In like a lion out like a lamb. Guess we should prepare for a warm last trial on the 30^th. We had full 15 braces in the open dog field, 7 puppies in the puppy field, and 4 fun hunts so we were busy and kept warm. Finding birds to score on in the open field was pretty hard and the scores as you can see were kind of mediocre till Rusean Hardman and Sassy hit the field. Six birds later his 258 was the score to beat. He hung around till the last brace, it was James Parnell and Coco, the winner of the last two fall trials after all, but nobody really got close. Doug Hardesty and Hanna had a good run for 2^nd as did James Parnell and Roxy for 3^rd. James Parnell and Coco, Rusean Hardman and Chief, with James Parnell and Sis taking 6^th  rounding out the field. Yup James had a 2^nd, 3^rd, and 6^th. Said he was kind of tired there at the end. Ha

In the puppy field Tom Alexander and Boomer had a nice 3 fulls and a 1^st place, after not finding a bird in the last fall trial. Amazing the difference a few months makes in these young dogs bird finding ability. New members Becky and Will Wright have a couple of pretty girls, Llewellyn liter mates Sugar and Spice, who are going to be fun watch mature. In fact, every puppy out there got high praise from the Judge, and as long as the training of the handlers keeps pace it should be a fun bunch to keep an eye on.

Huge thanks go out to Ellison and Carl for being on Quads, in the cold, judging a 12 hour day with such good humor. Tom Krause spent three long days, what with the field prep getting the birds and everything, and Larry Naas providing transportation for fun hunts, and anyone who wanted a ride in a really nice buggy, deserve a pat on the back next time you see em. It was nice to see a lot of people pitch in banding birds, fetching dogs, etc.,and it run pretty smooth. Kelly Sample has lunch on the 16^th, we remember the last one his wife and him covered and are looking forward to it. Still need a volunteer for the 30^th if you have a family recipe you want to try out.

Next up the 3/16 Trial. Hope to see you there.