This Week’s Wingshooting USA – Finished Ugly Dogs

Scrub is one of the “ugly dogs” starring this week on Wingshooting USA. Photo: Nancy Anisfield

Scottlindenoutdoors.com

South Dakota --(Ammoland.com)- This week on Scott Linden’s Wingshooting USA, two “finished” dogs of the ugly persuasion (their owners’ descriptions) scour a Georgia quail plantation, demonstrating textbook points, steadiness and retrieving skills.

A German Wirehaired Pointer and German Shorthair hunt alone and together at Quail Country Plantation, putting on a demonstration worthy of any field trial.

“Ugly dogs” are so-named by their aficionados, comprising most of the versatile breeds. They formed the philosophical basis for Terry Wilson’s Ugly Dog Hunting Co., an online and catalog retailer. Wilson invited Linden (also an ugly dog owner) and his crew to help tune up his dog for an upcoming championship hunting test. He brought along a fellow ugly dog owner and hunt test judge, Tim Clarke, and a few friends.

The show’s “TruckVault Cares … for conservation, canines & kids” initiative has attracted over 54,000 votes and 160,000 site visits from as far away as New Zealand, Italy and Qatar. Groups benefiting from the year-long effort include Ruffed Grouse Society; Gun Dog Rescue groups, International Hunter Education Association, North American Grouse Partnership and the AKC-Canine Health Foundation. Every vote sends a proportional amount of the prize fund to the group’s treasury.

Besides sharing in the funds raised, host-creator Scott Linden says all groups benefit from heightened public awareness of their work.

Currently, the AKC Canine Health Foundation leads in voting having just surpassed the 24,000 vote mark. Second place is occupied by the Scholastic Clay Target Program. Through television commercials and in-show features, Wingshooting USA viewers are educated to each group’s mission and urged to vote online for their favorite group. Members can also use social media to “get out the vote,” sending additional voters to the site to raise more funds. Each group is represented at the site by a Labrador puppy; voting is tracked by adding kibble to each puppy’s food bowl. For more information or to vote, go to www.truckvaultcares.com.

Wingshooting USA is the official TV series of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. It airs on Pursuit Channel and four other networks nationwide.