Thursday, November 17, 2005 |
It was much cooler Thursday as a cold front had passed through the area over night. Temperatures were in the upper 30,s with a high of 55 predicted. It was also clear and dry with a gusty wind.
The seventh series a BIG land quad was still being organized as participants arrived. It had 2 shot flyers, 2 dead marks and an honor. The "money " mark was a shot hen pheasant about 300 yards away. Also, all of the guns retired after the dog was sent for the first flyer and there was an honor. Shortly after 7 a.m. the first test team arrived on line. Neither they nor the following test team could recover the long flyer without a failure hunt followed by unsuccessful handling - the dog appeared unable to hear the whistles because of distance and wind. After 4 dogs had failed, judges decided to scrap the test and move to Bennettsville for a water blind at the Becker property. Participants were told to wait at the old site for about 20 minutes so the blind could be set up at the new property. All would caravan to it when ready.
The seventh series a BIG land quad was still being organized as participants arrived. It had 2 shot flyers, 2 dead marks and an honor. The "money " mark was a shot hen pheasant about 300 yards away. Also, all of the guns retired after the dog was sent for the first flyer and there was an honor. Shortly after 7 a.m. the first test team arrived on line. Neither they nor the following test team could recover the long flyer without a failure hunt followed by unsuccessful handling - the dog appeared unable to hear the whistles because of distance and wind. After 4 dogs had failed, judges decided to scrap the test and move to Bennettsville for a water blind at the Becker property. Participants were told to wait at the old site for about 20 minutes so the blind could be set up at the new property. All would caravan to it when ready.
Test 7 Water Blind with Poison Bird from line
|
Test 7 Close up of blind area
|
Upon arrival cars were neatly parked and the test was readied. It was a long entry water blind with a poison bird. The line was located on the far edge of a gravel road that faced a pond with points and islands within A set of guns to the left shot and threw a poison duck to the right- not excessively close to the path to the blind. To recover the bird, a hen mallard, dogs had to go through a stand of high grass, over a low, wide brush pile and into the water. Beyond, that had to swim to a point , cross it and re enter the water. The line continued tight to a point on the left , then to the shore beyond. The bird was on the shore marked by a green clump of vegetation. It was between 250 to 300 yards from line and took about 7 minutes to complete.
Early dogs had a right to left wind that tempted them to run down the near shore to the left. Since the poison bird was also in that area, handlers were quick to put them back on line. The first point was raised and a dog could go out of sight behind it so tight control was necessary. Although dogs just had to touch the far point, some offered to run to the left, behind it where they could easily go out of control unseen. Later the wind was left to right - that permitted dogs to wind the poison bird while passing it.
A glare on the water made dogs difficult to see about 3;30 and judges called an intermission until it subsided . Amazingly the work was quite similar with the usual variations. It was completed shortly before 5 p.m. when dog 42 returned with his duck.
Call backs wre given later that evening listed 14 dogs dropped. They were: 8, 11, 21, 30, 31, 42, 43,( 47 Scratched), 49, 66, 70, 74, 75, and 78. The eighth would be water marks at Becker's Sand and Gravel - Dog 53 starts. Test dog at 6:45 a.m.
Early dogs had a right to left wind that tempted them to run down the near shore to the left. Since the poison bird was also in that area, handlers were quick to put them back on line. The first point was raised and a dog could go out of sight behind it so tight control was necessary. Although dogs just had to touch the far point, some offered to run to the left, behind it where they could easily go out of control unseen. Later the wind was left to right - that permitted dogs to wind the poison bird while passing it.
A glare on the water made dogs difficult to see about 3;30 and judges called an intermission until it subsided . Amazingly the work was quite similar with the usual variations. It was completed shortly before 5 p.m. when dog 42 returned with his duck.
Call backs wre given later that evening listed 14 dogs dropped. They were: 8, 11, 21, 30, 31, 42, 43,( 47 Scratched), 49, 66, 70, 74, 75, and 78. The eighth would be water marks at Becker's Sand and Gravel - Dog 53 starts. Test dog at 6:45 a.m.
Hostess Wagon with Grayson Kelley
The Gunner Balliwick
|
Pros studying line
Waiting to run (L) Dave Mosher and Mike Lardy
|
