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4H Field Trial this weekend 10/29 shoot to retrieve also features food and silent auction

Dan Lovelace and his German Shorthair Pointer, Dot

Spectators invited to 4-H club’s shoot-to-retieve fun field trial Saturday

The public is invited to watch the fall Botetourt 4-H Shoot-To-Retrieve Fun Field Trial Saturday, October 29 at Juniper Valley Shooting Preserve, Troutville.

Pointing bird dogs and their owners will run their pointing bird dogs in the judged trial that will be held on part of an 8-acre field that is established as pollinator/quail habitat.

Spectators will be able to watch the dogs/handlers from a gallery area a safe distance from the field.

The dogs/hunters will be judged on a simple point system that includes points, shooting and retrieving on three released quail during 20-minute hunt sessions for each dog.

There is no fee for spectators, who are welcome throughout the day. The first dog/hunter goes in the field at 8:30 a.m.

Breakfast and lunch will be available, and there will be a Silent Auction during the event.

The event is a fundraiser for the Botetourt 4-H Shooting Education and Hunting Skills Club and is sponsored in cooperation with the Botetourt Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Joel Hoeffner-Mossy Oaks Properties Land and Realty, and the Rockbridge Area Quail Forever Chapter.

The shooting preserve is located at 485 Juniper Valley Lane, Troutville.

For more information about the trial, to enter a dog, and/or to get a flyer with details about the field trial, call Ed McCoy at 540-339-0622 or email botetourt4Hshootinged@gmail.com.

–Ed McCoy