An October to Remember!!!

What an October! I'll never forget it. Great friends, some very bizarre events, but lots of great, great times. WI and MN were absolutley fabulous. We arrived on 1 October and when the sun came up the next day it was beautiful. For the next 3 weeks the weather was nothing short of perfect with only an afternoon or two seeing some high cloud cover. It was unreal and the birds were terrific with the dogs performing near flawlessly on trips with Sig, Mike, Howard, Scott, and Al (great friends make great hunts!). Mickey was the bird finding star for me. He was sucking down grouse like a vaccum every time down. His performance at the WI CH was one of the top 10 I have ever witnessed. He handled on a string, ran to the front with some terrific powerful moves, and had 3 immaculate grouse finds. The first early on, slamming on point just in front of us with a grouse in a tree (you could tell he did not bump it by his proximity and suddeness of which his bell silenced plus the fact the other dog and handler had just been through the area likely causing the bird to jump in a tree. We witnessed this repeatedly on our trip.). His last find came near 100 yards to the dead front with only seconds left in the hour. How he did not win that trial will remain one of the bizarrest things I have witnessed at a field trial for a long time and really tests your resolve for these silly trials. But he came back strong at the PA grouse CH and this time I flat blew a placement for him. Again he ran a huge, strong hour. To the front and with us in 71+ degree mid day heat. He had two gutsy grouse finds at 40 and 48. It was a dry, leaf crackling hour and hearing was difficult at best. With 2 minutes to go he swung by and was sent to the front. At time he was gone, vanished. With the noise we did not know where he went and could not locate him. His chance for a placement was lost. Gut wrenching. A real waste of a fantastic effort yet again. But he has proven to me beyond a doubt that he is one hell of a grouse dog and one gutsy athlete with bird drive beyond comparison. At least others are more successful than his amateur handler. Our friend Chuck Wingard won the MN Derby Classic with his son of Mickey and a real nice grouse find in his effort. A daugher of Mickey (handled by Helen Brenneman!) had a nice effort to win the Blakely Derby Classic in PA. We got to witness both! And best of all Mickey's younger brother Chip's Charlie Brown won the MI Woodcock Championship with 3 grouse and 3 woodcock finds. Quite a feat for a 2 1/2 yr old dog over 70 others. Congrats to owners Mike Reeves and Steve Chiappini and handler Marc Foreman! That makes 3 out of 4 males from Lacey's Torque litter to be champions and I am betting Sig and I can make it 4 with Sig's sister to these boys willing to make it 5! And all without an elaborate, relentless promotional campaign, winning with pure talent. Sig and I have put this family to the test in the woods and we have both been conviced after this fall that these dogs are absolutely peerless when it comes to pure bird finding abilities in the woods and their pure athleticism. They are an absolute pleasure and thrill to own.
Attached are pictures of Sig and Mickey after a great mornings hunt and Lacey and Will after a memorable evening 'happy hour' hunt. Also is Chuck Wingard winning the MN Derby Classic with his son of Mickey. What an October with great friends. For now, I'm going back to sleep. Wake me up next year when September ends!