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Result: Northern Michigan Cover Dog Championship

Location: Meredith, Michigan

Post Date: Nov 12, 2025

Submitted By: Tom Fruchey

Northern Michigan Cover Dog ChF25

Northern Michigan Cover Dog Championship (l-r): Brent Peters and grandson, Dave Hughes, Mark Hughes with Millers Upgrade Version, Larry Guild (judge), Travis Burnett (judge), and Scott Chaffee with Ralphy's Chasehill Rip, joined by participants.

Millers Dusty Version wins the 16th running of the Northern Michigan Cover Dog Championship over a large field of 70. Close on her heels was Ralphy's Chasehill Rip, who was awarded the honor of runner-up!

The Beaverton Grouse Dog Club is guided very capably by President Shane Haskin, with the help of many other individuals who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure a quality trial is put forth each and every year. The planning of such an event starts in early July, garnering quality judges, applying for permits, securing horses, and planning a menu of food for the contestants. Much of their efforts go unnoticed because of the timing, but be assured, we are all grateful for their time and efforts to make for a smooth-running, high-quality trial. This year was no exception, even though we needed to start a day earlier than planned because of the large 70-dog entry for the championship. The trial needed to be completed by Sunday so the next event at the Gladwin Field Trial Area could be used by the next line-up of Championships. The Northern Michigan Cover Dog Championship was the third in a list of four cover dog championships to be run on the famed grounds of the Gladwin Field trial area near Meredith, Michigan. Once again, the grounds were loaded with native grouse and woodcock, giving every contestant an opportunity to win!

Once again, this year, the horses were provided by Rich and Jenny Hollister. They are superb mounts for our judges and are always ready to go when called upon. Bryan Wood was again on hand to get the dogs to the line on time to make sure we were able to get our goal of seven braces in each day. All eight hours of courses were used throughout the week, starting each new day wherever we left off the day before. This changes the times of each day we use the courses, which seems to help in keeping the bird numbers up on each course every day. Tailgate lunches were provided each day by the club, and on Saturday evening, at the conclusion of the championship, the traditional New York strip BBQ took place. Nearly 40 people enjoyed a perfectly cooked steak by chefs Ken and Shane, with all the fixins' to make for a most enjoyable time together!

This year's championship judges were Larry Guild from Minnesota and Travis Burnett from Indiana. Larry has judged many high-quality championships over the past several years. He has a keen eye, looking for that dog that has that something extra special, making for a complete true champion. Travis is also a very attentive judge, watching all the moves a dog makes and able to assess each contestant fairly. He knows what a good bird dog needs to do for the show. The Wolverine Derby judges were Sean McKellip of Grayling and Lonnie Rademacher from Lake Leelanau. They were very attentive to their duties, and their decisions were well-received.

The Winners
This was a repeat of the owner and handler winning this event. Mark Hughes has handled both of Mike Husenits' dogs to the winner's circle in 2024 and 2025. This year, Mike's young 3-year-old pointer female, Millers Dusty Version, topped a fine field of 70 to become the 16th winner of the Northern Michigan Cover Dog Championship.

She was loosed on course 6/7, the fourth brace of day two, just before lunch. Dusty is a fine, smooth-moving dog with good style and light afoot, making it easy on the eyes to observe. She rimmed the clearing of the mature oak stand running to the front, looking all business, ranging wide but always in touch with Mark. When we reached the thicker aspen stands on Course 6, she shortened some to be able to stay in touch with her handler, a trait normally seen in older dogs, but she seems very mature for her age. She crossed over onto Course 7 at about the 45-minute mark, as Course 6 is a little long. Once in 7, about five minutes, her bell went silent off to our right. She was found standing high and tight in short order. Mark made a large flushing effort to try and block a running bird, and as he started nearing the dog, he spied a clump of grass under a log, which he just gave a kick, and as soon as that happened, a huge grouse took flight, not more than 10 yards in front of the dog. Dusty stood the temptation of that grouse blowing out, and also after the shot, making for a beautiful piece of bird work! She finished her hour hunting hard to the front, showing, whenever called upon, truly a good championship performance.

