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Region Championships National Am. Chicken 2006 Report
Region Championships National Am. Chicken 2006 Report | 2006 Report |
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The 2006 National Amateur Chicken Championship By Louis Qualtiere The National Amateur Chicken Championships(NACC) and Region 14 All Age and were held on September the 4th through the 8th at Mortlach Saskatchewan. These two championships have been conjointly held at Mortlach at the end of the August beginning of September for over 20 years. These grounds are the jewel of the Northern prairies and offer one of the strongest tests of a true all-age dog. Only those dogs which can reach out to the limit and still handle and find birds will be counted in the end. Brad Harter, the reporter for the NACC in 2004 gave a remarkably accurate description of these ground and for those who missed his commentary that year here it is. "Put together more than 16,000 acres of gently rolling prairie terrain, more than ample numbers of Sharptail grouse and Hungarian partridge, perfect weather, great dogs and the best people you could ever meet and you have every single ingredient for a successful field trial. The National Amateur Chicken Championship, held in early September at Mortlach, Sask., was exactly that type of field trial. A portion of the grounds are owned by a half dozen local ranchers. The largest section is called "Crown Land". It is owned by the Canadian government and is leased to the local ranchers. The trial headquarters is a modern clubhouse that sits on the site of Leon Covington's old training camp. This clubhouse was built in recent years by the Sask. Field Trial Club, a group of hard working, field trial infected Canadians with help from the AFTCA 20th Century fund. It is a great facility that is appreciated by all that attend these prairie trials. With nearly 16,000 acres available for five one hour courses, there is more than ample room for a bird dog to show heels and perform the true prairie, all-age race. Each course is about five miles in length. Each course offers plenty of objectives and a perfect cover mix with massive hay fields intermixed with rotational crop land. There are bluffs (tree-covered islands) and long sandy ridges covered with chokecherry and other indigenous shrubs. Mix in a few rough pastures, home to large herds of beef cattle, and you have Mortlach, a field trial paradise. Somewhere on about every 160 acres you will find the remains of abandoned home sites. These old farm sites are often home to the Sharptail grouse and Huns, just like they are favorite haunts to the Bobwhite quail of the south. Put this all together and it completes a mosaic pattern that is just about perfect as far as bird dogs and field trials are concerned. With this mix of cover conditions, birds can be anywhere and everywhere on any given day. The locals say these birds are where you find them; they don't attempt to predict their location. They like to say: "that's the reason for the dog." There is absolutely no question that it takes a good dog to figure this all out. Throw into this mix the prairie wind. It almost always plays a big factor in a dog's performance and it seems to blow most all the time. The days can also be sunny and hot and these conditions may push the birds into the brush covered bluffs. On the cloudy days, there is no real predicting were the birds will be. Your best bet may just be to turn your dog loose and trust his judgment. The good ones just seem to go to birds. That's why the old timer's like John Gardner always said the prairie does the separating, making all the great ones stand out over the rest. The truly great prairie dogs experiment. they try every form of cover that exist until something starts to work. In short, this is what really makes these grounds are a bird dog trainer's paradise. For a dog to have success up here, the nose and brains must be connected all the time. The massive size of the country can't intimidate the dog; instead it must be the lure that pulls him forward to each distant horizon. If someone assigned you to draw plans for the perfect venue for an all-age dog; you would want to use Mortlach as your prototype. It's just that simple!" These two amateur championships mark one of the earliest tests of the 2006-2007 trial season. Many handlers leave their training grounds in Montana or the Dakota's to test the summers' training on these challenging grounds. In addition it is certain Mike Shears current president of AFTCA like last