Pine Hill Trapshooter

September 1995 to September 2005

     Marty Zukovich of Pine Hill Setters and Zukovich Game Birds in Tamaqua, PA had the untimely duty today of laying to rest his great champion and more importantly companion and best friend CH Pin Hill Trapshooter.  "Trapper" was the anchor of Marty's string for many years and his pride and joy.  He was purchased from Peter Ecker of Hazelton at the age of 7 weeks and brought to the Zukovich farm.  Sired by horseback CH Alabama Trip out of Peter's very attractive female Laureldale Freckles, he was a member of a great tribe of puppies that included his brother CH Nikki's Jessie James who just this spring had won his third championship placement himself at nearly ten years of age.

     When "Trapper" came to the farm he had the run of the place.  Marty ran him often in the fields and valley that his home overlooks.  He grew up fast and learned to find the grouse, woodcock, and occasional released birds that inhabit the Zukovich homestead.  As time progressed Marty got him broke on the farm and it didn't take much.  From there he came on the field trial scene and became the symbol of the powerful bird dog that embodies the field trial aspiration.  Growing to become a veritable specimen of muscle and sinew, the boy could flat out run.  I've not seen many, if any myself that ran with the sheer power, drive and flat speed that "Trapper" was blessed with.  It was simply amazing.  Lest you think he was running afoul, not hunting like the slower less gifted type in front of you, think again.  Countless times you would watch him from afar barreling through the cover or down a field like a runaway freight train only to see him swap ends as if he literally hit a brick wall.  If you saw it you had to stop and think about what you just saw.  It was so fast it was as if you just witnessed an illusion.  And who knows how many times he was found on point with a bird pinned neatly and skid marks in the dirt at his feet.  He simply did it and did it in overdrive at every step.

     Luckily he was able to prove this to the public with three shining championship wins.  "Trapper" could handle all game; grouse, quail, pheasants.  But it was probably the woodcock around the farm that inspired him from the start and he was one of the greatest woodcock dogs I ever saw.  In his three championship placements (WI Cover Dog CH, North Eastern Woodcock CH, and North Eastern Woodcock RU-CH) "Trapper" didn't just win, he administered performances that left no doubt who had won.  No other proof of this is needed other than  in three consecutive years running the North Eastern Woodcock CH.  In those three years he finished all three hours with tow Championship placements and seven woodcock finds.  Think about that a moment, seven finds in three hours in September at the Arcadia Wildlife Management Area!  And to prove there was no affliction with solely those grounds he traveled far and won the Wisconsin Cover Dog CH with a performance that the judges said left them contemplating naming no runner-up.  "Trapper" simply had the sixth sense were woodcock were to he found that you occasionally hear about.  Whether he could smell the sweet soil that woodcock love or he recognized the aspen, alders, thickets and briars that woodcock will haunt, he just migrated to them like a magnet.  Couple this with being such a physically gifted athlete made for those so many memorable performances.  SO long buddy, we'll be talking about you for a very long time.

Craig Peters