Information about the Chattanooga FT 5/15-17

[K G]

Went up to our grounds last Thursday afternoon and scouted areas that we'd want the land manager to bushhog prior to the trial. 'Course, it then poured rain last Friday and Saturday night....:rolleyes:

Went back up yesterday to meet with the grounds manager to look at what we wanted cut; some of it is in areas that are too wet to get in with a tractor....some of the roads are still VERY wet with mud....most roads are in very good shape but some of the traditional "short cuts" we've used to get around are too wet to have ANY vehicles on.

The sun is shining beautifully today and is supposed to do the same tomorrow. However, there are chances of rain and thunderstorms on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (of course there are...it's a field trial weekend, right?), which means some of the dried out roads will be muddy again.

I post all of this to paraphrase what you will find printed in our catalog: DO NOT DRIVE IN FIELDS OR PLANTED AREAS. STAY ON THE ROADS; IF YOU HAVE TO DRIVE A LITTLE WAY TO TURN AROUND, DO THAT RATHER THAN BACKING INTO A WET FIELD AND GETTING STUCK. The latter will be a good way to get a TWRA ticket for destruction of state property....not to mention the trouble it will cause us with TWRA in the use of these grounds. We've been using these grounds for almost 30 years and would like to be able to use them indefinitely....

Everyone be safe in their travels, and we look forward to seeing you this weekend!

kg

[EdA]

Good Luck, I do not envy your having to put on a field trial and be a traffic cop......sometimes people do not use good judgement.......

[jeff t.]

Went up to our grounds last Thursday afternoon and scouted areas that we'd want the land manager to bushhog prior to the trial. 'Course, it then poured rain last Friday and Saturday night....:rolleyes:

Went back up yesterday to meet with the grounds manager to look at what we wanted cut; some of it is in areas that are too wet to get in with a tractor....some of the roads are still VERY wet with mud....most roads are in very good shape but some of the traditional "short cuts" we've used to get around are too wet to have ANY vehicles on.

The sun is shining beautifully today and is supposed to do the same tomorrow. However, there are chances of rain and thunderstorms on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (of course there are...it's a field trial weekend, right?), which means some of the dried out roads will be muddy again.

I post all of this to paraphrase what you will find printed in our catalog: DO NOT DRIVE IN FIELDS OR PLANTED AREAS. STAY ON THE ROADS; IF YOU HAVE TO DRIVE A LITTLE WAY TO TURN AROUND, DO THAT RATHER THAN BACKING INTO A WET FIELD AND GETTING STUCK. The latter will be a good way to get a TWRA ticket for destruction of state property....not to mention the trouble it will cause us with TWRA in the use of these grounds. We've been using these grounds for almost 30 years and would like to be able to use them indefinitely....

Everyone be safe in their travels, and we look forward to seeing you this weekend!

kg

Sounds like the cover will be high and lush!

[K G]

Good Luck, I do not envy your having to put on a field trial and be a traffic cop......sometimes people do not use good judgement.......

We've been extremely fortunate over the years, Ed. Most folks that come here have been here before and know where to go and, more importantly, where NOT to go. We also put the above announcement in the catalog AND we have signage going into the grounds saying the same things. My goal was to give folks a sort of "heads up" before they show up....:)


Sounds like the cover will be high and lush!

That is why I went up to the grounds last Thursday, Jeff. I wanted to see what we were in for when I went up to co-ordinate the cutting with the ground manager yesterday. I was especially concerned after seeing several fields on the way to the grounds that had been too wet to hay. I was very happy to see that the TWRA crew had already planted their corn and sunflower seeds, sprayed their wheat and left the stalks, soft-disked and surface planted alternating lanes of corn to provide some interesting cover changes. During March, they burned ALL of the shoreline grass for the water that we use, making it MUCH easier for judges to use and to see dogs (particularly on water blinds; intermittent trees and bushes are still there). If most of the grass that we looked at gets cut/knocked down so that it won't path and provide lanes to fall areas, that will be the icing on the cake for some world class grounds.

I just wanted everyone to be prepared to carefully navigate their vehicles on the grounds, and to have fun running this trial, the last southern trial of the spring season.;-)

See you this weekend!

kg

[K G]

Intermittent t-storms Friday and Saturday....stay on the roads..... :wink:

kg

[Jay Dufour]

Good luck all !! Have fun.