Arriving at camp we quickly notice many trucks with horse trailers, dogs and horses staked out. Several field trailers were in camp. We found level ground to park and quickly unloaded our dogs and horse. The Open Championship began that morning and the last brace of the day was coming in. We went around camp to meet friends, Bill Gibbons, Bruce Hall, Ed Dixon, Sheldon Twer, Ron Young and Paul Wells. We also met Roy Terry, Torben and Debbi Hansen of Reno, Nevada and Harold Goodman from Arizona. We said greeting to other acquaintances, Jerry Erickson, his son Terry Erickson, and Glen Johnson as well as others who came to participate in the various stakes. We talked mainly about bird dogs and how they were doing in the trial. The first day of the Open was particularly hard on many dogs as they had unproductive work.

As daylight turned into darkness my bones felt the cold. Someone mentioned the temperature would be below freezing come morning. We crawled into our sleeping bags with jackets on that night. In the morning we found the water in the dog bowls frozen. Luckily, our larger water container did not freeze.

As the sun was rising in the east, we staked the dogs out and provided water to them and horses. Breakfast was a sweet roll and coffee. I had previously made arrangements to ride one of Sheldon Twer's horses. Sheldon brought four horses and they were well experienced to field trialing. These horses recognized situations (i.e. a dog is point) and would quickly reach the standing dog. We saddled horses and at 8:00 AM the trial started. Bruce Hale's female Pointer, Bold as Brass (call name Brassy) was braced with Torben Hansen's Briar, a male Pointer. We turned the dogs loose right from camp and during their breakaway they quickly disappeared behind the small rolling hills. Starting at camp the first 30 minutes of the one-hour brace, the course ran around several small hills before opening into a valley with sage and draws along the hills that border the valley. Towards the end of the 30 minutes, we turned and headed west for about 20 minutes where the grounds became narrow with steep canyons, rolling hills and tall sage. If dogs were to get lost this would be a likely place. The last ten minutes the dogs ran toward another valley with long sloping draws, tall sage and trees was scattered along the foot hills.

Both Pointers were reaching far and wide as we rode our horses behind them maintaining the course. To ride and watch these field trial dogs on horseback provide an appreciation of how fast bird dogs can run and their determination to find birds. Dogs that run with a snappy and animated style, tail high and whipping side to side quickly gains everyone's attention. A dog that finds birds out in the distance or a dog found in a draw on point is a thrill not soon forgotten.

Both dogs pointed and the handlers flushed birds and shot their guns into the air. These trials require bird dogs to be steady to wing and shot. Dogs are not required to retrieve birds but a blanked gun is fired. Judges look for range, running and pointing style, intelligence of how well the dog covered the ground, where birds are likely to be found. They also watch how well the dogs listen to its handler's commands. A bird dog after all must hunt with the hunter. At exactly 1 hour the two dogs are picked up and placed in the dog truck that followed along a twisting and winding road. The next two dogs worked back toward camp. This sequence of events continued until all dogs have run.

The Open Championship consisted of outstanding bird dogs many are multiple Champions. Judges Paul Wells of California and Harold Goodman of Phoenix, Arizona decided that Bruce Hale's female Pointer, Bold as Brass won the Open with Ron Young's 10X Champion Sierra Gold named as the runner up. We were fortunate to see the winner run however, there were other dogs that did almost as well. A bird find here or there, more or less range, or an unproductive separated the rest of the dogs. One dog in particular is Bruce Hale's young male Pointer, Hale's Super Hero (Miller's Silver Bullett x Super Express Samantha) that ran like the wind with tremendous style and had multiple finds. However, it seemed the dog was not used as it ran more like an All-Age dog and the stake was a Shooting Dog event.

