Letter from the President

 

Greetings NAPS Members!

I am excited to share our first newsletter with you all. The North American Pudelpointer Society (NAPS) is a breed club that was formed by a group of Pudelpointer breeders with the purpose of supporting the preservation and protection of the Pudelpointer in North America. A breed standard and breeding requirements were developed, outlining the traits most desirable to promote the benefits and well-being of the breed. The goal of NAPS is to define the appearance of the breed, but emphasize the working and hunting ability.

Membership is open to all past, present and future Pudelpointer owners. All members are expected to abide by the adopted bylaws as stated on the website. It is the membership’s responsibility to ensure that future generations remain true to the Pudelpointer hunting heritage as the premier versatile hunting dog.

I am happy to announce that there are plans in the near future for NAPS to host both an eastern and western Pudelpointer event. Look for more details soon.

Thanks to all the folks that have joined in support of our breed. I invite all Pudelpointer owners to become involved for the future of the breed!

 

Pat Saunders
President
North American Pudelpointer Society

 

The 2020 Annual Meeting

NAPS is tentatively planning to hold the first annual meeting at Quail Hunting Florida , a private 1,350 acre hunting ranch in Palm City, Florida on February 22nd and 23rd, 2020. The meeting will be held on February 22, but we will have access to the property for both days. This would provide an opportunity for hunting, training, or Clay shooting. You will have access to homing pigeons, a 300’ by 400’ duck search training pond, and NAPS member pricing on Quail, Pheasant, and Chukar. There are also opportunities to shoot a wild boar or catch a lunker Bass if you wish. This would give us all a chance to meet, socialize and bring our dogs along for a hunt. There is room for RVs and plenty of hotels nearby and it is 20 minutes from the ocean and beaches. We will also have a teleconference option available with this meeting.

Please register at NAPS Members Annual Meeting Registration Page if you plan to attend the annual meeting.

Additionally, we are including in this newsletter, links to the forms to be used for presenting proposed amendments and discussions topics.

NAPS Discussion Form

NAPS Motion Form

 

 

QHF Pictures

NAPS & NoDak

By Calvin Harpe

It was a balmy late September morning just before sunrise as I loaded three young Pudelpointers into my Subaru Outback for the twelve hour journey from my home in Ohio to Omaha. However, the journey west didn’t end in eastern Nebraska. That was just where we met up with fellow NAPS member, Stuart McNally, at his home. From there Stuart would drive the two of us and the power of six Pudelpointers to western North Dakota.

It may sound as though we arrived in North Dakota with more Pudelpointers power than we could possibly utilize, but the reality was that three of our hunting companions were four months old or less. Another had just turned twelve months old, while the remaining two dogs were two years old and five years old. In fact, only VC Oxbow’s Fritz von Zedlitz had experience on the big prairie.

We arrived at our hotel in Killdeer late on the evening of September 26 with just enough time to grab some dinner and settle into our rooms after a ten hours on the road. The next morning we were up early to meet up with Stuart’s college friend, Doug Swenson. Doug is a fourth generation ND rancher whose property we would be hunting. Additionally Doug is an imposing man with a gravitationally challenged frame of seven feet tall. Yes, he did play basketball in his younger days.

As Stuart drove, Doug showed us around the beautiful landscape of his property. Eager to get started, we decided which section we would hunt on day one then promptly dropped Doug back at his home extremely grateful for his hospitality and time. Especially considering all the wet weather has set the region way behind in harvest, haying and general preparations for the hard ND winter. As we drove back out to our selected section, we passed by a swathed buckwheat field just in time to see a flock of roughly 30-40 Sharptailed Grouse land to begin feeding. Sadly, we did not have permission to hunt this posted property. However, it sure builds confidence seeing a large number of birds in the area.

Not long after we began hunting, we jumped a coyote that initially ran off. However, he did follow us at a distance bawling his unhappiness before we could truly scare him off. Not much later our dogs would have their first bird contact in the form of Sharptailed Grouse. These birds were extremely spooky making it very difficult for a point from the dogs. Stuart would later drop the first bird of our trip. We would later see another flock of Sharpies, but no possible shots. In addition to Sharpies, we would also see a couple of Ringnecks and snipe.

Toward the end of day one Oxbow’s Jupiter decided that she wanted the full North Dakota experience. She locked up on point near a rocky outcrop. As I began to ease toward her, my dog that got all 4’s in UT steadiness broke diving towards her quarry only to receive a face full of yep, porcupine quills.

We were convinced that we needed to hunt cover near buckwheat since the only harvested bird on day one had a crop full of buckwheat. So day two saw us walking cover that skirted a bluff that butted up to a vast buckwheat field. Not long into the morning we would see our first birds of the day, Sharptails! Again they spooked at the slightest hint of pressure not offering a shot. When they flushed, they flew a mile or more not giving a second opportunity to work the covey. We would follow up that covey with some bunched up pheasants that were not in season. We kept at it, crossing barbed wire fences and working the wind. One year old Memphis locked up with a nice natural back from Jupiter. I have never taught a dog to back, but you may have seen a photo of my J litter pups backing their mom in Bob Farris’s widely popular and informative book. Jupiter is one of those pups. I digress.

