Straight Forward, our young setter female, put down a strong, forward and hard driving one hour hunt that included a grouse find and a back to win the PA Grouse Championship for 2012 over the Allegheny National Forest courses near Marienville, PA. This was the 100th anniversary running of the PA Grouse Ch. “Cracker” was handled by Dave Hughes. It took a nearly perfect performance to win over the other 59 entrants, a number of whom put on championship level displays of hunting and bird finding prowess. Congratulations to Ch. River’s Edge Sadie owned by Pat Cooke and handled by Mark Foreman for winning Runner-Up. Sadie, the 2011 Seminatore Award winner, had two finds and mounted a strong challenge.
Everything came together for “Cracker” during her brace. She was consistently laying forward at 100-200 yard range, driving from one objective to another. Only on one turn did she come from the side. At 25 “Cracker’s” bell stopped and the scout found her more than 150 yards away with the grouse right in front for the flush. At the flush “Cracker” was motionless. Later in the hour, she backed on her bracemate’s find. “Cracker’s” last ten minutes were as strong as the first ten and she finished well ahead searching. It’s a thrill to watch a performance like this one and to win the Championship we covet most, other than the Grand National. All the work that I put into her as a pup and all the work Dick and Helen Brenneman (often “Cracker’s” handler in workouts) put into her as a derby/all-age has paid off. Pro Dave Hughes has polished “Cracker” and his expert skills as a handler let “Cracker” show off her talents ideally.
“Cracker” is sired by Craig Peters’ Ch. Keystone Red Rage ex our daughter of Pennstar, Quixstar. We chose Red Rage as the sire to breed to Quixstar based on his exceptional athleticism, drive, running class and intensity around wild birds. Rage’s dam, Keystone’s Red Ryder has been to the Championship circle and recorded a long string of wins. Rage’s sire, Steve Chippini’s, Ch. Chip’s Torquato, has proven to be a sire with important influence in raising the quality of coverdogs, as he appears in the pedigree of a good number of top dogs on the circuit. “Cracker’s” dam, Quixstar, is sired by 5X Ch. Pennstar ex Barnburner (whose offspring have won 68 times). The dam’s side of the pedigree brings a strong dose of our Grand National Grouse Ch. Body Guard blood leading back to Ch. Ghost Train. When we decided to breed Quixstar she was in the care of Jim Smythe of Lititz, PA. When we retired females or when we chose not to campaign them, Jim has taken them as hunting companions while allowing us to mate them if we wish. On a trip Jim and I took to North Dakota, Quixstar was the star bird finder and the most exciting dog on the ground and on point–we took several of our other top dogs on this trip. Quixstar could really roll, was light on her feet and had a knack for digging up birds and pinning them like few others we have owned. She passed away in 2011 and we are especially happy to know that her blood will go forward through her daugher, Straight Forward.
