Of the half dozen or so really memorable performances I have witnessed, Grouse Ridge Storm’s 1994 win of the Grand National Grouse Championship at Gladwin, Michigan has to be one of them.

It was a tough stake — birds were really down for Gladwin. The judges were Dave Grubb from right there in Michigan and Ron Ashfield from New Brunswick. Dave, of course, had run on those grounds many times himself. If I remember right, the dogs got split up early on in the hour so Dave had Grouse Ridge Storm for the whole brace.

Storm, handled by Dave Hughes, ran huge. He had that kind of ground-eating gait and was on a mission from the first cast till the moment he was picked up. Every time I thought he was gone, he’d show to the front, right where he should have been and hunting every step of the way. At about the half, a grouse flew out of a tree and I remember hoping that wasn’t going to be Storm's lost opportunity. It wasn’t. Maybe 12 or so minutes later, his bell stopped way out in front. We had to walk a hundred yards before we even saw him, standing tall, facing us still about 80 yards off looking bold and confident. As Dave started towards him, a grouse exploded from right in front of him and blew back over his head. Storm never flinched. It was a beautiful piece of work.

Of course, the dog was really on fire after that but still handled and showed when he was called on. I knew that performance was going to be hard to beat. They had four or five other good ones but nothing I saw came close so, in my mind, the judges got it right.

Judge Dave Grubb, reporter Dave Fletcher, judge Ron Ashfield, Dave Hughes with Grouse Ridge Storm, Scott Chaffee with runner-up Jet's Aimee, various field trial officials and well-wishers.

1994_GNG_Report_Excerpt.pdf

Photos, excerpt of report courtesy of The American Field

I met Robert Wehle, Dick Shear and Elhew Flying Dutchman on Sunday, November 3, 1974. I was at the Gladwin grounds after the Lake States Grouse Championship had concluded and had arranged to stay right through the conclusion of the Grand National Grouse Championship and Futurity. The Grand always started on the first Tuesday of November and it was the Sunday before.

I was standing in the parking lot of Alibi Hall when a dark green, wood-sided station wagon pulled in with New York license plates. I recognized Bob Wehle immediately and casually welcomed them to Michigan. Bob said they had just arrived in town and needed a place to work their dogs on some birds. Not being suspicious, I volunteered to show them some spots as I was going to work my dog too. Afterwards I realized that they had probably been to Gladwin more times than I and just wanted to find some new places. Anyway, I volunteered and took them to one of my favorite spots where I had found grouse a few days before.

On our way out of the Gladwin Refuge, with me following behind them, Dick Shear suddenly slammed on his brakes, jumped out of the car, ran to the rear hatch and opened the four wooden crates that were stacked in the back. Four liver pointers jumped out and ran to the front of the car. I opened my door, got out and walked to the front of their car and there was Elhew Flying Dutchman pointing a grouse on the side of the road and the three younger dogs backing him. Dick had seen the grouse on the side of the road and wanted to show off. Bob Wehle and Dick Shear were showman if nothing else.

Bob Wehle was one of the most imposing and, frankly, intimidating men I’ve ever met. If you’ve ever seen a movie with Shaun Connery, they could be clones. Bob was at least 6’ 3’’ and built like a prize fighter. He had very bushy eyebrows and a deep, resonant voice. Every word he spoke was cautiously selected and you could tell he was used to being the boss. He had been raised in a very prominent family, was well educated and certainly made his presence known.

Dick Shear was somewhat the opposite. Although he was known and respected as one of the deans of grouse trials he was always unassuming, kind and gracious. He did have his opinions but seldom offered them unless asked. I headed a committee that started the National Amateur Grouse Championship and when I called to ask him to support our efforts with the AFTCA, he chewed me up one side and down another. He was insistent that there were already too many grouse championships and an Amateur would only distract from the Grand National.

After reaching my favorite cover, Dick and Bob took Dutchman out for less than an hour and then ran the three younger dogs at once. I was told that each of them had a well handled grouse find but I had stayed behind and can’t verify it.

