Northwoods Classy Kate, setter female owned by Barry Frieler of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, put together a string of impressive placements this spring to win the 2012 Minnesota/Wisconsin Derby of the Year.
Consistency is the the essence of Kate’s performances. Trial after trial, she put down competitive races. Her drive to find birds, classy way of going, intensity and style on point combined with a strong desire to please were her trademarks.
Kate placed three times in four starts and had finished bird work in two of them.
2nd Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association Open Derby
1st Minnesota Grouse Dog Association Open Derby
2nd Minnesota Grouse Dog Association Open Derby
What’s even more impressive was that Kate wasn’t trialed at all last fall. Barry is a very serious grouse hunter and he preferred to be in the woods with Kate, working her along with his other two English setters. Barry sent Kate to Tennessee with us for training on quail for the past two winters which, along with her experience on wild birds, proved too much for the competition.
Kate was sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of Houston’s Belle’s Choice. It appears to be all in the family as she is the second winner of this award produced by Choice. Last year, Northwoods Chardonnay, out of Choice by Blue Shaquille, won. Too, both of Kate’s grandmothers, CH Houston’s Belle and Blue Silk, won this award previously.
Spring is a great time to train on grouse. Scenting can be tough, though, and savvy winter survivors often use their legs more than their wings to escape. Finding the birds is one thing; getting them pointed, much less pinned, is another. Spring grouse make fall birds seem easy.
Dan and I had some excellent sessions in the woods with dogs here for training. Enjoy our photos.
Buck (a Ryman setter) can find birds!
Houston’s Belle’s Choice (Gusty Blue x CH Houston’s Belle) points a grouse in a black ash swamp.
15-month-old Northwoods Grits (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis) finds a grouse.
Northwoods Lager (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice) points a woodcock. Paul Diggan stands by.
Northwoods Blue Ox (CH Peace Dale Duke x Blue Silk) pins a grouse.
Northwoods Porter (sired by Blue Shaquille) backs his mother, Houston’s Belle’s Choice.
Northwoods Magic Man (Houston x Northwoods Blue Babe) backs Houston’s Miss Liddy (Northwoods Blue Ox x CH Houston’s Belle).
The handsome Northwoods Magic Man points.
9-month-old Northwoods Aerosmith (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice) points a woodcock and Gigi (Ryman littermate to Buck) backs.
Open Puppy Winners Northwoods Carly Simon with Paul Diggan and Gracie with Mr. Lawton. Back row: Dan Stadin and judges Brad Holt and Bert Benshoof.
Wet, drizzly and overcast—perfect bird-finding weather—was the forecast for the Moose River Grouse Dog Club field trial held the weekend of April 21 – 22.
First-year shooting dog Northwoods Lager, owned by Jim Bires, was our only entry in the Open Shooting Dog stake. He ran strong and powerful, hit all the right places and yet showed when needed. At about 40 minutes he had an unproductive but stood strong when his bracemate interfered. Lager ended his bid at 50 when he unsuccessfully tried to relocate on a touchy, running grouse.
In the Open Derby, Northwoods Classy Kate, owned by Barry Frieler, ran her namesake race—driving, forward and classy. That day, though, she went without bird contact. Houston’s Miss Liddy, owned by Paul Hauge, also ran very well but missed some opportunities on birds. Northwoods Roquefort, owned and handled by Dan Stadin, ran well and had an unproductive in likely cover.
The highlight of the trial was when 13-year-old Paul Diggan handled 9-month-old Northwoods Carly Simon to third place in the Open Puppy stake. He had to work hard to pull her out of likely cover on the outside edge of the puppy course loop.
Front: Jerry with Sean, Barry Frieler with Kate, Kaufman with Maisey. Back: Mr. Lawton, Greg Gress, Frank LaNasa, Chris Bye, Ian MacTavish.
