From Brace 4a, named champion was Stoney Hill's Pinnacle Dee ("Dee"), owned by Larry and Kirk Loftin and handled by Kirk Loftin. From Brace 3a, High Standing Cuttin Edge ("Woody"), owned by Anthony and Dayna Rusciano, and handled by Dan DiMambro, was named runner-up champion.

The Pheasant Championship would like to thank all those who participated in this stake.

NGSPA Pheasant Open All-Age Championship (top row, l-r): Chris Young (judge), Kirk Loftin, Dayna Rusciano, Anthony Rusciano, Helmut Schoen (judge), Dan DiMambro, Sherri Tangsrud with Stoney Hill's Pinnacle Dee, and April DiMambro with High Standing Cuttin Edge.

Judges: Helmut Schoen and Chris Young
NGSPA PHEASANT OPEN ALL-AGE CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats] - 20 German Shorthairs
Winner-STONEY HILL'S PINNACLE DEE, F1694168, German Shorthair female, by Twin Creek Running Rocky-P J's Wildfire's Little Lexi. Larry & Kirk Loftin, owners; Kirk Loftin, handler.
Runner-U-HIGH STANDING CUTTIN EDGE, F1675198, German Shorthair male, by Slicks Cuttin Wild-C L K's Point Me The Way. Anthony Rusciano, owner; Dan DiMambro, handler.

NGSPA Pheasant Open Derby
In first place, out of Brace 1a, was Prairie Wind Lily In The Field, owned by Keith and Bobbi Richardson and handled by Dan DiMambro. In second place, out of Brace 2b, was Sunny Fields Banshee, owned and handled by Art Terstage. In third place, out of Brace 2a, was Chicoree's She's Something Else, owned and handled by Fred Ryan.

The Pheasant Championship would like to thank all those who participated in this stake.

NGSPA Pheasant Open Derby (top row, l-r): Rich Robertson (judge), Art Terstage, Kirk Loftin (judge), Fred Ryan, April DiMambro with Prairie Wind Lily In The Field, Peter Coppens with Sunny Fields Banshee, and Dan DiMambro with Chicoree's She's Something Else.

Judges: Kirk Loftin and Kirk Loftin
NGSPA PHEASANT OPEN DERBY - 10 German Shorthairs
1st-PRAIRIE WIND LILY IN THE FIELD, F1709642, German Shorthair female, by Rumel's Augie Doggie-Chicoree's Riden High Trixie. Keith & Bobbi Richardson, owners; Dan DiMambro, handler.
2d-SUNNY FIELDS BANSHEE, F1710431, German Shorthair female, by High Standing Cuttin Edge-Sunny Fields Fire Bird. Art Terstage, owner and handler.
3d-CHICOREE'S SHE'S SOMETHING ELSE, F1716794, German Shorthair female, by High Standing Cuttin Edge-Chicoree's Glitter and Gold. Fred Ryan, owner and handler.

NGSPA Pheasant Derby win celebration dinner graciously sponsored by Keith and Bobbi Richardson.

Dr. Robert Reynolds, DVM, and Dr. Fred Ryan.

NGSPA Pheasant Amateur Shooting Dog breakaway.