Youth Essay Contest and Chukar Fest, 1996

On September 28, in appreciation of National Hunting and Fishing Day, the Bluestem Bird Dog Club and the Emporia Area Chapter of Quail Unlimited hosted a two- man one- dog chukar trial southeast of town and a fun shoot at Dry Creek Sporting Clays. Special guests were Roger Wells, the national habitat coordinator of Quail Unlimited, and John Conway, head of our local soil conservation service. These gentlemen were on hand to answer questions concerning the plight of quail and what we might do to preserve their habitat. The local Chapter, which represents Lyon, Chase, Coffey and Greenwood Counties will pay up to $200.00 maximum to landowners who leave unharvested crop in the field in appropriate protected areas beneficial to wildlife. If a landowner accepts help from Quail Unlimited, there is no obligation to allow hunters on his/her land. Names of persons receiving help from Quail Unlimited are kept confidential.

Result of the Chukar Shoot.

Boy, did I get into trouble over this deal! But fair is fair, and rules are made to be followed. The criteria used for scoring in this type of trial consists of 20 points for each bird bagged, 10 points for each bird pointed by the dog, and 10 points for a retrieve to hand. Teams were limited to 10 shells, (5 per hunter) and points were given for each unused shell. Bonus points were also awarded for each full minute left under the 25-minute limit once the five birds were bagged. I had to disqualify my wife, Myrna, and 10 ½ year old pointer, Peach for infringing on the rules. The dog did just fine, pointing and retrieving the five birds under 20 minutes and even actually handled most of the time. Peach, with her Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde attitude, never ceases to amaze or embarrass me. But that is all a part of having a bird dog. I’ve learned never to brag on a dog until it is dead because it will make a liar out of you the next day. The disqualification came because Myrna wanted to do all the shooting. She had bagged 3 birds with 5 shells and I told her that was all of her shells (5 per hunter). She told me she had a whole pocket full and wanted to shoot some more. I explained to her it was against the rules for her to shoot again but she stomped her foot and said she wanted to shoot. My father taught me not to argue with women and since this one had a loaded gun, and me being quite a bit fatter and slower afoot than these hard-flying chukar. I thanked Pop for his advice. Myrna shot three more times to bag the other two birds and we were out of there. Since I was the judge and trial chairman and once the guns were put away, I promptly disqualified the team for rules violation. Peach probably did her share of cheating anyway.

Winners in the first annual Quail Unlimited-Bluestem Bird Dog Club fun shoot are

1st Paul Challender and Robert Gifford with German Shorthaired pointer named Meat.

2nd Jan Jantzen and Merlin Wheeler with Brittany named Abby

3rd Rod Haag and Gary Wolf with Anthony Haag’s English Pointer named Okie.

Winners received QU license plates, belt buckles and 40 pounds of Kasco dog food. Many thanks go to the 16 teams that participated in the event and to those who prepared and helped serve the food at Dry Creek.

Has anyone seen or hear from Wade Anschutz of Lyndon, Kansas lately? Wade came out to run dogs in the chukar trial and was to be married the same day. What dedication, but we haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since!!! Wade, please give the Bluestem Bird Dog Club a call and let us know how things are going.

The highlight of last weekend’s National Shoot to Retrieve Field Trial event held south-west of Emporia was the Kid’s Big Fish Story Contest. I got them started by telling them about a hunt I had last fall. My Stick dog locked down on what I thought was a bunch of birds next to a creek bank out at Melvern. After kicking around and stomping the brush and not producing anything, I touched Stick to relocate her. She took a couple of steps and pointed straight down into the water, where I saw a large catfish. The fish was slow to react in the cold water and I had it noodled out of there in no time flat. Stick didn’t want to leave and the fish was heavy so I filleted it there on the spot and sat in awe when I found a covey of quail in its gullet!!!

Klay Garrison of Eudora, Kansas writes: “When my dad and I were spoonbill fishing 2 years ago, we were snagging along when I cought a big fish it pulled the boat and us aginst the current up the river 8 miles to Warsaw Mo. When I gaffed him and skind him he had enough fresh fish in his belly to feed Warsaw Mo. and that area for that whole winter.”

Levi Gillespie of Sterling, Kansas writes: “This is a story about me and my sister going to Cow Creek fishing. I caught a 75 pound flathead on 4 pound test line. Got it in to the bank and my sister leaned over to pet it when it opened its mouth and ate my little sister. Then it flopped back in the water so there you have it. I lost my fish and my witness at the same time.”

Our two young storytellers received rods, reels and weight-scale fish deliars donated by The Tackle Box. Nightcrawlers were given to the kids to use at the two ponds on the trial grounds and fishing was also allowed at Dry Creek’s Catch and Release Lunker Lake.

The stories have been reprinted in their entirety with permission from the authors.