year has talked up the trial and good representation from the US was apparent. The results of Mike's work is seen in the 40 dog entry last year and the 36 dog entry this year pulled for both Championships. A strong test with multiple champions drawn in both stakes. The judges for this year were experienced handlers and judges of all-age dogs ,Roger Shelswell, Woodstock,Ontario and John Milton, Florida. Among participants from the U. S. were from the Midwest: Starr and Don Wiggins and , Joe Worsham of Illinois, Linda and Larry Smith of Iowa, from the East: Ellen and Tom Leisfeld from Virginia; from the West: Pat Lockhart and Tom and Shannon Nygard of Montana, Mike Stephens and Charlie Hjerpe from California, Joe Brinster of Washington ; Torben Hansen,Nevada, Bruce Hale, California and from the South: Mike Furney of Georgia, Mike Shears, Tennessee. Canadians competing in the stake were Doug Vaughn, Sheldon Rogers, John Raymond, Bill Preston and Ron Bender of Saskatchewan and Sean Kelly and Dave Pearson from Alberta. Responsibility of the running of the two trials has rested with the Region 14 executive and Saskatchewan Field Trial members who supplied the labor to make sure the trials ran smoothly. Ron Bender as usual marshaled the majority of the braces spelled at times by Bill Preston, Doug Vaughn and Mike Shears. Jeanette Heise organized the lunches for the judges, reporters and guests for the five days of the trial. Maureen Preston handled the details for the banquet Wednesday night generously sponsored by Purina for the landowners and the trialers. It was catered by a Church group from Tugaski,SK. Linda Hunt handled the draw and the financials for the NACC and drove the dog wagon as she has many times in the past. John Milton had his horses brought up from the South by Don Porter and Roger used Doug Vaughn's mounts. The majority of the trialers reported no or little trouble crossing the border having the proper papers for dogs and the horses. Mortlach is a special place for field trialers and should not be missed. Above all, we thank the great cast of landowners led by Donna and Les Eastland (who also supply hay and oats each evening), and including the Wards, Ellingsons, Campbells, Crosbies, Goslings, Adamses and other landowners. The Winners NACC The winner( Lester's Thunderbird) and runner up( Davis Shout) both handled by Tommy Leisfeld ran in the last two braces of the Championship. See the running for the description of their performances. For those who had seen all the dogs run the results were no surprise as both dogs had clearly meet the criteria of prairie all-age with solid championship quality bird work. When the judges were asked what separated the Champion and runner up they indicate the additional find and the extraordinary strong finish of the Champion were the determining factors. The Running NACC The NACC began where the Region 14 Championship ended about 3/4 of a mile due south of the Eastman's farm site. Temperature was around 75 degrees, slight breeze from the southeast. Top dog was Manley Farm John handled by Tom Leisfeld and the bottom dog was Bing Bing run by Mike Shears. At the breakaway both dogs headed through the alkali flat,up the ridge, then hit the hedge rows going south. As we came to the turn in the hedge rows, Tommy's dog could be seen going down the far eastern hedge row towards the old farm site. Both dogs were returned to the front and hunted in all-age style forward past Miller's Hole eventually reaching the ridge East of camp and finished at the end of the ridge without any bird work. The second brace Whippoorwill Shug(Doug Vaughn) and Sand Creek Ringo (Charlie Hjerpe). Temperature is now close to 80 degrees, very little to no breeze, what little breeze there was coming out of the south. At 11', Shug working the far western hedgerow north of Ellingston pasture, pointed in an open area between two bushes, Doug got off, flushed a covey of huns, with the dog taking a few steps at the flush. Both dogs continued south along the hedgerows towards the south boundary road. Two minutes after her find heading towards the south road, Doug noticed his dog was favoring a old shoulder injury and unwilling to risk more injury picked her up. At 19', Ringo was found tight pointing into the centre of a small hedgerow. As we rode up several chickens were seen leaving. As Charlie approached on foot to flush several other chicken flushed behind the dog, the dog standing for the whole activity. Towards the end of the south boundary road, Ringo had an unproductive. Charlie put his dog in the