When Baldwin County resident Ashley Ammons learned about Alabama Black Belt Adventures’ Best Sporting Dog Photo Contest, she immediately knew the photo she wanted to submit.

The photo – showing Fancy, Ammons’ Boykin spaniel, carrying a pheasant during a pheasant shoot sponsored by the Central Alabama Shooting Dog Association (CASDA) in the heart of Alabama’s Black Belt – impressed online voters in the contest, garnering nearly 750 votes to win.

“It’s always stood out to me,” Ammons said, “with the color of the pheasant and how she’s showing the proper way of carrying it and the way it focuses on her.”

Ammons will receive a prize package valued at $185, including a Filson shelter cloth dog coat, including monogramming, designed for upland bird and small game hunting and a copy of “Black Belt Bounty,” an award-winning coffee table book filled with wildlife photography and artwork, stories by award-winning writers and wild game recipes.

Ammons said she and her husband routinely travel to the Black Belt to visit family, including an annual fall visit to take part in a CASDA pheasant shoot each November. She often snaps photos of the dogs working, and that’s how she shot the winning photo of Fancy. “It’s a fun thing to bring your dog to train and do what they love to do,” Ammons said.

That’s precisely the sentiment that the Best Sporting Dog Photo Contest is designed to celebrate, said Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association director Pam Swanner.

“It’s heartwarming to see the amazing bond that exists between dog and owner,” Swanner said. “We received dozens of entries and thousands of online votes in the contest, and we appreciate everyone who entered and everyone who voted. We’re proud that our Best Sporting Dog Photo Contest places so many canine companions in the spotlight because they help make lifelong memories, both in the field and at home.”

The Black Belt consists of Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Russell, Sumter, Tuscaloosa and Wilcox counties.

The winning photo in the Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association’s Best Sporting Dog Photo Contest shows Fancy, a Boykin spaniel owned by Baldwin County resident Ashley Ammons, carrying a pheasant during a pheasant shoot sponsored by the Central Alabama Shooting Dog Association in the heart of Alabama’s Black Belt. (Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association)