April 2001

Snake River Gun Dog and Sportsman Association

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recent Events

Fun Run – Doc Kramer

The vast, early sprouting, matted CRP ground of the Townsend Ranch on the Snake River breaks permitted both scheduled and unscheduled training opportunities.  The weather couldn’t have been better. Twenty-one members participated in 20 braces.  Three new members joined bringing the 2001 membership to 45.  The trial went into the hole $1.37, with the only two major costs being birds at $4.00 each and a $60 fee for the Port-a-potty.

 

Chairperson Mark George put on a class act.  The Townsend’s hospitality was appreciated and many members were introduced to fall hunting habitat. The bird procurement officer, Scott Sorensen, brought in and maintained excellent flying bobwhite quail. Fred Spencer was responsible for signing, flagging the field and planted birds.

 

A vote of thanks goes to the many members who hand planted all of the birds used in the event. We were obliged to plant birds by hand because mechanized vehicles are prohibited on CRP land unless they are engaged in weed and/ or fire control.  By hand bird planting CRP land and with the owners permission we can use it for training sites. To some the hand planting was a unique to the training session, to others it was a memory of how we planted before four wheelers came into fashion.

 

Trial sites continue to limit training sessions.  Between 30-40 acres is needed to conduct a fun run.  When two are together, at least 100 acres are needed.  Public lands are under strict regulation requiring expensive permitting.  We need private landowners sympathetic to dog training.  Recall that our activity is a non-consumptive in that only domestically raised birds are used and indigenous wild species are not consumed.

 

Results

A-Field

Brace                      Score                      Owner                    Breed                      Owner                    Breed

1st           A-4         (460)                       R. Hill                    Brittany                  T. Quinn                GSP

2nd         A-3         (455)                       M. Meyer               GSP                         J. McKenzie         Brittany

3rd          A-7         (335)                       J. Meyer                GSP                         F. Spencer             WGSP

Derby     A-7         (335)                       J. Meyer                14 month old GSP.

 

B-Field

Brace                      Score                      Owner                    Breed                      Owner                    Breed

1st           B-1          (695)                       R. Uhrich              Brittany                  T. Smith                GSP

2nd         B-3          (560)                       G. Gage                  GSP                         S. Hill                    GSP

3rd          B-6          (355)                       J Wadsworth        GSP                         R. Chapman          EP

Derby     B-3          (560)                       S. Hill                    23 month old GSP.

Annual Banquet – Terry Quinn

The annual meeting of the SRGDSA was held March 31st at Shermer's restaurant in Pullman, Washington.  About 25 people attended the meeting, which is down slightly from previous events, according to departing president Jon McKenzie. 

After dinner Charley Oldenberg gave a slide based presentation on the changes in the environment brought about by the dams on the Snake river in a presentation entitled "A Retrospective Look at the Snake River Before and After the Dam and its Effects on the Game Bird Population".   The presentation was interesting to all, especially as most present have never seen that part of the world above water and did not appreciate what kind of impact the dam has had.

The annual meeting was held immediately after Charley’s presentation.  The meeting ran about 2 ˝ hours.  A great deal was discussed and a few items actually decided:

1.       A new slate of officers was elected:

  Robert Uhrich           President

  Mark George            Vice-President

  Doc Kramer              Treasurer

  Terry Quinn              Secretary

2.       After some discussion, it was decided not to have an April fun run as there was too little time to prepare for it.  There will be a fun run held in May, with the exact date and place to be announced.  Robert Uhrich will be the chair of that event.

3.       The Snake River Gun Dog and Sportsman Association’s continued participation as a NSTRA recognized club was discussed.  Among the items that came up were the necessity of putting on 2 NSTRA trials per year in order to maintain our membership, the difficulty of getting dates set up with NSTRA, and the magnitude of the task of putting on the trial itself.  The possibility of the SRGDSA becoming affiliated with one or more other groups was discussed, including AKC and NAHVDA.  Due to the length and involvement of the issues it was decided that suggestions should be sent to Jon Mckenzie who would ramrod a committee composed of the club officers and other interested parties for further discussion.  Volunteers for the committee included Scott Sorenson and Nancy Schneider.

4.       The possibility of having one or more “Train the Trainer” sessions was suggested and very well received.  Several names were mentioned as hosts who would be particularly well qualified:  Dick Chapman, Cam Hershaw, and Tim and Nancy Schneider were mentioned among others.

5.       The following calendar was discussed.  Thanks to Doc Kramer for taking the good notes on this:

 

 Proposed 2001 Calendar

 

*January

§         Trap and Skeet shoot, Lewiston Gun Club.

*February

§         NSTR Field Trail, Hells Gate State Park.

§         Fun Run, Hells Gate State Park.

*March

 

§         Live bird’s Training Run Townsend’s Ranch

§         Annual Banquet, Shermers restaurant

 

April

§         NSTR  Field Trial, Flying B Ranch.

May

§         Training run, Idaho.

§         Train the Trainer: Field trialing; what is the judge looking for?

June

§         Train the Trainer: Retrieving: force breaking and use of the bench

July

§         Training the trainer: Electric collars.

*August

 

 

§         Live Birds Tune-up.

§         Train The Trainer:  Conditioning for the hunt: foot care, boots, feeding.

§         Picnic Meeting, Wawawai Park.

*September

§         Live Bird training, Snow Ranch

§         NSTR Field Trial, Snow Ranch, Moscow.

*October

§         Hunting Season break

*November

§         Turkey shot, Colton Gun Club

§         Train the Trainer: Live Bird Training

*December

§         Train-the Trainer: Live Bird Training,

§         Christmas Dinner Party.

Web Site

There is a temporary prototype web site for the club located at:

http://www.baas.uidaho.edu/tquinn/gundogclub

Upcoming Events

2001 Dues are still due

The 2001 dues were due as of February 1st.  If you did not pay at the fun trial please pay your $25 annual dues with a check (please no cash), with address, email, or telephone number changes, to:

John Kramer

I415 NW Douglas Dr.

Pullman, WA 99163

 

May Sporting Clays Shoot

There will be a  sporting clays shoot May 5 at Pheasant Valley Sporting Clays, near LaCrosse Washington.  Contact Mark George at (509) 334-7959 for more information.  The cost will be $30 per shooter.  Bring 5 boxes of shells.  If you get lost the phone number of Pheasant Valley is (509) 549-3912.

May Fun Run

The May Fun Run will be held on May 12 at Shea Meadows, using Coturnix Quail.   Robert Uhrich will be chairing the event, and gets credit for contacting the landowner and getting permission for us to use the land for this.  Brace fees will be $15.  In order to streamline things please contact Robert Uhrich at (509) 751-1485 by April 30 informing him that you are coming and get your brace fees in the mail by that time as well.  The brace drawings will be held on May 5 and will be available on the SRGDSA web site after that date.  Those folks who do not pay their brace fees in advance will get whatever braces are left over, and can expect to pay a small procrastination tax on top of their brace fees.

Send your brace fees to:            Robert Uhrich

1610 7th st
Clarkston, WA  99403

 

Classifieds

Terry Quinn’s GSP Duma should have a litter on the ground April 20.  Pictures and pedigrees of the dam and sire can be seen at http://www.baas.uidaho.edu/tquinn/dumapups.htm .

Please contact Terry Quinn at (208) 875-1344 or tquinn@uidaho.edu for more information.