Result: North Carolina Open Shooting Dog Championship
Location: Hoffman, North Carolina
Post Date: Jun 21, 2020
Submitted By: Dwight Smith
Championship Winners. Front row, from left: Mike Tracy, Casey Hollander with Waybetter Rocky, Doug Ray and Kaley Lee with Miller's Creative Cause. Second row: Gretchen Adsit, Dennis Snyder, Judge Mark Hughes and Judge Ray Joye. Third row: Sandra Stone, Alford Wood, Earl Drew, Tom Green, Roger McPherson. Back row: Dwight Smith, Fred Potts and Calvin Curnutte.
HOFFMAN, N. C. -- Waybetter Rocky, six-year-old white and orange pointer male owned by Muriel and William Primm and Carl, Joyce and Collin Bishop, was named the 2019 North Carolina Open Shooting Dog Champion. He was handled by Mike Tracy.
Runner-up honors were awarded to Miller's Creative Cause, coming nine-year-old white and orange pointer male owned by Tommy Liesfeld of Waynesboro, Ga., and handled by Doug Ray for Mr. Liesfeld.
The performances of the winner and runner-up are described elsewhere in this report.
Weather throughout the six days was normal for the Sandhills area of North Carolina. Rain came on Tuesday and running was called off for the afternoon. Temperatures were in the 30s for the morning breakaways and in the 50s by mid-afternoon most days.
Robert Gordon Grounds are in excellent condition thanks to North Carolina Wildlife Commission employees Brady Beck and Lee Crisco and their staff. Cover is heavier than usual due to changes in mowing plus summer and fall rains. In some places plum thickets have been mowed in strips to allow handlers to flush quail more easily.
Extra food plots were planted in long narrow strips and summer grass strips mowed in order to see dogs better. A creek crossing on course No. 2 was improved during the trial. That's a good example of how well the management at the Robert Gordon Grounds take care of the multi-use facilities.
The barns and kennels are in good condition. The stalls and paddocks were recently cleaned to help insure the health of horses and dogs.
More than enough quail were available to provide game opportunities for the 58 entries. Very few entries lacked the chance to be shown on game. However, the number of unproductives was above the normal amount expected. Both judges and a couple of handlers raised the question of why so many fruitless stands. That is something this reporter can't answer.
Meals were provided each day by Gretchen and John Adsit with the help of Ray Joye. One often wonders how things were taken care of before the Adsits moved their winter residence from Vermont to Hoffman. Gretchen is helpful in so many ways.
Association president Ray Joye was on hand to take care of everything that no one else did. He helped cook, marshalled and even judged some. He is a great improvement over last year's president of the association.
Dennis Snyder, association vice-president, helped in many ways and rode just about every brace. A very talented man, he and Margaret and Earl Drew were available to help with chores. Margaret and Earl Drew were present at the drawing and Margaret helped Ray Joye draw the braces.
The Richmond County Tourism Development Authority provided support for the North Carolina Field Trial Association by helping finance the quail release program.
Motel, food and other items needed by field trialers can be found in the City of Rockingham only 14 miles from the grounds. Purina also provided support as they do for the entire field trial sport.
The advertised judges were Mark and David Hughes, a father-son team. David was in a horse related accident early in the trial. Ray Joye replaced David to finish the judicial chores.
Hughes was contacted several days after he returned to his home back in Pennsylvania and relayed the good news that he was recovering nicely, but was sore.
Mark Hughes and Ray Joye completed the judging assignment after David Hughes was hospitalized in Southern Pines. They worked well as a team.
Alford Wood made sure dogs were at the right spot to begin their brace and was at the right place to gather them up at the end of the hour. That is not an easy task.
THE WINNERS AND OTHERS
Waybetter Rocky was drawn to run in the 26th brace. Due to an early pickup of brace No. 25 part of course No. 5 and part of course No. 6 were used for Rocky's exciting 60 minutes where he displayed an excellent ground effort.
From the get-go Rocky roamed the pine tree hills with sedge grass ground cover. He worked the edges far ahead for a shooting dog, crossed the open country before Ledbetter Road, always to the front, with excellent speed and style.
After crossing Ledbetter going toward the Naked Creek area, Rocky would take the long edges, go out of sight and return on the opposite side of the fields, making excellent choices in selecting objects to hunt. Mike Tracy rode at a steady pace; no scouting was required in the first 30 minutes.