On Friday, Ron Bader, Jeff Gilbertson and Tom Griffin arrived early to participate. The Bill West Derby Open Classic All-Age started with twelve exceptional bird dogs. These young All-Age dogs ran with abandonment and in seconds they were only specs in the horizon. Dogs wore telemetry collars in the event they did not finish the course. Handlers sent scouts out and were kept busy riding up ridges to better observe the surrounding areas. Even though the Classic was only 30 minutes long, each dog looked like a marathon runner, slim and with muscle definition Hercules would envy. All-Age derby dogs are judged on their ability to cover ground, style, bird work and potential to be All-Age dogs as an adult. The Classic attracted Pointers and Setters and both breeds applied their talents on the ground. Judges Bill Gibbons and Bruce Hale determined that Sheldon Twer won all three placements with his Pointers. The placements are as follows; first place Sunset's Rogue (Sierra Gold x Miss Bullett Proof) owned by Vince Teofilo; second place Bullett's Super Boomer (Miller's Silver Bullett x Super Express Samantha) owned by Jan and Kent Greeneough; and third place Sunrise Elhew Kody (Elhew Distinction x Elhew Sunrise Coco) owned by Jili Greer.

The Amateur Shooting Dog Championship started on Saturday with 22 dogs entered in the stake. The judges were Bill Gibbons and Jeff Gilbertson of California. The weather was cool throughout the day with a slight wind and occasional light drizzle. The weather was perfect for scenting conditions and running dogs. Many of us wore our rain suit in case the weather turned nasty. A total of seven braces were run on Saturday. The one-hour stake had numerous dogs finding birds and ran without overly being handled or scouts sent out to look for dogs. Although the weather conditions were favorable to running dogs some of them shorten their range toward the end of the hour-long stake. Judges like to see dogs finish strong and in many instances finish as strong as the beginning of the brace. Like in the Open, many dogs were already Champions making for stiff competition and handlers were up to the competitive sprit. Seven braces were run on Saturday. Most dogs finished the course however, some were picked up due to lack of bird finds, some broke and gave chase in the excitement of the bird flush.

The seventh brace paired Sal Satallante with Paladela's California Jack (call name Jack; Ramona Calif Sonny x Paladela's Lillbit) and Torben Hansen with Whitney. During the break away these two Pointers were nose-to-nose and actually bumped into each other in full stride. Jack quickly pointed two bobwhites on two separate hills. The first bird, Jack was hidden on the other side of the hill and it wasn't until Sal rode pass did he see Jack on point. After Jack worked the second bird, Sal rode fast to get Jack back to the front, as Torben was already further along the course. At about 30 minutes the course turned west towards the narrow and steep hills. Torben's Pointer was seen heading straight out hunting along the way. Unfortunately, Torben was unable to turn Whitney. After some time Torben used the telemetry to locate his dog and thus he was immediately out of contention. Mean while Jack was covering the hillsides and draws with determined purpose. Jack had two more finds with tremendous style even after the birds were flushed. Jack's hunting experience on wild birds, quail and pheasants, were evident to everyone in the gallery. His forward pattern and hunted areas likely to hold wild birds indicated to everyone that Jack's run was clearly the one to beat.

We had intended to leave that evening however, because Jack had an exceptional work we decided to stay until the conclusion of the stake. Sal and I didn't get much sleep that night as we talked about Jack's performance that day. Jack is indeed a remarkable bird dog as he is foot hunted on wild pheasants for many years and is now slowly getting exposure to horse back field trials (Please see images of Jack during our 1999 pheasant season).

The weather on Sunday was like Saturday, so the dogs had similar hunting conditions. Nine more dogs ran that morning. I didn't ride in the gallery as I helped and drove the dog truck making sure the right dogs were in the truck for the next brace. I watched from the distance and it became clear that these field trial dogs are awesome animals with outstanding drive to find birds.

Tom Griffin with Rickey was the last dog to run in the Armature. Shortly afterwards we gathered together to hear the judge's decision on the Championship. Sal Satallante won the Amateur Shooting Dog Championship with Paladela's California Jack and runner up to Ed Dixon with his Pointer, Promise Keeper (call name Joe; Hale's Super Hero x Bold as Brass). Sal's smile was from ear to ear as his hard work and persistent was realized. Ed Dixon was also elated, as Joe is still a derby and a great future lay ahead of him.