The Minnesota Grouse Dog Association held its final trial of the spring last weekend, April 13 – 15. A beautiful sunny Saturday was sandwiched between a cloudy, cool day and a rainy day. Our sincere thank you to the club volunteers who worked hard to put on the stakes.
Bird work was again tough to come by in the Open Shooting Dog stake. Of 14 dogs that ran, only three finished with clean work on birds. The judges awarded two placements—Merrimac’s Adda Girl, setter female owned and handled by Ben McKean won first and Abigail, setter female, owned and handled by Ed Graddy, placed second. I handled Northwoods Lager (Jim Bires) and Northwoods Blue Ox. Both ran strong races but without birds (not counting Ox’s nice point on a turkey!).
The largest entry was the Open Derby with 18. We’re very proud of the performances of two dogs we ran. Northwoods Parmigiano (Sean), setter male owned by Bob Senkler, won. Sean ran a powerful, forward race on a 73-degree afternoon, hunted all the right places and finished strong. In addition, he has a style and verve that is extremely eye appealing.
Sean has competed well for the select times we’ve entered him in field trials. Of four starts, he’s placed in three—2011 Open Puppy (1st), 2012 CVGDA Open Shooting Dog (2nd) and this placement.
Northwoods Classy Kate, setter female owned by Barry Frieler, placed second. She ran her usual, sharp, driving race–she is always searching for birds. She is on a hot streak this spring with three derby placements in three starts.
Northwoods Roquefort, owned and handled by Dan Stadin, put on a competitive effort. Sean, Kate and Roquefort are littermates, sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of Houston’s Belle’s Choice.
Puppy stakes are always fun and this Open Puppy was no different. Betsy and I own Northwoods Vixen, a female pointer out of CH Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer, and she is mature, smart and talented. She won first place. I handled Snyder’s Trudy (CH Ridge Creek Cody x CH Satin From Silk), setter female owned by Steve Snyder, to second. Trudy hunted hard and looked good doing it.
Northwoods Tesla owned by Tim Cunningham.
Northwoods Tesla, owned and handled by Tim Cunninghamy, placed third. Tes and Tim are new to field trials but both put forth a great effort. Tes is sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of Northwoods Chablis—and it’s turning out to be quite a talented litter. Two of her litter brothers, Northwoods Bees Knees and Northwoods Grits, won first and second in the Open Puppy last week.
The Minnesota Grouse Dog Association held the first of its two spring trials on April 6 and 7. Dan Stadin, Paul Diggan and I attended both days.
For us, the most exciting stake of the trial was the Open Derby. Fifteen young dogs competed and we are very proud of Northwoods Classy Kate, owned by Barry Frieler of Pequot Lakes. She convincingly won first place. She is sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of our blue hen, Houston’s Belle’s Choice.
Kate ran in the first brace of the stake—at about 1 p.m. on a bluebird afternoon. Normally, that’s not the preferred time of day to hunt grouse but Kate didn’t know that. Within a few minutes of the breakaway, she was already working scent near a drumming log. She caused the bird to flush and gave a short chase. After that, however, she left dust and leaf chaff behind her as she tore the cover apart in search of grouse. At about 13 minutes, Kate’s bell stopped 80 yards to the front. We could see her standing on the edge of a cut from a distance—tall and confident. She had a grouse pinned about 15 feet off her nose. At flush and shot, she stood perfectly broke.
Farther down the course as Kate was hunting on the right, her bell stopped abruptly. After a moderate search, Judge Brett Edstrom and I found her pointing at a low area of brush. For the second time, she had a grouse pinned perfectly and, for the second time, she stood perfect at flush and shot. She did have a slight movement as I went back to release her.
For the remainder of her brace, Kate made several showy casts, hunting a cut aspen edge as we watched her from the distant woods. She finished strong to the front.
Kate’s performance may have been the best I’ve seen for a derby. Her drive to find birds, her intensity and accurate bird location are rare in a dog that age. These thoughts were echoed by Brett at the announcement of winners and also by Scott Anderson, the handler of Kate’s bracemate.