Ralphy's Chasehill Rip was cut loose in the last brace of day three on Course 10/11 by his handler, Scott Chaffee, along with bracemate Sandy, handled by Rich Hollister. Rip is a perfectly built male pointer, whose quick and light-footed running style is a joy to behold. Course 10 consists of mixed popple cover, scattered with pine trees. At the 10-minute mark, Chaffee sent out a scout to the cover on the left side of the course as he could no longer hear his bell. Shortly, Chaffee decided to also join the search, as still no bell could be heard. With handler, scout, and judge all searching for Rip, a shout came from the front that they had the dog standing about 200 yards up the course. Chaffee and the judge made their way to the dog and found him standing majestically, with his head thrown back and a poker-straight tail. Chaffee flushed a woodcock from in front of the dog, fired the shot, all very much in order. Released from his find, he raced to the front to join his bracemate and headed up Heart Attack Hill towards Course 11. Shortly after this, his bracemate elected to pick up, leaving the rest of the hour to Rip alone. Rip used the remaining hour hunting forward with a large cast that could be seen through the open mature oak woods with all the style, class, and speed one could ask for from a dog. At pick up time, Rip was still going strong, coming in from the front, affording him the best ground performance of the stake. This fine performance earned Rip runner-up champion, a well-deserved honor.

The judges said that over the course of the five days of running, there were many dogs that had satisfactory bird work. Grouse were seen on every course every day, and they thought the courses were as evenly matched as could possibly be. They were extremely satisfied with the quality of dogs they observed, and both said they had a most enjoyable time watching all the dogs go. I would also like to praise and give thanks to both Larry and Travis for their very fine, attentive viewing of all the dogs in this trial. They did a remarkable job, thank you very much, guys!

Northern Michigan Cover JudgesF25

Judges (l-r): Larry Guild and Travis Burnett.

Meredith, Mich., October 14
Judges: Travis Burnett and Larry Guild
NORTHERN MICHIGAN COVER DOG CHAMPIONSHIP [One-Hour Heats]-25 Pointers, 43 Setters, 1 Brittany, and 1 Irish Setter
Winner-MILLERS DUSTY VERSION, F1706290, pointer female, by Miller's Upgraded Version-Miller's Special Edition. Mike Husenits, owner; Mark Hughes, handler.
Runner-Up-RALPHY'S CHASEHILL RIP, F1697746, pointer male, by Panola Bacon-Chasehill Little Izzy. Brian Ralph, owner; Scott Chaffee, handler.

Wolverine Derby Classic
The Wolverine Derby Classic ran on Sunday with 24 young hopefuls vying for the silver cup. The winner was a pointer female, Grouse Hill Patch, handled by Marc Forman and owned by Michael Capocci. Patch ran in the third brace; she is a classy running pointer to the front and carded one grouse and two woodcock finds. Second place was awarded to Dunroven Hippie Girl, handled by Rich Hollister and owned by Chad Curtis. She ran in Brace 1 and had a nice woodcock find coupled with a classy race to the front. Rounding out the placements was Evan's Full Throttle. She was handled by Mark Hughes and owned by Evan Smith. She ran in the last brace of the stake and had an extremely fine ground performance, earning her the yellow ribbon, even though she was unable to locate a bird.

Judges: Sean McKellip and Lonnie Rademacher
WOLVERINE DERBY CLASSIC - 13 Pointers, 10 Setters, and 1 Brittany
1st-GROUSE HILL PATCH, F1710162, pointer female, by Grouse Hill Rambo-All On. Michael Capocci, owner; Marc Forman, handler.
2d-DUNROVEN HIPPIE GIRL, F1713542, setter female, by Dun Rovens Drifter-Dunrovens Midnight Eve. Chad Curtis, owner; Rich Hollister, handler.
3d-EVAN'S FULL THROTTLE, F1713964, pointer female, by Double Deuce Zeke-Braggabull. Evan Smith, owner; Mark Hughes, handler.

Northern Michigan Cover Wolverine DerbyF25

Wolverine Derby Classic (l-r). Lonnie Rademacher (judge), John Capocci, Marc Forman with Grouse Hill Patch, Rich Hollister with Dunroven Hippie Girl, Mark Hughes with Evan's Full Throttle, Sean McKellip (judge), and Dave Hughes.