It was cool and overcast with a light drizzle Saturday morning as the last dogs finished the 6th series, the land-water triple started on Friday. Late in the morning the rain stopped, but it stayed overcast and cool with a light northwest breeze that blew from right to left across the test.

The first bird down was a winger-thrown dead duck on the left. It was an in-throw, landing in a marshy area at the end of a peninsula, about 50 yards form the line. The second bird was a flyer duck, shot left-to-right from a gun station just to the right of the winger station. It landed in marsh grass about 90 yards from the line. The last bird down was a flyer pheasant, shot right-to-left and landing about 80 yards form the line in very low cover.

Depending on the fall, the line to the pheasant was either through a corner of the pond or dry all the way. A few dogs didn't swing off the flyer duck and therefore didn't see the pheasant fall, but most had no trouble with it. Most handlers selected the left-hand bird next. Many dogs went a little too far to the left and swam down the channel to the left of the fall. The wind was in their favor though and they'd wind the duck when they got even with the fall. Several dogs handled on this mark. The line to the middle mark was across an island, a peninsula and some thick grass growing in the middle of the pond. It was also almost directly behind the left-hand blind of the double water blind in the 5th series. But the dogs had little trouble with the old blind. When they got into trouble on this mark, it was generally that they hunted too far left, towards the gun station. Several dogs had to be handled on this bird as well.

Section A and B, Series Number 6
Drawing by Terry Elliott

1998 Master National Hunt Test Qualifiers: Section A: 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 62, 63, 64, 66, 69, 70, 71, 73, 76, 77, 81, 82, 84, 85, 88

46 dogs qualified in Section A.

Note: Dog 89 in Section A scratched just before the series was run, due to a health problem.

1998 Master National Hunt Test Qualifiers: Section B: 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 28, 30, 33, 34, 37, 38, 40, 44, 46, 48, 49, 52, 57, 61, 65, 68, 69, 73, 76, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 86, 90

39 dogs qualified in Section B.

A total of of 85 dogs qualified in both Sections A and B.

The names of the retrievers and handlers who qualified can be seen in the Section A Summary and the Section B Summary. Congratulations to all!