Result: American Brittany Club Grouse and Woodcock Championship

Location: Augusta, Wisconsin

Post Date: Nov 5, 2021

Submitted By: Tom Goltz

The American Brittany Club Grouse Championship started in 1954 and ran each year until 1970. According to The Book of The American Brittany Eighties Edition, "Declining entries caused the Championship to cease running following the 1970 trial." The Championship was not held from 1971-1985.

Don Didcoct was an innovator and forward-thinking person in the Badger Brittany Club. He took the initiative with some members of the Minnesota Brittany Club to reorganize the format of the Championship. They added the Woodcock as a named bird to the trial.

In 1985, the Minnesota Brittany Club requested to reinstitute the Grouse Championship as the Grouse and Woodcock. In 1986, the Championship was run at the Mora. Minn., grounds and Don's Brittany male Hominy Grits was named champion. Thirty-Five years later, the American Brittany Club Grouse and Woodcock Championship is still running, showcasing class bird dogs. The Championship is run on native grouse and woodcock continuous courses through the forest.

For many years the Championship rotated between our friends at the New England Brittany Championship Association, Michigan Brittany Club and Badger Brittany Club in Wisconsin. Most recently it has been just New England and Badger in the rotation. Badger was the host in 2018. In 2020, Badger was asked host it due to COVID restrictions on the East Coast and this year the East Coast was not able to hold it. We hope a return to a normal schedule will happen next spring in Rhode Island.

Preparation for a continuous course trial always involves clearing trails for handlers, judges, marshals and gallery. This year our sister club Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association handled most of the hard work of preparing nearly thirteen miles of trails. We thank them for their effort! Prior to the ABC Championship two other Championships were held on the Eau Claire County Forest grounds -- North Country Championship and Wisconsin Cover Dog Championship.

We always appreciate the generous support of our sponsors Purina and Garmin. Their support adds greatly to the overall success of the trial. It's very evident that the owners and handlers believe in their products as most the dogs were collared with Garmin GPS units and many owners feed Purina to fuel healthy and winning dogs.

The winner received a Garmin Pro 550 Plus/TT15 system, and all winners received multiple bags of Purina Pro Plan Performance. Purina also provided all participants in the event with 2 lb. bags of Pro Plan Performance.

A huge thank you goes to Eau Claire County without our partnership with them we would not be able to host these trials. The collaborative cooperation relationship we have the Eau Claire County Parks Director Josh Peterson and his staff Jody, Gindt, Jake Tumm and others is outstanding and much appreciated. Eau Claire County has over 50,000 acres of public forest and we are very fortunate to be able to be one of the many groups utilizing this fine resource.

Quality judges are an essential ingredient when it comes to evaluating class cover dogs. We were blessed to have two of the finest. Tim Kaufman of Poplar, Wis., runs primarily English setters. He was up to the task of walking nearly ten miles and very attentively watching the dogs. Tim has been quite successful in the grouse woods winning multiple championships and the prestigious Don Didcoct Memorial Championship on these grounds. Tim is always a pleasure to be around and carries a smile at all times.

Our carry over judge, Brent Sittlow of Hudson, Wis., has judged numerous championships and is highly regarded throughout the Midwest. Brent has a quiet demeanor and gives his utmost attention to the dogs and always helpful suggestions to the handlers if requested. Brent has had successful string of pointers however family obligations has him currently busy with other activities we are pleased to have a judge as highly regarded as Brent evaluate our dogs.

I'm not sure if its global warming or what, but the temperatures this fall have been abnormally warm. With warm temperatures come mosquitos in the forest and we had them. Fortunately, all courses parallel the Eau Claire River so the dogs can take a dip and get wet. Multiple birds were moved on all courses and most dogs had opportunities on grouse or woodcock. The woodcock flight had not quite arrived yet but there were adequate local birds for the dogs.

THE RUNNING

The day started with a light mist and 60 and warmed as the day went on.

