Snake River Sportman and Gun Dog Association

May 2005 NEWSLETTER

Upcoming club events:

May

    * Fun trial and training day – May 21st – Shea Meadows - see details below

June

    * Poker shoot – TBA

 * SBDC “Invitational” – June 11 –Espanola -go to www.spokanebirddog.org for more information

July

    * Family picnic – TBA

August

    * Sporting clays – TBA

September

    * Fun trial and training day September - TBA

November

    * Youth hunt
    * Turkey shoot


The May Fun Trials and Training Days NEED YOU!

GET INVOLVED!

Bring a dog – bring a kid – bring a dish to share for lunch!


Reservations for braces on May 21 are gladly accepted in advance – contact one of the three trial chairmen:

Jerry Thiessen 208-743-2647
Gary Gage 208-285-1608
Dwight Smith 509-332-6669

Lunch is a potluck – club provides paper products and utensils.  Quail are quick and fast!  There are “competitive” fields and a training field.  Ribbons (and trial chairmanships) are awarded at the conclusion of the day.

Volunteers should arrive at 7am – birds planted beginning at 7:30 – first brace to go at 8am.

DID YOU KNOW?  

Congrats to Fred Spencer and Frank Wargo who recently participated in a NAVHDA Natural Abilities test.  Fred’s pup scored the first perfect score in the USA; Frank’s pup scored extremely well with a 74/81.

Congrats to “Remy” (Westbrook) and
 “True” (McCeccarawley) for their first NSTRA placements!  Both dogs (and handlers) qualified for the NW regional elimination trial with big sisters Abby and Bonne.

All results from the fun trials are posted on the website within a very short time following an event.  The website is updated regularly and upon demand when YOU, a member have information to share! 

This is a way for you to retrieve old newsletters, learn about upcoming events, see/post pictures of club members, dogs, and so forth.  Check out:

http://www.SnakeRiverGunDogClub.org

Our Webmaster, Devon St. Pierre, can be reached via email at:  Webmaster@SnakeRiverGunDog.org

May Fun Trial and Training Day Details


Directions:  From highway 95 in Moscow turn east on State Route 8 to Bovill.  A mile west of Bovill, on the north side of the road, will be a Vassar Meadows road sign and the club’s Field Trial sign.  Follow Vassar Meadows Road to Shea Meadows. Onsite registration will begin around 7:30 a.m.

Shea Meadows is a beautiful spot with lots of room for people and dogs and a good spot for some good old-fashioned camaraderie.  If you missed the training days in Feb, March, and April this gives you yet another opportunity to work with your young dog with or without training aids, with or without a gun, and with or without a trainer, coach, videographer, photographer… you decide.

There will be lunch fixins’ (Lunch is a potluck, please bring a dish to share) and soft drinks for everyone. Entry fee is just $15.00 per brace plus the contribution of food (hot dish, salad or dessert) for the luncheon. Yum Yum!  As is our custom, the previous fun trial winners graciously chair the next event – ably (?) assisted by the current club officers.   Gary, Dwight, and Jerry’s job(s) is/are to help organize the event and make all feel welcome. 

Here are a few things your trial chairmen request of you by May 19:

  1. The total number of braces you would like to run and how you would like them split between fields (training or competition).
  2. The number of dogs - and the name of each dog you will be handling.
  3. Your interest in helping with score recording, bird planting, or otherwise assisting. We need dedicated assistance, but can share tasks throughout the day.
  4. The food contribution you plan to bring.

We are on the honor system. You can pay at the fun trial by cash or check. If we have more sign-ups than brace slots we may have to trim back on some opportunities, but this has not been much of a problem before.

If you know of a non-member that is interested in training pointing dogs for hunting or competition, feel free to invite him/her. New members are welcome, as always.  You may want to bring insect repellent, sun block and outdoor chairs for your comfort. We will try to place a porta-potty on site for your comfort as well. Your suggestions to help make this a more enjoyable experience are appreciated.

Please RSVP with your desired number of braces as soon as possible.  Our goal is to give everyone interested in running a dog an opportunity to run at least one brace in their choice of field, and additional braces as entries, time, and available birds permit.

