Impressive spring wins on the field trial circuit

Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017), on right, is posed by his owner Greg Johnson after Atlas’ third place finish in the Don Didcoct Amateur Classic held near Augusta, Wis.

What a successful spring it has been for our clients who compete in field trials with their dauntless dogs! Whether handled from horseback or foot, whether campaigned on released or wild birds and no matter the geography, dogs from our kennel garnered ribbons and trophies.

Congratulations to all! We’re very proud of you and your dogs.

MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN/MICHIGAN
Three must be Greg Johnson’s lucky number. His dog, three-year-old Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017), placed in three shooting dog stakes on three different grounds.
• 2nd — Minnesota Grouse Dog Association (MGDA) Open Shooting Dog held near Mora, Minn.
• 3rd — Don Didcoct Amateur Classic held near Augusta, Wis.
• 3rd — Moose River Grouse Dog Club Open Shooting Dog held near Moose Junction, Wis.

Two Northwoods’ dogs are in the money after the April 2 MGDA derby stake. First place (blue ribbon) was won by Northwoods Sigurd Olson (Northwoods Rob Roy x Northwoods Minerva, 2019), owned and handled by Chris Bye of Wisconsin. Northwoods Gale (Northwoods Grits X Northwoods Minerva, 2020), owned by Northwoods Bird Dogs and handled by Jerry, placed second (red ribbon).

Derby Northwoods Sigurd Olson (Northwoods Rob Roy x Northwoods Minerva, 2019), owned and handled by Chris Bye, also had a tremendous spring. Sig placed in three of his starts.
• 1st — Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Associations Open Derby held near Augusta, Wis.
• 1st — MGDA April 2 Open Derby
• 2nd — MGDA April 16 Open Derby

Sig narrowly missed winning the MN/WI Cover Dog Derby of the Year Award, losing by only three points to Bill Frahm’s worthy setter.

Other Northwoods-bred dogs placed in the spring MGDA trials, including two in the Open Shooting Dog stake.
• 2nd — Sadie (CH Ridge Creek Cody X Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013), owned and handled by Ryan Bjerke.
• 3rd — The Highway (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus X Northwoods Carly Simon, 2018), owned and handled by Dave Moore.

And two derbies placed in their stakes.
• 1st — Lily (Northwoods Rob Roy X Northwoods Minerva, 2019), owned and handled by Jordon Pharris, in the April 16 stake.
• 2nd — Northwoods Gale (Northwoods Grits X Northwoods Minerva, 2020) owned by Northwoods Bird Dogs and handled by me, in the April 2 stake.

Jade (CH Rock Acre Blackhawk x Northwoods Vixen, 2015) isn’t campaigned often because it cuts into owner Frank Ilijanic’s hunting time. But when she is entered in a trial, she is extremely competitive, including this second place in the Michigan Hunting Dog trial.

Meanwhile, in Michigan, a special female pointer named Jade (CH Rock Acre Blackhawk x Northwoods Vixen, 2015), owned and handled by Frank Ilijanic, won second place in the Michigan Hunting Dog stake held near Gladwin, Mich.

SOUTHEAST
Northwoods Sir Gordon (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2017), owned by Ben McKean, placed in two one-hour shooting dogs stakes. Gordy placed second in the Columbia County Field Trial Club stake held near Lake City, Fla., and earned third at the Mill Pond Field Trial Club held on the Burnt Branch Plantation near Ochlocknee, Ga. Gordy was handled from horseback by professional Tommy Rice Jr. to both of those wins. In the pointer-dominated southern circuit, the wins are especially impressive for a setter.

Flanked by pointers, Northwoods Sir Gordon (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2017), was handled by pro Tommy Rice Jr. to second place in the Columbia County Field Trial Club stake held near Lake City, Fla. Gordy is owned by Ben McKean of Minnesota.

NORTH DAKOTA
Back near his home in Minnesota, Northwoods Sir Gordon won third place in the Northwest Field Open Shooting Dog trial held near Hankinson, N.D. In this stake, Gordy’s owner Ben McKean, handled off horseback. Four-year-old Gordy is well traveled—he’s now placed in field trials in Wisconsin, North Dakota, Georgia and Florida.

Northwoods Sir Gordon, on left, won third place in the Northwest Field Open Shooting Dog trial held near Hankinson, N.D. Gordy was handled by his owner, Ben McKean, in this trial.

