Hall of Fame Inductee
Hankins, Clifton
Year Inducted : 2023
Tim Baker, Chad Betts, Jim Schooley, Jess Sekey, Tom Ness, Donny & Lisa Pyle, Alan Young, Art Rogers, David Scott, and John Burke Phillps are just a few of the people that Clifton Hankins has brought into English Springer Spaniel field trials. The Rocky Mountain English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Club and Oklahoma City English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Club were both organized and formed by Clifton. He also formed a club in Amarillo, Texas that ultimately failed after moving to Oklahoma in 1973. Through selective breeding, he always tried to improve the ESS breed and did not allow field spaniels to be cross bred with bench/show spaniels. Clifton has hunted pheasants, dove, quail, wild chuckers, sage grouse, sharptail grouse, greater prairie chickens, Hungarian partridge, ducks, and geese in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. Now at 89 years of age, he no longer trains or owns English Springer Spaniels. However, he still continues to teach new handlers, attends trials, and stays as active in the ESS world as he can.
