107th Running of the Nat'l Championship
February 2006
Drawing: February 11,2006 at 7:00 p.m.
in Bryan Hall on the Ames Plantation
Running: Scheduled to commence on Monday, February 13,
2006 at 8:00 a.m. at the traditional Morning Breakaway across
Buford Ellington Road from the Field Trial Stables
February 1, 2006. News about the National Championship Field Trial Courses.
Ames Plantation hosted 3 fields trials
during the last 2 months: the Amateur Quail Championship,
December 5 – 10, 2005; the Ames Amateur, January 2 –
6, 2006; and the Hobart Ames Memorial, January 9 – 16, 2006. It
appears from these 3 trials that the quail we raised this year
and released September 7, 2005, have adjusted well to the field
trial course habitat. These birds more accurately mimic wild
quail than any pen-raised quail we have ever seen. These quail
have been found feeding in the planted feed plots about half the
time and found just about anywhere other times. We have watched
dogs move in to point a covey of these birds and then watched
the birds leave the dog before the handler and/or Judges could
get to the dog. This situation was more evident during the
Hobart Ames Memorial than the two previous trials and the number
of unproductives sustained by the dogs’ supports this
observation.
Ending the 2005-year with a 13-inch deficit of rainfall has also
contributed to the poor scenting conditions for dogs thus far.
Little to no rain, from August through January, has affected not
only the plant communities on the field trial courses but also
impacted the capabilities of the dogs to smell, point and pin
the quail. More habitat cover was removed from the courses
this year than has been in the past, thereby making it much
easier to see and follow the dog. For a dog to find and point
quail, they are going to have to hunt, because the birds will
not be found running down the middle of the road. As I said
before, these birds are acting just like wild quail and can be
found anywhere. The courses on Ames should not, and will not,
be a “gim-me” stake. The dog that wins must be able to put
everything together from having the birds moving during their
3-hour race to capitalizing on the weather conditions. If it
were easy, then all of the dogs would be in contention.
Statistics recorded by Ames Plantation staff riding during the 3
trials were interesting. During the Amateur Quail Championship
in December, both the dogs and gallery moved a total of 39
coveys of quail in 5 ½ days. The dogs found 13 coveys on the
morning course and 16 on the afternoon course for a total of
29. The gallery rode up the other 10 coveys in the middle of
the course. The dogs only had 9 unproductives during this
trial. House’s Delta Dawn scored 3 finds in 90 minutes to win
the championship while Tennessee Titan had 4 finds in securing
runner-up.
The Ames Amateur recorded the fewest number of finds and/or
coveys of any of the 3 trials. The dogs only found 16 coveys of
quail the entire week while the gallery flushed 3 different
coveys. Half of the dogs entered in the All-Age stake did not
complete their hour of competition which definitely affects bird
finding capabilities. Each of the winners had a single find and
are as follows: 1st) House’s Delta Dawn, 2nd)
Tennessee Titan and 3rd) Mac’s Dakota Hawk. Dry
weather conditions persisted throughout this trial with warmer
than normal temperatures for January.
Those same weather conditions continued for the first part of
the Hobart Ames Memorial All-Age stake. There were 58 dogs
entered in the All-Age stake and 33 of those were either lost
and/or picked up early during their hour of competition. The
dogs found a total of 20 coveys and the gallery rode up 9.
Unproductives were up 100% compared to the 2 previous trials
with a total of 20 UP’s for the dogs. We did have a little rain
shower during the middle of the All-Age stake and bird movement
before and after the weather front improved scenting conditions
and helped the dogs locate more coveys. The first place dog,
Lester’s Dollar Bill had 3 finds and 1 unproductive to his
credit, while the second and third place dogs each had 2 finds,
Whippoorwill Fire Box and Amariage, respectively. One other dog
had 2 finds and the balance of those finding quail were credited
with a single find. Some of the dogs with single finds were
picked up before completing their hour. The renewed 1 hour
Derby stake had 21 entries and the first place dog, Suka’s
Haystack, had 2 finds. The second and third place dogs, Be Be’s
Pike & Prairie Creek Rocky, were placed on ground race.
At the time of this writing, we have had approximately 6 inches
of rainfall across the entire Plantation since the conclusion of
the Hobart Ames Memorial Field Trial. This should dramatically
help scenting conditions for the dogs. The National
Championship is set to begin Monday, February 13th at
the traditional morning breakaway across from the field trial
stables on Buford Ellington Road. We look forward to visiting
with those of you that are able to attend this year.