The morning of Dutchman’s brace, Dick asked me if I’d scout for him. I was certainly glad to do so even though Dick had told me it would more than likely not be necessary. Dutchman had the reputation of being a hard running, hard to handle dog so I smiled when he said it and fully expected I’d be running all over God’s green earth looking for the dog.

When Dutchman was turned loose, in a light rain, what followed was probably one of the very best performances I have ever seen. He was a powerful, high headed, high tailed animal that moved through the woods with unusual grace. He rounded his casts to the front and when he popped out of the cover, Dick simply pointed his walking stick in the direction he was to proceed in and Dutchman responded immediately. Four times, at the end of long casts Dutchman had grouse finds with the birds pinned and precisely located. Birds had been scarce and four finds was an incredible feat. There was no doubt Elhew Flying Dutchman was the 1974 Grand National Grouse Champion.

After the announcement, the celebration and all the hoopla, Bob Wehle moved next to me, extended his hand to shake mine and thanked me for helping them. He then said “I know you have setters but I want to send you a dog.” I assured him that was unnecessary but in my heart I was hoping he remembered and meant it.

The following March, one evening after work, I answered the phone. It was Bob Wehle saying he had a dog for me. It was a liver male out of Elhew Huckster, had been born in January and was ready to go. Of course I was ecstatic and immediately made plans to add a third run to my kennels. Ten days later I picked up Elhew Drummer at the Saginaw airport and began my 35 year love affair with Elhew Pointers.

An excerpt of the report describing Elhew Flying Dutchman:1974GrandNationalGrouseChampionshipReport.pdf

Photo and report courtesy of The American Field.

The last brace of the Richard Tuttle Memorial Classic, the last trial of the year, drew Dave Bogel’s Wycoff Run Sally and my brother Mike’s Moon Shiner. I was assigned scouting duties for Mike.

I had campaigned Sally for Dave in her fourth or fifth season and really enjoyed having her. She was special! She was a medium sized bitch and I always thought her legs looked about one inch too short. But when Sally ran, she didn’t think so! I probably wouldn’t have walked this brace if not for the scouting deal. Sally was now nine or ten years old. Watching an old favorite in their later years is sometimes like trying to decide weather or not to visit an old friend in a nursing home. Sometimes it’s better to only have memories of the younger years.

At this point in the trial, I had two good races with grouse finds. Tony Bly’s Forward Loop Lefty and Steve Chiapinni’s Chip Peppy Lepew. I was feeling pretty good.

There were only five people at the breakaway. The judges, the handlers, and myself. Stake manager, Chip, handed me the marshal’s walkie talkie with a grin and said, “you're in charge, pay attention.” The first fifteen minutes of course two at Loleta consists of scattered clumps of pine and spruce with high bush blueberry in the wet areas. Five minutes in we made the left turn onto the two track with both dogs far ahead right, Sally the deeper of the two. Just then a grouse lifted from the far end of the pines with Shiner involved and his leash was called for. After a bit of noise rounding up Shiner, we had no bell for Sally. At Dave’s request for help, judge Kelly Sheppard, Dave, and I started a search of the stream bottom on the right side. After five minutes, I decided to work up the slope along the end of the pines where the grouse had lifted. As I approached the two tracks, I could see the other judge standing fifty yards ahead. Just then a grouse roared out between us and there stood Sally. I yelled to Dave, now eighty plus yards away, “Dave, fire your gun!” I collared Sally to the two track and Dave showed to cast her off.

The back half of course two is open saw timber. In places you could shoot a deer at two hundred yards. Scattered beech clumps provide the only good objectives. Sally’s race was forcing a steady pace. Her big bell was barely audible with the only visual contact the occasional glimpse of her flashing across the front. At thirty minutes, the topography slopes down to the right into a creek bottom. Sally was well ahead in this area when her bell faded... or did it stop?

Dave turned and asked me to take a look. I advised Dave that this was a productive area and he may want to do the looking.  As we approached a beech clump, two grouse blew out, then a single. From atop his horse, Kelly barked, “she’s standing in there Dave!” At the shot two more grouse lifted. Sally never flinched. Down the back stretch, the pace never broke with glimpses of Sally showing no sign of let up. At the fifty minute mark I reached for the walkie talkie, “Chip are you there?” “Yeah, how’s it going out there?” “Well Chip, if this little bitch can keep this up for ten more minutes, we can forget the blue ribbon.”