As I walk up towards the point, all I can think is please don’t be another porcupine. Relieved and surprised a covey of Huns flush frantically. Of course I miss, but Stuart comes through for the dogs making a fabulous sixtyish yard shot. Fast forwarding the day, Stuart would limit out while I had only one bird in the bag. We were having a blast chasing these Huns around all day giving us some good dog work. Late in the day as dogs were beginning to tire, Memphis would come through again with another nice point that led to a covey of Huns flushing. I was above them on the slope and somehow managed to end the day with a double. I have never shot a double of anything. I can say that my 20ga Ruger Red Label just fits me and gives me more confidence in shooting.

That evening we would meet with Doug’s family for dinner at one of two restaurants in the very small town of Halliday. It was like walking into the place with a local celebrity or politician. Everyone knows Doug and appears to think highly of him. Rightfully so, as he and his family are wonderful to be around. Averaging about eight miles daily, it didn’t take long to fall asleep once my head touched the pillow.

The morning of day three and our final day, we were met with a rainy cold front. We drove to a spot that we had discussed with Doug and one of his friends the previous night. On the way there we saw three large Mule Deer bucks in addition to the majestic Bald Eagle. With limited time and poor conditions, we headed back to the buckwheat. We didn’t see any birds that morning and decided to head back to Stuart’s home in Omaha. The scenic drive was uneventful. One of the spots we stopped at to water the dogs and let them relieve themselves was loaded with Mourning Doves. Dare I say 200-300 all in one small spot? I have never seen that many doves in one spot.

I can’t begin to thank Stuart for all of his hospitality and friendship. Shortly after our hunt he and his nine year old daughter would test their two pups in the NAVHDA Natural Ability Test. His daughter achieving a maximum score of 112 points, while Stuart received a 107. Tremendous scores for these two four month old pups sired by VC Oxbow’s Fritz von Zedlitz. NAPS board is now working with Stuart on some sort of youth membership sponsorship for youth handlers. Stay tuned for more details!

Happy Hunting!

 

 

2019 Test Results

Congratulations to all of our members who have tested their dogs this year!  We had 2 members pass the Invitational.  Congratulations to Mark Olcott and Amanda Doak!  In 2019, thirty of our members had dogs that tested and prized in the Natural Ability test and nine had dogs that tested and prized in the Utility Test.  Great job all!  Below is a list of the prize 1 dogs for the year.

Overall in 2019, 291 dogs were tested in Natural Ability, 6 dogs were tested in the Utility Preparatory Test, 73 were tested in the Utility Test and 8 tested in the Invitational with 4 passing.  There were more pudelpointers tested at invitational this year than in any past year.

Additionally, 166 dogs earned a NA Prize 1, 4 earned a prize 1 in UPT and 16 earned a prize 1 UT.  We are working on some prior year comparisons that you will see in future newsletters.

 

Dogs that passed the Invitational: 

VC Surrey Bird Azul	Mark Olcott
VC Ripsnorter’s High Brass Cricket	Amanda Doak

 

Utility Prize 1: 

Oxbow’S Gitrdone Lyric

Brian Rigot

 

Natural Ability Prize 1: 

Cedarwoods C L High Life	Eric Benkert
Cedarwoods C L Lady Stohner	Scott Stohner
Cedarwoods Clumsy Lover	Christopher P Clark
Cedarwoods Ridgeview Bandit	Steven Kinzer
Foothills Nora Louise	Jason Eckhardt
Hardtriggers Even Higher	Jeremy Davis
Hay Devil’s Memoirs of Bodo Winterhelt	Stuart McNally
High Power Aura Of Gloree	Bryan Gray
Iwan’s Strumming Harper	Susan E Ravenhill
Jackson Creeks Daenerys Stormborn	Dale R Parker
Jackson Creeks Fire Bird	Dale R Parker
Killbuck’S II Primo Stormy Of Little Egypt	Charles Laurenti
Lone Pine’S Commanding Presence	Alycia M Baird
Oxbow’s Memphis Moonshine	Calvin T Harpe
Oxbow’s Mythical Callisto	Chad Bumb
Oxbow’s Pirate Sailor	Ted Malone
Paladins Cannonade	Jason L Mix
Paladins Danger Close	Jason L Mix
Prairie Trouts Yaeger Kai	Scot Holman
Ripsnorter’S Upland Fantasy	Jon Coolican
Ripsnorter’S Willow	Mark Blasko

Some shots of our members outdoing
what their dogs do best

“Took my pup (Oxbows Muskogee Merle) to Kansas this year. It was a first for both of us. I didn’t end up shooting anything but we had a blast and learned a lot together.”

~ Alex Burkdoll

 

“We made a trip to the Nebraska sandhills earlier this fall to chase prairie chickens.”

~ Keith Simmons