Although family obligations kept me away, I’ll try and give a recap based on the above scoreboard. If you guys want to see some photos you will have to take them and text to me. Ha.

First brace out Gene Gray and Ben Faulkner both got 3 birds cleaning the field of the 6 planted. Second brace Faulkner and Naas accounted for 5 of the 5 birds planted. Next brace got 4 of 5 planted same as the next brace. 2 bird carry over and not much room to put up a score. Then a couple of dogs came up with no birds. Oh, they might have moved some, bumped some, or missed some, but the result was about a 6 bird carryover in the field.

Now the scores started jumping up after lunch, with 4 birds found, not 3, being the norm. Parnell’s Pudge found 4 but had a key back, giving him the winning score of 187 for 1st place. Mick Gill and Willy had 4 birds in the last brace of the day, but no back, for a score of 172, and 2nd place. Doug Hardesty and Cali also had 4 birds but got 3rd also with a 172 but got beat to the first bird by 2 seconds, :56 seconds to Gill’s :54. That will have you shaking your head at the end of the day. Larry Naas and Rosie scored a 152 with 4 birds, but missed a retrieve, so came in 4th. Phil Sinor and Athena scored on 3 birds and came in 5th with a 129 score. At 14 seconds to the first bird, he beat out good buddy Gene Gray and DOY Joe, who also scored a 129 in the first brace by One minute and 2 seconds.

So 3 and 4 birds found, a back here, and fast first bird there, was the only real difference. Pretty close, with everyone having a chance. Now that is some good dog work.

The Puppy field was strong with 11 entered. Good steady training came through again with Parnell and Bub going 4 for 4 birds and 1st place with a 172. Keith Franklin and Charlie kept their noses down in the last brace of the day to log 3 fulls and a 127 for 2nd. Mr. Morgan and Tubby got 4 birds, but being a puppy, only one retrieve for a score of 107 and 3rd. I’m sure he still came out of the field real proud with a big grin on his face.

So that is the end of the spring trials for 2023. Next up summer training, naps on the porch, trips to the lake, and dreaming of those birds. So get ready to start mowing and dreaming yourself of next season’s trips and don’t forget to mark your calendars for the TBDA fall trials. A big thank you to Mick Gill and the board, Larry Naas, Gene Gray, Phil Sinor, and Doug Cross for all their hard work. BTW Preston Smith, another board member, has a new young pup under his desk at the office, he is out of Minnie and should be ready to hit the puppy field next year and carry on with her great gens. Be nice to see him back out there.

Thanks to Purina for the sponsorship with our Pro Plan awards as well as the Ohler family for the great grounds to play on. Put our meeting date of 3-28-23 at the Bass Pro Shop in Broken Arrow on your calendar as well and find out what is planned for the summer. Hope to see you there.