Early yesterday, following an extended hospital stay, Chris passed. He was 47.
For years he was active in the field trial world, first in Shoot to Retrieve at the Wayne County Coon Hunters, then coming to the woods to compete at Gladwin, Marienville and other venues. I shot my first sharptail over his dog Lenny in Montana. We shot a lot of birds over his Flanagan Award winning derby, Elle. I can't recall either dogs registered names.
At this writing I have no additional information.
Below is a link to his Facebook page. There are a series of posts from him and a relative containing updates over the last 40 or so days relating to his ongoing health issues.


https://www.facebook.com/christopher.demattio



Elle is the smaller of the setters in the center of the white dogs. Lenny is next to Chris.
This photo was taken following one of the best walks we had in Montana with Elle on the ground.