Result: Region 7 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship

Location: Alvord, Texas

Post Date: May 8, 2025

Submitted By: Ken Sauer

Region 7 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship (l-r): Ken Sauer, Jason Super, Klaus Schmidt with Bandit Hill Bess, Eddy Smith (judge), Josh Pool, Uptown's West Mountain Boone with Jon Smith, Matthew Puckett, Shawn Rowan (judge), and Mike Rogers.

We want to start by thanking the USFS, Purina, Park Cities Quail Coalition (PCQC), Valley View Field Trial Association, and all who chipped in to help. Thanks to our judges, Shawn Rowan, Eddy Smith, Josh Pool, Tim Thorton, and Matthew Puckett. Jay Stine, executive director for PCQC, brought a delicious brisket for lunch on Saturday to top off the pulled pork and baked beans served by Melissa Sauer, Angie Rowan, and Lisa Warner. Sunday's lunch was Ken Sauer's famous King Ranch Chicken Casserole. Thanks to Larry Seybert Sr. for running the bird planting duties and the buggy. Sheila Uva commissioned the Region 7 Championship trophies, which were very well received by the winners.

We had folks from Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas, and lots of Texas folks, too. This event was in conjunction with a raffle/fundraiser for PCQC. PCQC was instrumental in funding the cleaning up and revamping of the Valley View trial grounds. VVFTA Unit #29 is in really good shape, and this spring, we will be moving further into Unit #75 to complete two one-hour continuous courses. This could not be accomplished without the help of the USFS, PCQC, Mike Pirtle, Trey Baer, and me. Lots of sweat equity is invested in this progress. The participants had nothing but great compliments on how good shape the grounds are in.

The trial was scheduled to start Friday, April 4, but with rain called for all day, the decision was made to start on Saturday. Well, it didn't rain all day Friday, just all night and well into the morning of Saturday. The course was wet and a little sloppy, but very manageable. The birds didn't seem to get soaked and flew off course. Thanks to C&G Game Birds from Verdon, Oklahoma, for such good birds.

Region 7 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship
In the Championship, very few dogs were picked up. Plenty of great dogs showed off what they're made of. In the first brace, "Hawk," owned and handled by Rob Warner from Illinois, was braced with "Ranger," owned and handled by Paul Ott from Kansas. Both did a nice job to kick off this Championship. Hawk had three finds and two backs doing a really nice job. Ranger had two finds but suffered two unproductives. In the second brace, "Bess," owned and handled by Klaus Schmidt, was braced with "Dutton," owned by Phillip Webster, handled by Matthew Puckett. Klaus put on a show with his young shooting dog Bess. She ran the course with commitment, carding five finds. She showed classy style on every find. Bess set the benchmark for all to chase. Dutton suffered an unproductive at 7 and never got anything else done. Dutton is a beautiful, big-framed pointer with tons of style. In the third brace, "Maria," owned and handled by Matthew Puckett, was braced with "Mason," owned by Tim Thorton and handled by Jon Smith. Maria carded two finds and finished the hour. On her last find, she was noted to take a few steps at the flush. Mason went birdless and didn't finish the hour. In the fourth brace, "Isla," owned and handled by Jason Super, and "Ben," owned and handled by Ken Sauer, went through almost half the course before carding and birdwork. Both dogs are extremely nice, moving dogs. Isla carded one find and was picked up shortly thereafter. Ben carded two finds. He also had another point on a bird that Isla had pointed. He didn't see the bird, nor was he around the flush, but passed through and pointed that bird. Late in the brace, Ben had a herd of cows not letting him through, affecting his finish. Sauer picked him up at 59, knowing his finish wouldn't get him a nod. In the fifth brace, "Stone," owned and handled by Klaus Schmidt, and "Boone," owned and handled by Jon Smith, were cut loose. Stone went through the course, only coming up with an unproductive around 43. For Boone, he did a nice job carding six finds at 26, 32, 38, 40, 56, and 58. Jon should be proud of his performance, and it was nice to watch. In the sixth brace, "Oakley," owned and handled by Paul Ott, was braced with "Tye," owned and handled by Ken Sauer, and let them loose. Oakley carded three finds at 11, 20, and 50. Oakley did a nice job and looks good pointing. Tye only carded two finds at 28 and 40. He had some nice moves but just needed more birdwork and a little stronger finish. Sauer picked him up at 58.