That’s why I love to compete in field trials. To have a dog put on a
spectacular performance in front of people who recognize and appreciate
it makes it all worthwhile.
Northwoods Bees Knees
Two littermates out of our 2011 breeding of Northwoods Blue Ox to Northwoods Chablis placed in the Open Puppy stake. Northwoods Bees Knees, handled by his owner Mike Donovan, won first place. Beasly hunted the tough puppy course with strength and purpose. Beasly is Mike’s first pointing dog and this was Mike’s first field trial. Congratulations, Mike!
Northwoods Grits, owned by Bob Senkler and handled by me, placed second. Grits hunted hard and made casts to all the right places. I had run him in the Open Derby just a short time earlier and even though he’s a strong dog, it seemed to take a little punch out of his performance. But we were proud of his effort.
Even though the Open Shooting Dog drew 18 dogs, only two dogs had bird work (and they were braced together). Those two were given placements and third was withheld.
Dan Stadin and I attended the Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association (CVGDA) spring grouse trial over the weekend of March 30 – April 1. The grounds are situated along a beautiful stretch of the Eau Claire River near Cadott and usually hold ample grouse and woodcock. Thanks to the club members who worked hard to put on the trial.
We’re happy to report that three dogs, Northwoods Classy Kate, Northwoods Parmigiano and Northwoods Lager, placed and garnered ribbons for their owners, Barry Frieler, Bob Senkler and Jim Bires, respectively.
The Open Derby was very competitive with 21 entries. We ran six: littermates Northwoods Parmigiano, Northwoods Roquefort, Northwoods Brie and Northwoods Classy Kate (sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of Houston’s Belle’s Choice), Houston’s Miss Liddy (sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of CH Houston’s Belle) and Northwoods Piper Lebowski (sired by Blue Riptide out of Blue Ghost).
Three derbies finished with bird work which proved to be the deciding factor. Many of ours showed some affect of the recent two-day drive from Tennessee but gave competitive performances of which we were proud.
Northwoods Classy Kate
Kate won second place with a hard-hunting effort capped off by a beautiful point on a woodcock right in front of the gallery. The woodcock flushed low and landed about 20 yards from Kate but she stood her ground with just a hop at the shot. This was a tough piece of bird work for a derby-aged dog and she handled it with poise and confidence.
The Open Restricted Shooting Dog was run on Sunday morning and had 10 entries. We entered four dogs even though three were derbies and had competed the previous day: Parmigiano, Roquefort and Liddy. Lager (sired by Blue Shaquille out of Houston’s Belle’s Choice) is a true shooting dog although this is his first season.
Northwoods Parmigiano
Parmigiano won second place. His hunting effort was not up to his usual standard of a race filled with fire and desire but he made up for it with a nice point on a grouse. He was the only dog in the stake to point a wild bird under judgment.
Lager placed third. He had the kind of race I like—strong running, always searching in the right places for birds and showing when I called on him. Three minutes after time was called as he was making his way back to me, he stopped and had a beautiful point on a grouse, unfortunately not under judgment. The judges called Lager back on a liberated quail to prove that he was steady to wing and shot…which he did with aplomb.
Betsy and I are winding down our second session of training in Tennessee. We’re organizing everything, packing up, cleaning up and are headed home tomorrow. Even with the weather that is more summer-like, it has been great because we didn’t miss a day of training. The birds were plentiful and, most importantly, the dogs we’ve had here have learned so much and made such good progress, always so gratifying.
Here are some photographs.
Birdee (CH Westfalls Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer).
Two-year-old littermates Bleu and Kate (Northwoods Blue Ox x Houston’s Belle’s Chocie).
Gus (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice).
Jaz and Trudy (CH Ridge Creek Cody x CH Satin From Silk).
Lucy (CH Westfalls Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer) and Jaz.
Liddy (Northwoods Blue Ox x CH Houston’s Belle).
