Flight A – Windsock – Bob May and Duwayne Bickle (Dewey)

We decided to visit each test in order today to keep things straight. So, we began at Flight A where they  were just running the Test Dogs.

Windsock is a triple shot right to left using all rooster pheasants. There is a walk-up where the right hand bird is shot to the left. The middle flyer is shot to the right. The left hand bird is shot to the right. As the dog returns with its last bird, the poison diversion bird is thrown to the right. The handler is then instructed to run the left hand blind, pick up the poison diversion bird and then run the right hand blind.
The test is taking between 7 and 9 minutes per dog in the early going.

We arrived just as Test Dog #1 was finishing his job and had to be on honor. Test Dog #2 was Remington, MH handled by Rusty Baker who showed the gallery some of the pitfalls of this test. The Judges had to ask all four flyer gunners come out and help the dog look for the bird. The field is a combination of heavy cover and mowed strips. The mowed strips are averaging between 10 -14 inches in height. Dog #128 was called to the line at 9:08 am. She had a handle on the last bird down, a hunt on the flyer a very nice job on the right walk-up bird, two very nice blinds and had a handle on the poison diversion bird. The Judges instructed the handlers that they could handle on this poison diversion bird.

View from the Lodge this morning