Author: Pamela DeSmidt

NEW! Gunners’ Choice Awards

In what we hope will become a new tradition, MSDA rosettes were presented each day to winners of the Gunners’ Choice Award. A longstanding custom in field trials, the concept is simple: the event’s gunners choose the dog that they would most like to put in their truck to take hunting. The selection is made entirely by the gunners, not the judges or the committee members, and is based on the dog’s performance during land work. Winners of the Fall 2024 Gunners’ Choice awards, pictured below, were:

  • Friday 9/13: Couper, an English Cocker Spaniel handled by Kathy Salemi. (Friday’s hunt test was sponsored by the FCRSA.)
  • Saturday 9/14: Jax, a Welsh Springer Spaniel handled by Lauren Hendrickson.
  • Sunday 9/15: Cayla, an English Cocker Spaniel handled by Alexandra Rudershausen.

(Photos are courtesy of the handlers.)

Photos & Results from MSDA’s 2024 Fall Hunt Test Weekend

MSDA’s annual Fall Hunt Test Weekend at Rebel Ridge Farms was filled with sunny skies and great hunting. It included a Judges and Handlers Seminar taught by AKC Senior Field Rep Tom Meyer, a small afternoon Spaniel Hunt Test sponsored by the Flat-Coated Retriever Society of America, Pointing Mock Junior Hunt Tests, and two full days of AKC Spaniel Hunt Tests sponsored by MSDA.

Individual results for MSDA’s Spaniel Hunt Tests are posted on HuntSecretary.

Pro photographer Matt Toth took photos of the spaniel hunt tests. They are available at https://mtfieldsports.smugmug.com/MSDA-Spaniel-Test-914-915-2024.

Some additional photos of the events and of the Friday and Saturday spaniel hunt test ribbons ceremonies are on MSDA’s Flickr site at  https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdsportingdog/albums/.

Volunteers needed for the 2024 Fall Hunt Test Weekend

Especially for the hunt tests on Saturday and Sunday, volunteers are very much needed for the three-day hunt test weekend. Whether you’re an experienced bird planter or a total newbie, we need your help and it’s a great way to learn more about the tests and the people involved as well as develop some much-appreciated skills.

MSDA members will earn volunteer credit that counts toward their 2025 voting membership. Some of the tasks include: signing people in, planting or throwing birds, shagging, brief stints as a line or field marshal, and helping with lunch. We also need a couple of people to bring desserts to round out the menu for our homecooked lunches to be served on Saturday and Sunday.

If you’re able to contribute some of your time when you’re not running your dog, or even if you’re not entering the tests at all and are willing to come out to help, please contact Roseanna Bennett via Roseanna@mdsportingdog.org to volunteer.

Much more information about the Fall Hunt Test Weekend events is at https://mdsportingdog.org/2024-fall-hunt-test-weekend/