Slash and Pete (Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Chardonnay).
Piper (Blue Riptide x Blue Ghost).
Rosie (Blue Riptide x Blue Ghost).
Timber (CH Westfalls Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer).
Trixie (CH Ridge Creek Cody x CH Satin From Silk).
Much of what a bird dog needs to know is learned from the birds themselves. Among those lessons is the key concept that the dog can’t catch the bird. The dog needs to understand that once it smells a bird, it should stop, point and stay on point. It will learn that moving closer will cause the bird to flush and once flushed, the bird is gone and the fun is over.
Female bobwhite quail on training grounds in western Tennessee.
Wild birds are the ultimate teacher of this lesson. But it’s not always possible or feasible to completely develop a dog on them. The next best option is to use liberated birds in situations where the birds act as close to wild as possible.
We’ve tried chukar partridge and Hungarian partridge but bobwhite quail have proved to be the best.
After some trial and error, I now have two reliable methods of working with quail. Both worked at our home kennel and at winter training sites in Oklahoma and Tennessee.
First, though, it’s important to find the right habitat. The cover needs to be thin enough so the birds can easily fly from it, but also near enough to areas with heavy cover where they can fly to and escape.
My preferred method is to establish a strong, well-seasoned covey using a Johnny house. I basically “train” these quail by flushing them from the house many, many times. They fly into the surrounding area and become familiar with the cover. The more these birds are used, the better they get. After they’re adjusted to the habitat, it’s not uncommon to have the covey disappear for a day or more before coming back to the house and, when they do that, you have some great training birds.
The second option is to release a covey in a likely area surrounded by a good mix of cover. I then feed them three times per week to keep them coming back. There are two big disadvantages: the whole covey can be lost and these birds aren’t as reliable as Johnny house quail. But this method is invaluable for advanced training and teaching a dog that birds are not always easy to find.
We put great effort into having quality released birds for training; it’s expensive and time consuming. Ultimately, it’s worth it because the better the birds, the better the bird dog.
Martha Greenlee’s article on Steady With Style provides excellent advice on using training birds.
Steve Hurdle handles 2012 National Champion Connor’s E Z Button.
A fun aspect of living for a time in another part of the country is to take advantage of what that area offers. Here in western Tennessee, Jerry and I are close to Grand Junction, which is home to the Ames Plantation and the site of the National Championship.
This year marked the 113th running of this celebrated competition, which is one of few in the country with three-hour braces. Thirty-four dogs competed in 17 braces over nine days. Last year’s champion, Touch’s Whiteout, scratched.
Randy Downs steadies Gamemaker at the morning breakaway while Fred Corder waits on his horse.
It was thrilling to be around big-name handlers like Sean Derrig, Luke Eisenhart, Colvin Davis, Robin Gates, Randy Downs, Steve Hurdle and Gary Lester. Another big draw was to see—firsthand—famous dogs like Gamemaker, In The Shadow, the setter Shadow Oak Bo and all the Erin pointers. Plus it was cool to see all the gear and the big horse trailers necessary for competition at this level.
Jerry and I chose to go on the first Friday so we could watch Gamemaker (Rock Acre Buckwheat x Therapy’s Little Bess), a handsome liver-and-white pointer owned and handled by Fred Corder, scouted by Randy Downs.
Gamemaker was braced with Connor’s E Z Button, owned by David O’Connor and handled by Steve Hurdle.
Gamemaker, Fred Corder, Steve Hurdle and Button pause at a crossing.
What an exciting brace. Button had six finds; Gamemaker had five. In the waning minutes of the brace, Gamemaker was hit by a truck when he ran across a road. But he got up, shook himself off and finished with just a slight limp.
The three judges (in orange) and the gallery cross a road on the Ames Plantation.
And, several days later on the white front porch of the Ames Plantation, Connor’s E Z Button was named this year’s National Champion.
