NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/440846
spring, when they were out for a walk in the country, Pearl ran in front of a vehicle and was hit, but escaped with only minor injuries. Williams guesses she took off chasing a turkey, the only thing she won't hold steady for. But she came close to winning it all again last fall at the national trial in Pennsylvania. "I thought for a while we had chance of repeating, but in the fifth series things kind of fell apart ," he said. "So it didn't come to pass, but we had fun." It's About the Dogs Williams has fun with all of his dogs. Two dogs already share time with Pearl in the field: Peddi, a 4-year-old female, and Ori, a 1½-year-old male whose bloodlines go back to Zeke and Pearl's father. Neither is ready for field trials, but Peddi is close. He figures having dogs is why he still hunts pheasants, quail and other upland birds. Growing up, he was one of about eight boys in Crete who hunted together, for whom opening day of pheasant season was like Christmas morning, maybe better. As far as he knows, Williams said he's the only one who still hunts. It could be family and other committments and interests got in the way. But Williams wonders if it is because none of them ever had dogs. "It's the dog that takes you hunting," Williams said. "Once you don't have one, you think, 'I don't know. It's cold out there. I don't think I'll go today.'" And since he's begun field trialing, he's met a whole new set of friends that have afforded an assortment of travel opportunities for their Airstream. He and Nancy have made trips to California and up the west coast to Oregon and Washington the last two years to visit friends and family and go to trials. Williams has hunted across the country with people he's met at trials, including a recent trip to chase Mearn's quail near the Mexican border in Arizona, and, on the way back from the 2013 national trial, a 400-mile detour to hunt woodcock in northern Michigan. "It's funny how your life turns on these events," he said of the circumstances that sent him home with Zeke. "But I think that going up and getting that dog basically changed my whole life in terms of the fact that almost of the people I hang out with now stem from the fact that I got that dog." A little dog. But one that could hunt. ■ JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2015 • NEBRASKAland 41 While a rooster may seem larger than Pearl, she has no trouble retrieving them through the tall grass.