First brace (Gas Line Course). Bark River Fresh Water Pearl (Stanton) and Rib River Tough Enough Two (King). The action was off to a quick start as a grouse flew out at 1. No dogs were involved. From 3 to 12 Tuffy laid out a nice forward race, then both dogs worked a winter holly/alder patch hard for a few minutes. At 31 Tuffy returned from a deep cast to the right along a promising edge. At 33 Tuffy was again forward and in heavy alder cover when he hit scent and slammed on point. Judge Sittlow heard, then saw a grouse run out; Roger put it to flight and shot. Tuffy remained tall and focused throughout. At 41 and 47 Tuffy stopped briefly, then moved on close to the end of the brace, Tuffy pointed again to the right of the course in heavy tags. Roger flushed and shot when a woodcock flew. The bird was not visible to the judge. Overall Tuffy had a hard charging race, mostly forward and in good cover. His bird work was flawless on a difficult running grouse. Pearl worked the course hard until 48 when she hit scent and pointed Jeff flushed the grouse exploded from cover and Pearl chased, ending her quest for another placement. Two woodcock were flushed shortly after the grouse was pointed.

(Highline Course). M J's Box of Rain (Daley) and Red Granite's I Am A Rock (Asmus) broke away well and got down to business. We crossed the first logging road at 8, both dogs well forward. Rocky made two more big casts to the right along the river. Rainy was the slower of the two, but worked good cover with enthusiasm. She was sometimes difficult to pull back unto the course. At 57 Rainy pointed, Mike and judge went in; no bird was produced.

(Horse Creek Course). It's Five O'Clock Somewhere (Walters) and Bark River Queen of Diamonds (Stanton). "Cooper" is a promising young male that prior to today had no experience on the grouse or woodcock. He has done quite well on pen raised birds so Rebecca decided to enter him in a cover dog trial. "Cooper" rewarded her confidence in him with several good finds and a reasonable race. "Cooper" suffered an unproductive at 10. The judge spotted "Cooper" on point at 27, just ten yards off the trail; he alerted Rebecca who walked in to flush a woodcock all in order. At 39 in a woods opening, Rebecca called the flight of a grouse and shot. "Cooper" was credited with a stop to flush. At 41 "Cooper" hit scent while still on the trail, Rebecca flushed then sent him on. Cooper made a fine relocation on a running woodcock all in order. "Daisy" ran hard but was a bit hard to handle Jeff called for the retrieval device at 35. Both handlers moved several grouse on the way out.

Brace No. 4 ("H" Course). After a short lunch break, Clarice Havapal's Pocket Pistol (Holtz) and M J's Sweet Sugar Magnolia (Daley) broke away. Clare ran a snappy but brief forward race in good cover. Maggie ran exceptionally well for a 13-year-old. She has regularly placed in this event and won it in 2019. She may have lost some of her speed but hasn't lost her enthusiasm and ability to find birds. Just after the bridge crossing at 6 both bells were silent. Maggie was found honoring Clare, both doges intense, Maggie four feet behind Clare. Bill flushed a well-located grouse and shot. Mike confident it was a divided find, quickly shot over his dog Maggie stayed steady Clare did not. Clare's effort for the day ended.

Maggie hunted hard from 19-23 to the left of the trail Maggie pointed, Mike flushed but couldn't produce a bird. Maggie was sent on to relocate but couldn't find the bird. At 41 Maggie established an intense stand 20 yards to the left of the trail. Mike flushed a grouse and shot. As he went in to release Maggie a woodcock flushed four feet to the front of the dog's nose. As time was called, Maggie was working some turkeys at the top of a bluff. It took Mike about ten minutes to get her back.

(Diablo Jake Course). Repeat's Little Blues (Asmus) and Hy Steppin Ali's Got Attitude (Sennott) laid down some of the strongest races of the day as the temperatures climbed into the 70s. Both dogs were forward and covered the best ground well. At 45 Levi was becoming a bit erratic and Julie picked him up. Ally only got stronger as we got closer to the finish. At 58 Ally established a solid point. Chris walked in, the well-located grouse flushed and Ally went with the bird. Had her manners on the flush been sterling, she certainly would have been considered for the championship.

Augusta, Wis., October 7

Judges: Tim Kaufman and Brent Sittlow

AMERICAN BRITTANY CLUB GROUSE AND WOODCOCK

CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats] -- 10 Brittanys

Winner--RIB RIVER TOUGH ENOUGH TOO, 1663404, male, by Mark of the Hawk--J D's Hawk's Falcon. Roger & Kathy King, owners; Roger King, handler.

Runner-Up--IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE, 1668750, male, by Touch of Bourbon Little Chug--Bark River Queen of Diamonds. Rebecca Walters, owner and handler.