Central Alberta Pointer & Setter Club

Strut's Rambling Man, pointer male, owned by Rick Steen and handled by Mike Jordan in Rick's absence, won the Central Alberta Pointer & Setter Club's inaugural Alberta Prairie All Age Classic. Cole had two good finds, that took a penetrating effort in the bluffs, and a strong ground race. Light Rail, pointer female, takes runner up honors. Handled by Shannon Nygard and scouted by her owner, Tom Nygard, she ran a big race that included wonderful handling as well as covering the hunting objectives.

The Alberta Prairie Shooting Dog Classic was won by High Powered Gasoline, pointer female, owned and handled by Ron Bender. Suzie's single find in a tight draw and fine ground pattern for the hour cemented the victory. Runner up honors went to Lone Mountain Magique, setter female owned and handled by Sean Kelly.

This was the first running of the Central Alberta Pointer and Setter Club's Alberta Prairie All Age Classic, as well as the Alberta Prairie Shooting Dog Classic. Coordinators, Paul Falkowski and Sig Guggenmoos are to be congratulated for a job well done under adverse conditions. The reported shortage of birds in Central Alberta was put to rest with several good pieces of dog work as well as many birds being ridden up by members of the gallery. The dogs had a more difficult time, however, as the wind was howling (30 - 50 mph) and the grounds were dry. We had a wind/rain storm Saturday night. Regardless of the weather a good time was had by all .

Region 9 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship

Another report from American Falls, Idaho this evening bore more great news for members of the Big Sky Field Trial Club. Dave Noell of Billings, Montana gained runner up honors in the Region 9 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship in American Falls with his 11 year old setter male, Our Rowdy Friend. Rowdy had a classic shooting dog race with one find during trying weather conditions of high winds and dry habitat. What a way to wind down a career!

Region 14 Amateur All Age Championship

Word from Mortlach, Saskatchewan has the Big Sky Field Trial Club well represented. Our own Glenn Conover earned runner up honors with his and his wife's dog, Prairie Crude at the Region 14 Amateur All Age Championship in early September. Hank powered his way to the runner up title with one find and a large prairie race amongst a field of 48 dogs. Hank was bred by Butch Nelson and his wife, Karen Paugh. Congratulations Glenn and Shawn!

Montana Shooting Dog Championship

The running of the 2009 Montana Open Shooting Dog Championship followed on the heels of the Region 14 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship at the Scot Brown ranch in Circle, Montana last week. The running came off on the advertised date of August 25 but did so with an afternoon start to accommodate the huge number of entries in the Amateur Championship. Judges Harold Ray of Waynesboro, Georgia and Dave Noell of Billings, Montana crowned Hawthorne Kate, pointer female handled by Jim Tande and owned by Tande and Dan Miller as the 2009 Champion. Runner Up honors were anointed to Nella Running Tab, handled by Sean Kinkelaar and owned by Vagas Mathiesen.

The grounds at the Scot Brown ranch were in great condition for the event and held vast numbers of birds for the dogs to locate. The finds were focused, equally, on all six, one hour courses and the participants were quick to agree that every course gave an equal chance to produce the winner.

Dave Noell will publish his report in the ensuing weeks. Watch this site for it first.

Region 14 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship

The 2009 Region 14 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship drew 65 dogs on the night of August 20 at the Wooden Nickle Restaurant in Circle, Montana. The overwhelming response to the call for entries surpassing even the most optimistic expectations. Judges Mike Furney of Panama City, Florida and Dr. Lou Qualtiere of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan rode a dedicated watch. The winner emerged in pointer female, Heard Hill's Queen Mary owned by Buck and Lynn Heard of Moultrie, Georgia. Mary was ably handled by Alabama native, John Neely in the first brace of the event. Runner-up honors went to defending Champion, Bridges Lake Pat, owned and handled by Tim Moore.

The bird population was superb with the opening morning braces encountering 30 contacts with four varieties of birds! This would prove to be routine during the running. Weather even cooperated, for the most part, as we saw temperatures in the 90's only two of the five days of running. The friendly camaraderie of the event was equally outstanding as evidenced by last year's Champion, Bridges Lake Pat's owner, Tim Moore treating over 30 participants to a shrimp boil as a token of his win from 2008. None of us flirted with loosing weight during the feed.

Watch this space for the complete report as compiled by judge/reporter, Lou Qualtiere.