Top Dogs Compete At GHFF Field Trial Fundraiser

On Friday and Saturday, May 3- 4, the GHFF hosted the 9th annual HGA Field Trial and Bench Show. More than 150 hounds participated in the event.

Founded in 2003 by hunters and fisherman, the Georgia Hunting and Fishing Federation (GHFF) is a grassroots organization that is committed to promoting the outdoor sports. Since the first meeting in Blackshear that had more than 5,000 outdoorsmen and women in attendance, the Federation has grown and now has local chapters all over the state. The GHFF is a two-part organization with a non-profit side and a political lobbying side. The non-profit part of the organization deals with education and charity, and the political side deals with keeping and maintaining our rights and freedoms in the outdoors.

In 2010, the GHFF started hosting a one-day HGA field trial event in Swainsboro at the United Fox Pen. For the past nine years, this event has been the largest single-day fundraiser for the GHFF. The funds from this hunt help pay for the lobbying efforts to protect hunting and fishing rights in Georgia. For this reason alone, this event should be well supported and attended to help fight for our rights.

The host of this event, the United Fox Pen, is a great venue for hunters and hounds alike. The pen was started in 1985 by James Brown and sports 1,800 acres of land with 8 miles of fence surrounding it. There are plenty of great kennels to house the hounds and lots of places to park a camper.

The bench show was Friday. The best hound in the female category that lived up to the qualities the judge was looking for was Bobby’s Lil Sable, owned by Bobby Parker, of Ludowici. In the male category, the hound that presented the best qualities of the group was Thumper, owned by Glynn Nessmith, of Statesboro. The two best of each group were then paired against each other and judged again, with Bobby’s Lil Sable being the winner of Best in Show.

Saturday morning at daylight the hunt started led off by Master of the Hounds, Kenny Lewis. Excitedly, 153 hounds were turned out, and the fun started! For five hours the hounds ran coyotes and foxes and were judged at each crossing they made. While riding around listening to multiple races, attendees were able to see some fine hounds at work and see what it takes to make a great hound.

Once the horn sounded, it was time to gather up the hounds and get all the judges together to tally up the total points. While the judges were doing their work, the GHFF provided a great lunch of BBQ and had a raffle with great products including dog food and dog hunting supplies proudly donated by the sponsors of the event. During this time, Reggie Dickey, president of the GHFF, got up and spoke about all the good being done at the capitol and with DNR. He mentioned SB 72 that takes care of a lot of language that simplifies and helps out the hunters. There are also some new hunts available to dog hunters coming for the 2019-2020 Georgia hunting seasons.

Finally, the moment all the hunters had been waiting for had come, and it was time to announce the winners of the day’s hunt. The winners of each sub category and the HGA hunt are as follows (top 3 of each):

Hunting:
1st: Fiveash’s Little Will owned by Newton Fiveash
2nd: Patrick’s Lucky owned by J&E&J Kennels
3rd: Townsend’s Dolly owned by Jason Townsend

Endurance:
1st: Hopper’s Taco owned by Hopper’s Kennels
2nd: Goat Hill Sam owned by Goat Hill Kennels
3rd: Patrick’s Scooter 1 owned by J&E&J Kennels

Speed and Drive:
1st: Hopper’s Taco owned by Hopper’s Kennels
2nd: Goat Hill Sam owned by Goat Hill Kennels
3rd: Jumer owned by Glenn Nessmith

HGA:
1st: Patrick’s Scooter owned by J&E&J Kennels
2nd: Hopper’s Taco owned by Hopper’s Kennels
3rd: Goat Hill Sam owned by Goat Hill Kennels