Monday
began with overcast skies which turned to showers
en route to Test Three, a water triple at the
Magnusson property, several miles farther down
the road from the LeGrande Ranch. The site faced
a series of man made "technical" type ponds surrounded
by a rolling, grassy shoreline. Several ponds
had cattails in and/or near the shore.
The
line was located atop a gentle slope overlooking
the site. A set of two guns were stationed to
the left. They threw a dead hen pheasant flat
to the right where it landed in grassy cover just
above the shoreline about 130+ yd. deep. Another
pair of guns stood to the near right, nearly straight
out from the line. They threw a dead duck angled
back from the near shore across a small bay to
base of the shore beyond. It splashed into a stand
of cattails about 30 yards from line. Lastly,
a group of guns located between them shot a flying
duck flat to the left. It landed either on the
side of a grassy, rolling shore or splashed into
a flooded area near the bank about 125-135 yards
away. Ducks landing in the water were sluiced.
As the dog was sent for the first bird, the left
guns retired to a stand of trees behind them.
(When the test dogs ran, both outside birds
were retired, but when neither test dog could
do it without handling the short one was not retired
.) The birds were well placed and challenging
and the gallery had a fine view of the marks.
The
left bird converged with the flyer mark and some
dogs seemed confused as to which they wanted.
Some selected out the short right one first with
varying degrees of success. Varied flyer falls
produced numerous hunts and the draw of the left
mark was tempting to a few. When sent, some split
the difference and arrived between the two - usually
they recovered the flyer as scent from the duck
kept them in the area. Many hunted the hill above
the fall and several went out of sight for a period
of time. When sent for the short bird a
number over ran it. Some recovered on their own
while others required handling. Those that had
selected the short bird first usually tried for
the flyer next where the same pitfalls awaited
them. Angles in and out of the swimming water
ponds and across land strips also nudged dogs
off a straight line to the marks.
The
left, retired mark was close to the shore and
was a hen pheasant, wet from the rain. Dogs would
charge up the slope, pass the bird and hunt deep
beyond, often out of sight. Some paid a visit
to the retired gunners and were out of sight in
the woods for quite a while. Others seemed to
wind the bird, make game, then leave the area
- perhaps expecting another duck. Many recovered
it on their own, but a few tried to return to
the flyer or appeared unable to locate it and
requiring handling. In the first rotation of #'s
25-50 there were several handles and pick-ups.
That trend lessened later somewhat when
switching winds and more scent aided dogs.
A
light, intermittent rain continued well into the
afternoon until about 3 p.m. when skies cleared
and temperatures rose into the 70's.
The
7-9 minute test was extended by no birds and and
pick-up dogs for the former. ETA appeared to be
well after 8 p.m. and there was some doubt
if it would be completed on Monday. Again, if
it could not be completed, no partial call backs
would be given. If it did complete, call backs
would be quite late.
A
rumor circulated that if #3 was not completed,
a water blind would run at the same site on Tuesday.
If it did complete, the stake would return to
the LeGrande farms instead. Test four would begin
with dog # 50.
Welcome
news arrived. Karon Richardson had undergone surgery
and was doing well although more would be needed
later. Unwelcome news was that the McIllwain's
brand new PT Cruiser had hit a deer and would
need extensive repairs.
Test
three was suspended at 8 p.m. after dog 15 had
run with 10 left to run Tuesday morning. (Dog
14 had a no bird and will not run until Tues.
a.m.) Test dog will run at 7:30 a.m. with the
first running dog (16) at 8a.m.
The
site rumor proved false as a caravan is scheduled
to leave site three after completion for a different
area.
As promised, no partial
call backs were given |