I am very happy with how the birds did from Garrison. We had good returns and I feel good about sending them to the final race this weekend. I am planning on flying the final race Saturday, October 14th. It will be 350 miles from Ovando, MT. So far the weather looks like it should be good for a race. If you are planning on coming to the final race, please send me a text or contact me in some way to let me know so we know how much food to prepare.
I am planning on doing a couple training tosses this week weather permitting. It looks stormy mid week so I will train when I can and loft fly the other days.
Congratulations to the top 3 Birds and Breeders of Race 5. The winning speed was 1382 YPM.
1st - Redtex - RDTX 91
2nd - Ryan Hess - GS 231
3rd - Flying H Ranch - RMR 23309
Here's the current official standings for High Point Bird and Average Speed
(You can now look up the points on wincompanion under results and click on points.)
Points:
1st - 752 PTS - Sam Haslem - Sam 422
2nd - 688 PTS - Wolf Den Loft - VRAR 223
3rd - 677 PTS - Fleet Washington - FLTW 2304
Average Speed:
1st - Sam Haslem - Sam 422
2nd - APC Loft - APCL 23058
3rd - Samurai Loft - WFA 3271
Thanks again for supporting Plymouth Peak Pro Challenge
Derik Alder
Once again I am surprised at how the race went, this time for the better. I wasn't expecting them home that quick. They had good strong 7-10 mph headwinds for at least 80 miles of the race course and no tailwinds. They came really good and we got almost every bird back from Melrose.
I wanted to get in a couple of training tosses before the next race, however the weather here this week isn't going to allow that. So instead I have been loft flying the birds 2 to 3 times a day in between the storms. Tomorrow is supposed to be really rainy and then starting to clear out Wednesday. So most likely I will crate the birds Wednesday, and fly Race 5 Thursday. The 5th race is 312 miles from Garrison, MT.
Congratulations to the top 3 Birds and Breeders of Race 4. The winning speed was 1425 YPM.
1st - Sklylinerpl.Com - UVI - 465
2nd - BW Loft - RMR - 23306
3rd - Blue Sierra Loft - SIER - 350
3rd - Wolf Den Loft - VRAR - 223
1st - 584 PTS - Sam Haslem - Sam 422
2nd - 479 PTS - Fleet Washington - FLEE 2304
3rd - 478 PTS - Wolf Den Loft - VRAR 223
3rd - APC Loft - APCL 23076
It's the last chance to enter the additional race options.
3PC 2nd Chance - $300.
Colored Birds - $200.
Here is a tentative race schedule for the last two races:
Race 5 - Thursday/Friday October 5th or 6th
Final Race 6 - Friday/Saturday October 13th or 14th
Thanks again for supporting Plymouth Peak
Wincom froze at bird 50, we got it fixed but it put position 114 at 52. We have to unhook the clock to download the file and obviously we don't want to do that while there are still birds clocking. So we will upload birds 51 - 113 in a little while. There are currently 124 Birds in the clock.
Thanks for your patience
I have decided to fly the 4th race which will be 250 miles from Melrose, MT on Thursday, September 28th. The birds look great.
Here is the payout for 2023:
250 Mile Race Melrose, MT (Trapping Order)
1st - $500
2nd - 10th - $300
312 Mile Race Garrison, MT (Trapping Order)
1st - $2310
2nd - $1680
3rd - $1470
4th - $1050
5th - $945
6th - $840
7th - $630
8th - $525
9th - $525
10th - $525
350 Mile Race Ovando, MT (Pays 1st Drop Only, then clocking order)
1st - $5600 + $1000 to 1st bird to trap
2nd - $4000
3rd - $2700
4th - $2000
5th - $1700
6th - $1500
7th - $1200
8th - $1100
9th - $975
10th - $850
11th - $700
12th - $650
13th - $600
14th - $550
15th - $500
16th - $450
17th - $400
18th - $375
19th - $350
20th - $300
High Point Bird
1st - $3000
2nd - $2700
3rd - $2500
4th - $1800
5th - $1200
6th - $600
7th - $500
8th - $355
Champion Breeder - $1000
Average Speed
1st - $750
2nd - $450
3rd - $300
Colored Bird
1st - $595
2nd - $357
3rd - $238
3PC 2nd Chance
2nd - $300
3rd - $200
Good Luck to everyone!
That was a brutal tough race, and I am sorry for the way it turned out. I really feel bad for those of you who's birds didn't make it back. It makes me sick. The birds looked and felt great going into the crate. I don't regret turning them loose. Everything else was great for racing, unfortunately they just took the long way home, and Montana's mountainous landscape is very rugged, and unforgiving. It takes everything that makes these birds great to get back home. Especially when a lot of them came back from the South. On top of everything the headwind they flew home in changed to a tailwind late in the day and brough in a storm. So all the birds coming back from the south came home in a headwind. It also stormed the day after the race and off and on all day today. So the weather hasn't helped us get the lost birds back by any means. As for the birds that are here, I would say 95% of them look and act great, and a few show how hard they flew.
So as of right now, the earliest I would do race 4 would be next Wednesday. I want to give the birds ample time to rest and recover as well as get in a training toss or two. As for training, the weather here is going to be stormy the next couple of days, so I am planning on doing a training toss on Saturday.