As the judges rode off, I shook Dave’s hand and said “Well Davey, she did it for you one more time.” He said with a grin, “do you think so?” “There’s no doubt.” And the judges got it right.

Dave Bogle with Wycoff Run Sally, Steve Groy and judge, Kelly Shepherd.

Photo courtesy of The American Field

Scott Forman with Texas Cherry Bomb, Chris Mathan with Pal O’ Mine. Marc Forman, Jared and Bob Drew, judge Frank LaNasa, Russ Richardson, judge Dave Hawk, Bob Grassi, Joe McCarl, Joe Cammisa, George Crumlich, and Shawn Thomas. Craig Doherty was taking the photo.

Winner: Texas Cherry Bomb, Scott Forman handler, Kevin Klein, owner
Runner-Up: Pal O‘ Mine, Joe McCarl handler, Chris Mathan, owner

The Black Ash Grouse Dog Club would like to thank judges Frank LaNasa and Dave Hawk for giving so generously of their time and expertise traveling from Minnesota and Ohio, respectively, to look at the dogs competing in the 2010 Armstrong-Umbel Endurance Classic for grouse dogs. Both are men of great integrity who have been involved with the breeding, developing and handling of field trial dogs for considerable time. Both have a great love of and deep respect for this sport and we were most fortunate to have them.

We would also like to thank Dale Hernden, Kim Sampson, Shawn Wayment, DVM and all those who bought Armstrong caps for their support as well as Strideaway advertising sponsors: Industry Leader’s Fund, Purina, TechMix Inc., Tri-Tronics, DOGS Unlimited, and Marshall Radio Telemetry. Their support of Strideaway allowed us to give a donation to the club for the expenses incurred putting on the Classic. Entry fees alone can not cover the  expenses and generous purse the Classic offers.

Six year old Texas Cherry Bomb, handled by Scott Forman, had a consistent and easy handling forward race. She was attractive moving, hunted hard, applied herself maturely and was rewarded with a triple grouse find in her second hour which she handled beautifully. She ran in the second brace on Thursday. The sun was out and though the temperature was in the low fifties, it felt considerably warmer than earlier in the morning.

Five year old Pal O‘ Mine, handled by Joe McCarl, ran in the first brace on Thursday morning. Two grouse lifted from her lofty stance early in the first hour. She, too, ran a mature race requiring, perhaps, a little more handling. She was given a great opportunity to show a strong finish to her two hours which she took full advantage of by racing to and disappearing in a big cut at the far left edge of the large open bowl we finished in.

Shady Hills Bean, who also ran in the first brace, had three separate, well-mannered grouse finds and finished the two hours handling kindly. The judges felt that her last hour was not as independent as the winners. Dogs that finished the two hours strong included last year’s runner-up, Grouse River Ace and kennel-mate, River’s Edge Bella who put down a particularly impressive two hours of responsive handling and hard hunting. Her attractive, sustainable gait allowed her to finish the two hours effortlessly. Unfortunately she was only rewarded with the remains of a dead grouse. An exciting race was put down by Russ Richardson’s Two Acre Hope, a contender in last year’s Classic. She had a great multiple grouse find towards the end of her first hour but crashed soon after when she self-relocated on her next stand while Russ was flushing. Russ mentioned before the beginning of the brace that he was a little concerned about all the Texas quail hunting she had done this past winter. She gave it her all and was particularly exciting to watch!

As usual, the weather had a lot to do with the numbers of birds that were seen over the two days. Russ has the exact count which I will get from him for the report but the first morning of overcast skies proved the best with eleven grouse seen before noon. On three occasions, three grouse were flushed from the same area for dogs. Only one woodcock was seen on the course flushing behind a grouse that got up wild.

I would personally like to thank all those who put their dogs down for this difficult but rewarding challenge. I took a lot of photographs of the running and will prepare a slide show that will appear on the Photo Gallery page next weekend. 

The Black Ash Grouse Dog Club is proud to announce the second running of the Armstrong-Umbel Endurance Classic in March 2010. Heats will be of two-hour duration.