trough at the south end of Chicken Alley and ran his dog down into Chicken Alley but there was no more bird contacts. He finished on the east/west road near the dugout with the dog's race obviously effected by the heat. The third brace started after lunch across the road east of headquarters, 2:30 in the afternoon, temperature is now around 92 degrees very slight wind from the South. In the third brace we have Shadow Cruiser Bud(Doug Vaughn) and Worsham's Silver Cloud(Joe Worsham). At 15' as we came off the last sand ridge and turned to the south, Joe pointed out his dog standing in a small bluff along the ridge. He successfully flushed three or four young chicken. After we reached the road 10' later and were to turn East towards the hedge rows, Silver Cloud hung hard to the right towards the old rough pasture with the scout in pursuit. Doug brought Bud up to the front having suffered an unproductive at the north end of Ellingston pasture. At 41' Bud ended his attempt when seen chasing chicken. At this point Worsham's dog rejoined the front and headed along the bluffs heading south. Joe called point two minutes later with birds in the air. He dismounted and shot. Fourth brace Human Touch(Tom Leisfeld), and Wiggins River Knot (Don Wiggins) cast off at the bottom far end of the double hedge rows headed down to Chicken Alley in all-age fashion. At the end of Chicken Alley both dogs were staying fairly close as we went down the trail west. As we finished the road and made the turn into Eastman Pasture both handlers decided at 45' to pick up their dogs the heat having its toll. The fifth brace, Mystic Fire( Joe Brinster) late scratch, the bottom dog Hales Trooper Saddle( Bruce Hale )will run alone. The brace began three hundred yards north of the gate entrance to the oats field before the rough pasture. As we passed through the rough pasture the dog swung far to the right, went into Pelican Lake and had a 20 minute chase of resident waterfowl. Bruce was finally able to extract him from the lake and bring him around to the north end of the course and run him through the hedgerows and alfalfa, where he had an unproductive at about 40'. As we crossed the grid road to pick up the beginning of the first course the dog tired and Bruce decided to pick him up at 45'. The sixth brace,Rocky Knoll Orion (Pat Lockhart) who had the same course the day before, in the Region 14 Championship and Shadows Perfect Pitch( Doug Vaughn) began the next the morning on the first course 3/4 mile north of camp. Wind was out of the north about 5 miles per hour, temperature 60 degrees ,a nearly cloudless sky, it pretends to be another warm day, although the weatherman predicts a cooling trend. At the breakaway both dogs headed dead west, Rocky turned right at the fence, Perfect Pitch left. Doug corralled his dog and handled him through the double gate heading into the Eastman alfalfa field. At 13', the setter returned from the rear as we approached the Eastman grid road. At 25'we stopped in the large alfalfa field before Chokecherry lane waiting for the both dogs to return from the south. At 30', Rocky having returned to front, began working some birds, along the ridge heading towards Chokecherry Lane, got too close and bumped them into the air. Five minutes later, Shadows Perfect Pitch, working below the ridgeline in the same alfalfa field, made a nice stand on about eight chicken but went with the birds when they flushed. The seventh brace Canadian Pete (Joe Brinster ) and Wiggins River Knot (Don Wiggins) began at the north end of Chokecherry Lane heading south towards the Campbell pastures with the wind, a little brisker now, about 15 miles per hour. At 16' as we crossed through the gate into the second Campbell pasture and headed towards the grid road, Wiggins dog could be seen far to the right running down the west fence line. Joe's scout John Raymond brought Pete back from the left and cast him down the east side of the pasture. Both dogs running well, crossed over the road and carried down through the next section to the alfalfa fields to the south. As we made the turn at 33',back to the north, both scouts took off to bring back the dogs. Pete returned to the front, carried over the grid road and was found pointing tight into a small dense bush at 48'. After a determined flush a single chicken was finally produced. Wiggins at 41' called it quits and got the tracker to look for River Knot who never made the turn north. The remaining ten minutes of the brace was uneventful. Both dogs in this brace had shown all age credentials. The eighth