By Robert Tomczak
This past year was a challenging year for everyone and an especially difficult one for the sport of field trialing. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus many trails and championships had been cancelled across the country. The state of Wisconsin cancelled all field trials on state grounds, and this carried into the fall season. We remained hopeful and in early fall the powers that be changed their position and opened some grounds but without the use of any buildings and with a COVID-19 plan in place and approved. Field trialers do not need much, we just want good grounds and good birds, the rest we can fend for ourselves. Well, we did not just have good grounds, but outstanding wild bird grounds in the form of the Namekagon Barrens and a plentiful number of wild Sharp-tail grouse.
This good news was all we needed to hear, and co-chair Bill Stapleton and I were ready to put on some trials. The National Vizsla Association is very thankful to the state of Wisconsin and the WDNR and Namekagon Barrens site manager Nancy Christel for all their help in working through this difficult situation. Thanks to Nancy and crew for the amazing work they put in to maintain this rare ecosystem and to the God Lord. The grounds looked outstanding, best I have seen in years, and the bird numbers were stellar.
The Winners
The weather for this years’ second running of the only true wild bird championship for the vizsla breed was a far cry better then last year. You never know what you are going to get in far northwest Wisconsin on the Namekagon Barrens in early October. Anything from cold, rain, sleet and possible snow like last year to nice cool crisp sunny and overcast days. We started the day with clear bright blue skies and 40 degrees with an ever so slight breeze.
Our winner came out of the 5th brace on the afternoon of the first day for first time competitor to the Barrens, Justin Hess from Iowa and his dog Briar In My Boot. To those that have never run a dog in this environment it can appear quite daunting and you could tell Justin had a lot of nervous anticipation. Well, none of that mattered, for when it was all said and done ole Briar did what he was supposed to do, run and always find the front and find and point some prairie chickens.
Briar In My Boot ran a nice strong race, occasionally being a little bit of a handful on some of the swings in course, but showing he was determined to connect on some birds. In his bid, he had a stop to flush at 37, a covey find at 48, and an unproductive at 53. When the terrain dictated, he had some big, far reaching casts and stayed strong to the end of his hour.
Another Mai Tai Please earned second place in the Sharp-tail Classic for the second year in a row for owners Chad Chadwell and Nancy Brown of Springfield Illinois. Ty ran in the final brace of the classic on course three. Although he is getting up in years, Another Mai Tai Please showed experience makes a difference in this environment. Ty had a nice find at 14 on a pair of sharpies, and a stop to flush at 19 on a nice covey as he reappeared from a scrub oak rise after a short absence. Ty continued to work hard, wide and lateral at times and came in on a back at 31 minutes of his bracemate Shiloh’s Rusty. He stood mannerly on the flush as first year dog Shiloh’s Rusty took chase on the shot as a pair of sharp-tails were flushed. Ty had an unproductive at 50 but continue working hard and digging in wide. Although not as strong and powerful as the winner, Another Mai Tai Please had a nice finish to end the hour.
Ramblin Rivers Nova garnered third place and is a first-year dog owned by Bill Stapleton from Franksville Wisconsin. Nova ran in the first brace on course one of day two. Ramblin Rivers Nova worked the terrain hard making some nice moves but not as fluid as the other winners. Nova had a nice find on a single toward the end of the hour at 53 minutes with all in order and ended with a nice finish.
Due to a small entry for the derby, in the spirit of wanting to hold a highly competitive standard for this event, we elected to cancel the stake. Also, the fire crew with equipment was on scene for conditions were right and they wanted to get a controlled burn going. It is through fire that the Barrens are managed to keep the environment optimal for Sharp-tail grouse. They burned from the Delong-Lien fire lane down to St. Croix trail. This was the second late summer – fall burn that they got completed this year. As field trailers we greatly appreciate all the hard work put in every year by these individuals and we greatly appreciate grants we have received in the past from the AFTCA and the 20th Century Funds that goes to continued maintenance of this ecosystem.
Thank you to our father and son judging team of Frank and Mike Vicari from Hampshire, Il. They were very attentive to all handlers and dogs and we are very appreciative of these men. Frank and his father, GSP Hall of Fame, Joe Vicari judged the Region 19 ASD Championship here a few years back. The entire Vicari family has been highly involved in the sport of field trialing for many years and they have several of their GSP’s in the bird dog hall of fame. We want to offer our deepest condolences to the Vicari family as Joe lost his battle with cancer this winter. Joe will be greatly missed but his legacy lives on in his family, daughter Angie, son Frank, and grandson Michael and their continued contributions to the sport.
Big thanks to our corporate sponsors, Purina Pro Plan and Garmin for their continued support of the National Vizsla Association and the sport of field trialing. We could not do it without your generosity and the winners received a supply of Pro Plan Performance dog food and a Garmin Tri Tronics training collar.
Finally, thank you to Ryan Martin our dog wagon driver for the great job of being where we needed him to be to pick up and deliver dogs with a positive happy attitude. Thanks to all those that came and supported this event. We had several first timers to the Barrens, and everyone seemed to greatly appreciate the opportunity to compete on this beautiful and challenging but rare ecosystem.