We are proud to have attained the following two judges:

Frank LaNasa has been breeding, training and successfully campaigning his dogs in amateur and open grouse, horseback shooting dog and all-age stakes for over 20 years. His dogs have won wild bird championships including the National Amateur Grouse Championship, the National Amateur and National Open Prairie Chicken Shooting Dog Championships, and the National Amateur Chicken Championship. He has judged all three circuits from the mid west and prairies to Nevada and south to Mississippi, most recently judging the prestigious all-age endurance championship, The Southern, for the second time. In the grouse woods, he has judged the Minnesota Grouse Dog Championship and the Lakes States Grouse Championship. Frank’s home state is Minnesota.

Dave Hawk hails from Southeastern Ohio and has been training and campaigning grouse dogs for the past seven years. He is a life long grouse hunter and has hunted with his own pointing dogs for the past 27 years. He has won with his dogs in horseback, cover dog and other walking shooting dog stakes and amateur championships. His dogs have also won open championships, including the 2007 Wisconsin Cover Dog Championship and R-U in the 2008 Grouse and Woodcock Invitational. He has judged walking and horseback stakes throughout the region, most prominent being the Region 4 Walking Shooting Dog Championship and the National Walking Shooting Dog Futurity.

Last spring’s inaugaral running of the the Armstrong as a two hour classic drew 22 dogs (21 ran). Judges Roger Hoover and Mazie Davis commented on the entry of strong bird dogs — most running well past the hour and a half mark and several finishing the two hours. The Winner and Runner-Up were extremely well-received by all who witnessed their performances. Both were outstanding in their ability to go the distance with strength and purpose. Though birds were at a premium during the running, both dogs hunted objectives, holding the judges and gallery’s excitement for the entire two hours.

Endurance is the ability or strength to continue and maintain a high quality of work despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina.

Stamina: physical or moral strength to resist or withstand fatigue or hardship; endurance.

Club members and other supporters of the Armstrong-Umbel feel strongly that endurance is a quality we should seek in all field trial bird dogs. By definition, an endurance event evaluates many of the subjective preferences we seek in our dogs today. Does the gait we think attractive also prove to be efficient and sustainable? Do the dogs we find exciting have the mental fortitude to respond well to additional stress? Both these qualities are necessary to keep dogs focused on the task of hunting for and handling birds with class past the hour mark.

Please see archived postings (Category: Endurance Trials) of excerpts from reports of several of the more exciting early Grand National Grouse Championships which ran as one hour first series, followed by two hour second series.

Report and other details from last years running are archived under Category: Armstrong-Umbel

For anyone wishing to support the Armstrong-Umbel Endurance Classic, please scroll down to the information on the right side bar on this page.

Additional details to follow in the American Field ad. Thanks to all who supported the Classic last spring. We look forward to seeing you in March!

If you have read the previous article (scroll down for November 18th posting “Of Great Grouse Dogs, There Shall Be No End”) from the August 29, 1959 American Field you will thusly find the following of interest. Appearing in the September 19, 1959 issue of the American Field was an open letter response to Herb Cahoon’s August article lamenting the withholding of the 1958 PA Grouse Championship. It leaves much to think about in the judging of field trials in general, and the high regard that was and should be bestowed upon the act of naming a champion and what it meant to the sport and the dogs. The open letter was written by one of the judges of the 1958 renewal, someone most of us know by name.