brace Clowers Silver Rain( Torbin Hanson) and Sounding Creek Annie, (Charlie Hjerpe) cast off about two thirds of the way across the ridge towards the Eastman grid road and headed south. The breeze seems to be dropping a little bit, while the temperature seems not to be increasing as it has been the last two days by this time in the morning. At 7' as we crossed towards the Eastman farm, Torbin called point. The dog could be seen standing pointing into the center hedgerow. Annie came around and backed nicely. The flushing attempt by Torbin produced no birds. Both dogs hunted hard for the remainder of the brace finishing just South of the crossroads north of camp but no further action to report. Certainly both dogs did a really nice job on the ground for the first forty-five minutes. Silver Rain finished well but far to the west at pick up. Brace nine Flatlands Big Show( Dave Pearson) and R.J. Trademark,(Tom Leisfeld) started at the crossroads and headed towards the ridge east of camp. The wind was brisk now about 20 miles per hour from the north, temperature staying around 70 degrees. Both dogs took the ridge all the way to the end and disappeared into the heavy cover south of the Ellingston pasture. Tom rode the west fence line,staying on course, while Dave went into the heavy cover to find his dog. He picked up both dogs on the far eastern side of the pasture and brought them forward back on course. The dogs both cast south running strong. Dave lost his dog again at the south boundary road but the dog showed up right on course going down the south hedge rows at the south perimeter of the course. As we got down to the end, Dave finally caught up, we found Big Show standing on the ridge at the bottom of the hedgerows at time. The find was unfortunately unproductive. Both dogs finished far to the front, both dogs had powerful at all-age races but no birds. The tenth brace Road Show( John Raymond) and Hale's Super Hero (Bruce Hale) cast off towards Chicken Alley and Pelican lake. John's dog took the middle hedgerow, powering all the way down to the lake and was never seen again. Bruce's dog also did a nice job, covering the east hedge row all the way to the bottom of Chicken Alley but was able to pick him up in the heavy grass surrounding the lake. Unfortunately Super Hero like his kennel mate the day before began chasing ducks/shore birds and was unwilling to return to the front. The eleventh brace High Powered Gasoline( Ron Bender), Preston's Miss Ellie ( Bill Preston) cast off just east of camp after lunch. Wind was still out of the north, temperature around 70 degrees. Mike Shears took over the marshalling from Ron who was running. Ron's dog took the ridge east hunting in all-age style, got to the bottom of the ridge in the corner of the Cunningham/Ellingston pastures where she located a flock of Huns. However, before Ron could arrive, she attempted to relocated the running birds and put them in the air. At about 30',Miss Ellie had a find just outside of the southeast corner of Ellingston pasture with everything in order. At 38', Bill called point with the dog pointing into the hedgerow along the sand road going south. Bill flushed a couple of adult chicken out of the bush. Ellie continued to hunt, took the sand road on the south boundary, turning north down the hedgerows. Unfortunately at about ten minutes to go, she began to shorten up drastically, and failed to push into the wind in the last five minutes. Second brace of the afternoon, the twelfth brace, Dixie Northbound( Sheldon Rodgers ) and Drama Queen (Torbin Hanson) started at the water tank south side of Chicken Alley. At the bottom of Chicken Alley, Sheldon's dog hit the bottom, ran west across along road paralleling to the lake on course. Drama Queen was lost temporarily at the lake edge. At 31', Sheldon called point, Dixie could be seen standing next to a hay bale in an alfalfa field. The stand was unproductive although several members of the galley claimed they saw a bird leave this was not seen by the judge. At 48', as we crossed into the rough pasture, Dixie had a second, unproductive and was picked up. Drama Queen when returned to the front after an absence at the bottom of Chicken Alley final was able to finally give Torbin the slip and he asked for the tracker at 55'. The finally brace of the afternoon, the thirteenth brace saw Worsham's Silver Ghost( Joe Worsham) and SF Bootstrap( Larry Smith) handled by Sheldon Rogers in his absence heading south from the end of the fourth course. At 15', Joe called point for Ghost,who could be seen pointing