Saturday, June 21, 2008 |
9:00 am
2008 NARC 9th Series: To Be or Not To Be (handled, that is!)
Here are some stats on our 9th series retriever teams....especially since our reports from the line may be severely curtailed due to little or no signal.
Of the 21 teams, 10 are clean (no handles). They are:
#25 Jim & Lefty
#45 Bob & Weezer
#51 Jim & Zoom
#66 Ken & Windy
#70 Joan & Ruffie
#73 Mark & Norman
#76 Leo & Miss T
#103 Fred & Dusty
#112 Jeff & Cutter
#114 Randy & Tide
Eleven teams have handled once in this trial. A 'double handle' (two handles in the same marking series OR two handles over the entire competition) will get you headed back to your car withOUT collecting $100.
Handled in the 1st series: #48 Pete & Zeus
Handled in the 4th: #s 41 Jeff & Sinner, #50 Jeff & Deuce, and #55 Martha & Pogo
Handled in the 5th: #s 18 Steve & Bull, #53 Judy & Kicker, #83 Lynne & Jerry Lee, #89 Charlie & Ranger, and #100 Bob & Cutter
Handled in the 8th: #17 Jessie & Max
What else....
There are 16 male and 5 female handlers, 13 male and 8 female dogs. The Youngest dog is # 83 Jerry Lee (10/03). The Oldest dog is #25 Lefty (5/99)
Have fun picking your winner....and check Vickie's page for a possible "blog" on previous National (Am and Open) winners that had handled....
11:00 am Update
9th Series - Land Triple with Honor
The 9th series has come to an end. The test was a land triple with two retired gunners and an honor, located in a sweeping pasture adjacent to highway 12 in Elmore Vermont. Heavy fog lifted as the test was set up.
2008 NARC 9th Series: To Be or Not To Be (handled, that is!)
Here are some stats on our 9th series retriever teams....especially since our reports from the line may be severely curtailed due to little or no signal.
Of the 21 teams, 10 are clean (no handles). They are:
#25 Jim & Lefty
#45 Bob & Weezer
#51 Jim & Zoom
#66 Ken & Windy
#70 Joan & Ruffie
#73 Mark & Norman
#76 Leo & Miss T
#103 Fred & Dusty
#112 Jeff & Cutter
#114 Randy & Tide
Eleven teams have handled once in this trial. A 'double handle' (two handles in the same marking series OR two handles over the entire competition) will get you headed back to your car withOUT collecting $100.
Handled in the 1st series: #48 Pete & Zeus
Handled in the 4th: #s 41 Jeff & Sinner, #50 Jeff & Deuce, and #55 Martha & Pogo
Handled in the 5th: #s 18 Steve & Bull, #53 Judy & Kicker, #83 Lynne & Jerry Lee, #89 Charlie & Ranger, and #100 Bob & Cutter
Handled in the 8th: #17 Jessie & Max
What else....
There are 16 male and 5 female handlers, 13 male and 8 female dogs. The Youngest dog is # 83 Jerry Lee (10/03). The Oldest dog is #25 Lefty (5/99)
Have fun picking your winner....and check Vickie's page for a possible "blog" on previous National (Am and Open) winners that had handled....
11:00 am Update
9th Series - Land Triple with Honor
The 9th series has come to an end. The test was a land triple with two retired gunners and an honor, located in a sweeping pasture adjacent to highway 12 in Elmore Vermont. Heavy fog lifted as the test was set up.
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9th Series
A distant treeline ahead and to the right framed the test consisting of a rooster pheasant flyer straight ahead, thrown left to right and ridden out to land 210 yards from the line. This would be the last bird down and these guns remain standing until their bird is retrieved. To the left of this flyer station, a brushed out blind concealed the dead rooster pheasant station. This bird is a flat throw from left to right towards the backside of the flyer station, at 190 yards, and is the 2nd bird down. The cover in the pasture is short to medium grass and the terrain rolls gently in several directions. The first bird down is thrown from the far treeline on the right side, a dead hen mallard angled back at 60 -70 degrees from right to left, landing a stout 320 yards distant in the grass (not along the treeline). Due to safety precautions with the direction of the flyer, these guns will retire into the trees after their bird lands and the 2nd station is signaled to throw. The order again is long right retired 1st, left retired 2nd, and flyer 3rd. Upon completion of the triple, the dog will honor to the left of the working dog. The sweeping vistas includes a horizontal patch of cover 400 yards distant beyond the right retired guns and the corner of the treeline.
