It was early morning mid October the leaves were falling and the frost was on the ground. I found myself at my fall home, the Gladwin field trail grounds, reporting one of the fall championships again. There were 52 dogs, a comfortable amount, that would require 4 days in the saddle. That’s long enough for me, those 7 and 8 Dayers are tough on an old man like me. Day one went well with some nice bird work and good weather. After we finished running I caught up with couple of friends that I hadn’t seen since spring. Then headed to my car as I was ready to get home to a shower and warm meal. On my way I looked to my left and could see the campfire glowing and the beer a flowing at Bryan Woods camper, at what we around here like to refer to as the nightly liars club meeting. This is where poor dogs turn into good ones and mediocre ones turn into champions, where telling the truth is discouraged and would certainly land you in last place and as the saying goes the first liar doesn’t stand a chance. About halfway to my car I noticed a young man that I didn’t recognize standing there staring at the fire like he was in a trance. You could sense he was desperately wanting to join them at the fire but felt a little uncomfortable doing so without an invitation. As I approached him I said why don’t you go over and pull up a log sit down and join them? They would probably appreciate some fresh ears to listen to their same old stories and the beer is free. That seemed to be all the encouragement he needed as he got a little smile on his face nodded once and headed over to join them and I headed home. Day two went much like day one with some more quality bird work and nice weather, with a dozen or more dogs for the judges to choose from so far. We finished the days running right about dusk and again I was looking forward to getting home. On my way to the car again I noticed the same young man ( who I had earlier found out name was John ) standing there looking at the campfire with the most puzzled look on his face I’d even seen. “Well” it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me because earlier in the day I’d Heard the dog of the day at last night’s campfire was Scott Forman’s 4 year old tri colored female setter named Lucky. As the story went ran an hour brace on her back two feet and had two Grouse finds all the while picking a quart of blueberries, which she later made a pie out of. Scotty being a veteran of the campfire knowing the importance of making the story sound believable instead of completely fabricated, quickly added, but the pie could have used a little more sugar. I said “John” I must apologize, there’s something I should have told you before I sent you to the fire last night. There’s three different types of dogs at the campfire, there’s 4 beer dogs, 8 beer dogs and 12 beer dogs. 4 beer dogs are dogs that actually exists but their records have been greatly exaggerated and are being represented as much better than they ever were. 8 beer dogs are dogs that no one has ever actually seen, they are dogs that they’ve only heard about at other campfires and every time they repeat the story the dog gets better and better. 12 beer dogs are dogs that never existed and everything that is told about them is an outright lie. The only reason they’re telling the story is its getting late and they want to get something on the board before the fire goes out. The transition that came across that young man’s body after hearing that explanation was nothing short of a miracle, it was like someone who was ready to commit suicide to someone who just won the lottery. The smile and relief that came across his face would have given you the impression someone had just informed him the test came back negative and his girlfriend wasn’t pregnant after all. With a nod of his head and a sigh of relief, like now I get it, he headed back to the campfire and I headed home. Day three was our third good day in a row with sunny skies mild temperatures and good bird work, it was going to be a tough call for the judges. They were certainly going to trim a few branches off their friend tree with this one. If you’re not a cowboy and don’t ride horses often, after three days in the saddle you know you’re suffering a little bit by the end of the day. I was thinking of some of my wife’s cooking and a soft bed. On my way to the car again, I caught sight of someone running up to me, a quick glance told me it was John again, this time with a smile on his face like a cat that just ate a canary. I asked “how’s it going John”? Glowing like a fully lit Christmas tree he said great, last night at the campfire I told a story about my three legged one eyed dog named Blue who won 8 championships, 7 invitationals, 4 National championships and best in show at Westminster all before he was two and without talking a breath added and I got an honorable mention in the 12 beer category. I patted him on the back and said welcome to the club son and he headed back to the fire and I headed home.
Re: The Campfire Story
Posted by Roger Johnson on 11/22/2020, 10:31 am, in reply to "The Campfire Story"
A lot of truth mixed in here. Great read Mike.. Happy Thanksgiving to all.. Roger J. Roger Johnson
Re: The Campfire Story
Posted by Bob Fleury on 11/19/2020, 3:06 pm, in reply to "The Campfire Story"
Hi Mike, The campfire story is a great one for the field trial sport. We really need more of this type of enjoyable reading. I am the editor of the American Brittany magazine and would like to run your story in an upcoming issue, with your permission. Thanks for bringing some laughter to the sport who sometimes gets too serious. Bob Fleury
Thanks Mike. I am sure that anyone who is a trialer will enjoy your story.
Bob
Re: The Campfire Story
Posted by Bert B on 11/18/2020, 6:43 pm, in reply to "The Campfire Story"
Mike, I experienced just a few hours of the "Campfire ". It took me "several " attempts to get off the grounds. The Foreman's still laugh about our first meeting.
Re: The Campfire Story
Posted by Tim Tfts on 11/18/2020, 6:21 am, in reply to "The Campfire Story"
Miss the camp fire days. Seems like forever since I was allowed to participate.
on 11/17/2020, 6:06 pm
