Wednesday arrived cloudy, cool and breezy. Temperatures were in the 50's and some rain was possible. Early arrivals were held in the parking lot until test 5, a water blind, was ready for a test dog.
The line was set behind a small mound so that the dog could not see the two bodies of water in front. There was a small piece of water just in front of the line which had a rather wide, sparsely rush covered strip of land beyond. From there, the line angled back into a larger pond and close by a point on the left. It continued through a small bay to the shore beyond where a duck rested on a hummock sprayed orange and marked by a red stick behind, about 177 yards from line. Handlers were told to send their dog from the mat, were on their own (no number given) and could move up to the top of the mound to handle once the dog entered the first water. There was a good breeze over the site from right to left.
About 7:45 test dogs illustrated several pitfalls and handlers were invited to ready their dogs. The test took about 5 MPD and was initiated shortly after 8 a.m. by dog #30.
Since the dogs did not have an initial "picture" of the blind it could take a whistle or two up close to put them on line. The cover changes, wind and close proximity to the left point (which also had running water to the right and behind) produced a number of handles, some looser than others. A few dogs, when cast off the strip into the far pond, squared it only to appear in the water to the right- off line. Those also needed correction.
The test ended mid-day and another was organized in a field behind the 4th. A move was not necessary. It was a land quad with a retired gun and honor to the right of line. It took some time to ready it and callbacks came just before it was finished. Six dogs had been dropped - 39 remained. Those lost were: 2, 9, 28, 35, 39 and 40.
Test 5, Land Quad/retired gun/honor
Four sets of guns were positioned in a field covered with pasture grass, cattail clumps, low mounds and wet spots/. The first mark was deep in the field nearly straight out from line. They threw a dead duck to the left where it landed in a patch of cattails about 247 yards out. The second mark was in closer and to the right of the far guns. They threw a dead duck to the right where it landed in grassy cover 123 yards from line. The third set was located deep to their right. They threw a dead duck to the right where it splashed in wet cover 150 yards away. The last set was on the near left. They threw a dead cock pheasant to the right that landed in low grass only 106 yards from line. As the dog was sent for the "go" bird, The far right guns retired to a blind. The wind was light and marks somewhat down wind.
At 1:35 p.m., test dogs demonstrated the perils of the quad. Shortly after, the first running dog, #42 arrived on line. It took 7-9 MPD to complete.
After the go bird, most took the right middle mark next, although some got the long one instead. Then they usually would try for the one that hadn't recovered. Most took the retired mark last.
Some dogs would hunt the go bird a bit, probably because it was a pheasant. The right middle bird could be looped or over run, while the cattail "wall" in front of the mark could discourage them from maintaining a line into the. A number ran around the right side of the long guns and hunted out of sight for a time. The retired bird caused the most difficulty. Some dogs overran it and wound up deep on one side or the other. A few got nearly to a distant gravel road. A few seemed to be confused by the sheer number of marks and hunted wide and loose on one or another.
The test could not be completed because of the planned workers party / raffle /pig roast and was suspended after # 27 ran until Thursday. It will resume with a test dog (1) at 7:30 and first running dog #29 at 8 a.m. No partial callbacks were given.