Rebuttal_Cahoon_Article_1958_PA_CH.pdf

Photo and excerpt courtesy of The American Field

While other American game birds may well demand the respect of the confirmed grouse hunter, the present day ruffed grouse is far more of a problem for a dog to handle than any other. He is the craftiest of all our game birds with the possible exception of the turkey that hardly figures in the bird dog picture. In covers of ordinary size, a grouse appears to know when the gunner and his dog enter it, unless the wind is heavy. Hearing and knowing the point of intrusion, the bird appears to take stock of the situation immediately and lays a plan for escape should the intruders prove possible enemies. He may decide to run out to some convenient edge whence he can take wing should the pursuit turn his way. He may risk the chance of lying tight, trusting that he will be passed by undetected. Again he may wait until he is sure he is being sought and then run well ahead and flush while concealed by a protecting rise of land or a mass of cover. Yet again, should he be caught unawares, as he sometimes is, he will run ahead, not daring to show himself in the air, turn suddenly to one side or the other and then lie close where, likely enough, he will escape the nose of any but the most alert and experienced dogs. Careless dogs follow the trail easily enough but do not detect the sudden tangent until both they and the hunter have passed on. Then the grouse will either slip away afoot, or in a bold dash on wing that usually takes both dog and hunter off guard. There seems to be no end to the strategy of the grouse as he executes his masterly retreats. By comparison the quail’s tactics are simple and prescribed while the woodcock’s are little short of pitiful. It is only after a long experience in grouse hunting that those who follow the ways of this wise bird come to realize the problems of the grouse dog that is suppose to locate, point and hold him. It is only after long experience, also, that the dog itself comes anywhere near mastering the situation and becomes an exalted figure in the bird dog world.

This preeminent, highly recommended book for anyone who wants to further their understanding of grouse dogs, first published in 1942, can still be found at used book sellers like Alibris and Amazon.

The Pennsylvania Grouse Trial Club is, amazingly, coming up on its 100th Anniversary. This not only marks the origin of the club but the dawn of all field trials run on ruffed grouse in this country. With this thought in mind, and requests for articles from past issues of the American Field, I reviewed issues from exactly fifty years ago, 1959. Found were numerous quality writings which will be reproduced and posted as pdfs (scroll down) for those interested.

These reports are of grouse trials from New England to Michigan, many of the 1959 trials recounting the history of the Pennsylvania Grouse Dog Club. Herb Cahoon, A.J. Pilon, and William McCarty — some of the best, unbiased and oft praised writers for the American Field and Pennsylvania trial scene — are featured among the authors. Fifty years after the fact it seems apropos to be reviewing these articles and the importance the Pennsylvania Club represents to the field trial grouse dog community and the grouse hunter as we approach the historic 100 Year Anniversary.

I am unabashedly biased and make no amends. Reading through these articles, reports, and discussions solidifies my bias for the Pennsylvania Grouse Dog. It is an unarguable fact that the Pennsylvania Club was the womb from which grouse trialing emerged when initiated in 1911. And as was boldly stated in ads for PA field trials, the “Grouse Trials Are Where The Class Dog Originated.” Reading through these articles, it is without question that the founders of the grouse trialing sport, from the early years to the mid-point of the last century, were looking to run “field trials” — like those that were run in Tennessee and elsewhere in the south, with the same animals, BUT with one exception. They wanted to run them on their cherished ruffed grouse. To do so they highlighted the attributes of an animal that was a field trial dog first and foremost with grouse as its aspiration. What they cherished was a dog that ran with speed, animation, and decisiveness in its way of going and path in getting there. It is often mentioned in performance descriptions that shooting dog (i.e. at the time referring to “hunting dog”) range was not sufficient. It was the dog that ran the country as big as it would allow and superbly handled its game that they sought from the start. They knew animals possessing these attributes were the ones that would allow them to produce tomorrow’s improved field trial grouse dog and a better grouse hunting bird dog. They knew that to press forward with improvement in the breeds required testing those qualities to the limit. With that goal in mind they selected grounds, eventually finding the now 60 year old home to grouse trials in northwestern PA — Marienville. Today, it is the Marienville grounds that still test the limits of the field trial grouse dog like no other. And it is due to the intentions and efforts of the “forefathers of grouse trials” that we can say, as long as we have field trials in Pennsylvania and Marienville: “Of Great Grouse Dogs, There Shall Be No End.”

Attached here is the first article of interest reviewed from August 1959. It contains a discussion of the 1958 PA Grouse Championship with a good synopsis, from the horse’s mouth so to speak, of the history of the PA Grouse Trial Club and a great look back to the 1921 National Grouse Dog (now Pennsylvania) Championship. More reports from the 1959 grouse trials across the country and discussions of the Marienville venue will follow in the coming winter months.

