I reside in the town of Highgate, Vermont (in the very northwestern corner of Vermont) with my wife Vicki and four black Labrador retrievers.
I have owned and trained retrievers for hunting and testing for many years. I acquired my first retriever and began training her in 1980 and I anticipate continuing to train, hunt and campaign retrievers for many more years to come..
I began campaigning retrievers in the early years of the hunting test movement and continue to do so to as great an extent as possible given vacation time and budgetary constraints. Over the course of time, the retrievers I have owned and co-owned have achieved a total of 6 NAHRA Master Hunting Retriever titles and 4 NAHRA Grand Master Hunting Retriever titles, as well as a number of the lower level NAHRA titles. Additionally, my retrievers have been successful in the AKC Hunting Test program.
In addition to NAHRA, over the years I have participated in numerous AKC Hunting Tests, AKC Field Trials and HRC Hunts. I believe all these venues are very fine programs and intend to participate in them in the future. However, I find NAHRA to be the program I enjoy the most. To me, it seems to be the most approachable and the least pretentious, especially for the hunter. Simply put, the NAHRA Tests are the most fun.
I have been a staunch supporter of NAHRA throughout all these years, in spite of its ups and downs. In light of all of which I am deeply interested and invested in seeing NAHRA continue and to be a vibrant venue for Hunting Retrievers. I believe that with conscientious efforts NAHRA can continue to be a superior hunting retriever venue. As such I am pleased to expend considerable time and effort to help see NAHRA do well.
Sincere regards,
Bruce Butler
2957 Carter Hill Road
Swanton, VT 05488
802-578-7097 (c)