Shawn Rowan, Championship and Open Shooting Dog Judge.

Alvord, Tex., April 5
Judges: Shawn Rowan and Eddy Smith
REGION 7 AMATEUR WALKING SHOOTING DOG CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats] - 11 Pointers and 1 Setter
Winner-BANDIT HILL BESS, F1706165, pointer female, by Touch's Smooth Rider-West's Lucky. Klaus Schmidt, owner and handler.
Runner-Up-UPTOWN'S WEST MOUNTAIN BOONE, F1706402, pointer male, by West Mountain Lucky Luke-M H Rockford Peach. Jonathan Smith, owner and handler.

Valley View Field Trial Association

The NBHA Gun Dog stakes were run over on Unit #75 at the same time as the Championship was being run on #29, so we could get all the stakes done in two days. No. 75 is a great place for working dogs, with even more improvements coming this spring/summer. It took another set of judges (thank you, Josh Pool and Tim Thorton) and another bird planter/field marshal (thank you, Trey Baer). Everyone should come out and check out this unit.

NBHA Amateur Shooting Dog
In the first brace, "Pixie," owned and handled by Chuck Maxson, and "Jett," owned and handled by Jon Smith, were off around 9 a.m. (had to wait a while for the rain to officially stop). Pixie had a nice ground race/application with one find, one back, and two unproductives. The judges were impressed by her manners and ground speed. Jett scored three finds, but his ground application separated the two dogs. In the second brace, "Roque," owned and handled by Jacob Zackery, tore a pad and was limited on the ground. Izzy, owned and handled by Jon Smith, scored two finds and had a point on another bird. Izzy's ground application could have been a little more forward. In the third brace, "Alice," owned and handled by David Wysch, ran with "Poncho," owned by Chip Brosseau, handled by Jason Gallagher. Chip was in a leg cast, and Jason stepped in to help. Alice had one nice find with a really nice ground race. Poncho did score three finds but was really loose on his game, also coming in from the rear a few too many times. In the fourth brace, "Sage," owned and handled by Chris Daniels, was paired with "Julie," owned and handled by Chuck Maxson. Freeway chalked up a find and pointed game on another stand. Julie's manners were a little too much, interfering with her bracemate.

NBHA Open Shooting Dog
"Segar," owned and handled by Phillip Webster, and "Hawk," owned and handled by Rob Warner, started Sunday's first brace. Segar had scored a find. He is really a nice young dog. He'll be a contender in events to come. However, on his back, he moved quite a bit and was picked up. Hawk tallied up three nice finds and a back on Segar's first find. In the second brace were "Mason," owned and handled by Tim Thorton, and "Alta," owned and handled by Mark Wagner. Both dogs didn't score and game and were picked up early. In the third brace, we had "Robert" (2x NBHA National Open Champion), owned and handled by Klaus Schmidt, and "Boone" (2025 NBHA Free-For-All Runner-up Champion). This brace was exciting, with both dogs doing a nice job. Robert started with an unproductive then backed his bracemate before scoring birdwork two times. Boone started with a stop to flush, then had two more finds. In the fourth brace were "Jane," owned and handled by Josh Pool, and "Maria" (2024 NBHA Free-For-All Runner-up Champion), off to the races. Jane scored three nice forward finds. Her ground application was really nice. Maria scored a find but may have moved a little too much and was picked up. In the fifth brace, "Dutton," owned and handled by Phillip Webster, had the course to themselves. On his first piece of birdwork, he moved too much and was picked up.

