Birddogn True Confidence owned by Fleischacker and handled by Jordan Pharris
2025 Grand National Grouse Champion
Category Archives: Current Event Reports
Winners of the 2025 Grand National Grouse Futurity
1st Place– Legend, pm, bred by John Mckellop, owned and handled by Brian Ralph.
2nd Place– Watch Me Whip, sm, bred by Steve McKalko, Owned by Dr Pershke, handled by Mark Hughes
3rd Place– Seldom Rest Pork Chop, pm, bred by John McKellop, owned and handled by Brian Ralph
4th Place– Tuscarora Timber Ghost, sm, bred by Ronnie Eldridge, owned by Andy Wert/Matt Null, handled by Matt Null
On behalf of the Grand National Grouse Board of directors we would like to thank the Flanagan family for use of their grounds and all their help.
Thank you is also in order for judges Kelly Hays and Bill Bonnetti for their time in the saddle. Both judged with a positive attitude and were attentive to all entries.
Thank you to all the breeders. This is a breeders stake and without you we couldn’t run this prestigious stake
Last but not least thank you to Greg Blair and Nestle Purina for their unwavering support to Coverdog field trials
2025 Grand National Grouse Futurity
The 2025 Grand National Grouse Championship will be at the historic Grouse Ridge Kennels in Oxford NY on Sunday November 2nd.
Lodging
The Purina Awards Dinner will be at Freds Inn Norwich NY on Monday November 3rd. Freds is also the recommended place to stay for the Grand this year. They only have 25 rooms so make your reservations soon 607-334-9282.
Other hotels in the area are Super 8 607-296-0524 and Red Roof Inn 607-334-2200.
2025 Grand National Grouse Championship
The 2025 Grand National Grouse Championship will be at the historic Grouse Ridge Kennels in Oxford NY on Tuesday November 4th.
Reminder Grand Entries Close 10/30
Judges
Bruce Minard from Michigan and Ben Mergens from Minnesota were our top two in votes to judge this years Grand National Grouse Championship. I am happy to report that both have agreed to accept the roles.
Lodging
The Purina Awards Dinner will be at Freds Inn Norwich NY on Monday November 3rd. Freds is also the recommended place to stay for the Grand this year. They only have 25 rooms so make your reservations soon 607-334-9282.
Other hotels in the area are Super 8 607-296-0524 and Red Roof Inn 607-334-2200.
2025 Grand National Grouse & Woodcock Invitational Championship Winners
2025 Grand National Grouse & Woodcock Invitational Championship Winners
Champion Snyder’s Fireside Ed
Runner up Northwoods Cedar
74th Grand National Grouse Puppy Classic Winners
74th Grand National Grouse Puppy Classic Winners
1 Grouse Hill Buddy Capocci/Capocci/ S. Forman
2 Northwoods Rip Roy Kolter/Johnson/Johnson
3 Hifives Belvenie Minard/Sloan/Dubriske
4 Grouse Hill Patch Capocc/ Capocci/S. Forman
2025 Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Championship- Judges
The Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Championship would like to announce that two judges have been selected to officiate over this year’s Invitational Championship.
Doug McMillen of Reynoldsville Pennsylvania and Mike Flewelling of Holden Maine have agreed to sit in the saddle to preside over this year’s event. The Invitational will be held on April 16th and 17th with call backs on the 18th in Ellenburg, New York.
Both judges are more than highly qualified and are well recognized for their contributions to field trialing. They have each: bred, campaigned and trained many champions in the past. We are very fortunate to have these two famed outdoorsmen as our judicial team.
2025 Grand National Grouse & Woodcock Invitational Championship & Points Earners
Top 20 Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational Points Earners
The following is a list of the top 20 Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational points earned for dogs and their owners.
The 2025 Invitational Championship will be held near Malone New York, drawing Tuesday April 15th and running Wednesday/Thursday April 16th, 17th with callbacks on Friday April 18th.
The top 14 dogs left after any declined invitations will be the running field. Judges and a reporter are still to be selected and will be announced as appropriate.
Congratulations to all the dogs, owners, trainers and handlers, for all their hard work and dedication has paid off.
Grand Winner Snyders Fireside Ed-Grand Winner Guaranteed Steve Snyder
Meridith Grade Corky-Invitational Winner Guaranteed Denny Keysor
Over The Hill Merry-Invitational Runner Up Guaranteed Rod Lein
Ralphy’s Chasehill Rip-1284 Points Brian Ralph
Northwoods Cedar-1284 Eric and Lindsay Saetre
Shadyhills Zeena-1120 Deb Nihart
Aspen Hill Bandit-1096 Jon Cullen
Chasehill Snoop Dogg-992 Erin Stolgitis
Warrior Zeke-944 Mike Husenits
Grouse Ridge Mags-889 Bill Ballin
Chasehill Poison Ivy-852 Bill and Karen McFadden
Northwoods Atlas-772 Greg Johnson
Lake Effect Allie-714 Tim Kaufman
Ponderosa’s Copper Penny-708 Robert Ellis
Mohawk Mill Miss You-684 Bill and Karen McFadden
Back Creek Lucy-659 Steve Graham
Meredith Grade Penny-648 Denny Keysor
Over the Hill Morgan-624 Robert Zilkie
Faith’s Maximum Justice-564 Ken Delong
Grouse Trails Buddy-486 John McKellop
Paucheks Little Tommy Tucker-480 Kelly Short
2024 Grand National Championship Results
2024 Results
The 2024 Grand National Grouse Championship has come to a close.
Congratulations to Snyder’s Fireside Ed, named Champion! Ed is owned by Steve Snyder and handled by Tammy Chaffee of Pioneer Kennels. The Runner-Up, Chasehill Poison Ivy, was handled by John Stolgitis. Special thanks to judges Adam Dubriske (NH) and Mike Brown (MI) for enduring six days of intense judging over 85 miles. Our reporters, Jeremy Moore and Chris Bye, also deserve thanks for their attentive work throughout the event.
This was the first time in its 82-year history that the Grand was held in Wisconsin, and I was honored to serve as Chair. I’m extremely proud of the teamwork and collaboration shown by the Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association, the Minnesota Grouse Dog Association, and the Moose River Grouse Dog Club. Planning for this event began in January, and the trial stands as a testament to what people can achieve when united by a shared passion.
Special thanks to Greg Johnson, Vice Chairman and Stake Manager. Your dedication to our sport and meticulous management of this storied championship was invaluable. Additional thanks to Katie Cook, whose heart for people, hospitality, and efficient organization shone throughout the week.
We are also deeply grateful to Greg Blair from Purina and Ben Brettingen of On X. Your financial support elevated this Championship from good to great.
As we close out the season, I want to extend my appreciation to everyone involved in Cover Dog, from breeders, owners, and handlers to the volunteers and sponsors who help hold trials. Your commitment keeps this sport thriving.
Finally, thank you to the Grand National directors for allowing us to host this Championship in Wisconsin.
We were proud to be your hosts.
Brad Peterson
2024 Grand National Chairman
BOD and Membership Meeting 2024
This years meetings will be at Vojtiks Stockyard Bar and Grill in Fairchild WI. They will have a buffet dinner there for a fee if anyone wants to eat before the meetings. Membership meeting is Tuesday night and BOD meeting his Wednesday night. We will try and start the meetings by 730 so it would be a good idea to be there by 7 if you eating there.