Come Flushers,
Pointers and Retrievers! An entire section of the
National Pheasant Fest 2010 show floor is dedicated
to our favorite hunting partners. This
Bird Dog Bonanza is presented by Native® performance
dog food & SportDOG®. There
will be seminars
/ demonstrations throughout the weekend from
the world's foremost dog trainers, such as the
Native performance dog food Pro Staff (including
Iowans Steve Ries, Todd Sterrett and Sue Barnes),
SportDOG's legendary Tom Dokken and Rick Smith,
and Lyle Steinman of Country Vet and Zoom Dog.
Ask the experts personally by bringing your bird
dog questions to the Bird Dog Panel Q & A,
and check out kennels, trainers, breeders and more
dog exhibitors at the "Bird Dog Alley."
"The seminar
speakers for the 'Bird Dog Stage' at Pheasant Fest
are the absolute top names in the bird dog world," said
Brad Heidel, Director of Special Event Sales for
Pheasant Forever. "These trainers bring years
of experience, and we are very excited to present
them to show attendees."
Herky
Top
Gun's Herky is featured on the front page of the
German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America Web site.
http://www.gspca.org/
Article by Bob St. Pierre, reprinted
with permisssion.
Trammell and her family
The
Naming of a Bird Dog
By Bob St.Pierre
If you've checked out this column
before, you've undoubtedly encountered a photo or mention
of my German shorthair pointer, Trammell; or as my
wife often refers to her, "my one true love." To
most, I end up repeating Trammell's name multiple times
before they can string the correct syllables together,
and they still look at me bemused. For baseball fans
and native Michiganders, it's an obvious homage to
my childhood hero, but I'll get to that in a moment.
This - in short version - is the story of Top Gun Trammell
v. St.Pierre.
In spring of 2007, my wife and
I began to talk about kids after two blissful years
of marriage. We soon turned our attention to kiddy
training wheels in the form of a puppy. Meredith had
grown up in a Labrador family and I in a Brittany family.
Meredith wanted a larger dog, but one that didn't shed
very much. I, of course, needed a versatile pheasant
dog for my job with Pheasants Forever, but favored
pointers for ruffed grouse hunting at the sacrifice
of my affinity for a strong swimming duck retriever.
The German shorthair was our marital compromise.
Soon after we determined a breed,
my colleagues at Pheasants
Forever pointed me toward Top Gun Kennels in Center
City, Iowa. One phone conversation with Top Gun's Steve
Ries and I had met a friend for life and the "father" of
our yet-to-be-born puppy. Meredith and I had both grown
up with female dogs, so that was a natural continuation
of what we had known. But should we name our new "first
born baby girl?"
Remember when I mentioned "marital
compromise" earlier? That's where picking a name
for our pup comes in. You see, my childhood idol was
Detroit Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell. For you diehard
Twins fans, he was the Joe Mauer of Michigan during
the 1980's and '90's. He was the MVP of the Tigers'
World Series championship in 1984, a Tiger his entire
career, and a guy that epitomized the lunch box ballplayer
of a blue collar state. He was a good role model even
for a ballplayer, and a guy that deserves to be in
the MLB Hall of Fame, but was probably not flashy enough
to earn the votes to get there (see Bert Blyleven if
you'd like a similar Twins example).
Anyway, "Trammell" sounded
like a good name for a son to me. But, I knew that
would never fly with Meredith. Yet I insisted that
one day we'd have our boy "Trammell." The
panic in her eyes led her to one conclusion: we ended
up with a female shorthair by the name of my childhood
idol. Ah, the art of compromise.
We've begun talking about kids
again this summer . . . and we've also begun talking
about a second shorthair. I was always a big Steve
Yzerman fan growing up. Stevie Y spent his entire career
with the Detroit Red Wings and was their longtime workhorse
captain and Stanley Cup hero. "Yzerman." That's
got a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
Bob St. Pierre is the Director
of Marketing & Public Relations for Pheasants
Forever & Quail Forever's National Headquarters.
He's a lifelong bird hunter who chases upland birds
from Michigan to Montana each autumn behind "Trammell," his
German shorthair pointer. He can also be heard most
Saturday mornings on FAN Outdoors radio show from
6AM to 8AM on the radio dial at AM1130.
