I headed to the Southern New England Woodcock Championship today.
This trial was at the Arcadia
State Management Area in Exeter, RI. This trial started on Saturday. They were running dogs for three days, finishing on Monday. I think 17 braces (pairs) of dogs were scheduled to run.
This is a coverdog-style trial on all wild birds. Handlers walked the courses with a gallery of spectators following. The dogs ran over a number of different courses. When you’re watching, all you see are glimpses and flashes of the dogs. They hunt out to 100-150 yards. The courses wind and twist through the woods. To keep the dogs in front of them, the handlers call to their dogs.
This was championship, so all the dogs had at least one placement in an earlier trial. A lot of the top dogs and trainers in the Northeast were there, including John Stolgitis with his English Pointer male Chasehill Little Bud.
You can read some more about the trial here.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Note: birds are not shot at or harmed in any way at these trials.
