Open First Series

Events began Friday morning at Charlie Hines’ beautiful farm in Wilmington, IL. Open judges Ray Vreeland and Alex Washburn set up a big triple with two retired guns. Either the long retired gun or the middle short retired could provide trouble for the dogs. Many dogs had large hunts on one or the other. The flyer guns were positioned on top of a mound shooting from right to left providing a well placed go-bird mark. Dogs successfully completing these marks are as follows: 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 36, 37, 40, 41, 46, 48, 50, 51.

Qualifying judges Marvin Baumer and Bill Benson set up their first series behind the Open which was eventually moved due to whistles in the Open interfering with the working dog. With two scratches the eight entries attempted the stand out triple with little success. A land blind was included in the series, but used little, as only two dogs completed the marks. Only one dog, Riparian Whirlwind owned by Jeanne and Cliff Garland, was called back to the next series and was declared the winner. 

Open handlers completed their land blind on Friday afternoon with the following dogs invited to the water blind on Saturday: 3, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 23, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 36, 41, 46, 48, 50. 

Clearing skies greeted the Derby and Amateur competitors on Saturday morning at the Des Plaines Wildlife Area. Amateur judges Dan Blevins and Earl Gilman also set up a triple with two retired birds providing another nice marking test with a challenging long retired, shorter semi-retired station and a nice flyer. A blind retrieve was placed down-wind and past flyer station and was run after the marks. This series completed in the early afternoon, and successful dogs then travelled to Harold and Sharon Gierman’s farm in Morris, IL, for the water blind. A nice crosswind water blind with a long entry into water and over two stretches of land and then down the shore was set up and completed by the end of the day. 16 dogs were successful and invited to the water marks at the Giermans on Sunday.

Derby contestants found four nice marking series set up by judges Bill Benson and Paul Blank. Tim Thurby running his dog, Bones, in their first derby ever were announced the winner with the all time high point chocolate derby dog, Ammo, coming in second. Upon the Wings of an Answered Prayer, or Ammo for short, is owned by Bill and Micki Petrovish of Townsend, MT, and are in the hunt for High Point Derby Dog of the year. With 50 points now and only two points behind ‘Fresh Squeezed Juice’ who aged out on Jan. 1, Bill, Micki and Ammo should have no problem obtaining their goal by Ammo’s birthday in November!

Open judges set up a tough water triple with a long 300+ yard retired bird through the flyer fall and over water for only the hardiest retriever to find. Out of the thirteen finalists the hardiest retriever was found….. Hardscrabble’s Captain Morgan owned by Gregory Cross and handled by Scott Harp. Morgan and Scott were the only team to complete the marks without a handle! Morgan is out of FC AFC Esprit’s Power Play and FC AFC M and M’s Buns of Steel. Second place went to Kit Johnson handling his dog Hunters Run BooBoo out of FC AFC Nick of Time Lone Ranger and FC AFC Blackwater Ruby II.

JoAnne Mackey and Sailor

Sunday found sunny skies and cooler weather with a hefty northwest wind for the final series of the Amateur at the Gierman’s. A water triple with two retired guns was set up for the final 16 dogs. A long retired bird was shot first with the shorter retired gun shot and thrown just past the flyer station. Three gunners then threw a nice shot flyer over water as the go-bird. There were several handles on the long retired and several clean jobs. JoAnne Mackey took the blue with FC AFC Close-Hauled to Windward, Sailor, out of FC AFC Fordland’s Bored Out Ford and Blackwater Ruby. JoAnne and Sailor are now qualified for the 2009 National Am also! John Stracka and FC Mercy Mercy Mercy Me out of FC AFC Nick of Time Lone Ranger and FC AFC Tequilla Sunrise IX took second.