Saturday, June 21, 2003 |
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Test 9 - Land Triple with Two Retired Guns
Morning arrived much cooler than the previous day. There was frost on car windows and grass. Patches of frosty haze hung in low areas. It was partly cloudy, in the mid-30's with little wind.
At 7:30 the 9th, an in line triple with two retired guns was forming in a field behind the previous #7 water blind. The line was located on an elevated hay bale base. It faced a parallel channel of water, flowing left to right a short distance in front of the line. The back side of the channel dropped sharply down to a pasture below. There a set of flyer guns was located to the deep right. They shot a flying hen pheasant well ridden out to the right. It fell in fairly tall pasture grass 257 yards out. Another set was closer in and to the right. They stood in front of a stand of bare bushes and threw a dead cock pheasant flat to the left about 160 yards away. The last set was across the curving channel and threw a dead duck across it where it fell on the bottom side of the channel dike about 229 yards from line. The order was : right, middle, left. As the dog was sent for the flyer, the other two sets retired. Bales of hay were in front of the line for use if handlers to stand on if dogs need handling.
Wind angled from left to right, diagonally across the site.
Test dogs ran about 8:10. Ruby handled while Rugby did OK. The first running dog #73 appeared at 8:40. It took about 10 mpd.
The lines to the bird and heavier cover plus the channel diverted dogs from their mark. However, most recovered nicely and found their birds. Only one handled on the series. It was completed at 10:53 by dog #69
Callbacks came swiftly and all were called back!
The 10th was to be a land triple with two shot flyers and a retired gun in the field to the north of town. Dog 29 would start.
At 7:30 the 9th, an in line triple with two retired guns was forming in a field behind the previous #7 water blind. The line was located on an elevated hay bale base. It faced a parallel channel of water, flowing left to right a short distance in front of the line. The back side of the channel dropped sharply down to a pasture below. There a set of flyer guns was located to the deep right. They shot a flying hen pheasant well ridden out to the right. It fell in fairly tall pasture grass 257 yards out. Another set was closer in and to the right. They stood in front of a stand of bare bushes and threw a dead cock pheasant flat to the left about 160 yards away. The last set was across the curving channel and threw a dead duck across it where it fell on the bottom side of the channel dike about 229 yards from line. The order was : right, middle, left. As the dog was sent for the flyer, the other two sets retired. Bales of hay were in front of the line for use if handlers to stand on if dogs need handling.
Wind angled from left to right, diagonally across the site.
Test dogs ran about 8:10. Ruby handled while Rugby did OK. The first running dog #73 appeared at 8:40. It took about 10 mpd.
The lines to the bird and heavier cover plus the channel diverted dogs from their mark. However, most recovered nicely and found their birds. Only one handled on the series. It was completed at 10:53 by dog #69
Callbacks came swiftly and all were called back!
The 10th was to be a land triple with two shot flyers and a retired gun in the field to the north of town. Dog 29 would start.
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Test 10, Land Triple with Retired Gun
10 left close
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10 right close
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Series 10 was a very wide spread triple with a retired gun and 2 shot flyers. To the far left a set of guns shot a flying Rooster Pheasant well ridden out to the left. It fell in thick sagebrush 250+ yards from line. To the left, and in a bit closer, a second set of guns threw a dead hen mallard sharply back to the left. It fell behind some bushes also nearly 250 yards from line. To the very far right (180 degrees) and in closer to the line, a third set shot a flying drake mallard angled back to the left.
The order was left to right.
At 1 p.m. test dogs demonstrated the series.. Ruby did well, while Rugby handled.
The first running dog, #29 came to line at 1:36 p.m. The wind switched throughout the series.
Apparently, Judges were not protecting a winner. It took 10-12 mpd to complete. There was a good deal of difficulty locating the far left bird. At time a switching wind tempted dogs to switch to the middle retired mark - and some did. In all, of the 16 starters, 7 handled, 2 picked up (one handled on 2). Unfortunately the two that picked up could not become finalists.
By 4:25 the 10th was history and all moved to the Hostess RV for the awards. A rousing cheer went up when FC-AFC Adams Acres Cherokee Rose was announced as Winner! Photos were taken and an excited Pat Burns - Rose's trainer, jumped on John Russell's (handler/ co owner) back in sheer joy and celebration. John announced a party later and invited all to attend. It was a perfect end to a demanding stake.
The order was left to right.
At 1 p.m. test dogs demonstrated the series.. Ruby did well, while Rugby handled.
The first running dog, #29 came to line at 1:36 p.m. The wind switched throughout the series.
Apparently, Judges were not protecting a winner. It took 10-12 mpd to complete. There was a good deal of difficulty locating the far left bird. At time a switching wind tempted dogs to switch to the middle retired mark - and some did. In all, of the 16 starters, 7 handled, 2 picked up (one handled on 2). Unfortunately the two that picked up could not become finalists.
By 4:25 the 10th was history and all moved to the Hostess RV for the awards. A rousing cheer went up when FC-AFC Adams Acres Cherokee Rose was announced as Winner! Photos were taken and an excited Pat Burns - Rose's trainer, jumped on John Russell's (handler/ co owner) back in sheer joy and celebration. John announced a party later and invited all to attend. It was a perfect end to a demanding stake.
