Wednesday, September 13, 2006
|
Rain started during the night and occasionally was very heavy. We awoke to misty and drizzly weather albeit a little milder because of the heavy cloud cover. By 6:45 gunners were out in the field to run the last 20 dogs on the water triple. This was a great effort by the workers considering the conditions. Furthermore, the party the night before undoubtedly affected the ease of an early rise.
Eukanuba, an Official Major Sponsor to the NRCC had hosted a National Party that featured fresh pickerel (wall-eye), chicken wings, corn, and French fries all cooked outside in large kettle-pans by Albert Coles and Randy Van Norman. What a feast! Eukanuba rep John Sharpe gave out dozens of prizes to participants. Silent auction bidding was lively and many items were sold off.
Eukanuba, an Official Major Sponsor to the NRCC had hosted a National Party that featured fresh pickerel (wall-eye), chicken wings, corn, and French fries all cooked outside in large kettle-pans by Albert Coles and Randy Van Norman. What a feast! Eukanuba rep John Sharpe gave out dozens of prizes to participants. Silent auction bidding was lively and many items were sold off.
Day 3 - Finish Water Triple
All day the gallery huddled under tents to avoid rain, fog, and wind.
Judges called for a single test dog shortly before 7 although visibility was very poor as fog rolled in and out of the tests. The wind had switched to the south and began moving to the south west. This made for a different test. After the test dog ran (#23-Bruny), handlers saw how different the test was. The road was still a factor but the wind and hill interaction produced wilder hunts and chances of switches. There was a short delay before dog #44 ran and then a longer delay as fog obscured the gunners. The holding blinds were later refilled and dogs began to run with frequent interruptions to wait for a clear moment.
Today, there were more handles and pick ups as well as some loose hunts. It was evident that the birds were much harder to see and that the different wind direction was less helpful than yesterday. The last dog ran just before noon and unfortunately it was not the scheduled #65 who had injured himself the day before. Callbacks arrived almost instantly to show 51 dogs back for the 5th series. Dogs dropped were 18, 34, 48, 54, 55 and 65.
Test 5 –Land Blind/Poison bird
The caravan moved all to a field near the site of Test 1 and 2. Judges had set up a land triple with a long (390? yard) retired middle station, a shorter 250 yard left station and an 85 yard go-bird. Visibility of the long birds was poor and white ribbons on the birds were brought into play. Test dogs Bruny and Maddy struggled on both long birds and judges realized that this test was not suitable under these conditions and at this time of day since another split test would result.
Today, there were more handles and pick ups as well as some loose hunts. It was evident that the birds were much harder to see and that the different wind direction was less helpful than yesterday. The last dog ran just before noon and unfortunately it was not the scheduled #65 who had injured himself the day before. Callbacks arrived almost instantly to show 51 dogs back for the 5th series. Dogs dropped were 18, 34, 48, 54, 55 and 65.
Test 5 –Land Blind/Poison bird
The caravan moved all to a field near the site of Test 1 and 2. Judges had set up a land triple with a long (390? yard) retired middle station, a shorter 250 yard left station and an 85 yard go-bird. Visibility of the long birds was poor and white ribbons on the birds were brought into play. Test dogs Bruny and Maddy struggled on both long birds and judges realized that this test was not suitable under these conditions and at this time of day since another split test would result.
Test 5 - 360 yd. blind on left- poison bird on right, later picked up
Judges spent some time trying to come up with a shorter but reasonable test under the conditions. Finally, they decided to design a land blind with a poison bird. The line was moved but the land blind was located where the long middle retired bird had been thrown at a distance of 360 yards
The dogs would have to navigate some wild cover and a ravine before striking out across a cut hay field with a wind quartering right to left. The early cover was part of a horse and cow pasture that was circled by an electric fence. Workers had to disable the fence and move the wires to higher stakes so dogs would be unaffected. Judges positioned two gunners 125 yards away right of the line. They threw a duck to the left towards the line. Maddy, the first test dog showed hazards on both sides of the line. The next test dog, Bruny was asked to pick up the poison bird after the blind. This became the test and the first dog, #10 was called to line shortly before 2pm.
He showed the effects of wind and distance and had much trouble at the end. This soon became the pattern that dogs would veer left at about 275 yards and then often not take the casts into the wind to get back on line. At the very end they would scent the blind or see the marker and race over some 40 yards from their off line location. Quite a few dogs smelled the poison bird en route although it seemed relatively easy to get the initial line as well as handle off of the poison bird when smelled. When asked to retrieve the poison bird after the blind, dogs got it but several hooked the gunners or had hunts. Gradually conditions got a little better and the wind subsided. However, the suction and push to the left continued throughout the afternoon. Rain or mist came and went. Several clean dogs had weak blinds. The test finished about 6:30 pm. Call-backs showed 46 dogs invited to the 6th series - a scheduled land quad). Dog # 26 will start. Dogs dropped were #10, 17, 41, 56, and 60.
The dogs would have to navigate some wild cover and a ravine before striking out across a cut hay field with a wind quartering right to left. The early cover was part of a horse and cow pasture that was circled by an electric fence. Workers had to disable the fence and move the wires to higher stakes so dogs would be unaffected. Judges positioned two gunners 125 yards away right of the line. They threw a duck to the left towards the line. Maddy, the first test dog showed hazards on both sides of the line. The next test dog, Bruny was asked to pick up the poison bird after the blind. This became the test and the first dog, #10 was called to line shortly before 2pm.
He showed the effects of wind and distance and had much trouble at the end. This soon became the pattern that dogs would veer left at about 275 yards and then often not take the casts into the wind to get back on line. At the very end they would scent the blind or see the marker and race over some 40 yards from their off line location. Quite a few dogs smelled the poison bird en route although it seemed relatively easy to get the initial line as well as handle off of the poison bird when smelled. When asked to retrieve the poison bird after the blind, dogs got it but several hooked the gunners or had hunts. Gradually conditions got a little better and the wind subsided. However, the suction and push to the left continued throughout the afternoon. Rain or mist came and went. Several clean dogs had weak blinds. The test finished about 6:30 pm. Call-backs showed 46 dogs invited to the 6th series - a scheduled land quad). Dog # 26 will start. Dogs dropped were #10, 17, 41, 56, and 60.