Result: Lake States Field Trial Club

Location: Meredith, Michigan

Post Date: Aug 27, 2026

Submitted By: Denise Peters

Mike Grostic Amateur Shooting Dog Memorial (front): K Del's Eagle Magnum Hotshot with Tammi Savage, Faith's Maximum Justice with Ken DeLong (owner/handler), and Hackberry's Wild One with Mike Francus (owner/handler). (Back row): Mike Singleton, Brent Peters, Frank Illijanic (judge), and Marc Forman (judge).

The Lake States Field Trial Club held its summer Purina-sponsored trial on August 8 and 9 at the prestigious Gladwin Field Trial Grounds in Meredith, Michigan. The weather was no surprise, with expected temperatures in the 80s. The courses were in good shape, as we have had our work detail days completed with a couple of new changes.

The Open Shooting Dog Qualifier commenced Saturday at 7 a.m. on Course 1 with Sean McKellip and Denise Peters as walking judges. To our surprise, we had 21 entries for our judges' viewing. First place was awarded to White Indian Outlaw, a good-looking male pointer, owned by Thomas Butler and handled by his wife Rachel Butler. "Wyatt" ran in the 8th brace of the day after the heat had started rising. Running on Course 9, Wyatt made some great casts early in that first cut. He held a good pace, hitting all the right cover and resourcefully finding water when needed. His bracemate picked up near the half, leaving Wyatt an open shot up through the cover in the blackberry patch. He came to a quick stop, carding a nice woodcock find with all in order. Wyatt finished with a nice consistent forward race. Second place was awarded to Banditos' Bandit, owned and handled by Mike Bandos. Bandit is a big male Llewellen setter that looked good moving through the cover. Bandit ran in the 5th brace on Course 6 and kept a good pace throughout the course, hitting the cover well. His bracemate was picked up, giving Bandit the last cut to himself. As we neared the pond, Bandit went on point. Mike flushed, and a grouse blew out; Bandit holding through the wing and shot. He finished the course with the same energy he started with. Silvershot's TC Tilly, owned by Andrew Purcell, took third. Bruce Minard handled this pretty little female pointer in the 4th brace on Course 5. Tilly started her brace with energy to burn, hitting the right cover with enthusiasm. She carded a nice woodcock find at 12, with all appropriate manners. Her pace in the last half was more moderate, keeping herself busy in all the right covers.

Sunday morning, we again started at 7 a.m. on Course 1 with the Mike Grostic Amateur Shooting Dog Memorial. Frank Illijanic and Marc Forman walked, judging our four braces of eager shooting dogs. Hackberry's Wild One took the trophy for his owner/handler Mike Francus. Running in the 3rd brace on Course 4, "Jax" is a big English pointer that handles well for Mike. Jax was strong on the ground for the whole brace, with a clean find on a pair of grouse with perfect manners. Second place went to Faith's Maximum Justice, owned and handled by Ken DeLong. This pointer has lots of years of mature experience and was thorough on the ground. Shortly after the bracemate's bell went silent, Justice went silent as well. Both judges and handers went in, expecting a backing situation. When Justice was nowhere in sight, they went searching. They found Justice on point, too far away to make it the same bird. Ken flushed up a woodcock, all while the bracemate flushed and shot, with Justice standing and showing his maturity through all the commotion. Ken shot, and all was well. Justice moved on to have a second woodcock find. K Del's Eagle Magnum Hotshot took third, owned and handled by Ken DeLong. "Shooter" ran in the second brace on Course 2, with the strongest race of any dog. He had great application, always forward, and after any absence, showed to the front with minimal handling effort.

Many thanks to Mike Singleton, who joined us Saturday with cookies for break and served us lunch. He came back again Sunday with cookies for our coffee break after the morning stake. To all the extra folks and participants who helped us move cars and keep things running, many thanks. Summer trials are hard on everyone, but as usual, our community showed up to make it all work. A big thank you to Purina for your continued support for this game that we all love.

Meredith, Mich., August 8
Judges: Sean McKellip and Denise Peters
OPEN SHOOTING DOG - 11 Pointers and 10 Setters
1st-WHITE INDIAN OUTLAW, F1709779, pointer male, by Light of Day-Perkins Beautiful Disaster. Thomas Butler, owner; Rachel Butler, handler.
2d-BANDITOS' BANDIT, F1704686, setter male, by Hidden Creek Fred-Fancy Betty's Pride. Michael Bandos, owner and handler.
3d-SILVERSHOT'S TC TILLY, F1704753, pointer female, by Crosswind Jim-Silvershot's Lil Fancy Pants. Andrew Purcell, owner; Bruce Minard, handler.

Judges: Marc Forman and Frank Illijanic
MIKE GROSTIC AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG MEMORIAL - 4 Pointers, 3 Setters, and 1 Brittany
1st-HACKBERRY'S WILD ONE, F1710263, pointer male, by Hackberry's Elhew Chief-Deep Creek Katydid. Mike Francus, owner and handler.
2d-FAITH'S MAXIMUM JUSTICE, F1660276, pointer male, by Nelson's Van Max-Wild Apple Faith. Kenric J. DeLong, owner and handler.
3d-K DEL'S EAGLE MAGNUM HOTSHOT, F1685770, Brittany male, by Magnum High Velocity-K Del's Eagle's Chance To Soar. Kenric J. DeLong, owner and handler.

Open Shooting Dog Qualifier (front): John Minard, Silvershot's TC Tilly with Bruce Minard (handler), Banditos' Bandit with Mike Bandos (owner/handler), and White Indian Outlaw with Rachel Butler (owner/handler). (Back row): Sean McKellip (judge), Denise Peters (judge), Brent Peters, Neal Minard, and Thomas Butler.