Chris Mathan of The Sportsman’s Cabinet and Strideaway was with us. Jerry and Ben McKean, a friend from Minnesota, rode the following Tuesday to see In The Shadow and Erin’s Whiskey River.
The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only one page.
–St. Augustine
Earlier this winter, Jerry and I took some time off and traveled to Georgia. The warm climate was one draw, as was the opportunity to see historic quail plantations set in piney woods. Several days in a cottage on an island off the coast near Savannah was also on the itinerary.
Here are the highlights of our trip.
Best puppy/exercise pens
Dog trainers in Georgia are serious about their puppy raising. At most of the plantations and training facilities, it was clear that much time, money and energy is spent on giving puppies a good start in life.
What struck us most were the really big, really nice puppy pens. There was ample space for a dozen or more puppies to exercise, play, rest and find shade. One plantation had fenced an area about the size of a football field.
For the record, all the litters we saw were pointers.
Chance to see old friends
Jim Tande and Chuck Wingard have been friends of ours for a long time—going back to the late 1980s/early 1990s when we were all field trialing in the grouse woods. We’ve gotten puppies from their litters and they’ve bought from us. We’ve bred dams to their sires and vice-verse. An auspicious start to our pointer line was when Jim’s extraordinary CH Northern Dancer (call name War) was bred to a 6X grouse champion from Maine, Vanidestine’s Rail Lady, and produced our CH Dance Smartly.
Jim and Chuck have moved on to horseback shooting dog and all age competition and, since both are now retired from careers with the U.S. Forest Service, they spend winters near Arlington, Georgia.
Jerry and I spent a fun day with Jim and his wife, Kathy. They gave us a fabulous tour of southwestern Georgia and many of its plantations.
Venerable quail plantations
The main quail plantation area stretches from Americus in the north, through Albany and south to Tallahassee, Florida. The heart is Thomasville, Georgia.
We saw fancy gates, long driveways lined with live oaks, beautiful plantation homes complete with tall columns and wrap-around porches. We saw original dog wagons, vast stretches of piney woods and even a dog cemetery.
We toured the famous Pinebloom, a 20,000-acre plantation that was the setting for Tom Wolfe’s excellent book, A Man in Full.
The history of quail plantations is equally fascinating. As far back as the 1880s, newly rich, northern business owners discovered the area.
Finding plentiful game birds–particularly turkey, dove, and quail–they first leased then began purchasing small parcels of farm land and forests, consolidating them into thousands of acres of hunting plantations–larger than any of the antebellum cotton plantations…
Because the area remained somewhat isolated after the Civil War, it retained many vestiges of antebellum plantation life, a life that the new plantation owners sought to emulate and the old ones wished to preserve. The region today contains more than a hundred working quail hunting plantations, proving more durable than the cotton kingdom they replaced.
~ Susan Hamburger, Ph.D., from a paper presented at the North American Society for Sport History Annual Conference, May 27, 1996
Tybee Island and Savannah
We squeezed in some days at the beginning of our trip to spend time on Tybee Island and tour the area.
Tybee Island is a small island connected to Savannah and the mainland by 18 miles of bridges over marshes, the Intracoastal Waterway and various channels and rivers.
Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia. It was founded in 1733 by a group of English colonists who traveled under the auspices of King George II, after whom the state is named. The city plan was agreed upon before the ship left England and was based on London’s squares. Twenty-two of the original 24 squares remain.
Savannah had block after block of beautifully maintained townhomes. I could live in any one of them, although preferably one with a curving staircase and plenty of intricate wrought iron.
