| |
| Saturday,
November 13th |
| |
|
| Test
9 Land Quad with two shot flyers |
| |
Saturday arrived cool,
overcast and breezy with temps in the lower 50's
The site of the 9th, a land quad with two shot flyers,
was back at the Redbird Ranch area. By dawn, gunners were
in the pasture. The line was up on a mound overlooking
a pasture. To the left a set of gunners threw a dead rooster
angled back to the left . It fell about 115 yards from
line. To the right a second set was closer in and threw
a dead hen pheasant angled back to the right.. Deep of
them and to the right a set of live guns shot a flying
rooster, well ridden out to the right. It landed roughly
160 yards away. To the near right, at about a 90 degree
angle to the other marks an second set of live guns shot
a flying hen pheasant to the left. It landed near or behind
a low mount of grass, 60+ yards out. The marks were thrown
around the horn from left to right. As the dog was sent
for the short flyer, the left and left middle guns retired
to a blind near a tree between them. It took about 10
mpd to complete.
The first test dog appeared on line at 7:13 and handled
on the left ret. mark. The second did it, but hunted on
some.
At 7:46, the first running dog, #19 appeared on line.
The two shot flyers excited the dog and varied falls caused
hunting. After the shot flyer, early handlers tried different
ways of picking up the remainder. The most successful
method appeared to be - pick up both flyers, then the
two retired birds in either order. However, some dogs
would over shoot the shorter birds and continue on to
the longer one or long flyer (if they hadn't picked it
up second. In all, 4 of the 13 dogs handled
By 10:20 the 9th was complete and callbacks announced.
Only one dog, #19 was lost. 12 remained.
The 10th was a rumored to be a set of water marks
a short distance away at the site of the #3 test water
blind. |
| |
   |
| |
| Test 10 - Water Quad with two shot flyers |
| |
The tenth was set
up a bit farther down the road- it was a water quad with
two shot flyers. The line faced a stick pond with islands,
points and some running water. The near shore sloped down
to the water area and was comprised of irregular spoils
covered with grass. Beyond, the ridges, the land
fell down to the pond. Across the pond, peninsulas protruded
from the far shore and the pasture land rose gently upward.
Three sets of guns were on the far shore. One was on the
right and shot a flying mallard to the left. It was well
ridden out and fell in the grass 80+ yards from line.
Deeper and to the left, another pair threw a dead mallard
angled back to the left. It landed in the pasture about
170 yards away. The third was farther to the right, but
closer in, on the far shore. They also threw a dead mallard
to the left. It landed on the tip of a point about 130+
yards away. The fourth set were locate to the left of
the line on the near shore. They shot a flying rooster
to the right. only about 40 yards out. The order was:
Long, right middle, short left middle, right flyer, left
flyer. As the dog was sent for the left flyer, the two
middle dead bird gunners retired.
The first test dog arrived on line at 11:12 a.m.: the
second at 11:28. The first running dog, #66 stepped to
line at .noon
It took nearly 20 minutes to complete.
The excitement of two flyers combined with a large expanse
of rough terrain, stick pond and heavy cattails would
deflect dogs fro their line. They could lose their mark
and arrive in "No mans land" across the pond. It was very
demanding and 4 of the 12 handled on it. Several dogs
turned in good work, and two seemed to be quite clean
throughout the trial.
At 3:18, the last dog #65 returned to line and the 2004
National was "in the book".
All gathered in the farm barn for the awards.. The finalists
were introduced, all thanked and the winner FC AFC Dewey's
Drake of Moon River was declared the 2004 National Champion.
. |
| |
|
|