into a bluff, as we crossed the road to pick up the first course. Bootstap came in but failed to back but pointed when he reached the scent cone. Joe flushed a small covey of Huns towards the road with everything in order. Ghost heading south, cut into the pasture west and wasn't returned in time. The weather today was indeed milder as promised but still plenty warm in the afternoon. The final three braces of the NACC were run the following morning. It was cooler this morning, around 50 degrees, wind switched over a little bit from the east, northeast. Mike Furney had to scratch both Southern Pride and On Line from the final braces to join the search for On Line who was then lost at the Border Championship. In the fourteenth brace we have Rosie B( Shannon Nygaard) and Waygoing Hoot(Mike Stevens).We started one half mile north of headquarters as usual. At 29', Mike called point on the southwest corner of the large alfalfa field just before we get to Chokecherry Lane, the same spot a dog had an accident the day before. The dog was flagging a little but as Mike got off his horse, the dog steadied up looking good on point. An attempt to rise birds was unsuccessful and Mike decided to pick up his dog up. Shannon's Rosie B never seemed to find the front and was also picked up. The fifteenth brace began at the northend of Chokecherry Lane and headed south through the Campell's pastures.The the 15th brace saw Davis Shout (Tom Liesfeldt), and Boxwood Bandit( Mike Shears). Both dogs were putting down prairie all-age performances when at 17' Shout was seen standing on the edge of the road at the end of Campbell's Pasture after making a beautiful cast from the second gate to the bluff at the end of the pasture. Tom flushed two sharptail right on the edge of the grid road, 30 yards downwind of the dog. After the find, the dog released, crossed the road, took the West hedge row all the way down across the small trail to the south end of the boundary line, going into the alfalfa fields beyond to the South. He was eventually brought back to the front by the scout, took him to the southern edge of the Gunningham's Pasture where Tommy got him under control and took him up to the start of the second course. Mike's dog was having a little handling/bird problem at the southwest corner of Gunningham Pasture and was picked up. The Shout was cast north towards the ridge and went over. When we reached the ridge and looked north the dog wasn't in sight. We went east along the ridge for about a quarter mile before the dog was spotted by the gallery about half mile north heading east. He was rounded up and brought to the front by the Ellen, Tom's scout. After returning, the dog went over the crossroads west of the Eastman's farm site. Shout next cast up the sand road, through the alkali slough and over the ridge heading south. At time the dog was not in eyesight, the judges road to the top of the ridge and the dog could be seen running strong about 300 yards south down the west hedgerow. The sixteenth and final brace of the championship saw Clower's Thunder Strike(Torbin Hanson) and Lester's Thunderbird( Tommy Liesfeldt) breakaway on the ridge heading south towards the hedgerows heading south. At 4' Tommy called point in the second hedgerow.The dog was standing tight against the bushes. As he dismounted, 2 sharptail exploded, Tommy shot, the dog high and tight. Thunder Strike took the far western hedgerow and ran it all the way to the end. At 18' both dogs were rounded up a cast up the east hedgerow going south. Thunderbird broke off 1/3 of the way from the end, hunting into the alfalfa field west of Miller's Hole where slowed, and working the wind, went on point. Tommy called point, rode up, flushed a flock about 15 Hungarian Partridge. At 20' Torbin looking for his dog at the end of the hedgerow, found him pointing on the edge of a the large bluff 200 yards east of the hedgerow. A deer came crashing out of the bluff just as Torbin started the flush. No birds were found. For the next 30' both dogs tore up the country crossing the crossroads and hit the ridge east of camp and then headed east down the ridge, both putting on a prairie all-age clinic. At 58' as we were moving up along the Ellingston pasture, Thunderstrike pointed at one of the small brushes along the fence line. The birds were running up the fence line but Torbin was finally able to put a single chicken up followed by a large covey after the shot. Thunderbird took the alfalfa field along the pasture fence and at time was seen to motoring to a far pasture a half mile away. |