Tenth Series - Land/Water Quad

The winds are WSW at 8 mph. The handler will face northwest overlooking a pond that is at the base of the hill. There is a narrow strip of high cover shattercane about 100 yards from the line that extends from the left to three quarters of the way to the marks. The field is hayed and sparsely dotted with round bales.

Standing on the mat, the handlers are facing NW looking down a hill, across a hay field with a winding waterway through the field. Winds are WSW hitting the handler in the left shoulder. The first bird thrown is a dead hen pheasant. This bird is thrown angle back left at 310 yards. These gunners retire. This bird is down the hill, through a strip of cane. They then cross a hay field and catch a channel of water on the way to the bird. This station is on the left side of the test.

The second bird is thrown from a station on the right side of the pond at 230 yards. These guns throw a hen pheasant to the left. They are located on the right side of the field, down the hill and across a hay field. The dog must then navigate a channel of water and climb the bank to retrieve the bird. These guns retire.

The third bird is a rooster pheasant flyer shot angle back to the right at 325 yards from the mat. The line to this bird takes the dog down a hill, through a strip of cane and out into a pond. He swims across the pond and climbs the far hill to his bird that lands in a hay field close to an area of dried corn.

The fourth bird thrown is a hen duck in the center of the field at 173 yards from the line. This bird is thrown to the left and the gunners stay out. The dogs must go down a hill, through a strip of cane and out to the bird located between the cane and a pond.

The test is taking approximately 12 minutes.

Left Retired at 310 yards

Right Retired at 230 yards

Flyer at 325 yards

Short bird at 173 yards

Ninth Series - Interrupted Land Double with a Blind

At 8:50 am we tried a test dog, but the fog has began to resettle and obscure much of the test.

The mat is facing the north and sits at the top of a levee. The field to the right is a triangle of un-manacured ground that is divided by a perpendicular line of very dark colored tall shattercane that also frames the far right gun. The area to the left is a hayed field with some large round bales present.

After the retired guns shoot and throw, the dog is pulled left to the run the blind. The blind is just to the left of a large path of tall weeds with a rooster out at 125 yards. The dog runs to the right of one bale half way out and to the end.

The first retired gun team steps out from the shattercane to throw a controlled hen pheasant angled back left and in the cover at 160 yards.

The second retired gun is deep and right of the first one also standing in shattercane and throwing a hen pheasant angled back left at 198 yards. This bird is also thrown to hunt the cover. The field is deep of the right gun is open and possibly inviting an area to hunt.

The Ninth Series – A Double and a Blind

The Double

The Blind with the Planter standing

The Blind with the Planter standing

Sketch courtesy of Jean Wu

Test Six and Seven - Water Blind and Land Blind

Although we were expecting to go to run a Water Triple this morning, but due to the sun and fog issues the judges have decided to run a Land Blind and a Water Blind.

The Land Blind is 88 yards. A hidden dry pop is shot as the dog walks to the line. The mat is on the dirt road. The dog angles down the road along the shoreline and up a slight incline to tree at the edge of the water then to the blind at the base of a tree where the rooster lies.

Starting from the same point as the previous blind, the Water Blind is 112 yards. The dog angles down the road and enters into the water between two trees. The dog will then skim the water, exit  the water then drives up the incline through the tree area. The hen duck is sitting left of the trees in a field area. The total time for this combination blind test is 3.25 minutes.

6th and 7th Series Blinds

Right hand Land Blind – 88 yards

Left hand Water Blind – 112 yards

Sketch courtesy of Jean Wu

Test Five - Land Quad with a Walkout Simulated Flyer and Two Retired

Today's test is a Land Quad with a Walkout and Two Retired. The wind is light and out of the north. Heavy dew is covering the area with pockets of fog giving way to the sun. The land is a tree-lined field with mounds around the perimeter. There is a depression in the middle of the field with a road running across extending from the left of the line to the right of the outer gun station.

The first bird down is the Middle Retired, a dead hen pheasant thrown angle right at 298 yards. The second bird is the Right Retired Gun located to the right of the first station. This station throws a dead hen pheasant angle back to the left at 275 yards. The third station is a Flyer hen pheasant shot to the left out of order at 198 yards. The last station is a Walkout Simulated Flyer. The three gunners walk out from behind a mound that lies left of the line and then they throw and shoot a rooster pheasant into a depression at a tantalizing 107 yards. The two right gun stations retire when the dog is sent. The test is taking between 10-15 minutes per dog depending on whether the handler has to handle the dog.

Fifth Series Land Quad

Middle Retired – 1

Right Retired – 2

Flyer Station –

Simulated Flyer Station – 4

Thanks to Pat Burn of Elite Retrievers for the test diagrams of the Fifth Series

Thanks to Jean Wu for this sketch of the Fifth Series

Test Four - Land Triple with One Retired, a Simulated Flyer and an Honor

The mat faces WSW on the north side of the field. The field is covered in patches of tall bahiagrass. The first bird is the long right hen pheasant thrown to the left at 215 yards. This station retires when the dog is sent. 120 yards in front of the mat is a mound with three gunners. This is a simulated wipe-out flyer that shoots and throws a hen duck to the left. These guns stand out for the remainder of the test. The left hand flyer is is a push to the left at 295 yards and is a hen pheasant shot to the left. The long right retired is under the arc of the simulated flyer. There is an honor to the right of the mat. This takes about 6 minutes.

The Fourth Series

The Long Retired and Simulated Flyer Station

The Flyer Station

Thanks to Pat Burns of Elite Retrievers for this aerial shot

Thanks to Jean Wu for the sketch of the test

Series Four - Land Blind

The mat faces the west. The line goes across a road down through a slight draw where there are two gunners at the same station that will plant the blind and remain sitting out of sight from the line to the right. Dogs must come out of the draw, go up the hill and straight to the bird. This is a mowed field with the cover slightly heavier in the draw. The wind is NE about 12 mph. This test takes 2 minutes.

Third Series - Blind

The Third Series is a Blind. The line is 10 feet left and deep of a big live oak tree. The line skims past the tree and you go about 40 feet in to a small finger of water with decoys in it. The dog should swim about 15 feet to get to up on the point and then reenter the water. When they get out of the water they should go up and over the road, skim the right edge of the mound where the flyer gunners station sat from Test Two. The crates were on the left side of the mound. The line to the blind is a slot between the right end of the mound and hay bale. The blind is 285 yards from the line where the dog will pick up a dead rooster pheasant.

The instructions to the handlers was that the dog must be on the mat for all sends and the handlers can move up to the orange ribbon once the dog enters the water. There is no restriction on lateral movement. The following photos show various views of the blind. This is a fast-moving blind at just about 2 minutes.

Drone Aerial photo of the Water Blind by Pat Burns of Elite Retrievers

Thank you to Jean Wu for these great sketches she's been providing to us all week.

Second Series – Water Triple with Two Retired

The starting temps for today's test are in the mid fifties with winds out of the north. The line faces SW into a gently rolling valley with a road winding through the test. There are hay bales scattered in the field. The marks are left to right. The first bird throws a hen duck to the left at 285 yards. The second  middle station throws a hen duck to the right slightly angled back at 207 yards creating a hip pocket to the flyer station. The flyer station sits on a mound and shoots a hen duck to the right at 155 yards. Both the left and middle bird stations retire when the dog is sent.  The test is taking approximately eight minutes. There is no honor in this test.

Left hand Gun Station

Middle Gun Station at 207 yards

Flyer Station at 155 yards