As we gear up for the spring trial season in Pa the subject about the lack of judges has come up in several conversations. There is an aggressive trial schedule set, if we can get enough judging help; 1 championship, 3 minor trials, and 2 amateur trials, but can we make it happen?

Last fall, we struggled to get judges for the Nittany trial and the Black Moshannon trials. At the Nittany trial, I had to give up running my dogs and still had to "pull a rabbit out of the hat" to get a second judge, or Nittany would have been cancelled. At the BM trial weekend, I was lucky enough to have judges come in from out of state to judge on Saturday, and again, gave up running dogs to judge on Sunday. Guaranteed, that wont happen again.

Scheduled for this spring is the Ontario championship, Nittany, Black Ash, Black Moshannon, Pa, and Pa amateur. I'm starting to look at names for Black Moshannon, and will also be playing a big part for Nittany as Rob Boos has to step back because of work complications. Dont wait to be asked, step up and volunteer if you want to see wild bird trials survive in Pa.

To put it bluntly, Pa has already lost the Grand, and I dont see it ever coming back. Both Nittany and Black Moshannon need to run successful spring and fall trials to survive financially with the cost of insurance. If those trials dont run this spring because of the lack of judges, or have poor attendance and lose money, the Ontario championship will be the last trial at Black Moshannon. I will not continue to put in 50-100 hours a year to keep the courses in prime shape for one trial a year, when I could be spending that time working my dogs.

I go into semi-retirement this spring, so if trials dont happen in Pa, I'll have even more time to travel out of state to trial and hunt. So now the choice is yours Pa, do we work to keep the tradition going, or do we let it fade into oblivion with no chance of bring it back!! Or do we just fall back on Marienville for trials which are also struggling.