Submitted by Brooks McMullin
Photos courtesy of Dennis Voigt

Series 5 (continued)

The fifth series resumed on a sunny Thursday morning at 7:30 with the running of test dogs.  The wind was from the same direction but was quite a bit stronger than the previous day.  Dogs 2, 6, 8, 27, 38, 43, 46, 49 were dropped and the remaining 21 dogs moved on to Series 6 with dog number 17 to run first in the rotation.

SERIES 6 -   LAND BLIND W/ POISON BIRD

Series 6

The sixth test was a 223-yard land blind set up running north from the dyke road embankment angling down across a gravel road into the field. The line crossed outside the fall area of the pheasant mark in the previous stake to a duck planted in front of a poplar bluff. A strong cross wind was blowing from the southwest.  The blind planters were highly visible to the left of the line as they sat out in the field in white jackets close to the middle gun station from the fifth series. A poison bird was thrown toward the line from a gun station 108 yards down the dike road. These factors combined with an angle entry and the influence of the old fall served to make the blind a difficult one that demanded several whistles from most competitors. Other factors such as a pole fence line (its barbed wire removed) below the dyke embankment, a trail that ran along the fence both intersecting then paralleling the line to the bird, and heavy cover at the back end of the blind made it a challenge to all competitors. Dog 50 was dropped leaving 20 dogs to run in the seventh series with dog 28 running first in the rotation.

SERIES 7 - WATER BLIND

Series 7

The seventh series was a crosswind water blind. A duck was placed on a trap approximately 200 yards from the line at the south end of a slough where it narrowed into a channel. The running mat was placed behind and beneath a low gravel road embankment making a no-see-'em launch. The handlers were allowed to move up onto the road when the dog disappeared over the road down into the water. The line to the bird ran over a spit that angled from the road away from the line (southwest). After crossing the spit the dogs entered open water and swam parallel to the slough's long east side.  The most difficult part of the test appeared to be the front part. Many handlers used several whistles to get their dogs to the spit and over it on line. In the open water the twenty mile an hour strong cross-wind pushed the dogs toward the east side of the slough, but all of the dogs appeared to handle well and fought the wind to stay on line.  As a curious note at the back end of the blind many of the dogs did not appear to see or recognize the bird laid on the trap when they were close enough to have done so. The trap was easily visible in the middle of the channel. Perhaps, as Doug Hildebrand pointed out, because most trainers do not use traps to set water blinds, the dogs are not familiar with seeing them. All dogs were called back to series 8, a combination land and water quad with dog 40 to start first in the rotation.