Thursday, November 18, 2010

Brought to you by Ainley Kennels

Sixth Series Land Quad with Three Retired

The 6th series will be a quad with 2 flyers.  The flyers will be a rooster pheasant and a hen duck.  The dead bird stations will be 2 hen pheasants.  Test dogs will start the 6th series at 6:40 am. 

Last night a front came through with a very loud thunderstorm at around 11 pm or so. It poured with rain and many loud claps of thunder were to be heard by this reporter. While in the hotel breakfast room, I asked many people what they thought of the storm. Their consistent reply was "What storm...when?" So many people have been working so hard that they slept right through it! The extra amount of rain we got will certainly not improve the muddy conditions we experience every day on the Lampkin property.

Test #6 is a land quad with two flyers and three retired guns. The line is located at the top end of a long draw. Rolling hills cover the sides and all Angle towards the bottom.Standing on the line, the left hand bird is 230 yards from the line at the bottom of the draw. This is a dead hen pheasant thrown to the left between two ridges. This bird is thrown third and is retired. The middle left bird, at the far end of the draw on the top of the hill is a retired station at 320 yards. This station throws a dead hen pheasant and retires. This is the first bird shot. The third station, the middle right flyer, a rooster pheasant is shot to the right at 260 yards and then the gunners retire. This is the second bird thrown. To the far right of the line at 200 yards, the right-hand flyer station shooting a duck to the left. The gunners for this flyer go-bird remain visible.

The handlers view the test as the sun rises behind them.

The Judges watch the test dog intently.

Gwen Jones, our fearless reporter describes the test.

Bobby Smith and Pride tackle the quad first.

Mark Medford waits patiently in the blind...
He was heard to joke that he would like to do this test as singles and would be off to the Derby soon!
Test Dog, Mollie "aced" it with a quick handle.

David Carrington of Avery, Dennis Bath and John Parrott.

Bobby Smith came to the line with Pride. The test proved difficult for Bobby, handling on three of the four birds. Mark Medford was our next test dog  with Mollie. He had three clean birds and a quick handle on the short retired.

The Judge's tent is outlined in the long shadows of the morning as Mollie retrieves the duck flyer.

Mitch Patterson consults with the Judges.

The handlers are having the utmost difficulty with the rooster flyer. They're going to the left and down the hill, some having deep hunts almost back to the middle-left retired. We have run through dog #78 and we are currently re-birding and will begin with dog #64 which originally was a no-bird, and now unfortunately has been picked-up. The test takes somewhere in the range 10-13 minutes per dog.

Milton Jones watches intently.

The dog trucks parked at the bottom of the hill and the gallery had to climb it for a good vantage point.

Jeff Schuett and Lydia Fekula meet up with Ray Voigt
after Weezer finished running as the first dog of the morning.

Vickie Lamb consults with Jerry Patopea.
A hearty THANK YOU! to Jane and Jerry Patopea for the use of their equipment
during our periods of bad reception...which is all the time since we're on Verizon.

"MUD CITY"  Unfortunately Danny and Lisa Farmer and Al Arthur let the mud get the better of them.
The track to the test is very dicey!

Wardrobe Quiz of the Day: Who does this hat belong to?
(Clue: See earlier comments above.)

The Sixth Series has recently been given the nickname, "Death Valley." This test has proven to be difficult for handlers.

Carol Morehouse and Becky Eckett in deep discussion.

Jeff Schuett and Mac DuBose.

Their "better halves," Lynne DuBose and Lydia Fekula.

Bundling is the order of the day.

The day came to an end at 4:04 p.m. when the last dog returned with the birds.  It has been challenging and exhausting for the dogs and handlers in a VERY tough test.  The nick name " Death Valley" stuck.  There have been 20 dogs dropped in this 6th series.


DOGS CALLED BACK to the 7th series;  1, 6, 7, 11, 12, 19, 23, 24, 25, 27, 36, 39, 45, 47, 49, 52, 54, 56, 57, 61, 66, 69, 72, 75, 77, 86, 88, 91


DOGS LOST;  13, 15, 16, 18, 22, 29, 32, 46, 51, 58, 60, 62, 64, 78, 82, 83, 89, 90, 96, 97

NOTE: Tomorrow's test will be a water blind, test dog at 6:40 am and the first running dog will be at 7:00 am. The test will be located in the same area as the Sixth Series.