MNRC Important Event Update

All of the tests finished late this afternoon. We have just received the following message from the MNRC:

All flights start with Dog #156 per the rotation. 

Flight A to Buffalo Wallow. 
Flight B to Burches. 
Flight C to 3 Pond. 
Flight D to Duck Blind.

Starting time: Flight A at 7:30 am. 
All others start at 8:00 am. 
Callbacks posted at masternational.com as soon as they are available.

You can click the buttons on the upper left hand side of this blog at any time to reach the Callbacks page as provided by the Master National or the Master National website.

Wardrobe Shotz – Part I

Which Judge do these legs belong to? 

DAY TWO Flight D – Burches – Bill Largent and Laurice Williams

This test is a land triple with two blinds, a diversion bird and an honor using all rooster pheasants. The right bird is thrown as a walk-up. Second, the long, middle flyer was shot to the right and the left hand bird also was shot to the right. On the way back from the third bird, the diversion poison bird was thrown to the right. The handler then picked up the left hand blind, the diversion poison bird, the right hand blind and then went the honor mat. The average time on this test is between 5-7 minutes per dog.

Flight D ran 86 dogs the first day. They ran until almost 7:30 pm. With just over 80 dogs to complete this test, it will be another long day at the "Burches." Today there is a brisk breeze out of the south. Both the right and left marks are coming out of the wingers with the wind. These birds are now landing further out into the test. The flyer also seem also to be riding the wind, landing long. This bird continues to be the major hazard of the "Burches."

Dan Kielty describes the test…

Future Master Hunter … 

 

DAY TWO Flight C – Buffalo Wallow – David Christianson and John Marchica

Buffalo Wallow is a triple with a diversion, two blinds and an honor using rooster pheasants. The order was right, left flyer and middle. The diversion bird is thrown as the dog returns with the third bird. The dog runs the left blind and then the right blind, before retrieving the diversion bird. It is taking between 4.5 to 6 minutes per dog.

Day Two at Buffalo Wallow was cool and breezy. The dog work continued to be good. The breeze changed the flight of the flyer and dogs were very tempted to go back to that area as they ran the left blind under the arc of the flyer. The right blind continued to be difficult as well. The dogs went under the arc of the right hand bird and through a gap in the tree line. If a dog got off line, it was very difficult to see them because of the high grass. Just through the tree line into a clearing is the blind stake. It was very visible in the morning sun. Every dog we watched worked their way through both of these blinds.

Ray Shanks describes the test…

Sallie Sullivan comes off the line…

The "re-bird" dance!

Mark Atwater, Official MNRC Photographer, Up Close Photography

THIS  is how you "lounge!"

Janet Peters and Ron Sauls

DAY TWO Flight B – Three Ponds – Ed Arnett and Laura Judd

3 Ponds is a land/water triple shot left to right with a blind using all ducks. The left hand bird is shot to the left and is dry. The middle bird is shot back and to the right. The right hand bird is shot back and to the left. When the dog is returning with the last bird, there is a diversion shot. The dog then must run a blind crossing a small canal over a narrow point in lunging water to the end of the pond, where they get up and out and find the bird. This test is taking between 5 and 7 minutes per dog.

Today's test is still straight forward but the difficulty seems to have increased with a brisk crosswind. The main challenge still seems to be the blind. Some dogs want to beach early and now there are cast refusals as handlers try to retriever the bird in a strong crosswind. The new challenge in this test is the flyer which can best be described with the following quote from a worker. "The area of the fall for the flyer looks like it has snowed and is covered in blowing feathers!"

Jody Ware describes the test…

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

"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.

Day Two for Flight A at "Windsock" started with dog #40. The Gallery once again set yup in their assigned space, but are still unable to view much of the test due to the high grass. Some of the gallery have become creative and are standing on the backs of ATVs. The general impression was that the test was pretty much unchanged from Day One and continued to be extremely challenging.

Chris Akin describes the test…

… not exactly a wind sock!