NBHA Open Derby
In the first brace was "Sport," owned and handled by Jason Gallagher, with "Sage," who moved up due to Jacob Zackery's dog blowing a pad the day before. Sport had three bird contacts for his handler. His race needed to be a bit more forward and a little more solid on his birdwork. Sage carded three finds and had a nice front race. She, too, needed a little more work on her bird manners for this time of year, but it was a nice performance. In the second brace, "Codingo," owned and handled by Jason Gallagher, was paired with "Jetty," owned by Jon Summy and handled by Trey Baer. Codingo had a really nice race but didn't come up with any birdwork. Jetty had one really nice find; however, her bracemate had some breach of manners. Jetty really showed nicely on her ground application. In the third brace were "Vista," owned and handled by Mark Wagner, and "Buffer," owned and handled by Mike Pirtle. Vista scored two finds but needed a little more forward race. Vista did a nice job. Buffer had two finds and a really nice ground application. That is, until the cows once again got in the way of his finish. In the fourth brace were "Alta," owned and handled by Mark Wagner, and "Honey," owned and handled by Meadow Thorton (youth handler). Alta had no birdwork and had a little too much bounce back. Honey scored on game on one find and had a really nice ground race. Honey stayed in the pocket but needed a little more handle. In the fifth brace were "Pete," owned by Jon Summy and handled by Trey Baer, and "Blue," owned and handled by Tim Thorton. Pete had a really nice forward race without birdwork, and the handler picked up early. Blue didn't seem to have his running shoes on, and the handler picked up early.
In conclusion, we feel this was a successful trial and would have loved to see more entries. We think the weather had a part in some of this. The raffle was extended another two weeks to recoup some of the personal investments that were donated and to get a better outpouring of income to PCQC, which they deserve. They are committed to the LBJ Grasslands, and we all need to show them we are committed to them also.

Amateur Shooting Dog: Uptown's Elhewed Black Ice with Jon Smith, Tim Thorton, Phillip Webster, Ken Sauer (in background), Cazador's Red Sage with Chris Daniels, and Jason Super. [Not pictured: Firebug].

Judges: Josh Pool and Tim Thorton
NBHA AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG - 1 Pointer, 6 Setters, and 1 German Shorthair
1st-UPTOWN'S ELHEWED BLACK ICED, F1685711, pointer female, by Flashpan-Hackberry's Lightfoot Ice. Jon Smith, owner and handler.
2d-FIREBUG, F1686749, setter female, by Bugs N Dirt-Iron Afire. Chuck Maxson III, owner and handler.
3d-CAZADOR'S RED SAGE, F1710019, setter female, by Red Oak Island Cazadors-Cazador's La Freeway. Chris Daniel, owner and handler.

Open Shooting Dog: Josh Pool, Jane's Atlantic Way with Rillie Pool, Jason Super, Matthew Puckett, Sky Hawk's Little Rascal with Rob Warner, Chris Daniels, Jon Smith, Southern Shadow's Bootlegger with Klaus Schmidt, Penny Case, Jason Gallager, and Ken Sauer.

Judges: Shawn Rowan and Jason Super
NBHA OPEN SHOOTING DOG - 7 Pointers and 2 Setters
1st-JANE'S ATLANTIC WAY, F1703426, setter female, by Erin's Wild Atlantic Way-Erin's Princess Rene. Josh Pool, owner and handler.
2d-SKY HAWK'S LITTLE RASCAL, F1670670, setter male, by Hytest Palladin-Sky Hawk's Blues Traveler. Rob Warner III, owner and handler.
3d-SOUTHERN SHADOW'S BOOTLEGGER, F1700852, pointer male, by Lester's Prime Poison Lane-Southern Ritz Lane. Klaus Schmidt, owner and handler.

Open Derby: Melissa Sauer, Lindsey Daniels, Cazador's Red Sage with Chris Daniels, Josh Pool, Matthew Puckett, Rob Warner, Jetty Lynn with Trey Baer, Tim Thorton, Jason Gallager, and Ken Sauer. [Not pictured: Flatrock Who's Your Daddy].

Judges: Josh Pool and Matthew Puckett
NBHA OPEN DERBY - 11 Entries
1st-JETTY LYNN, F1709301, setter female, by Mohawk Mill Lucky Charm-Money Moves. Jon Summy, owner and handler.
2d-FLATROCK WHO IS YOUR DADDY, F1717819, Brittany male, by Rammer Jammer Jax-Highpoint Spike's Southern Gal. Bonnie Pirtle, owner and handler.
3d-CAZADOR'S RED SAGE, F1710019, setter female, by Red Oak Island Cazadors-Cazador's La Freeway. Chris Daniel, owner and handler.

The Thortons: Dad Tim, Hazel, and last year's NBHA Youth Handler of the Year, Meadow Thorton.