Any chapter members with hunting photos you'd like to share?

Please send them to Roger Hull at rogerhull@gci.net, preferably in digital form. We'll take care of color correction, resizing, cropping and touch-up.

The Greatland Chapter Board will meet shortly to schedule group hunts, clinics and training sessions for 2011.

Don't forget to renew your membership!

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Greatland NAVHDA

Promoting versatile hunting dogs

in Alaska

Alaska Chapter of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association

Versatile Hunting Dogs in the field

Upland Bird Hunting

Greatland Chapter members are naturally inclined to be hunters. It's the fundamental reason we raise and train versatile hunting dogs. Living in Alaska and Western Canada provides plenty of opportunity to pursue a variety of game. Chapter members share hunting experiences, learn new techniques, find areas well-suited to specific types of game, and successfully transition ours dog from the training table and test events to the search for wild game in its own expansive habitat.

Chapter member John Haddix with his German Wirehaired Pointer, Kuiu, on a ptarmigan hunt along the Denali Highway. John lost Kuiu in an accident, and has since acquired a new Drahthaar pup, Kobuk, that he is actively training.

Alaska Hunting

Alaska provides a unique environment for upland bird hunting. The mix of birds differs from other areas, the terrain is as varied as you can find in any state, and the weather is always a factor!

A brace of white-tailed ptarmigan taken over a brace of versatile hunting dogs, a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon and a German Wirehaired Pointer, working together in the hills north of Anchorage just after an early fall snowfall.

Waterfowl Hunting

What makes versatile hunting dogs such a pleasure to own is that they "do it all". Hunt one day for ptarmigan in high elevation, rocky, steep terrain in warm weather with dense cover and never lose a shot bird. Then spend the following day in a cool, rainy marsh shooting ducks from a blind or jump shooting them in acres of waist deep marsh grass and never lose a shot bird. Then head for the grouse woods where a dogs needs solid steadiness and a superb nose to keep the birds in range for the hunter ... all with the same dog.

Chapter member Roger Hull's 7-month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Grendel, with a bag limit after his first duck hunt at Rabbit Creek Marsh in Anchorage.

Prize performance ... again

Consistency, reliability and stamina are among the traits that characterize a prize-winning hunting dog. Hunting all day in the tough Alaska weather and terrain can be a test all its own for the dog and the hunter. It is also the mark of a superb dog that bag limits are attainable despite the conditions.

Chapter member John Sarvis' young Small Munsterlander, JayDee, earned a UPT Prize III at the Greatland Chapter's 2009 August Test. This kind of result make it clear that NAVHDA's tests are a good indicator of a dog's potential performance as a hunting partner in the field with wild birds.

John and JayDee made the cover of the February 2011 issue of Versatile Hunting Dog Magazine with a story of an Alaska wilderness hunt where JayDee "did it all" on one rewally successful hunt with upland birds, waterfowl and tracking all in one day.

NAVHDA tests are all about hunting

Every element of a NAVHDA test is based on skills the dogs will need at some phase of hunting. The inherent traits of obedience, stamina, cooperation and desire combine with the trained skills of fetching, delivery to hand, steadiness and tracking to produce a well-trained, productive dog

Bramble, a 7-year old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon owned by Roger Hull, a Greatland Chapter member, retrieves a ptarmigan during a fall hunt near Tangle Lakes.

Bramble is also trained as a blood tracker, and has been called on to track well over 50 "shot-lost" moose and bear in various parts of Alaska.

Weather is rarely a factor for VHD's

	The Alaska environment can be both challenging and beautiful. Training and working our dogs here can make them well-conditioned for similar weather in Outside locations. Fossil, Jay Parker's GSP points a ptarmigan after a brief snow shower.
A solid steady pup waiting for a release after the bird has been shot. Jay Parker's "Fossil".
Retrieving to Hand is an essential skill
	A successful ptarmigan in the mountains somewhere on the Kenai Peninsula. "Fossil" with a ptarmigan on a nice delivery.
Ptarmigan hunting lasts well into the Alaska winter, and these dogs are well-suited to the task. "Fossil" with what appears to be a whitetail ptarmigan.
	JayDee delivering a ptarmigan during a tundra hunt with John Sarvis in late summer.
Prior to the first fall snow, ptarmigan like to stay high on steep hillsides. Getting to them can be strenuous, but a good dog can make it well worthwhile. "Fossil" with an early fall ptarmigan.