2008 Pheasant Fest

 

Report and pictures by Mike Ryan, Tom Dafnis and Cindy Dafnis

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Mike Ryan, Tom and Cindy Dafnis volunteered to work the 2008 Pheasant Fest representing NSTRA and the Mid North Region.

This was the 25th anniversary of Pheasants Forever and despite the -15F weather, 29000+ folks visited the show.

The NSTRA booth was located in the dog bonanza area which saw by far the most traffic in the show. 

 

Purina was just a few booths over and we were located at the entrance to the seminar area.  We were next door to NAVHDA which helped our traffic.  Pro trainers such as Bob West, Rick Smith, and Tom Dokken drew a lot of interest.  NSTRA got a lot of exposure at this show.
We used Mike Ryan's dog, Winnie, to get folks to stop by the booth and that proved to be a huge success.  We talked with quite a few people interested in our trial format.  Many of them were tiring of the money games.  We handed out magazines and brochures with membership applications.  Mike had put together a slide show which featured Mid North trial action shots, dogs on point, birds flushing, and trophies awarded. 


 

 

Mid North NSTRA Fun Trial

April 19, 2008

Oakes, ND

As perspective competitors gathered on the grounds of the Prairie Pot Hole Lodge, pointers and flushers competed in their separate divisions on a sunny Saturday morning in south-central North Dakota. A total of 20 dogs competed in a simplified "mock" field trial. The Mid North Region was happy to welcome so many new faces and hope that everyone enjoyed the day as much as we did. A special thanks to Jason Norton for hosting the field trial and to everyone else who helped to make this a fun day for all! The following are the winners and a few photos :

Pointers
1 Keith Kemmer - Coot
2 Cindy Dafnis - Grace
3 Adam Dahlstrom - Gable
 
Flushers
1 Mark Hahne - Misty
2 Lana Norton - Sadie
3 Bryan German - Kota