My grandson shot his first grouse today
Over the point of my son’s Trixie
Daughter of Shadow Oak Bo
And the best we have owned in sixty years Read more
Happy Day
Category: Other Things
When January Comes
When January comes
I will be here at home
First time since 1994
Won’t be at Chinquapin
The second week
Of that cold month at home
I spent in North Florida
From 1995 through 2022 Read more
Hunting Grouse
Hunting grouse when I was young was my escape. No matter my troubles, and they sometimes seemed many, I could make them go away for a day.
I would rise at four and jump into my boots, orange shirt, khakis and briar chaps and load my dogs in the trunk of my Dodge Demon and drive west to Augusta, Highland or Bath County, turn out a setter dog at the head of a holler and walk up it. Read more
For Want of a Nail
My career reporting field trials is over with the discontinuance of the Florida Open All-Age Championship following Ted Baker’s death. I was honored to report it from 1995 through 2022. Over those years I reported many others, including the Continental Derby and All-Age Championships, the National Open Free-For-All and National Derby Championships, the National Amateur Free-For-All Championship, the Lee County trial, and, most memorably, the Quail Championship Invitational at Paducah from 1996 through 2006. Read more
What Kind of Man
Many folks have asked me, What sort of man was Ted Baker?
An incident during the 2015 Florida Championship answers the question eloquently.
At the end of the running, judges Cecil Rester and Gary Lester named Utah’s Red Rock Express Champion based on a big six-find finals race. Read more
My Life as a Field Trial Reporter
My life as a field trial reporter began in 1995 when I was 57. Before that I had been a farmer (1950-1960) and a lawyer (1961-present). Reporter was by far my most satisfying profession.
Why? Because it was fantasy. It allowed me to ride horseback and watch world-class bird dogs perform and compete across beautiful hunting grounds, handled and scouted by professionals seeking perfection, then write accounts of what I had seen. What could be more fun than that? For me, nothing. Read more
The Luckiest Dog
Who was the luckiest pointing dog that ever lived?
His name was In the Shadow, call name “Buster,” and the story of his life holds many lessons and many joys. Read more
Memories Of Scotland or A Virginia Farm Boy in Prince Albert’s Butts
These are memories of a magic shooting week in Scotland, September 6-12, 1987. To prevent “hunting back”, the names of the places and the players will not appear.
Read more
Ted Baker
On behalf of the family, thanks to all of you for being here. Today’s display of love and respect means the world to those of us who Ted left behind. I’m sure he is looking down with a big smile on his face and a tear in his eye.
TED BAKER WAS NO ORDINARY MAN. Read more
Mr. Ted
I loved Ted Baker like all of us
‘Cause he loved us in spite of us
He gave us a place that was ideal
To run the Sunshine and the Florida for 60 years Read more