Field Trial Competitors faced a weekend of beautiful weather at the annual fall Mobile Amateur Retriever Club Trial.  We all very much appreciate the hard work at the trial by Annette Davis, Luther Davis, Ken Wood, Butch Gregory, Jeff Talley, George Free, and many others who helped set up, marshal, judge, etc. at the State Cattle Ranch in Greensboro, Alabama.

Forever Wild Car Tag

The Alabama Forever Wild Program, a division of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, purchased 2031 acres of the Cattle Ranch in April 2008 and is in process of restoring the land to natural grasslands and creeks. The Forever Wild Program was established in 1992, by constitutional amendment, to provide for the purchase of public recreational lands. Since its inception, the program has purchased lands for general recreation, nature preserves, additions to Wildlife Management Areas and state parks. Without them, this land would not be available for our use and enjoyment! You may read more about the program on their website at http://www.outdooralabama.com/public-lands/stateLands/foreverWild/.

Competitors warmed up on a chilly Friday morning to begin the Open stake, Derby and Qualifying stakes. Derby and Qualifying judges completed their tests by the end of the day and gave out awards as follows:

Coolwater's Knockout wins the Derby!

Derby (Judges: Joe Skaggs and Jon Ahlstrand)

• 1st – Coolwater’s Knockout (Punch) owned by Jay and Stacey Patton
• 2nd – KPR’s Wet Willie owned and handled by Jim Pickering
• 3rd – SML Stella’s Got Her Groove owned and handled by David Didier
• 4th – Troublesome Falsely Accused owned and handled by Brady Collins
• RJ – River City Rex owned and handled by Mark Ingram

Jams – GiGi handled by Trey Lawrence, Rip handled by Carter Hughes, Breeze handled by Tyler Sheppard

Larry Anderson and Rex win the Q!

Qualifying Stake (Judges Alex Washburn-Weidlein and Gwen Jones)

• 1st – Cedar Ridge’s Rex De Mardi Gras owned and handled by Larry Anderson
• 2nd – Callem Killem and Cookem Kayla owned by Wally Riffle
• 3rd – Timberpond’s Scarlet and Gold owned and handled by Greg Lee
• 4th – River Bottoms Boone owned by Andy Whiteley and John Gassner
• RJ – Windy K’s Flying Juicy Lucy owned and handled by Mike Kerr

Jam: Keeping Kellys Cool owned and handled by Butch Gregory

Open 4th - Water Triple with two retired

The Open Stake finished their four series early on Sunday afternoon with seven competitors called back to the water marks. Three marks were set up facing southeast with a variable wind. The right mark was shot first and was thrown to the left. That gun retired and was long across the pond around 350 yards. The middle mark was shot 2nd and was thrown to the right into heavy cover. That gun also retired. The gun on the left was setup as a flyer station with two gunners who each shot once and then threw their bird to the left. Charlie Moody ran Yates first on the final setup. Yates over ran the middle mark and was handled back in to it, and then ran a very nice mark to the right long retired. Larry Anderson ran next with Handy who did a very nice job on each bird. John Kabbes with Porky, Mark Medford with Bo, Connie Cleveland with Aaron, and Trey Lawrence with Rion all had to pick their dogs up. Steve O’Connell with Bull also handled leaving Larry and Handy the only dog to complete the series clean!

Larry with Handy and Rex

Congratulations to Larry on an Open win and Qualifying win all in one weekend! Best of all it was done with Father and Son! Handy is the sire of Rex.

Open Stake (Judges Jason Fleming and Jim O’Brien)

• 1st – CFC CAFC Gahonks Ain’t He Handy owned and handled by Larry Anderson
• 2nd – FC AFC Watuaga’s Bull Gator owned and handled by Steve O’Connell
• 3rd – Malk’s Fishing Frenzy owned by Kyle Broussard and handled by Charlie Moody

Amateur 4th - Water triple with two retired

Amateur Competitors finished later the day on Sunday afternoon with 14 dog and handler teams trying their luck on another challenging water triple setup. Right gun was positioned across the pond and up on a ridge around 325 yards with the bird thrown to the right. This bird was thrown first and retired. Middle gun across the shallow end of the pond was thrown to the right and down to the bottom of the levee. This gun also retired. The flyer station was to the left and was thrown to the right as go bird. There were several handles on this series, some big hunts and some nice jobs also!

Lou and Duke

Amateur Stake (Judges Jon Ahlstrand and Joe Skaggs)

• 1st – AFC Dominators Duke of Turrell owned by handled by Lou Magee
• 2nd – FC-NAFC Hawkeye’s Coast Guard owned and handled by Jeff Talley
• 3rd – Dr. Woody owned and handled by Wayne Dodson
• 4th – AFC Trumarc’s Whistling Bird owned and handled by Yvonne Hays
• RJ – Sonmar’s Zipper owned and handled by Sonny Free

Click here for additional trial photos!!

Derby 2nd Series

Derby 3rd Series

Derby 4th Series

Qualifying land marks and blind

Qualifying Water Blind

Qualifying Water Marks

Amateur Land Marks

Amateur Land Blind

Amateur Water Blind

Amateur Placements

Open Land Marks

Open Land Blind