Pheasants
Forever's National Pheasant Fest Coming to Madison,
Wisconsin
2009 Fest to mark event's foray in the Badger State
Native
Dog Food Pro Staffer Steve Ries and his German Shorthair
pup Henry were on hand at the National Pheasant Fest 2009
announcement to talk about one of the show's biggest attractions,
the Bird Dog Bonanza.
Madison, Wis. - March 20 -
At a press conference this morning,
Pheasants Forever (PF) President and CEO Howard Vincent
announced that Madison, Wisconsin is the destination for
PF's National Pheasant Fest 2009. Slated for February 6,
7 & 8, 2009, at Exhibition Hall at the Alliant Energy
Center, it will mark the first time Wisconsin hosts the
national conservation organization's main event.
National Pheasant Fest 2009 will be
Pheasants Forever's fifth such event. Nearly 30,000 people
attended the fourth-ever Fest this past January in Saint
Paul, Minnesota, and the event has grown into the nation's
largest event for upland hunters, farmers, sport dog owners
and wildlife habitat conservationists. National Pheasant
Fest is a unique family event that offers a wide variety
of exhibits, seminars, dog training events and youth attractions. "National
Pheasant Fest is a must-see event for outdoor sportsmen
and women, and Wisconsin can boast having hundreds of thousands
of them," Vincent said, "It's the perfect match."
Wisconsin is home to 30 PF chapters
and over 7,000 dedicated PF members. Since the organization's
inception in 1982, those chapter members have completed
over 15,800 habitat projects which are benefitting over
113,000 acres for Wisconsin wildlife. "Pheasants Forever
has a strong presence in the state of Wisconsin, which
is why we're extremely excited to bring our signature event
here," Vincent said.
Matt Frank, Secretary of the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources, says the 2009 Fest will
be a "tremendous opportunity" for Wisconsin's
outdoor sporting enthusiasts of all ages, as well as for
the Badger State and its capital city. "Wisconsin
has a long and storied tradition of pheasant hunting. The
success of our pheasant program would not be possible without
the cooperation and collaboration of Pheasants Forever," Frank
said. "We at the DNR stand ready to assist Pheasants
Forever and the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors
Bureau to make sure the 2009 event is a success on every
front."
The City of Madison, which rests in
Dane County, is looking forward to hosting the big event. "Dane
County citizens love our beautiful woods and fields and
work hard to protect our great outdoors," said Dane
County Executive Kathleen Falk, "It’s such an
honor to have Pheasants Forever, a group that devotes so
much effort and attention nationally to these values, coming
to Dane County."
National Pheasant Fest 2009 will combine
a national consumer show, habitat seminar series, and family
event complete with puppies, tractors, shotguns, and art.
Special attractions will include the Bird Dog Bonanza and
Bird Dog Alley, the Artisan’s Fair, Habitat Hall,
the Landowner Habitat Help Room, and the Youth Village.
Previous Fests have been held in Bloomington, Minnesota
(2003); Omaha, Nebraska (2005); Des Moines, Iowa (2007);
and Saint Paul, Minnesota (2008). The event is open to
the public, and you do not need to be a PF member to attend.
For more information and updates on National Pheasant Fest
2009, log onto www.PheasantFest.org.
Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever
are non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to
the protection and enhancement of pheasant, quail, and
other wildlife populations in North America through habitat
improvement, land management, public awareness, and education.
PF/QF has more than 120,000 members in 700 local chapters
across the continent.
Anthony Hauck (651)209-4972 / (320)226-5784
Ben's Lasting
Image
By Orlan Love
The Gazette
orlan.love@gazettecommunications.com
This pencil sketch of
12-year-old cancer victim Ben Ries of rural Central City,
by Riverside artist Kreig Jacque, brought $8,500 at auction
Saturday night to benefit the Aiming for a Cure Foundation.
Riverside, IA. - March 21 -
An image of a beatific 12-year-old cancer
victim who loved God, dogs and people filled 800 eyes with
tears and raised $8,500 for the Aiming for a Cure Foundation
last weekend.