Judges, Mazie Davis and Roger Hoover

A year and a half ago, Russ Richardson and Joe McCarl, core members of the Black Ash Grouse Trial Club, began to consider an endurance trial in the grouse woods. On March 28th, on the Marienville grounds nestled in the Allegheny National Forest in west-central Pennsylvania, their vision was realized. Nineteen contenders competed in the grueling two-hour format giving birth to the first Armstrong-Umbel Endurance Classic.

At the conclusion of the braces on Monday afternoon, the judges requested to see Texas Copper Top and Grouse River Ace for a second time with Stokely’s Ginger B held in reserve.

Wild bird trials are unpredictable by nature. In the spring, mature grouse can be even more elusive than in the fall and that held true over the three days of the trial. Texas Copper Top, six-year-old white and orange setter female, owned by Kevin Klein and handled on this occasion by Marc Forman delivered a performance that fulfilled the high benchmark sought by the creators of this Classic. With owner in attendance, Copper Top held the attention of all who witnessed her scorching two-hour race. Grouse River Ace, three-year-old mostly white pointer male, owned by Bryan Wood and handled by Scott Forman entered the winner’s circle as Runner-Up with a fast paced, exciting two hours, displaying all the qualities required of a true endurance dog. Stokely’s Ginger B, five year old white and orange female, owned by Tony Bly and handled by Marc Forman showed the strength and hard hunting effort that kept her on the judge’s list despite the two unproductives she chalked up near the end of her exciting two hour effort.

Pictured above: Kevin Klein, Joe McCarl, Marc Forman with Texas Copper Top, John Bilideau, judge Mazie Davis, Russ Richardson, Steve Groy, judge Roger Hoover, Joe Cammisa, Scott Forman with Grouse River Ace, Dave Bogle, Bryan Woods, Tony Bly.

Congratulations to Marc, Scott, Kevin and Bryan on a job well done. Thanks to everyone who entered a dog and supported this first two-hour endurance classic. Thanks to our two fine judges and to our many sponsors. The Black Ash Grouse Club could not have put on this prestigious trial without their help. 

Mazie and I will be in Pennsylvania for the duration of the Classic. Good luck to all the participants!

Thanks again to the following for their generous support of the Classic:
Purina
Dogs Unlimited
Industry Leaders Fund
Marshall Radio Telemetry
TechMix Inc.
Tri-Tronics
Davis Kennels
Earl DeCarli
Field Trial Magazine
Hard Driving Kennels
Bill Henke
Dale Hernden
Frank LaNasa
Northwoods Bird Dogs
Kim Sampson
Keystone Setters
Shawn Thomas
Shawn Wayment, DVM.

For anyone who does not subscribe to the American Field, you can find a pdf of the ad that will run in the March 7th issue. Please scroll down the right side of this page to find: recommended reading: articles in pdf format.

When the jaunty Traveler was put down in the very first brace of twenty-seven starters he laid down a heat, coupled with faultless bird work, which started low mutterings that he was being unfair to organized grouse labor. And when in the closing seconds of that driving heat he poured over a hill, tail cracking, to nail an old grouse that had good reason for thinking that he was a way over in neutral country, some of the wiser observers began calling up railroad stations to arrange for transportation home.

But the happy tradition-busting Traveler had his real race up his sleeve, a heat he laid down in the two-hour grind of the finals on Monday morning. It wasn’t a grind for him—he is no grinding dog. He sets a pace that is even and level throughout and then goes about his pleasing chore in a way that makes the observer feel that this could go on and on. Snow began falling midway the final heat making the footing extremely slick but it did not affect Tex. He just kept pouring along with the flowing power of a perfectly tuned engine....

Through this scene flitted Traveler feather-footed as a cat, noiseless and swift as a snowy owl. To see him, one had only to look in the right place. If not there, he would be in a minute. In simple fairness to the dog, it should not be said the Dr. Ziliak was the handler. Tex was doing his own hunting; the good Doctor was just out for a two-hour walk. Not once did a whistle go to his lips; he does not even carry a whistle. To those field trialers seeking an example of quiet handling, wherein the dog goes hunting with the least possible direction from the handler, we give you the combination of Dr. Ziliak and The Texas Traveler!

