Wednesday August 20, 2008

This morning was scheduled to be a late start to allow for delivery of the live chukar partridges for the upland test.  This was appreciated by the participants and workers who needed some recovery sleep after the exhausting intense heat and wind of Tuesday – also a few might have appreciated some recovery time from Tuesday evening spent around the campfire enjoying Beth Crabb’s gourmet s’mores and a variety of liquid refreshments as well as some true stories and lies told into the evening.

The participants were summoned to the new Club property at approximately 9am. They marveled at the beauty and variety of the terrain as they winded their way to the test site. The hills were colored with a patchwork of color from the wildflowers and natural prairie grasses. At the test site the gallery and judges were on a hill overlooking farmland and bush all the way to the horizon.

The scenario was that your hunting group had spotted a covey of chukar partridge go down in the edge of the brush and trees at the bottom of a hill. The plan was to quarter the dog down the hill, into the wind in hopes of finding and flushing the birds.  Along the way, it was possible that the dogs might find some dead ducks in the field – escapees that were wounded in an evening hunt the day before. The judges explained that there were two launch boxes down at the bottom of the hill in the cover – the first was just before the line of trees and brush, and the intention was to launch the bird from that box as soon as the dog caught the scent of the birds and moved in towards them.  They did not want to launch the bird if a dog got too close too fast, however, for fear of injuring or frightening a dog so they also placed a second launch box approximately 80 yards further down the field to use as a backup if they chose not to launch the first box.

The wind was strong and temperatures were more moderate in the morning, a perfect combination for making the dogs a little wild and crazy.  One of the judges and Club member Hans Berin (the shooter once again) accompanied the dog handler teams on the hunt.  Hans fired the shotgun into the air when the birds launched, allowing the birds to fly away. All of the birds flew well and wild.  Both test dogs: Goldn Guns Goin a Blue Streak WCX MH handled by Louise Roberts and CH Cedarbrae’s Esoteric Dream CD MH WCX,  handled by Tracy Griffin did an excellent job of quartering and were steady to flush.

The test was not a problem for most of the dogs.  Many of the dogs scented the ducks or the chukars shortly after starting the test, so there was some challenge in getting them to quarter within gun range, but they all responded well to direction. A couple of handlers needed more than one whistle to bring their dogs under control after the flush.  All dogs were called back to the fourth series, a water blind. Dogs called back were: 1,5,8,12,13,16,17,19,20,21,24,25,26,28,29,30,31, and 32. Dog 8 was to start the next series, a water blind.

Following a brief break for lunch, the judges called the participants to a water blind. The blind was run from the Northeast corner of number 4 pond, up on the dike road.  The line to the blind was a long downhill slicing entry into the water for a shoreline blind placed at the base of a point.  There was a pod of water decoys placed well off line to the right.  A gunner behind a tree to the left of the water fired a shot before the dog left the holding blind, then blew a duck call before the dog was sent for the blind and while the dog was in route to the blind (before they entered the water) a bird was shot and thrown towards the dog.  The dog then had to be handled to the blind (presumably a cripple before picking up the dead bird diversion.

The wind was very strong from the Southeast, almost directly in the dog’s face, with a little crosswind pushing to shore.  The first test dog, TaylorLabs Magic Spell (Maggie) had a late diversion bird which she did not see.  She started out fat in the water, but then once Maggie was on line Tim was up to the considerable challenge of keeping her off shore on the way to the blind.  The second test dog, CH Cedarbrae’s Esoteric Dream CD MH WCX,  handled by Tracy Griffin had more trouble ignoring the diversion bird and after making it about halfway to the blind in the water Herschel exited and picked up the diversion bird.  A third test dog, GMH GoldnGuns Double Darn Dare Ya CDX WCX, handled by Louise Roberts also picked up the diversion bird.  The judges decided to drop the diversion bird from the test and try the test with another test dog.  The fourth test dog was picked up and the fifth test dog got the blind with much difficulty.  The wind was building and there was some concern that dogs might not be able to hear the whistle, especially since there were areas of splash water on-line to the blind.  Participating dogs 8, 12, 13, 16 and 17 ran the blind and it became very clear that dogs were having trouble hearing the whistles, so the judges scrapped the test.  They decided to end testing for the day so that everyone could prepare for the Workers Party. Plans are for a land test tomorrow morning. Dog 19 will start that test (as they were next in the holding blind for the water blind). The normal rotation by 20% will resume for series five.

Submitted by Sue Taylor

Photos from Day 3
(click on thumbnail to view full image)

Day 3 Test 1 - Diagram	Day 3 - Test 2 - Diagram

Day 3 Test 1	Day 3 Test 1	Day 3 - Test 2