Monday, November 14, 2005 |
The supper last night at Bob's Bar B Que had been a rousing success. The food was excellent and the hospitality outstanding. However, reality returned Monday as wake up calls arrived.
It was dark, mild and cloudy at 6 a.m.as early participants travelled back to the Cooper Black Area Temperatures were in the 50's with another day in the 70's predicted. Five dogs were left to run the combined first and second series. Once on site, a light mist hung over the field. Also, dog # 67 who had been dropped Sunday was back in the running. (was called in for a rerun and found the bird on the way back) Therefore there were 6 left dogs to run.
A single test dog was called to line at 6:42 a.m (Mindy and Candy). After, a low fog rolled in partially obscuring the left mark. Judges decided to wait until the rising sun burned it off. About 20 minutes later, the first running dog, #2 came to line at 7:15 a.m. - only to receive a no bird, as did the next dog. Once adjusted, the remaining dogs completed the combined series. The results were similar to the previous morning as 3 of the 6 (50%) handled on the left mark.
Callbacks came quickly and only 6 dogs had been lost. They were: 9, 13, 16, 18, 33, and 36 .Seventy-four remained in contention.
A caravan was organized for the next site an short way down the road. Gunners were stationed in the field and the site ready as the caravan arrived. The third series was a land/water triple.The line tent faced two lobes of water that terminated on the right. A gravel road ran between them and turned to the left, paralleling the farther lobe.Grassy terrain rolled down from the line toward the water. It rose upward again from the ponds. To the right lay a swale with a strip of bushes and higher cover running parallel to the line.
It was dark, mild and cloudy at 6 a.m.as early participants travelled back to the Cooper Black Area Temperatures were in the 50's with another day in the 70's predicted. Five dogs were left to run the combined first and second series. Once on site, a light mist hung over the field. Also, dog # 67 who had been dropped Sunday was back in the running. (was called in for a rerun and found the bird on the way back) Therefore there were 6 left dogs to run.
A single test dog was called to line at 6:42 a.m (Mindy and Candy). After, a low fog rolled in partially obscuring the left mark. Judges decided to wait until the rising sun burned it off. About 20 minutes later, the first running dog, #2 came to line at 7:15 a.m. - only to receive a no bird, as did the next dog. Once adjusted, the remaining dogs completed the combined series. The results were similar to the previous morning as 3 of the 6 (50%) handled on the left mark.
Callbacks came quickly and only 6 dogs had been lost. They were: 9, 13, 16, 18, 33, and 36 .Seventy-four remained in contention.
A caravan was organized for the next site an short way down the road. Gunners were stationed in the field and the site ready as the caravan arrived. The third series was a land/water triple.The line tent faced two lobes of water that terminated on the right. A gravel road ran between them and turned to the left, paralleling the farther lobe.Grassy terrain rolled down from the line toward the water. It rose upward again from the ponds. To the right lay a swale with a strip of bushes and higher cover running parallel to the line.
Test 3 left
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Test 3 right - Flyer guns
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A trio of gun stations were positioned around the right end of the water area. The left pair was across the second water on the shore. At first they threw a dead duck across the road to the right. After the first test dog judges moved them to across the road. There they threw the duck slightly in to the left where it landed on the shore, 155 yds from line. A second station was located at the top of the bushy strip. They threw a dead rooster to the left that landed in the bushes about 165 yards away. A short distance to the right of the line, another group shot a flying duck angled back to the left. If fell only about 75 yards from line.The order was: left, middle, right. As the dog was sent for the flyer, the other two guns retired.
The first test team, ,Early and Zoom came to line at 8:50 a.m. and pinned each bird. It was after that, judges deliberated and moved the left mark.. The second team of Mindy and Candy did well on the test also. It took about 6-7 MPD to complete
At t 9:27 a.m., dog 27 initiated the water triple.
Although the series looked relatively bland-it was deceptive. The middle bird proved challenging for several reasons. If dogs blew through a space in the bushy strip they could drive up the hill behind and hunt there. After recovering a freshly shot duck, perhaps they were looking for another . The pheasant was harder to scent also and lay downwind at times. A few passed the strip, winded the left gunner stations and recovered that one first. Of those, some hunted the middle mark before switching to the left mark. A few handlers sent for the middle mark twice before recovering it.
To open the marks, some handlers took the outside birds first. That was successful in many cases, but a few drove up the hill between the left and middle mark. Some hunted their way back while others handled.
As the test progressed, there would be small clusters of rough work followed a stretch of excellent jobs. Again, the test could not be completed by dusk and was suspended at 5:18 after dog 12 returned to line.To this point there were 17 handles and/or pick ups- also some of the handles were second ones. There are 11 dogs left to run in the morning. There will be one test dog run at 6:45 a.m. with the first running dog, #14 running shortly thereafter. A water blind is rumored to follow test 3.
The first test team, ,Early and Zoom came to line at 8:50 a.m. and pinned each bird. It was after that, judges deliberated and moved the left mark.. The second team of Mindy and Candy did well on the test also. It took about 6-7 MPD to complete
At t 9:27 a.m., dog 27 initiated the water triple.
Although the series looked relatively bland-it was deceptive. The middle bird proved challenging for several reasons. If dogs blew through a space in the bushy strip they could drive up the hill behind and hunt there. After recovering a freshly shot duck, perhaps they were looking for another . The pheasant was harder to scent also and lay downwind at times. A few passed the strip, winded the left gunner stations and recovered that one first. Of those, some hunted the middle mark before switching to the left mark. A few handlers sent for the middle mark twice before recovering it.
To open the marks, some handlers took the outside birds first. That was successful in many cases, but a few drove up the hill between the left and middle mark. Some hunted their way back while others handled.
As the test progressed, there would be small clusters of rough work followed a stretch of excellent jobs. Again, the test could not be completed by dusk and was suspended at 5:18 after dog 12 returned to line.To this point there were 17 handles and/or pick ups- also some of the handles were second ones. There are 11 dogs left to run in the morning. There will be one test dog run at 6:45 a.m. with the first running dog, #14 running shortly thereafter. A water blind is rumored to follow test 3.
Judges, L to R: Laura Parrott, Albert Cope, Mary Ahlgren
Dave Mosher - Strategy Planning Session
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The "Mad" Lunch Truck
Gallery - Test 3
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