Result: Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association

Location: Augusta, Wisconsin

Post Date: Jul 2, 2022

Submitted By: Brent Sittlow

Large Contingent of Field Trial Participants with Open Shooting Dog Winners.

Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association Spring Trials can be a crap shoot in the spring. A quick warm up in early March got the snow off the ground, but another cold spell left us questioning our sanity when we ran the trial. Temps were in the teens and twenties, with stiff winds prevailing for both days of the trial. These conditions made things a bit challenging on everybody involved. But the Eau Claire County Forest did her job by providing the habitat and the birds, and many of the dogs did their job as well by finding them in their haunts.

A big thanks to all the CVGDA members and participants that made the trial go smoothly. Tom Goltz, Mike Luebke, Rod Lein, Randy Bruder, Ben Mergens, Jim Kleve, James Kleve, and others, kept the trucks moving, and tag teamed the marshalling duties on the courses. Is was great to see a lot of new faces as well, and hopefully we can parlay that into active cover dog field trailers, in the future. Bert Benshoof brought the energy we needed to brave the cold climate, in the form of donuts. Donuts are always greatly appreciated.
Of course, a final thank you to our sponsor, Purina, for being a big supporter of the Cover Dog Clubs. It would be really difficult for Cover Dog Clubs to do these trials without you.

Judges Brett Edstrom and Scott Anderson presided over the one hour shooting dog stake, which saw a solid entry of 18 dogs mixed among pros and amateurs.
Emerging on top was North Slopes Allie (Graddy) that kept up a snappy hour, culminating with a nifty grouse fine at 59, at the very end of the Wilson Park Course. Over The Hill Patty (Lein) expertly ran the Gasline Course, produced a woodcock, and garnered the red ribbon. Third place went to Northwoods Atlas, who produced a woodcock on the Stokely Diablo Jake Course, combined with a nice ground effort.

The Derby stake was good one. It consisted of ten braces of good action over multiple courses. Judges Steve Snyder and Neil Anderson named Over The Hill Morgan (Lein) the winner with a couple of good finds on the Gasline course. Second place went to Bad Habits (Mergens) that smoked the Wilson Park Course, and third place went to Over The Hill Try (Lein) who dominated the Stokely Diablo Jake Course. All three of these placements were from the same litter. Obviously a good nick, was struck in that pairing!
Augusta, Wis., March 26
Judges: Scott Anderson and Brett Edstrom
OPEN SHOOTING DOG [One-Hour Heats] - 2 Pointers and 16 Setters
1st-NORTH SLOPES ALLIE, 1683547, setter female, by A Keystone Kid-Signature Ridge Cody. James Graddy, owner and handler.
2d-OVER THE HILL PATTY, 1659908, pointer female, by Go Johnny Go-Beaver Creek Lucy. Rod Lein, owner and handler.
3d-NORTHWOODS ATLAS, 1674557, setter male, by Northwoods Grits-Northwoods Nickel. Greg Johnson, owner and handler.
Judges: Neil Anderson and Steve Snyder
OPEN DERBY - 12 Pointers and 7 Setters
1st-OVER THE HILL MORGAN, 1699010, pointer female, by J T H Scion-Over The Hill Patty. Rod Lein, owner and handler.
2d-BAD HABITS, 1696871, pointer female, by J T H Scion-Over The Hill Patty. Ben Mergens, owner and handler.
3d-OVER THE HILL TRY, 1699008, pointer female, by J T H Scion-Over The Hill Patty. Rod Lein, owner and handler.

Open Derby. From left: Jeff Sullivan with Over The Hill Try, Ben Mergens with Bad Habits, Rod Lein with Over The Hill Morgan.