The first test dog team of David and Talla took the mat at 7:45. and completed the test without a handle. The 2nd test dog team of Margo and Ammo took the mat at 7:50 am. Ammo required a quick handle on the left retired to prevent a switch to the flyer station but otherwise did a good job in 4 minutes. The judges decided to wait until the sun came out a bit more so the shadows along the right treeline would not affect the visibility of the already difficult long retired throw.
The first running dog, #48 Zeus and Peter Goodale, took the mat to start the 9th series at 8:32 under clearing skies and faint breeze. Unfortunately, Zeus drove deep of the long retired and had a huge hunt in the back forty, required a handle, which was his second of the competition. He returned with his bird 9 minutes later. The long retired bird of course presented the most heartache for all the contestsants, with many dogs going deep or into the treeline short of the bird. In the 9th, two dogs handled and picked-up. These were dogs 41 and 48.
This series was completed at 10:35 am under SUNNY skies (!!)... with 4 teams handling including one heartbreak handle and pickup on the left retired with #41, and a few with large hunts on the long retired. Tension was mounting to see what the judges would do.
Callbacks were given at this site before the move to the 10th. Sixteen dogs survived the 9th to go on into the 10th. Five were lost, these were #41, 48, 73, 89 and 100. Handlers were quickly moved to the Simonds' property directly adjacent to this pasture, so no move of vehicles was required.
Moving on to the 10th series are:
The winner is somewhere in this bunch.
Good Luck to them All!!!!
4:45 pm Update
10th series - Land-Water Quad with 2 flyers and 3 retired guns
Right after the callbacks from the 9th series, the 10th had already been set up on the adjacent property owned by the Simonds. The judges had obviously saved the best for last, this was a truly beautiful piece of land with a pond in the middle.
A land-water quad was run from atop a hill overlooking the pond below. The pond has short cover around most of the edges with a short, bent finger of land protruding from the left lower corner.
The first test dog team of David and Talla took the mat at 7:45. and completed the test without a handle. The 2nd test dog team of Margo and Ammo took the mat at 7:50 am. Ammo required a quick handle on the left retired to prevent a switch to the flyer station but otherwise did a good job in 4 minutes. The judges decided to wait until the sun came out a bit more so the shadows along the right treeline would not affect the visibility of the already difficult long retired throw.
The first running dog, #48 Zeus and Peter Goodale, took the mat to start the 9th series at 8:32 under clearing skies and faint breeze. Unfortunately, Zeus drove deep of the long retired and had a huge hunt in the back forty, required a handle, which was his second of the competition. He returned with his bird 9 minutes later. The long retired bird of course presented the most heartache for all the contestsants, with many dogs going deep or into the treeline short of the bird. In the 9th, two dogs handled and picked-up. These were dogs 41 and 48.
This series was completed at 10:35 am under SUNNY skies (!!)... with 4 teams handling including one heartbreak handle and pickup on the left retired with #41, and a few with large hunts on the long retired. Tension was mounting to see what the judges would do.
Callbacks were given at this site before the move to the 10th. Sixteen dogs survived the 9th to go on into the 10th. Five were lost, these were #41, 48, 73, 89 and 100. Handlers were quickly moved to the Simonds' property directly adjacent to this pasture, so no move of vehicles was required.
Moving on to the 10th series are:
- #17 FC-AFC Crow Rivers Cougar's Mad Max and Jessie Kent
- #18 FC-AFC Watuaga's Bull Gator and Steve O'Connell
- #25 FC-AFC-CFC-CAFC Sally's South Paw and Jim Dorobek
- #45 FC-AFC Weezer Retreezer and Bob Johnson
- #50 Ford Deuce Coupe and Jeff Talley
- #51 FC-AFC Joey's Zoom Zoom and Jim Carlisle
- #53 FC-AFC Badger State Ram Kicker and Judy Powers
- #55 FC-AFC Trumarc's L'il Ms Pogo and Martha Russell
- #66 '07 NFC-AFC Candlewoods Something Royal and Ken Neil
- #70 FC-AFC Candlewood's Ruffian and Joan Fine
- #76 FC-AFC-CFC-CAFC Miss T, MH and Leo Plourde
- #82 FC-AFC Land Ahoy and Gary Zellner
- #83 FC-AFC Great Bunns of Fire and Lynne DuBose
- #103 FC-AFC Taylorlab Downtown Dusty Brown and Fred Brown
- #112 AFC Hawkeye's Coast Guard and Jeff Talley
- #114 FC The Tide Ride and Randy Whittaker
The winner is somewhere in this bunch.
Good Luck to them All!!!!
4:45 pm Update
10th series - Land-Water Quad with 2 flyers and 3 retired guns
Right after the callbacks from the 9th series, the 10th had already been set up on the adjacent property owned by the Simonds. The judges had obviously saved the best for last, this was a truly beautiful piece of land with a pond in the middle.
