How expensive is it?

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up-hunter
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How expensive is it?

Post by up-hunter » Fri May 02, 2008 7:49 am

I have been thinking about getting into running trials. I would be almost exclusively running coverdog trials. I would already be doing this but when adding it up in my head i just don't think i make enough money right now. I was wondering how expensive is it to seriously run in trials.

thanks in advance

shags
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Re: How expensive is it?

Post by shags » Fri May 02, 2008 8:48 am

Depends if you're willing to sleep in your truck and live off breakfast bars and lukewarm coffee for a weekend :wink:
Tally gear, fuel, lodgings, food for the weekend, and entry fees. It can be done on a budget, but realize that you must make sacrifices in other areas to do it. Most amateurs have to do so, at least in my circle.

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Wagonmaster
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Re: How expensive is it?

Post by Wagonmaster » Fri May 02, 2008 9:12 am

Cover dog trialing can be the cheapest kind of trialing. Don't need a horse, trailer, ATV. Just a dog and a vehicle to haul it to suitable cover. Does not require alot of equipment either.

You can go the expensive route, haul the dogs to the Dakota's for summer training, run them off horseback there, etc. etc. Which some of the pros do. But it is really not necessary. Just fun.

Grouse Dog Guy
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Re: How expensive is it?

Post by Grouse Dog Guy » Fri May 02, 2008 9:21 am

You need a blank pistol, a good bell, gas money enough to get to Gladwin, and a nice coverdog bred English Setter or Pointer. I would suggest you go and watch a trial or two first.

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Re: How expensive is it?

Post by romeo212000 » Fri May 02, 2008 11:38 pm

Not to Hijack but I thought this thread was going to be how expensive is it to own and train and maintain a hunting dog? My response would be, "I don't want to talk about it."

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Don
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Re: How expensive is it?

Post by Don » Sat May 03, 2008 9:07 am

I read a short article by Gene Hill years ago on the cost of shooting a round of trap. Wasn't bad. He already had a shotgun, a box of shells was about $4 and a round of trap $2.50. Laid it out for the little woman that way. He forgot to mention membership to the club was $50, a new Pirazzi trap gun was $3500, he needed a vest for all the 100 straight patches he planned on getting. Needed proper shooting glasses, then a much improved trap gun came out, another $3500. Then of course there was the round of drinks after the shoot. His turn came around when everybody quit drinking beer and switched to wiskey. A new doulbe gun case for his two shotguns, and one for the new one he got while shopping for the double gun case, ect, ect, ect. So he figured that a rond of trap cost about $65,000.
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jetto
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Re: How expensive is it?

Post by jetto » Wed May 07, 2008 8:36 am

Hi Up-Hunter,
We don't do cover trials but I can say a little something about trialing on a shoe-string budget. I wrote an article for our Brittany magazine awhile back titled "Not Just a Rich Man's Sport" and it really isn't.
It does depend on what level you want to play at and how committed you are. We spent from 2005 until just last month "camping" in our full size van at field trials. Finally broke down a few weeks ago and bought a pop-up and I think I'm in heaven now at trials! LOL! Shower/pottie/stove/BED- I am in heaven now! LOL!
We do weekend trials and have traveled as far as 500 miles for a trial we really want to get to. Luckily in our area there are quite a few trials within a few hundred miles. Our goal is ultimately towards the dual dog so that's what we concentrate on. If I wanted to do classics/champioships I would have to utilize a trainer because we both work and no way can we get off during the week for those types of events.
When we first started alot of our equipment came from trialers who were selling or from raffles and watching sales at the online supply stores. And we started out at times with "less-expensive" equipment and built up as we went along.
For a regular weekend trial running one dog I would figure $80-$90 in entries for two stakes- amateur and open. Another $100-$200 for gas depending on how far from home we go. Cheaper of course if you drive a car. Tolls if you have to travel a toll road. We usually buy the Saturday night dinner if offered but often pack our breakfasts and lunches to save a few bucks. So a cheap weekend would be around $200 if you can handle tent/car/van camping. If you need a motel room- it's going to cost you for the luxury.
You will meet people from all financial backgrounds at trials. We have friends who travel in a 36 foot luxury motorhome, we have friends who tent camp, we have friends who stay in a motel at every trial. It just depends on how badly you want to trial and how much fun it is for you. If you go with the mindset of having a good time with people who have similar interests and watching your dogs have a good time- the things you give up in order to do it are well worth it IMO. People would laugh sometimes when they realized we were "van-camping" but then you would hear "oh yeah, when we first started we slept in the back of the truck that had a topper on it" or "oh yeah we pitched a tent the first few years we trialed". Everyone starts somewhere and most of us don't have the means to have that big motorhome or camper at least to start out in.
We wouldn't give it up now unless forced to. Granted the pop-up even as modest as that type of camping is- has been a great addition but our dogs still got in the placements even when we were van-camping, lol...Dogs didn't care- as long as they got to run and find birds. Kristi

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Re: How expensive is it?

Post by TrueBlu Shorthairs » Wed May 07, 2008 10:49 am

My EX WIFE, notice I said EX, called my first Field Champion, "our $500,000 birddog". With trailer, horses, training, new house to keep horses and many dogs, etc. etc. it was probably the only thing she was ever right about.

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Re: How expensive is it?

Post by BigShooter » Wed May 07, 2008 11:54 am

From cover trials to the big time what is a person getting into..... I know a pretty well known trialer. Once upon a time he got a darn good wirehair and started training and trialing. The short story is he started with a small house and two cars and progressed to: the Jeep Wagoneer, the new home with two outbuildings & 6 acres on the edge of town, the 6 kennel runs with elevated houses, the e-collars, the starter pistol, the remote releases, underground fencing, the horse trailer, the two Tennessee Walkers, saddles, bridles, corral and pasture fencing, the new 3/4 ton Diesel Suburban with the towing package, another wirehair, two EPs, a GSP bitch, a litter, kept two pups, sent one to be professionally trained at $450 - $600 per month, entry fees, travel including airfare at times, motels, whiskey, vet bills, animal feed, artificial insemination, a Remington MOdel 11, an 870 & an early Franchi in soft-sided cases to a well stocked safe, from skeet to sporting clays to local, national and international competition ... all because he liked to hunt and bought his very own first darn good gun dog. :D
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WiskeyJaR
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Re: How expensive is it?

Post by WiskeyJaR » Wed May 07, 2008 12:12 pm


From cover trials to the big time what is a person getting into..... I know a pretty well known trialer. Once upon a time he got a darn good wirehair and started training and trialing. The short story is he started with a small house and two cars and progressed to: the Jeep Wagoneer, the new home with two outbuildings & 6 acres on the edge of town, the 6 kennel runs with elevated houses, the e-collars, the starter pistol, the remote releases, underground fencing, the horse trailer, the two Tennessee Walkers, saddles, bridles, corral and pasture fencing, the new 3/4 ton Diesel Suburban with the towing package, another wirehair, two EPs, a GSP bitch, a litter, kept two pups, sent one to be professionally trained at $450 - $600 per month, entry fees, travel including airfare at times, motels, whiskey, vet bills, animal feed, artificial insemination, a Remington MOdel 11, an 870 & an early Franchi in soft-sided cases to a well stocked safe, from skeet to sporting clays to local, national and international competition ... all because he liked to hunt and bought his very own first darn good gun dog. :D
(looks over at his frist pup and the new shotgun he just bought and wonders if he needs a better paying job)..... :roll:

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2britts
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Re: How expensive is it?

Post by 2britts » Wed May 07, 2008 1:51 pm

I started with 2 dogs what am I in for??

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