Tuesday, June 18, 2002 |
Left gun
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Middle gun (deep)
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Right flyer
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Land/water triple, 2 retired guns and honor
A partly cloudy sky slowly turned ugly as cars approached the site of test 4, a land/water triple with two retired guns and an honor. By the time participants wove their way deep within the expansive ranch, drizzle became a steady rain. As a bonus, a stiff, cold wind blew from a large lake behind the dike making it seem much cooler than the low 50's. Those nasty conditions slowed the setup a bit, but by 7:23, the first test team was called to line.
In the parking and gallery area, people huddled under umbrellas or waited in their cars. The lunch wagon struggled to serve breakfast while trying to keep the cook fires going. Happily, the deluge was not an all day affair and by late morning partly cloudy skies and warmer temps graced the site. However, the stiff, switching winds remained for the duration.
The line was up on a dike overlooking a grazed pasture that had winding irrigation canals in it. Three sets of guns were positioned in a 180 degree spread within the field. A short distance to the right were the live bird guns. They shot a flying mallard to the left where it fell in nearly bare ground only about 40 yards from line. Very deep and wide to their left stood a second set. They threw a dead duck flat to the left where it splashed into some heavier grass about 275 yards out. To the close left, a third set threw a hen pheasant angled back to the right. It arched across the 15 ft. channel and landed in the pasture grass behind a low ridge about 110 yards from line. When the test began the marks were down wind, but it varied somewhat during the day. The order was: long middle bird; shorter left mark; right flyer. As the dog recovered the short, tempting flyer, the other two sets of guns retired into brush or log blinds. There was an honor mat to the left of the running dog and the last bird was delivered there. Dog 101 had come in season over night and she was scratched.
After the test teams ran, it was another long walk from and back to the line - in the driving rain- for contestants to get their dogs. At about 8 am, the first running dog, #54 stepped boldly from the holding blind (There were at least 6 others to allow handlers to wait in on the long walk down the dike to the line.) The flyer was mesmerizing and some dogs were distracted by it's close proximity. The lines to both retired guns were somewhat tight although the distance between them was great.
The flyer produced little trouble for most dogs, but it's effects could be carried over to the retired marks. To recover the left pheasant, dogs had to angle down the dike and swim across the channel to the right of the retired station and angle across the channel again to where the bird lay. Some squared the water and ran to the left of the guns. Early, this bird was downwind and dogs would hunt the near side convinced that was where the bird was. Some seemed to be looking for a duck and/or had trouble winding the lightly scented hen pheasant (in wet grass). Most figured out that the bird was across the channel, but some did not and had to be handled. One or two drove through it to the distant mark and also need handling.
Upon recovering it, they had to take a fairly tight line again angling back into and across the channel, past the previous mark and deep into the flat, expansive pasture beyond. They again had to cross some water to recover the duck. The angle into the channel gave dogs a view of it's far shore of it and some squared it, channeling to the end. That put them off line to the right and a number drove far to the right and deep beyond on the opposite side of the guns. Some recovered sooner than others, but a few had to be handled back to the mark. A few also split the difference between the retired marks and hunted their way to one or another.
Although the sun came out and light improved, the switching wind made the long mark more difficult while enabling dogs to wind the shorter pheasant mark from the near side of the channel.
The test took about 7+ minutes per dog and was expected to finish about 7 pm.
Callbacks arrived quite late, about 10 pm. There were 67 dogs invited back to the fifth. Seventeen had been lost and there was one scratch. Those dropped:20, 21, 25, 27, 55, 59, 64, 65, 72, 79, 82, 83, 87, 96, 99, 108, and 110. Scratched (season) 101.
The fifth is slated to be a land quad with two shot flyers beginning with (approx) dog 81. Test dog at 7:30, first dog at 8.
In the parking and gallery area, people huddled under umbrellas or waited in their cars. The lunch wagon struggled to serve breakfast while trying to keep the cook fires going. Happily, the deluge was not an all day affair and by late morning partly cloudy skies and warmer temps graced the site. However, the stiff, switching winds remained for the duration.
The line was up on a dike overlooking a grazed pasture that had winding irrigation canals in it. Three sets of guns were positioned in a 180 degree spread within the field. A short distance to the right were the live bird guns. They shot a flying mallard to the left where it fell in nearly bare ground only about 40 yards from line. Very deep and wide to their left stood a second set. They threw a dead duck flat to the left where it splashed into some heavier grass about 275 yards out. To the close left, a third set threw a hen pheasant angled back to the right. It arched across the 15 ft. channel and landed in the pasture grass behind a low ridge about 110 yards from line. When the test began the marks were down wind, but it varied somewhat during the day. The order was: long middle bird; shorter left mark; right flyer. As the dog recovered the short, tempting flyer, the other two sets of guns retired into brush or log blinds. There was an honor mat to the left of the running dog and the last bird was delivered there. Dog 101 had come in season over night and she was scratched.
After the test teams ran, it was another long walk from and back to the line - in the driving rain- for contestants to get their dogs. At about 8 am, the first running dog, #54 stepped boldly from the holding blind (There were at least 6 others to allow handlers to wait in on the long walk down the dike to the line.) The flyer was mesmerizing and some dogs were distracted by it's close proximity. The lines to both retired guns were somewhat tight although the distance between them was great.
The flyer produced little trouble for most dogs, but it's effects could be carried over to the retired marks. To recover the left pheasant, dogs had to angle down the dike and swim across the channel to the right of the retired station and angle across the channel again to where the bird lay. Some squared the water and ran to the left of the guns. Early, this bird was downwind and dogs would hunt the near side convinced that was where the bird was. Some seemed to be looking for a duck and/or had trouble winding the lightly scented hen pheasant (in wet grass). Most figured out that the bird was across the channel, but some did not and had to be handled. One or two drove through it to the distant mark and also need handling.
Upon recovering it, they had to take a fairly tight line again angling back into and across the channel, past the previous mark and deep into the flat, expansive pasture beyond. They again had to cross some water to recover the duck. The angle into the channel gave dogs a view of it's far shore of it and some squared it, channeling to the end. That put them off line to the right and a number drove far to the right and deep beyond on the opposite side of the guns. Some recovered sooner than others, but a few had to be handled back to the mark. A few also split the difference between the retired marks and hunted their way to one or another.
Although the sun came out and light improved, the switching wind made the long mark more difficult while enabling dogs to wind the shorter pheasant mark from the near side of the channel.
The test took about 7+ minutes per dog and was expected to finish about 7 pm.
Callbacks arrived quite late, about 10 pm. There were 67 dogs invited back to the fifth. Seventeen had been lost and there was one scratch. Those dropped:20, 21, 25, 27, 55, 59, 64, 65, 72, 79, 82, 83, 87, 96, 99, 108, and 110. Scratched (season) 101.
The fifth is slated to be a land quad with two shot flyers beginning with (approx) dog 81. Test dog at 7:30, first dog at 8.