WEST COAST
Tian Elhew Verbena (CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen, 2013) won runner-up champion In the Pacific Coast All Age Championship (a horseback trial) held near Waupin, Ore. Verbena is owned by Angela and Tim Schillereff of Suave Island Kennel near Portland, Ore., and handled by Tim. This wasn’t Verbena’s first win in a titular stake. She’s been named champion or runner-up in several western shooting dog championships, including the top spot at the American Pointer Club National Amateur Championship.

Northwoods Charles (CH Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013), owned and handled by Bill Owen of Santa Barbara, Calif., added to his illustrious career by winning the West Coast Open Shooting Dog Championship (a horseback trial) held near Valley Springs, Calif. Charles is a now a 5X champion and 5X runner-up champion (!!), in addition to eight other field trial wins.

Tian Elhew Verbena (CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen, 2013), on right, won runner-up champion In the Pacific Coast All Age Championship held near Waupin, Ore. Verbena is owned by Angela and Tim Schillereff.

Spring greetings and winter review

Against the quintessential backdrop of longleaf pines and live oaks on a Georgia plantation, half siblings Northwoods Istanbul (CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Nickel, 2018), on left, and Della (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2019) await the whistle.

Well, it’s been a while since we’ve posted here. We’re sorry about the inconsistency but rather a lot has been going on.

Big considerations that most of us are no doubt weary of—things like the pandemic, political hubbub, civil unrest, important international issues —take their toll and time. But with vaccinations and the arrival of spring, we’re happy and hopeful for the year ahead.

So far in 2021, we’ve bred three dams and three litters have whelped. While the numbers of puppies have been disappointingly low, we’re grateful for their health and thrilled with every single puppy.

• CH True Confidence x Northwoods Comet: Confidence is nationally renowned as a stellar performer with a wonderful temperament. Comet continues our decades-long line of favorite pointers. She has it all—build, brains, personality and talent.

• Northwoods Rolls Royce x Northwoods Minerva: Royce is a son of Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, one of our best setter pairings. This was Minerva’s fourth litter—a testament to how much we think of her.

• Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Stardust: Grits is now 10 years old and for much of his life, he was a premier producer of who he is—an outstanding grouse dog with an off switch for the house. Stardust is a first-time dam but so worthy.

On a warm morning, Northwoods Valencia (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Carbon, 2018) points a covey. Strut, the Tennessee Walking Horse Jerry rides, ground ties.

This winter was our ninth in the Thomasville, Georgia, area where we feel quite at home. We’ve made many friends and do our bit for the local economy in the town’s shops, restaurants, vet clinic, library and YMCA. Thomasville is the center of the historical tradition of hunting bobwhite quail on plantations under majestic longleaf pines. We live on a 600-acre (small) plantation but the dogs are trained on a 6,000-acre (mid-size) plantation of plentiful wild birds.

Our Georgia training began in December and wrapped up in March. We brought 21 dogs with us but others joined from Colorado, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Illinois. It was go-go-go for six days each week but we felt fortunate to develop such a talented group of dogs. Puppies from our 2020 litters gained invaluable experience on wild birds where their natural pointing and backing instincts blossomed. Veterans Vixen, Grits, Royce, Valencia and Stardust excelled on the temperate grounds where they did what they always do—find and point wild birds.

It’s fun to work four puppies at a time but when all are littermates, it’s exhilarating. Four-month-old puppies out of the 2020 Northwoods Rolls Royce x Northwoods Valencia breeding stop on a chopper trail. In front, Jet points into the cover while siblings, clockwise from left, Strike, Dewey and Earl back.

We’re now happily settled back into our home and kennel in Minnesota and looking forward to two summer training sessions. It’s always exciting to see our clients and to see the young dogs they purchased from us. In addition, we’re planning more setter litters.

As always, we’re grateful for the loyalty of our clients to our enterprise and for the hunting opportunities and devotion they give their dogs.

For a glimpse of the experience of working pointing dogs on a quail plantation, here’s the view from horseback. Black-and-white male Northwoods Hercules (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2016) and Patty hunt the course.

Found pointing on a chopper trail, Northwoods Rolls Royce (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2013) shows poise and confidence after the covey wings its way towards the woods.

One aspect of developing puppies on wild game is allowing them to determine the exact location of the birds. They can only learn how close is too close by bumping birds. Northwoods Gale (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Minerva, 2020), in front, boldly follows her nose while Northwoods Lightning (Northwoods Rolls Royce x Northwoods Valencia, 2020) backs.

We plan to update this blog site about every two weeks with a variety of posts and photographs. We look forward to staying in touch!

~ written by Betsy and Jerry