From The President…

NSTRA Trial
With our annual National Shoot To Retrieve Assoc. sanctioned trial behind us I would like to take a moment to thank all those who participated in making the event a success.  A great deal of work goes into holding a NSTRA trial and it was one of the best.  Seasoned trialers who have seen and done it all complimented our trial as one of the best.  Hats off to everyone involved.  Also a special thanks to the volunteers who came out to help run the trial.  At the risk of making a fool of myself and forgetting names; here goes my best attempt at naming all the volunteers.  Thanks goes to:  the floating trial assistants, go-fors, and right hand help:  Steve Taylor, Scott and Lisa Sorenson, Chuck Dwyer, Jerry Thiessen, Fred Spencer, Mark George, John 'Doc' Kramer and Abe Smith; Ed and Kay Westbrook who secured a superb group of judges, horses, marshals, and other officials; John Peacock who made a quick run home for a much needed back up horse on Sunday; Dick Chapman who once again provided his trailers and equipment;  Monica Dearborn and Kay Westbrook along with Marlene Chapman, Judy Bundy, Dan Watson, Alice Kramer, June Thiessen,  Nance Ceccarelli and many others (I am unaware of who were hidden within the network) for two outstanding lunches and a fabulous feast on Saturday night; Scott Sorenson for providing some of the best quail ever seen at a trial; to all the members who participated in the trial; finally, a very special thank you for the hospitality of Rich Eggleston and Asotin County Wingshooters for the use of the fields and premises!  Truly a great place to hold our event and spring trials.  It was with all of your help that the Snake River Sportsman and Gun Dog Assoc. shined as one of the best hosts of a NSTRA trial in the region and your help made life as a trial chairman much easier and definitely more bearable.  Thank you for giving us your weekend time to help with the event and for making it a success. 

Fun Trial Dog Placements
A recent request from the membership has come forward to the executive committee to standardize the procedures for placements in our fun trial events.  Some question has come about as to how placements should be awarded and how they have been given out in the past.  This process has been left to the trial chairman and with regular rotation of the honorary trial chairmanship status, the procedures have varied from time to time.  This has been especially true when it comes to the derby awards.  Should the derby award go to the highest scoring dog under two years of age or the highest non-placing dog under two years of age?  In the past there has been question on what to do when a situation of a tied winning score arises.  Should we award the tie and reduce the placements further down the line (i.e. two first and a second but no third placement)?  To provide clarification on this matter the executive committee has convened and established guidelines for the trial chairman.  These guidelines will be included with the fun trial checklist that goes out to each of the fun trial chairmen.  Placements will be awarded as follows:


Any questions on the trial chairman’s part regarding dog placements, scores and awards should be directed to the association officer(s). 

Spring Fun Trial Volunteers
As our spring fun trial season comes to a close with our Shea Meadows event May 21st, I would like to compliment all of the members who have helped run these events to date.  In my fourth term as your president, this has been the most efficiently organized and hands-off season that I can recall since I was shanghaied, bamboozled, hog tied, and brain washed into taking on this office (I actually volunteered for the office and took it on willingly- sometimes the other version sounds better).  Membership involvement and participation is strong and growing.  It is through the members’ voluntary work and participation that our club flourishes.  Each event seems to improve and become a greater success than the prior event.  As we continue to improve and grow you should all be encouraged with our success.  If you are new or wondering where your talents can benefit or best fit into the work of the association, please contact one of the association officers.  If you come to an event please ask how you can help.  Many volunteers make for light work.  If there is a particular area that you would like to learn about please let us know.  Thank you to everyone that helps to make the Snake River Sportsman and Gun Dog Assoc. what it has become today.  Please remember to invite your friends to our events.  Tell someone about our web site www.snakerivergundogclub.org .  If you see someone with a gundog, encourage them to look into our association.  Please share the enjoyment that you have received from your participation in the Snake River Sportsman and Gun Dog Assoc. 

Thank you,

Bart Dearborn - SRSGDA President


Classifieds


Dick Chapman has English Pointers available for sale to “approved” (loving) family hunting homes.  A telephone call and visit with Dick gives one an opportunity to see some of the best hunting and trialing pointer bloodlines in young pups and older dogs.  A number of the dogs are fully “finished” gun dogs; a few are super breeding stock; and of course, there are the fabulous “pups” with the exact same breeding as Wacko the Backhoe, Tanner the Terrific, Tippy the Tremendous, and Kenya-“I love to win”-Kinyon. …wiggles, wags, and a lot of energy ready for the right placement! 

**Also, for sale, are three (3) WAG-AG electronic remote control bird release traps as well as a “backing pop-up” dog.  For specifics, please contact Dick 208-743-5548 or email chaps@syringa.net.