Friday, December 30, 2011

FIELD TRIAL MAGAZINE Is In Need of Help

Four times a year for the last 15 years FIELD TRIAL MAGAZINE has been sent out to a very supportive readership. Many people have contributed to the success of the magazine with letters, articles, advertisements, and subscriptions and I want to thank all of you. I have done everything I can to keep the magazine going through changing media conditions and tough economic times. Ironically in the last issue we saw a first real up-tick in ad revenue since the recession began in 2008. However, like many other companies and even countries, I have reached a point where I cannot go on without help. So, at this point I am hoping to find a way forward for the magazine with or without me. What we have to offer is an established brand with a loyal following that led by the right person or group of people could continue to provide an entertaining and informative magazine as well as take advantage of other opportunities that new technologies provide. I am open to all inquiries from anyone who has an interest in seeing FIELD TRIAL MAGAZINE continue. We already have most of the editorial content ready for the next issue as well as commitments from our major advertisers. Please email me or call if you would like to talk further about continuing the independent voice we have created for the field trial community.

E-mail me at: fieldtrialmag@gmail.com
Call: 800-615-8392
Sincerely,
Craig Doherty, Editor
FIELD TRIAL MAGAZINE

PS. One way you can all help is to feel free to forward this to others and/or post it on any message boards, websites, or blogs where you think other field trialers might see it


Monday, December 12, 2011

2011 Kansas Wild Quail Hunt

Bird Dogs Afield enjoys a Kansas wild quail hunt over pointing dogs.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Dog Shoots Man

Seriously debated sharing this but I decided to let my pain perhaps serve as a safety reminder for others. Please keep the negative comments to yourself (I am well aware of how stupid this was) and let this just serve as a safety reminder. Copied from a local forum so I'll explain the location a little. We take a 2 mile boat ride to a dike crossing, and the go another mile from there. Crappy way to end a season.

Started out as a beautiful morning at the Bear River refuge with my son and brother-in-law. Had 5 ducks down despite an iced-over pond, the first being the most gogeous drake pintail I have shot in years.Had a nice greenhead sail out on us and during a break I decided to walk back to the boat and run out and pick it up( it had sailed about 200 yards before dropping straight out and the dog was having a tough time in the ice). My brother in laws dog decided to join me on the walk to the boat. I did the same thing I always do when it is just me going after a downed bird in the boat. I set my double barrel in the decoy box, walked around the front of the boat to get a better angle to push it out of the weeds and just as I had turned to cross the front of the boat and ( in case you haven't guessed) Boom, the gun goes off. I looked back and the dog had climbed over the side and stepped on the trigger. About a half second later I realized I had been shot. I fell down backwards in the water, just from the shock. Got up, called my in-laws because I knew I was gonna need a ride out and didn't to wait for the 3 mile boat ride back to the truck. I gathered my senses as much as possible and realized I had quite a bit of moisture down my legs and was starting to feel faint. I decided a 911 was probably in order. Try explaing to the dispatch how to find you at the winch pole dike crossing while passing out and boating through an inch of ice(lots of noise). Finally made it to the crossing and by Gods graces there was another boat just pulling up in the channel. They gave me a ride across the channel just as the ambulance pulled up.

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