Hunters, dogs bond during PA bird field trial competitions

The United Field Trialers Association held the Bill Roff Memorial Chukar Championship April 14-16 at Fairbanks Rod and Gun Club for about 75 dogs.

Participants and their bird dogs of various breeds gathered to compete in the large fields of Fayette County.

Competitors traveled from as far away as Tennessee and Canada for the pointing and flushing events held throughout the weekend.

Organizer Brandon Tarquinio of Coal Center, Washington County, has been hosting events for 14 years.

“I’ve been playing the game for a long time, and I’m pretty hooked on it,” said Tarquinio, 42, who's had bird dogs for two decades. “It’s something to do in the off season” of hunting.

Over the last two decades he’s had weimaraners, German shorthairs and Labradors. He and his wife, Lauren, now have six German shorthairs and two labradors that hunt a variety of birds.

Tarquinio bird hunts in several states.

“We go out West at least once a year, if not twice depending on what we are going after. We usually go pheasant hunting, sharp-tail grouse or prairie chickens,” he said.  “We travel all over the place for the trials as well.”

The dogs are their families’ pets, too.

“Mine are sleeping on the couch when we get home,” Tarquinio said.

Other popular breeds of bird dogs at the events are English pointers, setters, German wirehair pointers, and Brittanys.

The competitions start in January. During the trials, the dogs are looking for chukars, which are small farm-raised birds that are released into the fields and wood lines.

The competitors are judged on how fast their dogs can flush three birds and retrieve the shot birds to the participant’s hand. All the chukars shot by the competitors are eventually eaten.

Tarquinio said the competitions are good exercise for the high energy dogs that need time running in the fields. “If you want to win, you definitely have to put some time into them,” he said about developing a bond and relationship with the canines. His dog Razz, is a two-time national champion.

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Nate Hilligus and his father Randy traveled from upstate Lindley, New York, to compete. They’ve been traveling to several parts of the country over the last 13 years with their English pointers.

“We just have a love for the animals,” Nate Hilligus said.

They enjoy seeing the excitement of their dogs bounding out into the field. “It’s their life,” Randy Hilligus said. “When they get in the truck, they know where they are going, and they are going to be having fun.”

However looking for birds like chukars, quail and pheasants is what the dog’s have been bred to do. “It’s what they are living for,” he said.

Visit UFTA-online.com for more information on the sport and where future trials will be held.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors ,Twitter @whipkeyoutdoors and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Where are chukar bird trials held with German Shorthair, labradors