Premium list for the UBT Trackfest 2015

Premium List for the UBT Trackfest 2015 is posted at 

http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/trackfest2015.pdf

United Blood Trackers Trackfest 2015

February 28 – March 2, 2015

Covered Gate Ranch, Uvalde, Texas

The United Blood Trackers is holding a three day Blood Tracking Workshop on February 28 – March 2, 2015 at Covered Gate Ranch in Uvalde, TX, approximately 2 hours west of San Antonio, TX .

The UBT annual Trackfest has been held in various states throughout the country. UBT has provided testing at several Texas Blood Tracking Events, and now this will be the first actual UBT Trackfest held in Texas.

This workshop is for beginner and advanced dogs and handlers as well as anyone else interested in learning more about the use of blood tracking dogs for the recovery of wounded big game. There will be plenty of hands-on training in the field for dogs and handlers as well as presentations on topics such as Training Techniques, Working with Puppies, Equipment Choices, GPS Use, and Working with Hunters. Again this year we will also be holding the popular Hit Site Evaluation Seminar. This section of the seminar will focus on reading sign at the hit site as well as reading sign found along the trail in order to develop the proper strategy for tracking that particular animal.

The United Blood Trackers will offer evaluations for UBT-I and UBT-II on Monday, March 2, 2015. All individuals interested in signing up for evaluations, please check out http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/tracking-tests/ , for more information. Another announcement will posted when a premium list for the event is finalized.

Here are some pictures taken at Trackfest 2014 in North Carolina:

Workshop for handlers and their blood tracking dogs: The UBT Trackfest 2014

This report is long overdue but as they say, it's better later than never. The official report was written by Cheri Faust and it can be found underneath my remarks (thank you Cheri!).

In the middle of May I (Jolanta) flew to North Carolina to participate in the Annual Trackfest held by United Blood Trackers. Because at the time we had a litter of pups and because some of our dogs have "special" needs (like 15-year-old Asko), it was not possible for both of us to go. This time was my turn. I really enjoyed the trip, and it was so good to meet finally trackers that had never had a chance to meet in person. Of course, a chance to work with good friends was a great attraction too.

A big thank you goes to Kirk Vaughan from Chapel Hill, NC, who found the great place to host this workshop and made possible that all our needs were met. You are never going to meet anybody more dedicated to blood tracking than Kirk. Of course, his wife Barbara Fields was there too helping whenever she could. And I got to meet mac, Kirk tracking dog, who is a beagle/walker mix.

Barbara Fields and Kirk Vaughan, who is holding Mac.

By Cheri Faust

The United Blood Trackers held Trackfest 2014 at the J. Robert Gordon Sandhills Field Trial Grounds near Hoffman, North Carolina, May 17-19.

Participants started gathering on Friday to renew acquaintances and make new ones.  Those who arrived early had the special treat of watching Andy Bensing and his superstar tracking dog, Eibe, attempt the first running of the UBT III test. The UBT III demonstrates the ability to resolve situations often encountered on natural tracks. The test is designed to be challenging and fun. Each test is likely to be unique, and handling teams may wish to take the test on multiple occasions. 

Andy's track was about 1000 yards in length, four hours in age and was laid using just 3 ounces of blood and tracking shoes.  The track included a directional challenge (a three ring spiral), a surface challenge (an area of the pine plantation had recently been burned and the ground was heavily charred) and a distraction (thanks, Alan, for picking up that road killed armadillo!)  We were all impressed with how steadily and easily Andy and Eibe handled the track.

Andy Bensing and his wirehaired dachshund Eibe at the start of the UBT III test. 

Cheri Faust was judging the test and Al Wade was a track layer. They followed Andy pretty close while observers were further behind. The picture shows well the kind of terrain we were dealing with - very sandy.

Cheri congratulates Andy upon successful completion of the test. the test was not easy and Eibe had to work hard on carrying the line.

Over the course of the following two days, 32 participants received a variety of hands-on training and classroom presentations from the 11 UBT “staff” members in attendance. 

UBT Staff: from the left Cheri faust, Al Wade, Susanne Hamilton, Chris Morris, Jolanta Jeanneney, Andy Bensing, Marlo Ondrej, Larry Gohlke, Kirk Vaughan, Kyle Stiffler and Sean Timmens.

The Hit Site Seminar presented on Saturday was an especially big “hit”.  The seminar followed the format described in our post from June 2013.

 

The Hit Site Evaluation Seminar ended with participants examining several sites for signs of wounded deer such as blood, bone fragments, hair etc. In real tracking situations when a handler is asked to track a wounded deer or bear, he starts at a hit site and by careful examination of all the signs left by a wounded animal he has to reconstruct what had happened and come up with a tracking strategy for the specific situation.

The Hit Site Evaluation seminar has become a very important part of Trackfests as it is an excellent educational tool for trackers and hunters. Just recently Cliff Shrader from Louisiana wrote: 

This past Sunday at Hunters For The Hungry Louisiana, I put on a small Hit Site Evaluation display. I set up several mock hit sites simulating what a hunter would find when he checked his shot on a deer. This is like Deer Hunters CSI. This form of education has never been seen in our area before and was very well received. I didn't count the number of people that went through it but it must have been over 40 people. Each and everyone that went through it had very positive things to say. Thank you Andy Bensing, Larry Gohlke and Alan Wade for the evaluation that you put on in May as I was able to pass this education on!

...... to be continued

Seminar on Blood Trailing Dogs in Texas

Texas Blood Trackers is hosting their annual event again this year in Hamilton, Texas.