From the foregoing, it must not be thought that Tex was always near at hand. Far, far from it! No dog showed fleeter foot or greater range, yet he was swinging to the course with an uncanny sense of direction which prompted the thought that someone had kept him up all night, making him study a map of the area. Most important of all, he was hunting every jump of the way—and he was loving it!

As a matter of fact and for the record, many old grouse trialers, competent in their judgement, fell to wondering if Traveler was not laying down too big a race; that he might be too wide in his search. This could be answered in two ways: First, when a dog can hunt swiftly for two hours, covering his country like a blanket, yet show so constantly and regularly in the right places as never to cause his handler a moment of apprehension, then that dog is not too wide. Second: He was certainly much wider than the other (it is freely admitted), but that establishes no case against him. Are we to say, “Thus far and no further?” Are we to set up some fancied standard based upon the performance of some good and highly admired dog and then say: “Exceed this, and you are out?” A dog is never out when he exceeds the excellent. And this is precisely what Traveler did. He did not win his championship against poor dogs. On the contrary, he took on the best dogs in the realm of grousedom—and he beat them!

...In the field, Traveler has in abundance the four essentials for greatness: A superior nose; high intelligence; a sound body; and a stout heart. 

Grand National Grouse Championship, Nov 8, 1947
Held at Gladwin State Game Refuge, Prudenville, Michigan
Judges:  Henry P. Davis, Dr. Harold R. Ersig, William T. McCarty
One hour qualifying heats, two hour finals
21 setters, 6 pointers

FOOTNOTE:

The Texas Traveler was sired by Jack Harper’s 10 x Champion The Texas Ranger elected into the Field Trial Hall of Fame in 1956. Jimmy won the All American Amateur Championship on chicken, and on quail: Associated Field Trials of Texas Open Championship, The Texas Open Championship twice, the National Free-For-All twice, the Continental three times and the Quail Invitational Championship.

On winning the Inaugural Quail Invitational Championship in 1940, William F. Brown had this to say about The Texas Ranger:

“Ranger covered the country like a windstorm, yet handled with glovelike ease...Ranger was the epitome of what is meant by a big running dog. He covers prodigious amounts of country yet handles with unbelievable kindliness. It was nothing short of incredible the way Jimmy would work the country out front, always appearing at exactly the right place and no matter the scope of his tremendous casts, he always knew where his handler, Jack Harper, was, and seemed divine what direction the course would turn.”

CH The Texas Ranger sits in the driver’s seat. Harper told a lady who wondered about having a dog in the front seat of a Cadillac, “he owns it, I just get to drive it.”

Champions have been crowned and champions will be crowned, but happenings and events surrounding the 1946 renewal of the Grand National Grouse Dog Championship, including the Champion that crowned himself, Burton’s Fleetfoot Ginger, will provide topics for conversation for years and years to come…

In besting the efforts of 24 contestants and following the judges’ requirements of a grouse dog champion, Ginger checked in with a phenomenal scorecard. In his qualifying hour, Ginger did not necessarily set the woods afire. Running a birdless course, Ginger managed to hold the eye and no serious faults could be scored against him, notwithstanding the fact that inconsistency at times, robbed him of perfection. But his final two hours left nothing to be desired. And since the work of champions should bear inspection, perhaps we can dispense with a general smather of words in preference to a breakdown of characteristics as displayed in winning the crown.

Brains: A sensible dog, Ginger keeps his mind on his work. His third contact with game proved that point. A gallery confusion reigned on all sides, the dog refused to relax and forget the task at hand. He pointed a grouse within twenty feet of the horses, and roadsiders jumped atop cars and trucks to view the work.

Nose: Five birds were seen or heard on his course during the two hours—four of them were kicked out in front of four rock-solid points, and the fifth would have been had not the bird been walked up before Ginger had time to pin it.

Stamina: His finish ending the qualifying hour was equal to the best seen. At the completion of his two hour grind, Ginger was whaling away in a swamp, and didn’t care to be picked up. Good showmanship. Strickland fired a shot.

Speed: Ginger is fast.