Molly (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2023) backs Charlie (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Carbon, 2017) ~ Ken and Caroline Taylor, Jim and Flo DePolo, respectively, Pennsylvania
Filly (May’s Pond Hank x Northwoods Stardust, 2024) ~ Tom and Lauren Strand Family, Minnesota
Rae (CH Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013) ~ David Larson, Minnesota
Junie (HOF CH True Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2021) ~ Joey Paxman and Amanda Allpress, Montana
Normanie (RU-CH Northwoods Nirvana x Northwoods Carbon, 2017) and her pal ~ Walter Manley, Florida
Archie (CH Miller’s Upgraded Version x Northwoods Comet, 2024) ~ Blake and Solveig Nelson, Minnesota
Molly (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2023) ~ Ken and Caroline Taylor, Pennsylvania
Caddie (CH Southern Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2023) ~ Brian Smith, Pennsylvania
Frisco (Blue Riptide x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2014), on left, and Zion (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar, 2022) ~ Rick and Jodi Buchholz, North Dakota
Rip (CH Woodville’s Yukon Cornelius x Northwoods Redbreast, 2024) ~ Greg and Michelle Johnson, Wisconsin
Miles (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Northwoods Madrid, 2024) ~ Lars Totton, New Jersey
Rip (Northwoods Louis Vuitton x Houston’s Dancing Queen, 2022) ~ Mark Fitchett, Kansas
Vida (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2019) ~ Tom Condon, Montana
Suki (May’s Pond Hank x Northwoods Stardust, 2024) ~ Eric Beauregard, Massachusetts
Winnie (CH Miller’s Upgraded Version x Northwoods Comet, 2024) ~ Joe and Jess Nelson Family, Minnesota
Tally (May’s Pond Hank x Northwoods Stardust, 2024), on left, and Georgia (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2015) ~ Joe and Deb Wech, Minnesota
Cosmos (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2019), on right, and his pal ~ The Collins Family, Georgia
Stanley (May's Pond Hank x Northwoods Stardust, 2024) ~ Johansson Family, Minnesota
Tyler (CH Miller’s Upgraded Version x Northwoods Comet, 2024) ~ Josh and Des Matel, Minnesota
Filly (May’s Pond Hank x Northwoods Stardust, 2024) ~ Tom and Lauren Strand Family, Minnesota
Sage (CH Miller’s Upgraded Version x Northwoods Comet, 2024), top, and Louis (CH Erin's Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Nickel, 2018) ~ Joey Paxman and Amanda Allpress, Montana
Racer (CH Miller’s Upgraded Version x Northwoods Comet, 2024), right, and his very special pal JTH Cooper (HOF CH Rock Acre Blackhawk x Northwoods Vixen, 2015) ~ Doug and Nicole Miller, Oregon
Russell (CH Woodville’s Yukon Cornelius x Northwoods Redbreast, 2024) ~ Gregg Pike and Family, Montana
Abby (CH Woodville’s Yukon Cornelius x Northwoods Redbreast, 2024), on top of her new pal ~ Ben and Penelope Pierce, Montana
Annie (RU-CH Northwoods Nirvana x Northwoods Carbon, 2017) on her 7th birthday ~ Lynn and Kathy Olson, Iowa
Maisy (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2023) ~ Zenas and Susanne Hutcheson, Minnesota
Molly (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2023) ~ Ken and Caroline Taylor, Pennsylvania
Jordy (CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Prancer, 2014). Look closely! ~ Mark and Janie Fouts, Wisconsin
Speck (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2018) ~ Mike Watson, Pennsylvania
RU-CH Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017) ~ Greg and Michelle Johnson, Wisconsin
Zion (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar, 2022) ~ Rick and Jodi Buchholz, North Dakota
Harper (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar, 2022) ~ Tom Dosen-Windorski, Minnesota
Attie (Southern Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2023) ~ Jeff and Carol Hintz, Arizona
Chester (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Northwoods Stardust, 2023)
~ The Milles Family, Minnesota
Millie (RU-CH Northwoods Nirvana x Northwoods Carbon, 2017) ~ Mercer Clark, Georgia
Belle (CH Southern Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2023) ~ Kevin Sipple, Wisconsin
Piper (CH Northwoods Sir Gordon x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2021) ~ Tom and Ashton McPherson, Pennsylvania
