The bird dogs we select for ourselves, friends, and clients are from two setter breeders: Jack Elliott of Hytest Setters and Erik Mauck of Tekoa Mountain Setters.

This past year, two English Setters qualified for the National Championship in Grand Junction. One was Erik's dog, Jack (Tekoa Mountain Patriot) and the other was Jack Elliot's Hytest Skyhawk. These two dogs are just the tip of the iceberg. Eric and Jack have up and coming young dogs such as Jack's Paladin, the number one derby setter in the country; and Erik's Jett, a derby dog with unlimited potential. These dogs' successful histories attest to the quality of their breeders' breeding programs. Please visit their web sites and see for yourself the quality of these two men and their dogs.

At the very tip of the bell curve are dogs that can compete on the National Open All-Age circuit. Eric and Jack are unbelievable dog men, however they cannot pick the one All-Age dog from a litter of fluff balls. So, they keep a number of dogs and weed them out for six to nine months. The young dogs are cared for and given time to develop in the field. The dogs I get from Jack and Eric are dogs that did not make the final cut for Open All-Age dogs. They are, by this time not fluff balls, but athletes with exceptional noses, the knack for finding wild birds, and known temperaments. They cover a field with a spirited style. The number one reason I get these dogs is that they do not run a big enough pattern. They are, however, perfect to mold into finished hunting dogs and that is our job.

Our dogs start their hunting season in Montana in September hunting Sharp-tails and Hungarian Partridge. In November, they are in Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma hunting bobwhite quail, scale quail, and ditch parrots. They end the season in January and February in Arizona hunting Mearns quail. If there is reincarnation, I want to come back as one of our bird dogs.

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