The pencil sketch of Ben Ries, who died
of brain cancer in 2006, walking with his favorite German
short-haired pointer near the old barn on his family's rural
Central City acreage, with the hand of God extending toward
him from a cloud, captured the spirit of the boy and the
foundation, said Steve Ries, Ben's father and the founder
of the annual effort to raise money for the Children's Hospital
of Iowa.
The drawing by Riverside artist Kreig
Jacque was bought during the Saturday night auction at the
Sheraton Iowa City Hotel by Cedar Rapids dentist John McGrane,
who donated it to Steve and Jodi Ries and their daughter,
Rachel.
Jacque said the image occurred to him
after he heard Ben's story during a visit to the Rieses'
Top Gun Kennel. When Steve Ries asked him to donate a work
of art for last weekend's auction, Jacque said he knew exactly
what he wanted to do.
Jacque said it felt good to hear Ries
say "you nailed it" and to see the sketch fetch
$8,500 for such a good cause.Last weekend's fifth annual
Aiming for a Cure event grossed nearly a quarter-million
dollars for the Children's Hospital of Iowa, said Lisa Baum,
director of the Children's Miracle Network, which raises
money for the hospital.
"This event is truly a blanket
of love for our pediatric cancer patients and their families," she
said.
The Rieses, facing the prospect that
Ben would likely die of cancer, started the effort five years
ago as a way to give something to the University of Iowa
institution that cared for Ben.
Ries, who raises and trains German short-haired
pointers, organized the event around an activity he and Ben
greatly enjoyed — pheasant hunting — and each
year about 80 hunters pay to participate in guided pheasant
hunts and sporting clay shoots at the Highland Hideaway Hunt
Club near Riverside.One of those hunters, Dr. Thomas Loew,
a pediatric oncologist at Children's Hospital of Iowa, said
he greatly admires the Rieses' ability to set aside their
personal grief to help ensure other children don't have to
die like Ben.
Participants
in the fifth annual Aiming for a Cure fundraising event
hunt pheasants Sunday at the Highland Hideaway Hunt Club
near Riverside. From left are John McDonough of Hickory,
N.C., Dwight Loew of Richmond, Va., Dr. Thomas Loew of
Iowa City and Stephen Loew of Iowa City. They were among
80 people who hunted pheasants and shot sporting clays
at the club as part of an effort to raise money for the
Children´s Hospital of Iowa, where Dr. Loew cares
for cancer patients.
(Orlan Love/The Gazette)
"The death of a child is the hardest
thing anyone has to deal with. It breaks all the rules," said
Loew, who helped care for Ben during his many hospital stays
and had the daunting task of telling his family he was about
to die.
Loew, who hunted last weekend with two
brothers from Virginia and other relatives, said Aiming for
a Cure is, from his standpoint, the ideal charity event. "It
enables me to do something I love with people I love, and
it raises money to help sick kids," he said.
Loew said doctors and researchers have
made great progress in treating childhood cancer. But, he
said, pointing to the Aiming for a Cure logo on his hat, "We
want a 100 percent cure."
The shooting sports bring people together
for the weekend and contribute to the event's proceeds, but
the real money is raised through corporate donations and
auctions of donated items at the banquet.
A customized "Dream Bucks II" print
by Ankeny wildlife artist Larry Zach contributed $2,700 to
the live auction total of $62,800, Baum said.
Corporate partners who donated at least
$3,000 each to the cause include Bob Dostal Memorial Golf
Outing, EMC Corporation, Highland Hideaway Hunt Club, Hunter's
Specialties, Johnson Controls, Kent Feed Native Dog Food,
Mossy Oak Brand Camo, Overhead Door of Cedar Rapids and Iowa
City, Proliant Health & Biologicals, Van Meter Industrial
and Wal-Mart Stores.
Here is a clip on the coverage
taken Nov. 21 hunting wild birds in Iowa promoting Pheasants Forever/habitat
with a local land owner.
There must have been trick photography used when I missed the
rooster right in front of me! Di found him with a great retrieve
and Jake impressed all of us with his water retrieve. We saw 150-200
birds in this 240 acre section of well managed - prime hunting
ground!
Food plots looked great!
http://www.kcrg.com/sports/11724381.html?video=pop&t=a
