Morning arrived partly cloudy,
cold and with little wind. Temperatures were in the low
30's at 6 a.m. By the time most arrived the test, a double
land blind through the previous days marks, were nearly
ready. The line had been moved back toward the gallery
about 30-40 yards. The left blind (to be recovered first)
was located in the green strip to the far left of the
retired gun blind. It was a dead rooster about 285
yards from line. The second was to the right, located
on the edge of a green strip, tight to a point of higher
brown cover. It, too, was a dead rooster nearly 325 yards
away. Both were marked by an orange stick..
By 6:50 it was light enough for
a test dog and Marty was called to line. He experienced
two rough blinds. The next dog fared even worse and
never recovered the right blind. Those graphic demonstrations
had a sobering effect on the observing handlers. The
show went on, however and at 7:22 the first running
dog, # 43 stepped confidently to line. He and
several following dogs produced unexpectedly good work.;
but alas, it was not to continue.
To recover the left bird, dogs had
to angle down the fairly steep dike and pass through
the cover lined creek. The line continued through a
green strip and the higher patch of brown cover where
the retired blind and all it's scent stood (That is
were the planter hid). From there it went into the far
green strip where a good number of dogs had hunted the
previous day and where the bird lay.
The right blind bristled with hazards.
The line went down the dike, through two small water
areas surrounded by heavier cover, then through the
cover lined creek into another green strip. It then
slid close to a patch of higher brown cover into an
area of green cover with a point of less dense, lighter
brown cover behind it. The line went through that point
where the bird lay , just on it's edge in short green
cover.
On the left, the dog had to hold
a good line while angling down the dike. Some tried
to drop off while others went high, toward the previous
flyer mark. Once to the creek, they could square it
and also go off line. A real danger was through the
heavier cover where the dog could not be seen for some
time. The old scent and planter in the blind caught
some dogs. and they would exit the cover in unexpected
places. When in the shorter green strip (where the bird
lay) others would not heed the whistles and/or handles
requested, similar to yesterdays mark and refusals -
some were out of control to near failure.
The line for the right blind was
almost a a straight shot off the line but the two patches
of water at it's base deflected dogs from their line.
Early, many dogs tried to "coon" the area, but once
the sun came out to illuminate and warm the area, the
work was better. The next challenge was the creek as
there they could square it and come up off line. Some
wanted to go to the right and had to be quickly corrected.
Not many were tempted by the higher cover on the left.
However dogs appeared unwilling to handle once in the
green. That problem was magnified at the end of
the blind. Dogs would miss it on the left, then go out
of control, refusing whistles and casts. A number had
excellent initial lines only to have a horrendous end.
At one point 3 out of 6 picked up and a number had very
loose work. Control at a distance could be a problem.
One of the problems could have been
that when the dogs looked up to the top of the dike
to locate their handler, there was either a sun glare
behind the dike or a cloudy whitish sky to obscure the
handler.
By mid morning the day became warm
and sunny with temperatures rising to the mid 40's.
Again the quality of work seemed to go in streaks. Several
very nice jobs, then rough ones.
Later dogs handled better than did earlier dogs, again possibly because of the
lighting. The series ended at 5:15 p.m. at dusk. Callbacks
came about 7:30 and listed 71 dogs back for the next
series. Those lost were:46, 47, 50, 54, 56, 66, 67,
68,70, 73, 74, and 88 scratched due to an injury.
The next series is scheduled to
be water marks at lake 35. Dog # 69 starts. Test dogs
at 6:45, first running dog at 7:15
