With the weather we have coming this week we feel tomorrow will be the best day for the activation race.  This decision was made at 4:00 pm today after spending the early afternoon studying the weather for here at the loft as well as along the course.  Monday was the day I wanted to do the activation, but there is rain at the release point on Monday.  After that we have 2 days of rain here at the loft and then 2 days of 15-20 mph strong wind days.  The birds have had 22 training tosses and have had a lot of time on the wing.  

We hope to release by 7:30 am.  If the weather is questionable or we have to hold the birds due to fog then the activation race will be cancelled, and the birds brought back.
Good Luck to everyone and let's hope for a good trainer tomorrow. 

On another note, Congratulations to our friends at Hi-Cal Connection & Two-Be-Won for having a great finish in the AfrikaPro Race. 

Congratulations to all the top finishers!

Good Morning,

Birds were taken back to 70 miles today however the fog again is very dense. Jim is bringing the birds back to 46 miles. Once it clears up we will post the time of release. We are  also watching the weather closely for having the activation race next week. 

Have a great weekend 

Birds were loaded this morning with hopes of getting them down the road training.  As of 9:00 am this morning we have very gloomy skies, with light drizzle and visibility is very poor.  

We have decided to let the birds off the trailer to loft fly and get some exercise.  We will load again in the morning and expect to be able to train tomorrow as the weather looks much much better. 

Good Morning,
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We have fog here this morning with mostly cloudy skies. There will be no training today. We are watching the weather for our next opportunity to train. They are calling for rain the next two days.  We will continue to monitor the weather. 
 
We have been reaching out to Blue Chip Casino regarding the date change & room rates.  
After making a trip to the hotel to get a response we were told they would be in contact by Monday with an update. The director there had several events going on this week through the weekend and did not have time to discuss.  We are working on it though to get everyone that had rooms booked rescheduled.  

The birds were loaded this morning starting at 3:30 am.  There has been complete cloud cover since daylight has hit and does not seem like it is going to change.  At this point we feel that it is better to let the birds off the trailer to loft fly than to have them sitting on the trailer with what looks to be like no chance of the sun coming out.

We are disappointed with the weather this morning and will load again tomorrow. 

Our goal is to resume training Monday however they are now calling for rain both Monday & Tuesday.  hopefully this changes.  At this point I feel it is in the best interest of the birds to Post Pone the Final Race by one week.  We had a late start due to high temperatures in late July, early August.  Now with days off due to Dove Season, the birds will need to be eased back into training.  I do not want to rush training only to lose a bunch of birds after activation.  I have been fighting this decision for a few days and it has not been easy.  We always want to give the birds the best opportunities to compete as well as the best for all of our breeders. We apologize for any inconvenience to our friends that have made plans or purchased airfare. 
I hope everyone understands the reasoning behind this decision.

Date Changes Will Be As Follows:

Saturday October 22nd - Ganus Family Auction at Ganus Hunting Lodge

Sunday October 23rd - Shipping at the Hoosier Loft, Live Auction of America's Dream Loft & Friends,
Banquet Dinner will be held at the Hoosier Loft

Monday October 24th - Final Race (weather permitting) 365 Miles

We will begin working with local hotels on Tuesday to see if we will be able to get group rates for those that would still like to come for the race.  

We did not train yesterday or today due to dove season starting.  We will resume training Monday or Tuesday.  Birds have been trained 16 times and as far as 40 miles.  
The birds will start back at 30 miles and then they will start jumping out from there.  Trailers are being cleaned today and birds will be given a bath.

Have a great weekend

We will resume training Wednesday this week.  We thought the birds needed some rest after Sunday's training.  We also had bad storms come through mid-afternoon today and tomorrow we are expected to have high winds.  
This past weekend the birds have gotten themselves into some trouble as we have seen multiple injuries.  On both Saturday & Sunday we had hawks visiting while birds were arriving home as well.  Sunday they just wouldn't give up.  We did not witness any attacks however they had the birds very scared.  Late arrivals from Sunday as well as the birds that returned today are being trapped into separate sections and the birds are being evaluated for injuries or just needing some additional TLC.  Owners of injured birds have been notified this afternoon and will be removed from the race.  

The birds were released a little later this morning due to some heavy fog that was lingering at the loft.  
During the end of July we had a set back with training due to some extremely hot weather.  Although weather is good now, we do not plan on rushing the birds down the road to make up for lost time.  We will get there, and thank you to everyone for your patience.  The health of the birds is very good and birds are starting to train nicely.  We will be back at 13 miles again tomorrow.  We are also monitoring the weather for Saturday, Sunday, & Monday as they are calling for rain in our area all 3 days.  We think the way the weather patterns look that we might be able to train 2 of those 3 days.  

On another note, our friends Big Andy & Mark Mourton are still accepting birds.  Big Andy until the end of August and Mark Mourton until September 16th.  If you have some extra late hatches send them to these races and have some fun in the spring.  

We would also like to Congratulate the Florida Pigeon Derby on a very successful intake period.  I had the pleasure to meet Ioris Brito twice in Las Vegas at the iPigeon Gala.  We wish you a very healthy and successful racing season!  Great Job.  And Good Luck to all the other One Loft Races that will soon be getting underway for the actual races.  

Birds were taken 5 miles today and came home nicely.  The birds rushed into the loft as we have been working on changing their schedule to have them clock right away.  It seems to have worked today, and we believe there are birds that may have jumped the antennas going into the loft.  We do have some birds outside still that are being a little stubborn also.  We do not want to stress the birds out by chasing them back out to run over the antennas again.   We know this is frustrating for fanciers that may be showing a missing bird.  It is also frustrating for us because we have modified the traps several times to try to slow them down.  When they are determined to get back in though they find ways to bombard the traps.