Under a cool blue sky that enveloped 2,400 acres of gold-tinged land in Bovina, the hum of a distant four-wheeler was the only thing that broke the silence as 98 of the finest hunting dogs in the world eagerly waited to prove their worth. Equally anxious trainers walked them to blinds throughout the mass of land.
The scene was just one panorama of the weeklong National Retriever Club’s National Retriever Championship held in Warren County last week. Described by many as the Kentucky Derby of dog shows, the NRC pits the most accomplished hunting dogs from across the globe against each other in a 10-series field trial competition that lasts seven days. The dogs are tasked with five tests on land and five on water, sometimes running distances of up to 300 yards to search for downed pheasants, while judges watch to determine which dog-trainer pairings move on and which are eliminated.
“This is the best 98 dogs in the country,” traffic committee chairman Dave Kress said. “In order to be here, you don’t just pay the entry fee. You have to be qualified. That means that you’ve won a trial and gotten two other points. That’s not easy to come by. You have to be a winner to be here.”
Fox News, ESPN and Governor Phil Bryant were but a couple of the distinguished guests to travel to Bovina for the event, which crowned a winner Saturday.
Warren County has hosted what field chairman Mitch Patterson called “the Super Bowl, Game Seven of the World Series and the NBA Championship all in one” once before in 2010. The event was such a success the organization decided to come back again this year.
“There’s four different regions, so every fourth year is our region(’s turn to host), which is the Midwest Region,” Patterson said. “This is the second time we’ve come to Vicksburg with the National and it’s a great place. Beautiful grounds, great people who just open their arms to us. They’re not even really field trial people, but they’ll just open their arms to us.”
Vicksburg native and restaurant owner Rowdy Nosser helped spark the NRC’s interest in Warren County when he gave them contacts and showed them property after the organization reached out to him. The NRC eventually chose the private property of Ronnie Lampkin, which is where the 2014 National Retriever Championship was held.
Despite being an integral part in bringing an enormous economic and tourist boom to the area, Nosser was humble in his involvement. A member of Vicksburg’s ad hoc recreation committee, Nosser cited other hunting dog enthusiasts that live in the area as the vital reason why Warren County was able to land an event of this magnitude.
“Tommy Weeks, Kimble Slayton and Hunter Fordice, those kind of people are what’s making this kind of stuff happen,” Nosser said. “I just happened to be the catalyst and the steward in the public’s eye that had his dog. People knew me by my dog. They didn’t know who Rowdy Nosser was.” Nosser owns a champion hunting dog and participates in a different set of field trials to those of the NRC.

As the competition was slowly whittled down and trainers packed up their trailers to head back home, Nosser reflected on the event and its impact on the community. Under a sun-splashed sky, the lifelong Vicksburg native reflected on the National Retriever Championship and what it means to the place he’s always called home.
“I approach this as an economic development tool for Vicksburg. That was my vision,” Nosser said.
“I’m just happy that I was in a place where I could help my hometown and give back to it by bringing something this big to Warren County.”