Where’s the DEET? Mosquitoes formed about the only cloud over the Heartland Fall 2007 Test on a weekend of perfect weather. The little pests burst upon the Wisconsin woodlands in response to September rains, and sent participants and gallery alike scrambling for repellent. On the plus side, those same rains assured plenty of water at the Mazomanie Wildlife Area where our testing is held. The pace of the Fall Test was a bit more relaxed than others in recent memory; we had a total of ten dogs to test—eight intermediate hunting dogs and two natural ability pups.
Once again, the test was ably coordinated by Jim and Donna Crouse. Noticeable by his absence from Friday’s judging contingent was Greg Hurtig, who was off in the wilds of northern Wisconsin in pursuit of black bear. Congratulations to Greg on bagging a fine bear with his bow. (I’m still trying to confirm rumors that the Wisconsin DNR had to sedate Greg with a tranquilizer dart gun in order to control his excitement.) He did show up in time for Saturday’s events and even got to play the senior judge role with John Pitlo for Group A. Good job Greg!
Three intermediate hunting dogs were evaluated on Friday; Ken Hurtig served as senior judge with Dave Seibel and Dean Umphrey assisting. Apprentices Jim Crouse, Andy Yeast and Jim Montgomery rounded out the judging crew. Jim Seibel took a special interest in the activity because two of his Hundgaard pups, Brianna (owned by Ed Challacombe) and Bella (owned by Doug Cole) were being evaluated. Jim prowled the test grounds clutching his clipboard as his babies were put through their paces. Joining the Hundgaard pair was Art Gloor with his non-club Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Africa of Evans Inn.
Brianna did an impressive job tracking the duck through cattails, over an island and back into the water. Senior Judge Ken Hurtig had a senior moment when he attempted to dispatch the duck—sometimes two rounds just aren’t enough! Meanwhile, on dry land, the pointing portion of the test did not go so well. Brianna simply would not point. However, for the benefit of other handlers who may experience this disappointment, I’d like to say that I had opportunity to hunt wild pheasants over Brianna three months later and her pointing was simply outstanding. So don’t let a bum day at the test get you down.
Brianna’s littermate, Bella achieved a solid point, but did not retrieve to hand for Doug Cole with either the pheasant or duck. Although the dog showed good hunting potential, she needs more time on the training table and retriever training. Art Gloor has spent a great deal of time preparing Africa of Evans Inn, and it showed in her retrieving performance as she earned a Prize I. The blind retrieve had an interesting wrinkle; the “dead” duck tossed out for the retrieve turned out not to be dead! Africa was not deterred; she carried the resurrected bird to shore and required one command to bring it to hand. The judge responsible shall remain nameless, but good help is hard to get.
On Saturday Greg Hurtig took over as Senior Judge working with John Pitlo. Dave Seibel also judged with Jim Crouse as apprentice for the A Group. They evaluated three intermediate hunting dogs: Berkano of the Hundgaard, owned by Charles Dahlstrom; Abby of Bernie’s Woulds, owned by Tom Zoelle, and Andy of Bernie’s Woulds, owned by Jeff Braun. Obedience issues tended to be the biggest problem with this trio—none scored high enough to prize, but each has the potential to be a good hunter with more training.
Jim Seibel was Senior Judge for Group B; Ken Hurtig and Dean Umphrey assisted. Andy Yeast and Jim Montgomery gained apprenticeship experience. Pat Rupar ran his young dog, Bodie Loverboy of Glacier Ridge in the Intermediate Hunting Dog Test, while littermate Balto of Glacier Ridge ran as a Natural Ability entry. After watching Bodie’s performance, the judges agreed that Bodie would benefit from some maturity and getting a hunting season under his belt. He will be back for another try in Spring 2008.
Bodie may not have prized this time, but his test provided Prize I entertainment for the audience. For the water portion of the test, Senior Judge Seibel had tied the duck on a string, and Apprentice AndyYeast pulled the duck through the weeds to lay a track. The string broke, but the duck swam toward Andy anyway. As it approached, the “disabled”duck suddenly leaped from the water in full flight as we all watched in disbelief. A quick-thinking Andy recovered in time to drop the bird with one shot at about forty yards. Perhaps it was just a “senior moment” for senior judge, Jim Seibel; naturally, he denied all responsibility for prepping the bird.
It was a special treat to welcome Gerard Watras to the test with his dog Artemous Zipper of Glacier Ridge. Kelley Watras had run Zipper in the Natural Ability Test (A Prize I performance, I might add.) because Gerard was in Iraq with the National Guard. Zipper’s IHDT had to be delayed until age 27 months because Gerard was still on active duty last spring. Serving overseas in the Guard didn’t leave much opportunity for dog training, and this showed up in the retrieving segments of the test, but Zipper has a lot of potential and Gerard should be in for some well-deserved bird hunting thrills over this young dog.
Balto of Glacier Ridge, owned by Dwight Mateer, is a fine looking solid-brown, club dog. The dog ran in the Natural Ability test. It had only limited exposure to game prior to the test, but it showed fine desire for game and should become a quality bird dog if given the chance.
Gary Puckett ran another Natural Ability pup, Arikara of Coyote Hills. Arikara saved the judges the trouble of having to plant a bird by finding and pointing an escaped bird before we got to the pointing portion of the test.
Some special people helped make the Fall test memorable. First, it was a real honor to have Warren and Helen Webster, long-term WPGCA leaders from California join us for part of the test and the chapter banquet. Some other special guests were Jim and Mary Kahle from Iowa. Pheasant hunting at the Kahle’s place is a long-standing tradition for several Heartland Chapter members. Jim and Mary especially endeared themselves to all of us by presenting avid Buckeye fan, Jim Crouse, with an Iowa Hawkeye jersey and insisting that he model it for the entire audience. There was great hooting and cheering as Jim Crouse donned his new shirt. Pay-backs are hell.