Events & Tournaments

Contests, Events & Tournaments

The Second Annual Smokin' on the Plains Bar- B-Que Cook Off is to be held July 15, 2006 in conjunction with the Pickin' On The Plains Bluegrass Festival at the Thomas County Fairgrounds in Colby Kansas. Anyone interested should e-mail us at gaot@st-tel.net

July 2005

Great American Outdoor Trails Radio Magazine "Smokin' on the Plains
BBQ Cook Off

Smokin' on the Plains BBQ Cook Off was held in conjunction with the Pickin on the Plains Blue Grass Festival that brought in over 2000 people to sample the best bar-b-que in the country and to hear bluegrass bands like Spontaneous Combustion.
Over a dozen teams from three states entered the first annual cook off in Colby Kansas in July 2005 to see who was the best of the best. There were four categories: beef, pork, chicken and an open class. When the smoke cleared and the results were tallied the Pork Choppers took first in beef. Cowboys and Chiropractors took first in pork, Not Bob BBQ took first in Chicken and Whiskey River BBQ took first in the open class. The overall winner was a local favorite Dr. Larry Wiley from Colby Kansas.
The next event is the Smokin' on the Beaver BBQ cook off in Atwood Kansas October 8, 2005

Look for the Great American Outdoor Trails Radio Magazine "Trail
Blazer" team at a BBQ cook-off near you.

February, 2005

North American Gun Dog Association Hunting Competition, Goodland, KS

If you find sweating hands, burning quadriceps, dry mouth and exhaustion pleasurable coupled with an adrenalin rush like no other, you're either a sadist or a contestants at one of the North American Gun Dog Associations hunting competitions.

Ringneck Country held its second event of the season this past weekend with contestants entering from five different states. Pointers, Setters, Labs and other sporting dogs were entered in this well organized competition. Rex and Sandi Murray, hosted the event at their facility north of Goodland, Kansas.

Greg Wright, field judge Rex Murray, host

The North American Gun Dog Association dog competition is really quite simple. Depending on the class you enter the contestant is given an area to hunt. The hunter and his dog have a specific area to hunt, for a certain number of minutes with one shell for each of the birds placed in the field. The hunter and dog are a team. The dog if it is a pointing breed must hold a point for at least three seconds for that he receives points. The bird is then flushed and if the hunter is successful in harvesting the bird he receives points. The dog then retrieves the bird and receives points. The Ideal hunt would be four birds, four points, four shots and four retrieves. Sounds simple enough but if Murphy's Law goes into effect then If anything can go wrong, it will. The judge that is with each team is only there as an observer and records the possible points and to time the point making sure that the dog held the point for at least three seconds. That was his total function. It was not subjective in any way. I went with two different teams. The first was Martin Sears, Fremont, NE and then with Troy Sporer, Oakley, KS. They both had Labs and each team performed beautifully. While Martin Sears Lab flushed the bird, Troy Sporers' Lab had been trained that when he got birdy, to sit, allowing the hunter to get into position thus, maximizing the harvest potential with a closer flush. Watching the hunting competition, it was clear that this put true competition between teams with time, shells, dogs pointing, retrieving, being the only factors in determining the winners in each category.
The results for the February, 2004 hunting competition are as follows:

                          Amateur Pointing
                  Brian Ulhurn, Parker, CO

                     Amateur Flushing
                Martin Sears, Fremont, NE

Top Open Pointer
Doyle McGraw, Garden City, KS

Top Open Flushing
Ron Pomeroy, Ft. Laramie, WY

Top Open Scramble
Martin Price, Silverthorn, CO

                         Top Team
                  Tony Loyd, Aurora, CO
             Rich Cummings, Holyoke, CO

Top Puppy
Mark Bookman, Breckenridge, CO

Top Youth

Nathan Meister, Littleton, CO

      The overall success of the hunting competition was because of the support of the field judges, bird planters, shuttle drivers and the integrity of the competitors. The game birds were of exceptional quality provided by Martin Hilt owner of Spring Creek Game Birds in St. Francis. KS .
     The next hunting competition will be on March 9 & 10, 2002. To find out more about this event contact Rex or Sandi Murray by going to their web-site at www. ringneckcountry. net.

January, 2004

Midwest Coyote Calling Contest, St. Francis, KS

He's called many things; prairie wolf , God's dog, a nuisance, trickster, but to us he's "The Coyote"

The wail of the coyote is a mournful sound. Where two sing together they give the impression to the hearer, there are many, many, more.   Coyotes are thought to transmit signals to each other through these yelps and howls; a change in weather, location of kin, hunters in the area, but mostly its been theorized that's its a feeling of gladness or joy
     It is those who can best imitate these sounds, are the ones that crossover and become one with the coyote. To do this-imitate his sound- tricking him, is quite an accomplishment because one of his names is "the trickster". Being good is not enough to fool this sly predator, one has to be great at calling to outsmart this master of the plains..
   The weekend of January 11-13 2002, The Midwest Coyote Calling Contest was held in St. Francis, KS. Brent Rueb, founder of the event set aside this weekend, as he has, for the last five years and brought in the -best of the best- to do what they do best, "trick the trickster."
This year, thirty- eight teams were fielded in the Pro Class and sixteen teams in the Sportsmen Class .When the final tally came in, 306 coyotes were called in and 94 coyotes were harvested, in this three day event. Mossy Oak, Burris and Varmint Magazine were the main sponsors and many local sponsors contributed to the events success.
    First Place in the Pro Class paid over $2800.00.

Pro Class

First Place Tom & Ted Schmid of Colorado Springs, CO 9 coyotes

Second Place Bob Rahm & Clint Elliot Yuma, CO 7 coyotes

Third Place Greg Meyer & Frosty Lewis Bennet, CO & Byers, CO 6 coyotes

Sportsman Class

First Place Daryl Olsen & Elliot Hord Preston, MN 3 coyotes

Second Place Lance Long & Joe Larson St. Francis, KS 2 Coyotes

Third Place Patrick Delano & Rodney Radcliff St. Francis, KS 2 coyotes

The Sportsman of the Year 2004 went to Kirk Spears, Burlington, CO for his outstanding sportsmanship and dedication to calling and hunting. As he went forward for the award he received standing ovation from the audience lauding him, but also in agreement with the Sportsman Award Committee for their nomination of Kirk for this most prestigious and deserved award. Preparation is being made for next years contest and Rueb says "if you liked this year your not going to believe the one we've got planned for 2003." Contact Brent Rueb, St. Francis KS at 785-332-3402 for details.

If you have and event that you would like to promote contact us at gaot@st-tel.net.