2013 NBHA Northeast Regional Championship
There is a saying in Wisconsin that if you do not like the weather, just wait an hour and it will change. Well, we have been waiting for months and finally got a nice reprieve. The snow and ice stopped, somewhat warmer weather finally came and dried up the grounds, thank you Mother Nature! The 2013 NBHA Northeast Regional Championship was held Aril 4-7th at the Pine Island Wildlife Area near Portage, WI. These are some nice, relatively flat grounds with sufficient water and the opportunity to really show a dog.
The host of this Championship is the 12 O’clock Field Trial Club. We would like to thank our national sponsors Purina, Tri-Tronics, Christie Enterprises, Gun Dog Supply and Gun Dog Central. Without their support our trials would not be as successful as they have been…thank you! The 12 O’clock FTC has also secured Trophy Athletic, a Milwaukee, WI business to provide our awards at a substantially discounted rate. They have been a loyal supplier for years and we are grateful to have them aboard.
This year we are proud to have secure two well respected and successful judges for our NBHA Championship. Blake Kukar of Dancyville, TN has campaigned champions in the AA arena…CH Shadow’s Tennessee Kate, CH Survivor’s Little Bill, CH Ard Righ Justina, to name a few. If it is out at his place in ND/SD or in western Tennessee, Blake is a hard working amateur that knows what it takes to be a bird dog first and a champion as well. Our other judge is Rod Lein. Rod is also an amateur that has produced winners and champions in his own right. Rod has won from the woods to the barrens. His CH Electric Belle won the Region 19 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog CH – run on the Namekagon Barrens, and his CH Beaver Creek Lucy took the runner up title. Thank you Blake and Rod for your time and watchful eyes on our dogs! It was very unfortunate that Blake experienced a terrible bout with the flu for the entire week. We would have loved to spend more time with him, but I am sure he was happy to get home and spend a few nights in his own bed.
The Championship drew 30 shooting dogs from Iowa, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. The accompanying derby stake drew 23 dogs with a total of 14 different handlers. We cannot thank the owners and handlers enough for entering their dogs. We always look forward to opening our arms to new handlers and this week’s efforts went a long way in accomplishing this.
Judges Lein and Kukar named Crow Creek Sugarbaby (Black), a two year old female pointer this year’s Champion. She is owned by Illini, Ken Black, bred by Jim & Fran Brown and her early development was under the whistle of Buck Daniels. Sugar ran in the fourth brace on the first day, which proved to be a tough day for the dogs. Only Sugar and one other dog – Romeo’s Attitude (Waite), had multiple bird contacts on this day due to very dry conditions. Sugar had finds at 35 and 52 and handled them with adult-like manners. Her fast and fancy style coupled with her strong finish and ease of handling really set her apart from the other competitors, and kept you watching for the entire 60 minutes.
Dale Creek Chelsea (DuVall) was named Runner-up Champion of this stake. She is owned and handled by Mike DuVall of Janesville, WI. Chelsea ran on the second day in the brace just before lunch and had finds at 30, 36 and 47. In the eyes of the judges, what set Chelsea apart from the other dogs was her large cast through the horseshoe field and ability to push to the front into the wind. At the end of that cast is where she secured her third and final find. After a lengthy walk, DuVall flushed, all was in order and she was sent on to finish strong. Saturday dawned with the three final braces left to run. Due to his terrible illness, Kukar was unable to complete the judging responsibilities, so the reporter, and scribe of this article, completed the stake in his place. On that morning prior to the start, Kukar and Lein had their top two dogs selected and no other dogs came close to replacing Sugar or Chelsea from their respective positions. The judges felt that others in consideration for the championship were Daniels Dixie Chick (Daniels), Romeo’s Attitude (Waite) and Otis My Man (Zimmerman). Otis may have knocked them both off their spots if it wasn’t for the unfortunate bird mishap near the 55 minute mark.
The accompanying derby stake drew nearly two times as many entries as last year. First place, for this year’s derby stake, went to Winkleman’s Little Sugar (DuVall), a female pointer with three finds and a wide reaching race. Second was awarded to Zansett Simple Red (Waite) a male red setter with three finds handled with adult like manners, and a strong finish. Rounding out the placements was Dale Creek Mickey Finn (Waite) a male setter who also finished well, accentuating his broke find. Many derbies showed great potential but these three stood above the others.
Again we would like to thank all the owners and handlers who came and put their dogs on the ground. We truly appreciate them all. It would not be appropriate to close this article without thanking the many 12 O’clock Field Trial Club members who took on responsibilities throughout the entire week. We could NEVER have pulled this off without ALL your help. Thank you and we look forward to opening our arms again next year!
By Greg Blair