A land-water quad was run from atop a hill overlooking the pond below. The pond has short cover around most of the edges with a short, bent finger of land protruding from the left lower corner.
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10th Series
Two guns are located on the left side of the water. On the hillside, behind a big grassy mound ahead and to the right of a big stand of trees, a gun station throws a dead hen pheasant from L to R uphill, landing 190 yards distant near a small bush at the end of fallen logs. This will be the 2nd bird down and these guns will retire into the trees.
At the crest of the hill top past this gun station, and a bit to the right, a rooster pheasant flyer station will throw left to right, with the bird landing on the top of the crest, 250 yards distant (as the crow flies). This is the 3rd bird down.
On the rear shoreline of the pond, past the finger of land, the 4th gun station is positioned just to the right and in front of 2 bushes. A big L to R throw puts their dead hen mallard landing nearly in front of the large tree to their right in medium cover on shore at 160 yards. This is the last bird of the quad, and these guns retire behind the bushes.
The first bird down will be a hen pheasant flyer, at 290 yards off to the far right, shot R to L and ridden out incredibly far. The line to this bird will be through the water and out the far corner. These guns and the left hillside retired guns retire when the dog is sent on the 'go' bird.
The order again is right long retired hen pheasant flyer first, left hillside retired dead hen pheasant 2nd, rooster pheasant flyer 3rd, and dead duck shoreline bird 4th.
The sun was shining, as the test dog team of Margo and Ammo took the mat at 11:53 am, with handlers crowding for a view. Ammo nailed the go bird, required a handle on the hilltop rooster flyer when going deep. The hen pheasant flyer proved treacherous, with Ammo going deep and then disappearing in the cover just beyond the fall area. After anxious minutes and many whistles, he was very long and left and did pick up his bird. His run had taken 18 minutes.
At the crest of the hill top past this gun station, and a bit to the right, a rooster pheasant flyer station will throw left to right, with the bird landing on the top of the crest, 250 yards distant (as the crow flies). This is the 3rd bird down.
On the rear shoreline of the pond, past the finger of land, the 4th gun station is positioned just to the right and in front of 2 bushes. A big L to R throw puts their dead hen mallard landing nearly in front of the large tree to their right in medium cover on shore at 160 yards. This is the last bird of the quad, and these guns retire behind the bushes.
The first bird down will be a hen pheasant flyer, at 290 yards off to the far right, shot R to L and ridden out incredibly far. The line to this bird will be through the water and out the far corner. These guns and the left hillside retired guns retire when the dog is sent on the 'go' bird.
The order again is right long retired hen pheasant flyer first, left hillside retired dead hen pheasant 2nd, rooster pheasant flyer 3rd, and dead duck shoreline bird 4th.
The sun was shining, as the test dog team of Margo and Ammo took the mat at 11:53 am, with handlers crowding for a view. Ammo nailed the go bird, required a handle on the hilltop rooster flyer when going deep. The hen pheasant flyer proved treacherous, with Ammo going deep and then disappearing in the cover just beyond the fall area. After anxious minutes and many whistles, he was very long and left and did pick up his bird. His run had taken 18 minutes.
Test dog team of Margo and Ammo at the 10th Series
Talla and David were next and required a handle on the go bird when he went deep of the tree. Talla pinned the rooster flyer on the hill, overran the left retired 'hill' bird requiring a handle and handled enroute to the long right retired having faded left exiting the water. Both test dogs teams did a great job of showing the handlers the pitfalls of this series.
After line viewing by the handlers, the first running dog of the 10th, #66 Ken and Windy took the mat. The average running time per dog was 15 minutes
The 10th series came to a close at 4:15 pm under sunny skies when #17, who had a no bird and was rerun at the end, returned with the hen pheasant. Larry Wharton is announcing the finalists right now as everyone is gathered around the winner's table, in tense anticipation of who will be announced as the winner.
At 4:48 pm, the winner of the 2008 National Amateur Retriever Championship was announced as #112 AFC Hawkeye's Coast Guard and Jeff Talley!!!
Congratuations to the winner and all finalists!
After line viewing by the handlers, the first running dog of the 10th, #66 Ken and Windy took the mat. The average running time per dog was 15 minutes
The 10th series came to a close at 4:15 pm under sunny skies when #17, who had a no bird and was rerun at the end, returned with the hen pheasant. Larry Wharton is announcing the finalists right now as everyone is gathered around the winner's table, in tense anticipation of who will be announced as the winner.
At 4:48 pm, the winner of the 2008 National Amateur Retriever Championship was announced as #112 AFC Hawkeye's Coast Guard and Jeff Talley!!!
Congratuations to the winner and all finalists!
