Day 3 - Wednesday July 23rd
This was another day when afternoon temperatures reached into the thirties Centigrade (nineties Fahrenheit). The test dogs ran and the test remained as set up. There were 39 dogs back and the test started 8:30 AM with dog #31.
Test #4 - Land Quad with retiring gun and an honour.
No. 1 gun station was on a slight rise in front of a stand of pines at 256 yds. They threw a mallard drake from right to left into low grass and occasional dry forest debris. The guns then retired to a blind against the tree line.
No #2 gun station was directly in front of the line against a sporadic line of bushes. They threw a hen mallard from right to left, which landed in light cover at 106 yds.
The 3rd gun station was situated on the right at the edge of marsh grass on the far side of a semi-dry creek bed. A drake mallard was thrown from left to right to land in moderate cover behind a puddle that remained in the creek bed at 118 yds.
To the left of the line to the retired bird was the 4th gun station. A hen mallard was thrown from left to right landing in very low, sparse grass at 82 yds.
After retrieving the birds the handlers were asked to move to the right of the line for the honour.
There were many very good jobs but many dogs also experienced substantial problems not only with the long No. 1 gun but also with the short no. 2 gun. The line to the retired gun (No.1) was between where birds 2 and 4 landed but closer to No. 4. The dog ran over sparse cover for about half the distance and then through marsh grass and rushes for most of the rest of the distance, emerging onto open grassland for the bird.
Several dogs, when sent for the No.1 bird, veered to the right when they got into the high grass and came out well to the right of the blind, resulting in extensive and wide ranging hunts and some handles.
The main problem with No. 2 bird was that many dogs did not seem to mark the fall very well, with some cutting between the gunners and the bird and others going behind the guns and, in each case driving past the fall into the bushes behind. The wind, which swung 180 degrees throughout the day, often carried the scent from No. 3 bird across to these dogs. If the dogs had run behind the gunners the handlers let them run in and get the no. 3 bird. Others, which had passed fairly close to the No. 2 bird, handled the dog back to it. Two dogs broke and one was picked up.
The test was completed at 2:30 PM in order for everybody to relax a little and enjoy the Worker’s Party in the evening.
Dogs # 1, 7, 17, 27 & 34 were not invited back for the 5th test, leaving 34 survivors to continue
the trial.
