Wednesday, November 15, 2000 |
Fifth Series
The following info was called in by Marilyn Fender and Ken Andrews.)
Wednesday arrived cloudy with temperatures in the 30's and a sharp, strong, switching wind which made it seem considerably colder. The fifth, a land quad was set up at the Sea Ranch. It took a bit of time to organize and was an altered version of the one constructed during set-ups. The field was an expansive, rolling pasture with a dirt road within.
Wednesday arrived cloudy with temperatures in the 30's and a sharp, strong, switching wind which made it seem considerably colder. The fifth, a land quad was set up at the Sea Ranch. It took a bit of time to organize and was an altered version of the one constructed during set-ups. The field was an expansive, rolling pasture with a dirt road within.
The marks were nearly 180 degrees across . The first bird down was the right middle mark. It was a dead cock pheasant thrown back to the right about 300 yards away. The left middle guns then threw a dead hen pheasant back to the right. It was about 275 yards deep and converged with the previous mark. Next, on the left, a set of guns threw a dead duck to the left, across a road where it landed in pasture grass 225 yards away. The last bird, a shot flying rooster was a good distance to the right. It was angled sharply back to the right approx. 150 yards from line. As the dog was sent for it, the right middle gunners retired to a blind which completely enclosed them. The wind was strong, and came crosswind or downwind throughout the day.
It took a bit of time to set up so the first running dog, #38 appeared on line about 8 a.m.
To see all the birds go down, most handlers had to move their dogs, especially for the right flyer. The two middle marks converged and were relatively close - especially since the right one retired. The far left on was thrown across a road, at times into the wind, and there were a number of no-birds when they blew back toward the guns. Throughout the day dogs had trouble on all of the birds. Early dogs had difficulty with the retired mark (left middle), but by afternoon the wind had switched and work became better on it. Instead, the right middle, nearly a "gimme" in the a.m., became the problem due to the wind a low light. There were hard hunts and a few handles on each.
The left bird was across the dirt road and dogs would square it, throwing their mark off and hunt behind them To be successful, dogs would have to run right down the road, and traditional training discouraged that. By day's end, approx. 11 dogs had handled on a bird in two tests. The 31 "clean" ( no handles) dogs on Tuesday had also dwindled.
Because of no birds and long hunts, the series could not be completed by dark. At times only 5 dogs were run in an hour. After #30 ran, the test was suspended for the day. It would begin at 7 a.m. on Thursday. There were 5 dogs left to run and no partial call backs were given.
It was rumored that the sixth series would be a land blind in the same area.
It took a bit of time to set up so the first running dog, #38 appeared on line about 8 a.m.
To see all the birds go down, most handlers had to move their dogs, especially for the right flyer. The two middle marks converged and were relatively close - especially since the right one retired. The far left on was thrown across a road, at times into the wind, and there were a number of no-birds when they blew back toward the guns. Throughout the day dogs had trouble on all of the birds. Early dogs had difficulty with the retired mark (left middle), but by afternoon the wind had switched and work became better on it. Instead, the right middle, nearly a "gimme" in the a.m., became the problem due to the wind a low light. There were hard hunts and a few handles on each.
The left bird was across the dirt road and dogs would square it, throwing their mark off and hunt behind them To be successful, dogs would have to run right down the road, and traditional training discouraged that. By day's end, approx. 11 dogs had handled on a bird in two tests. The 31 "clean" ( no handles) dogs on Tuesday had also dwindled.
Because of no birds and long hunts, the series could not be completed by dark. At times only 5 dogs were run in an hour. After #30 ran, the test was suspended for the day. It would begin at 7 a.m. on Thursday. There were 5 dogs left to run and no partial call backs were given.
It was rumored that the sixth series would be a land blind in the same area.
