Another Good Trip to WI in 2008

As always we had another good trip to WI. The grouse numbers seem to be holding steady. Not getting cooperative hatching seasons has kept a lid on the expected cyclic peak. We found plenty of grouse to keep us busy but not the bumper crops we are waiting to see. The woodcock did let us down as it appeared local birds had moved and the flight birds had yet to arrive during our visit and the birds may have taken a good hit this spring with foul nesting weather. Overall, Mother Nature was a little strange this year. Irregardless the people and the place never seem to let us down.

The brightest point of the trip was of course adding another champion and two more National Championship placements to the kennel operation. Keystone’s Red Rage (‘Mickey’) was named Champion in the National Amateur Grouse Championship held in Wisconsin, while his half brother Montera’s Rock (‘Rock’) was named RU-Champion for Bill Henke. It was a great entry including many champions and quite a few dogs (at least 11) finishing with clean work on grouse or woodcock. Both ‘Mickey’ and ‘Rock’ had big, forward, driving races. ‘Mickey’ finished with one sharply executed find working and pinning a running grouse to go with two forward limb finds on woodcock in one of the best performances we have witnessed on these WI grounds. ‘Rock’ had one excellent dug up grouse find with a big, mature and determined forward run as professional Joe McCarl had him ready to go after a summer on the prairies. These were two great wins that were thrilling to be a part of! And it was a clean sweep for Keystone’s Red Ryder as she is the dam of both males out of different sires (Chip’s Torquato and High Definition). It would be hard to name a setter female alive today that could top her combined win and production record. She is a three time champion, two time national champion, producing two champion setter males and one runner-up champion setter male with five championship placements that include two national championship placements. There is no doubt we would be nowhere without her.

The attached picture is RU-CH Monter's Rock being posed by reporter Mary Beth Esser and judge Rich Boumeister after being named RU in the 2008 National Amateur Grouse Championship in Wisconsin.