Range: He demonstrated a yearn for distant climes, and did get out there, but Strickland held a tight line in the finals. Then, too, none other an authority than the late Al Hochwalt told us “a dog’s legs should be long enough to take him to his birds...” Ginger’s legs took him to more birds than any other contestant in the stake.

Style: (Running) Ginger has a very attractive way of going. Head level; tail high and merry. His gait, however, is odd. Short-legged in front, Ginger pounds or chops as he goes. It’s hard to fault him here, for his method of picking ’em up and setting ’em down has no effect on his stamina. Aside from his downhill stand near the cars, where he slid into point level, Ginger towered over his birds with commanding style. Going to game, Ginger dispenses with all preliminary signals; no feathering, no fussing on ground scent. Absolutely cold, his attitude is indicative of, “Here’s one!” Then, too, there was none of that touch-and-go stuff about his bird work. Each time he was rock-solid and each time his handler walked in front of him to kick his birds out. The kind that hits ’em and makes ’em stay put.

Manners: Never has it been the grouse clans privilege to view a dog whose conduct at wing and shot bared higher polish and finish. Not once did Strickland caution the dog nor was the slightest precautionary gesture visible.

Handling: Ginger stayed in front consistently and showed to advantage, but there were times when Ginger proved to be hard to bend: and as stated previously, Strickland held a tight line on his charge in the second series.

Sense of Direction: Though seldom mentioned, a keen sense of direction is one of the component parts of a class grouse dog. Like some men who are blessed with an ever-present knowledge of where they are in the woods, Ginger, too, runs without the aid of a compass. That happy faculty of always showing to the front; only once in three hours did the dog report from the rear.

Application: Very often we are forced to say that a dog accepted his opportunities on game, but in Ginger’s case it was clearly demonstrated that here we had a dog that made up his own field trial breaks. Each and every find came as the result of diligent searching. It was a warm midafternoon as Ginger searched for two hours. He dug his birds out; they were buried deep in the shady swamps…

Summing up his work, we find that Ginger ran a total of three hours in winning the crown. He had five perfect contacts with game (in the second series); the first a clean stop to flush, followed by four finds handled as the book called for. Throughout he demonstrated range, speed and style.

Grand National Grouse Championship, Nov 6, 1946
Held at Gladwin State Game Refuge, Prudenville, Michigan
Judges:  William T. McCarty, Elias C. Vail, William T. Windsor
One hour qualifying heats, two hour finals
22 setters, 3 pointers

Second Series Contestants

50 Years of Grand National Grouse Championships available from Dave Fletcher (see List of Books)

The Black Ash Grouse Dog Club is proud to announce the first running of the Armstrong-Umbel Endurance Classic in March 2009. Heats will be of two-hour duration. The Armstrong-Umbel Classic has been run for over 30 years as an hour classic on ruffed grouse.

Members of the Black Ash Club believe there is an importance to re-establish an endurance stake for grouse dogs. From its inaugural running in 1943 to 1957, the Grand National Grouse Championship ran as one hour qualifying heats and two hour finals thus making it a true measure of stamina for a dog winning the coveted crown.

As we know, many aspects of field trial performance are open to subjective interpretation. Reading through the Grand National and other important grouse championship reports reveal shifts in emphasis over time and from one reporter to another, particularly where a significant change occurred. i.e. the change in length of heats in the Grand National fifty years ago.

Endurance is the ability or strength to continue and maintain a high quality of work despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina.

Stamina: physical or moral strength to resist or withstand fatigue or hardship; endurance.

Club members and other supporters of the Armstrong-Umbel feel strongly that endurance is a quality we should seek in all field trial bird dogs. By definition, an endurance event evaluates many of the subjective preferences we seek in our dogs today. Does the gait we think attractive also prove to be efficient and sustainable? Do the dogs we find exciting have the mental fortitude to respond well to additional stress? Both these qualities are necessary to keep dogs focused on the task of hunting for and handling birds with class past the hour mark.

Over the winter months, Strideaway will post excerpts from several of the more exciting early Grand National Grouse Championship win reports.

For anyone wishing more information or to support the Armstrong-Umbel Endurance Classic, please view the information on the right side bar on this page.

Additional details to follow in the American Field ad.