2014 Blood Trail Seminar

March 1st, 2014 in Hamilton, Texas

Blood Trail Seminar:
10:00 am: Blood Trail class starts (Please arrive 30 minutes early to sign in.)

12:30 pm: Lunch Break

1:45 pm – Last dog ran: Finish up Blood-trail class

$100 for each handler and dog team running blood-trails for the day. 
$50 for each handler without dog. Both include lunch and dinner plate.

TBT & UBT Testing & Evaluations: 28th - 2nd
10:00 am – 12:30 pm & 1:45 pm – 4:30 pm

TBT 1 $50, TBT 2 $75, TBT 3 $100

UBT 1 $75 , UBT 2 $100

Must have deposit in before 2/22/14. NO WALK ONS. We can only take so many dogs, and there is a cut off, so book as soon as possible to better insure availability.

To sign up contact:

• Paul Coffman-paul@texasbloodtrackers.com (214)289-9741.
• Troup Bishop- troupbishop@yahoo.com (325)642-5160

Trackfest 2014 to be held in North Carolina on May 17-19, 2014

Trackfest 2014

May 17 – 19, 2014

J. Robert Gordon Sandhills Field Trial Grounds

Hoffman, North Carolina

The United Blood Trackers is holding a three day Blood Tracking Workshop on May 17 – 19, 2014 at the J. Robert Gordon Sandhills Field Trial Grounds in Hoffman NC, 1 hour west of Fayetteville NC. 

This workshop is for both beginner and advanced dogs and handlers as well as anyone else interested in learning more about the use of blood tracking dogs for the recovery of wounded big game. There will be plenty of hands-on training in the field for dogs and handlers as well as presentations on topics such as Training Techniques, Working with Puppies, Equipment Choices, GPS Use, and Working with Hunters. Again this year we will also be holding the popular Hit Site Evaluation Seminar. This new seminar will focus on reading sign at the hit site as well as reading sign found along the trail in order to develop the proper strategy for tracking that particular animal.

 

The United Blood Trackers will offer evaluations for UBT-I and UBT-II on Monday, 5/18/2014. All evaluations will be done on leash. Please check www.unitedbloodtrackers.org for more information about evaluation requirements as well as more details about the event as they become available.

The pictures and video show the grounds.

5th Annual Eastern Lacy Field Day, Feb 21-22 in Georgia

Upcoming "After the Shot...Finding Your Deer" Seminar by John Jeanneney

Trackfest 2013 was a good opportunity to learn from old timers, network with other handlers and test your blood trailing dog

I am sure that we will have a more formal report from Trackfest 2013 held by the United Blood Trackers in Arena, Wisconsin on June 1-3. John was there on Saturday and Sunday. From the feedback that participants have left on Facebook it sounds like it was a very successful event. I am sorry that I had to miss it!

Do you need help with training your blood tracking dog?

June 1-3, Arena, Wisconsin

for details go to www.unitedbloodtrackers.org

Upcoming North American Teckel Club events

Dates: Thursday, June 13th - Sunday, June 16th

Judge: Wolfgang Trumpfheller, hunting and conformation judge from Germany

Location: 1411 Cross Keys Road, Reading and Weiser Forest, Hamburg, Pennsylvania

• June 13: 12 pm JGHV Judges Seminar (required for all hunting judges and great tool to understand FCI hunting tests)June 14: 8 am Gun Shyness Test (blood tracking participants only), Blood Tracking Test 40 hours
• June 15: 9 am Hit Site Evaluation Seminar, Gun Shyness Test, BHP (DTK Companion Dog Test), Water Test
• June 16: 9 am Zuchtschau (DTK Conformation show), dogs will get a written evaluation according to FCI Standard #148

Blood tracking training lines will be available upon request only for Thursday morning, Friday late afternoon or Sunday before/after the Zuchtschau. Contact Andy Bensing for more info abensing@pbkennels.com.

Entry forms can be found at www.teckelclub.org, for more info e-mail Alexandra Weber, NATC Secretary dbarw@dejazzd.com.

Pictures from previous NATC events can be viewed at http://jola.smugmug.com/NATC

UBT Trackfest 2013 and East Coast Lacy Fun Day

The United Blood Trackers is going to hold a three day Blood Tracking Workshop on JUNE 1-3 at Coon Rock Horse and Hunt Club, Arena, WI, 45 minutes west of Madison. This workshop is for both beginner and advanced dogs and handlers as well as anyone else interested in learning more about the use of blood tracking dogs for the recovery of wounded big game. There will be plenty of hands-on training in the field for dogs and handlers as well as presentations on topics such as Training Techniques, Working with Puppies and Adolescents, Equipment Choices, GPS Use, and Working with Hunters. As a new feature this year we will also be holding a Hit Site Evaluation Seminar. This new seminar will focus on reading sign at the hit site as well as reading sign found along the trail in order to develop the proper strategy for tracking that particular animal. The Workshop Instructors will be UBT Judges: John Jeanneney (NY), Larry Gohlke (WI), Andy Bensing (PA), Cheri Faust (WI), Chuck Collier (MI) and Al Wade (AL).

The premium list for this event is located at http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/images/pdfs/trackfest2013.pdf

 

We hope to see you there. We'd also appreciate any help you can give the UBT in getting the word out about this event.

 

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UBT testing will also be available at East Coast Lacy Fun Day, where all breeds are welcomed. This event is going to take place soon, on March 15-16, in LaGrange, GA. For more information contact Rebecca Ferrell at rebeccaferrell@comcast.net or 850-508-6981.

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You get to see all kinds of  tracking dogs at a UBT Trackfest. The below pics were taken at various trackfests in the past.