Congratulations to the top 3 Birds and Breeders of Race 3.They win a Free Perch Fee for 2024.The winning speed was 1203 YPM.
1st - ARPL - BUD 1039
3rd - ARPL - BUD 1041
Here's the current unofficial standings for top 3 point birds and average speed: (I have the points added up on a spreadsheet, which makes them unofficial due to me possibly making a mistake. Terry will have the official points from wincompanion.)
1st - 382 PTS - Sam Haslem - Sam 422
2nd - 325 PTS - Fleet Washington - FLEE 2304
3rd - 319 PTS - ARPL - BUD 1041
3rd - Christopher Loft - RMR 23911
I will try and post the payout before the 4th race once all checks clear and money is accounted for.
It's still not too late to enter the additional race options.
3PC 2nd Chance - $275 after 3rd race, and $300 after 4th race which is the last chance to pay a bird into this option.
Colored Birds - $175 after 3rd race, and $200 after 4th race which is the last chance to pay a bird into the colored race.
Here is a tentative race schedule for the next few races:
Race 4 - Wednesday/Thursday September 27th or 28th
Race 5 - Wednesday/Thursday October 4th or 5th
The clock is still on and working. Normally I would say, I have no idea what happened on a race like today, however this time I have a pretty good idea. Red Rock, MT is in a big valley. We always release on the east side of that valley because ideally the birds need to stay to the east to hit the pass at Lima, MT to come up and over and drop back down into Spencer and across the Snake River Plains. The release went perfect. The birds didn't even circle, they disappeared straight south and east, but I was able to catch up to them about 10 miles to the south and the whole flock had crossed the freeway and were hugging the mountains clear to the west. There's a couple big canyons that way and if they go that way, it's a long rough way home. They missed the first one, and I watched them until the terrain made it impossible to see them. So I am guessing they flew west into the second big canyon. The weather was just what it was calling for which was slight headwinds 5-7 mph on and off the whole racecourse.
I fed them for a tough race because of the headwinds being called for. So they should have enough groceries to get them back. There was a group of 5 birds that came back from the south. That's all the information I have. So hopefully we will eventually get most of them back. Good Luck to everyone.
Hoping for the best,
Due to forcasted chance of storms and high head winds on Tuesday, I have decided to fly the 3rd Race 200 miles from Red Rock, MT tomorrow.
Good Luck To All!!
Thanks
The 2nd race went really well. Again it was a little slower tougher race than I expected, but the birds did great and we got almost all of them back.
The winning speed was 1372 YPM. Congratulations to the top 3 Birds and Breeders of Race 2. They win a Free Perch Fee for 2024:
1st - Stealth Loft - STLH 633
2nd - Blue Sierra - GROS 17
3rd - Redtex - RDTX 91
Most of the entry fees have been collected, and some checks are still in the mail. If I haven't verified payment from you, please do so ASAP. Any birds with entry fees not paid for before the 3rd race will NOT go to the race. I will try and post the payout before the 4th race once all checks clear and money is accounted for.
Entry Fee - $300
3PC 2nd Chance - $225 after 2nd race, $275 after 3rd race, and $300 after 4th race which is the last chance to pay a bird into this option.
Colored Birds - $125 after 2nd race, $175 after 3rd race, and $200 after 4th race which is the last chance to pay a bird into the colored race.
I plan to train at least twice before the 3rd race. The birds look great so I plan on hauling them Thursday either 45 or 55 miles.
Race 3 - Tuesday September 19th
Race 4 - Wednesday September 27th
Final Race 6 - Friday October 13th
The 1st race ended up being a tougher one than expected. Luckily most of the birds found their way home. As racers we never fully know what happens when something doesn't go as planned, but that's part of racing pigeons.
The winning speed was 1305 YPM. So it wasn't an easy race by no means, and the top birds deserve recognition. Congratulations to the top 3 Birds and Breeders of Race 1. They win a Free Perch Fee for 2024:
1st - ARPL - BUD 1041 BB
2nd - Silicon Valley Syndicate - SVS 23046 BBPN
3rd - Rick Barker - VIP 619 BB
3rd - APC Loft - APCL 23024 BB
3rd - Blue Sierra Loft - GROS 22 BB
Entry Fees are now due. Rest assured I went through all the later birds and they look and feel good. I am going to haul the birds 35 miles tomorrow, and the only birds I am leaving home are the ones that came home this morning. If all goes well tomorrow, I will haul all the birds 45 miles on Saturday. Rest Sunday and fly Race 2 on Monday. I will watch the birds close on the training tosses to make sure they're not being pushed too hard.
3PC 2nd Chance - $200 if paid prior to the second race. $225 after 2nd race, $275 after 3rd race, and $300 after 4th race which is the last chance to pay a bird into this option.
Colored Birds - $100 if paid prior to second race. $125 after 2nd race, $175 after 3rd race, and $200 after 4th race which is the last chance to pay a bird into the colored race.
Tomorrow is looking good for a race with mostly sunny skies and slight head winds along most of the course.
Here are the birds that qualify for the colored race:
CDR 3435
Wick 2316, 2322
WFA 3246, 3272
UVI 373
VITA 2676, 2677, 2681
APC 23036, 23055, 23074, 23092
JEDD 35402, 39942
BIEC 3125
RMR 23600
CHSN 304
AA 430, 431
Good Luck To All!