Tracy called point in high cover just before crossing Fire Tower Road and the Naked Country intersection. He is the perfect model for a partner on point -- and has manners to boot. Rocky's bracemate failed to back on this find and was taken up.
The last part of the Primm/Bishop dog's groundwork was a sight to see in the open brown straw fields with scattered pines that look so much like the South Georgia plantation country.
The afternoon sun shined to make the white and orange pointer sparkle in the cover, and he was easy to watch. Fading from sight, then appearing on the next hill or in a draw.
Rocky's groundwork and fine style pointing and the manners he displayed will leave memories for many of the gallery. In future years some field trialers will ride the Naked Creek country and explain to a friend how Waybetter Rocky won the North Carolina Open Shooting Dog Championship with an excellent ground effort and a real sure enough find. He did have an unproductive.
Just before coming to North Carolina, Rocky annexed the South Carolina Shooting Dog Championship. As someone in the gallery said, "Boy, Rocky is hot."
Rocky's early development was done by then owner Carl Bishop. Tracy has added some important final touches that have made him a top contender in open and amateur shooting dog stakes.
The pointer male has at least 11 championships plus a truck load of Derby, amateur shooting dog placements, and open shooting dog placements.
Miller's Creative Cause drew the last brace of the Championship and ran on part of course No. 2 and No. 3. He was handled by Doug Ray.
Course No. 2 is made up of long fields and far reaching edges on the Robert Gordon Grounds. Cover in that area is slightly higher than usual this year also, but cover didn't bother the Tommy Liesfeld pointer this day.
He seemed to always be reaching for more country, looking for another edge to hunt and was seldom in easy running areas like roads or mowed strips. Yet he handled kindly.
In fact several times Cause would have to take easy footing, but he would jump into what we call birdy country as soon as possible.
On several occasions Ray would stop on a hill, turn his horse sideways and point Cause out as he hunted far to the front. He did hunt, not just run.
Ray called point early in the hour, couldn't flush, then turned to the judges and asked something like, "Am I making any money?" We couldn't hear the judges' answer, but Ray released Cause and headed toward the small water hole near McGee's Castle. The gallery could see the nearly all white pointer point nearly a half mile away.
Ray rode to the straw pointer male, flushed a covey in very tall cover. Cause displayed excellent style and manners around game.
Cause's bracemate had been taken up so Ray had plenty of time to handle Cause as he wished.
Just before the creek crossing past the soldiers' camp, Ray's scout called point for Cause in a planted food strip. Excellent find, excellent style, excellent manners were displayed.
Doug Ray gathered everything up, sent Cause toward McGee's Castle and Cause reached for the far end of McGee's field. He was out of sight when Judge Joye called "pick him up." Ray and his scout rode for the still strong striding pointer.
A reader of this report can understand that the difference between the champion and runner-up was not a lot. Both had stellar performances and that is why it is necessary to have judges with knowledge, honesty and analytical minds to make decisions. Judges Hughes and Joye have those talents.
It was a pleasure to watch the sons of Hall-of-Famers George Tracy and Harold Ray handle dogs. The memories of Harold and George become alive again as their sons put down good entries one after the other. Must be something in the water in Glenville, Pa., and Waynesboro, Ga.
Miller's Heat Seeker was carried by the judges first as champion, then as runner-up until the last brace when Miller's Creative Cause displaced him. Heat Seeker had an outstanding ground effort on the first day of the running plus one find and an unproductive.
Lone Tree's Showbiz, handled by Travis Gellhaus, had a great ground performance on course No. 6.
Phillips Wind Line, handled by Doug Ray, applied himself well and ended up with two excellent pieces of bird work.
Stone's Tried and True impressed in the cold early morning temperatures on the second day of the Championship.
All things considered, the 2019 North Carolina Open Shooting Dog Championship will go down in Hoffman's field trial history as a successful event with some very exciting performances and happenings.
Hoffman, N. C., December 16
Judges: Mark Hughes and Ray Joye
NORTH CAROLINA OPEN SHOOTING DOG CHAMPIONSHIP
[One-Hour Heats] -- 53 Pointers and 5 Setters
Winner--WAYBETTER ROCKY, 1652783, pointer male, by Brown's Tom Tom--Waybetter Reba. Carl, Joyce & Collin Bishop, Muriel & Bill Primm, owners; Mike Tracy, handler.
Runner-Up--Miller's Creative Cause, 1645653, pointer male, by Miller's Happy Jack--Muddy Water Kate. Tommy Liesfeld, owner; Doug Ray, handler.