This year our annual Fall Field Trial was held at the training grounds of Dave Pomfret on the Rognlien Ranch just south of Towner, ND.   

We were greeted by fantastic weather.  Friday and Saturday were between the mid 60’s and low 70’s.  Sunday was a bit warmer but still much more pleasant than it could have been. 

The trial was attended by professional trainers Ray Dohse, Matt Eder, Keith Hickam, Mike Mullineaux, Kim Trafton and Dave Walker who all summer camp in the Dakotas.  The trial was also attended by amateurs from North Dakota, Illinois, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Thank you to judges Chris Benskin, Bob Felins, Greg Nicholson, Carl Olson, Dave Pomfret, and Lance Schulz for the time in the saddle.

We started off Friday with a very competitive Open Limited Gun Dog/Open Restricted Shooting Dog stake with the placements representing three different states, Georgia, Illinois, and New Jersey.  We finished up Friday with a 20 dog Open Derby stake.  Friday evening the participants enjoyed a nice hors d’oeuvre spread while hearing the placements from the day.

Saturday we ran and finished a large 25 dog Open Shooting Dog stake.  Many dogs encountered large coveys of quail.  Dan Bowen’s dog Atari handled by Ray Dohse found and experienced one of the largest chukar covey flushes I had ever witnessed.  We finished up Saturday with the Open Puppy stake.  That evening all attendees enjoyed a pork chop dinner prepared by Chris Benskin and Kelly Jarmuzek along with desserts from Kim Trafton.  Ranch owners John Rognlien, his son James and daughter-in-law, Alli, and their three daughters joined us for the evening festivities.

Sunday we finished up the trial with the Amateur Gun Dog/Amateur Shooting Dog.  The large coveys were too much for some of these dogs but in the end there were two dogs that made it around clean with nice performances.

I believe a good time was had by all during the weekend.  A special thank you to Dave Pomfret for the use of his grounds and all of his help with the trial.  Thank you to Dave Pomfret, Lance Schulz, Chris Benskin, and Mason Schulz for handling the bird planting duties.  Robin Sonsteby for providing and delivering the quality quail, tending the birds, and keeping the bird bags filled.  Shane Anderson for being the Chair and assuring things went well on the course.  Kelly Jarmuzek for her work keeping the camp running and making sure dogs and handlers were to the line in a timely manner.  To all the participants for showing the great sportsmanship and comradery that makes going to field trials so enjoyable.