GROUNDHOG TRIAL, FEB20-21, 2021

SATURDAY A FIELD

As the sun broke on day one, planter Glenn Smith rode out into the field with 6 birds and judges Rich Lowe and Layne Peterson climbed aboard their ATVs. Glenn gave the signal; the handlers brought their eager dogs to the line and another trial was underway. Our first brace of the day would feature Jared Haddock and his little Brittany Boone facing Jay Carley and his stunning setter Syra. Jared and Boone would put on a show as they found all 6 birds placed in the field for a score of 1101.0. This run would prove to be the best run of the day in A field, and left the rest of us playing for second place. Longtime Veteran player Jim Wall and his amazing German shorthair Bullet nearly eclipsed the mark with their own incredible 6 bird run in the 6^th brace of the day; scoring 1091 and taking home 2^nd place. Bret Wonnacott and Sunnie would again prove to all of us how it is done as they had a run of 5/5 and a back for a score of 1036.5 to take home 3^rd place. Having one dog eclipse the 1000 point mark is rare. But to have three dogs do it in one trial is something none of us are soon to forget. Three absolutely amazing runs!

SATURDAY B FIELD

Saturday’s B field would be judged by Angie Wonnacott and Maureen Goodrich. It is worth noting our region would fold without these two amazing ladies. We appreciate their willingness to judge and all they do for our region. Kelly Irons and his young shorthair proved why they are consistently in contention picking up four birds, four retrieves, a score of 659, and held the lead until the 9^th brace. That is when Bret Wonnacott and the ever-present Sunnie took the field. She expertly maneuvered through the brace with poster-perfect find after find. She snatched the lead with a score of 703 and held that up until the last brace of the day. In the final brace, little firecracker brittany Boone and Jared Haddock would again put on a clinic, picking up 4, then 5, then an amazing 6^th bird. Their score of 1075 was not only enough to take home 1^st place and their second win in one day, but also put them a few points over the threshold for their first NSTRA championship. We will have more on this later. Having scored his first NSTRA points less than a year ago, Boone has quickly become a dog to watch. Congrats to all three of these amazing dogs.

SUNDAY A FIELD

Sunday would prove to be another banner day, as the weather was perfect and the sun was shining. In A field we had Angie Wonnacott and Layne Peterson Judging, and we can’t express enough our appreciation for their willingness to help judge. In brace 5, Brent Underdahl and his dog Rock stepped up to the start line. Just one week prior, Brent had been judging in Florida. He flew home to Montana, jumped in his truck and made the trek to Utah just in for this trial. Brent has been around the game for many years and brought two great dogs with him to compete. He and Rock put together a beautiful 4/4 run and with a score of 840.5, took the 1^st place trophy back to Montana. Brent and his wife needed to head out early to make the drive back home, unfortunately he was not able to be there for placement pictures. (Ryan Taylor’s dog Prince, with Ryan hiding behind the dog made a great stand in for us) . Congrats to Brent and Rock! Spencer Johnson and his dog Scout had a great 4/4 run with a score of 833.1 to give them a 2^nd place finish and earn their second NSTRA placement, congrats! Coming in 3^rd with a run that kept the gallery clapping, was Troy Anderson and his dog Rowdy for a score of 780.5. Troy has been around this game for a long time and is always a force to be reckon with, congrats Troy and Rowdy!

SUNDAY B FIELD

In B field on Sunday, we had Maureen Goodrich and Jared Haddock as our judges, they did an amazing job. Bret Wonnacott and Sunnie entered the field in brace 11 and put on a heart-stopping show. Sunnie took off from the starting gate and 300 yards in took a hard left. She exited the field and began working the grounds out of bounds. Bret was able to get her to return to the field of play after an agonizing 7 minutes. Sunnie went right to work. Picking up one bird, then another, then another. 3 birds in, she wandered out of bounds for another two and a half minutes. If she exited the field again for only 30 seconds she would be disqualified. Bret expertly worked her into the center ground. Sunnie slammed to a point on her 4^th bird. Bret took a shot and his usually trusty Citori did not bring the bird down. It landed just out of bounds with Sunnie in hot pursuit. She crossed the boundary line and her 30 second timer began counting down. With 7 seconds left, the bird flew again… into the field and taking Sunnie with it. It flew right past Bret and this time his Citori found the mark. 4 birds in the bag, one minute left in the brace. Sunnie took off to the west and came skidding into another find! Bret made it to her just as time ran out and knew he had only one minute of overtime to finish the bird for a score. If Sunnie took even one step, the bird would not count... she never moved a muscle. Bret flushed the bird quickly, took a shot, the bird wobbled, and then kept flying. He took a second shot. The bird continued. With his gun empty he could only watch as Sunnie chased the bird, praying she would return with a retrieve within the allotted time. As she reached the bird it jumped up again, taking Brets hopes with it. However the bird made the mistake of flying back towards Bret, between him and his bracemate. With one swing of his hand he grabbed a single shot, pushed it into his gun, raised the barrel just as it was passing between him and his bracemate and yelled “safety!” ending the retrieve with 5 seconds left in the alotted time. This is why Bret continues to find himself on the podium. He not only has amazing dogs, but he knows how to play the NSTRA game. A brilliant run ended with 5 birds and a score of 949.2.

In the second to last brace Ryan Taylor and his gorgeous setter Prince worked methodically and calmly through the field picking up 6 birds and taking the lead from Sunnie with an incredible score of 1066. However the last brace had something special in store. Long-time member Dennis Haggard or “Hag” as most people know him took the field with his Drahthaar Yash and put on an absolute show. It began incredibly with a stellar find, but after each subsequent bird Yash took it up yet another notch. After 3 birds, we knew we were watching something special unfold before our eyes. The 4^th bird was a marked bird. Yash went right to the mark and began tracking. He moved on a beeline a hundred yards from the original mark, somewhere none of us thought the bird would be… except Yash. He knew right where it had run to. Dennis dispatched the bird, Yash gingerly set it in his hand and they were off. They found a fifth, and then with 30 seconds remaining, Yash gave Dennis one more gift – a perfect point with the sun setting behind the peaks behind him. Their 6/6 run for a score of 1135 and 1^st place was one for the ages. Congrats to these three on runs that were built for primetime television.

This last weekend was absolutely dominated by two handlers and their dogs. First is Jared Haddock and his incredible Brittany named Boone. One year ago, almost to the day they were able to receive their first NSTRA placement, and from there it has been one incredible ride. Jared was able to champion Boone in one year, that is quite an incredible accomplishment and we as a region would like to congratulate Utah’s newest NSTRA Champion – JUST CALL ME BOONE’S SHADOW. If anyone has had the pleasure of watching this handler and his dog in the field, it is nothing short of amazing. It is almost as if they always know exactly what the other is thinking and with simple glances communicate their next move, it is a pleasure and a joy to watch. Boone is a special dog, congrats again!!

The second was Bret Wonnacott and his setter Sunnie (actually Angie would kill us if we didn’t point out that Sunnie is in reality her dog). Sunnie was on 3 of the 4 podiums and every time she takes the field, we know that a placement likely lies in their future. In all of Utah region history there is no more decorated dog. At nearly 9 years old she has 4 Regional Championship wins, 92 Open points, and this weekend she added one more accomplishment to her impressive resume. 5X CHAMPION. The Utah region has never had a 5X champion, and we couldn’t be more proud of this incredible dog and her handler. A big congratulations to you both.

To all the handlers and dogs in this great region, we say thank you. What an amazing trial. We look forward to seeing you all again at the next one!

Lance Hansen