Wardrobe Shotz – Part III

The Kilt

DAY SEVEN – Test Four – Flight D – Mitchell's Pond – Bill Largent and Laurice Williams

"Mitchell's Pond" is a water triple with a blind using all ducks. The order is right, diversion shot, middle, left and then the dog runs the blind. The right bird is across the pond thrown to the left, landing at the water's edge with a splash. The middle bird is located at the end of the pond. This bird is thrown in and to the right. The bird lands on what looks like an island in the pond. Most of this island is made up of tall weeds and lunging water. The last bird down is the left hand bird which is located on the same side of the pond as the line. This duck is thrown to the right, landing in the water. As the dog returns from the go-bird, there is a diversion shot. After all three birds are picked up, they run a blind to the end of the pond between the left and middle mark.



When we arrived at "Mitchell's Pond," Flight D had 24 dogs left to run. The grounds committee were already moving signs and getting a head start on their fifth series. The Weather Channel is predicting heavy rain to come in after midnight tonight and continue until after noon tomorrow. This stake hopes to be completed by 2:45 pm with only a short move down the road to test five at "Wind Sock." The test today is taking 7-7.5 minutes per dog. The right bird that started floating with the wind yesterday is more stationary today. There is still a stiff breeze, but it has shifted just enough to protect this bird unless a strong gust comes through. The work that we saw was very nice.

AKC Rep Wayne Bleazard and President Gloria Mundell

DAY SEVEN - Test Four – Flight C – Windsock – David Christianson and John Marchica

"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.




When we arrived at "Windsock" Flight C had only 17 dogs left to run this fourth series. The strong wind out of the south is really pushing the flyer feathers away from the line. This results in dogs hunting deep of the actual flyer fall and requiring a handle. The gallery is taking advantage of the Flint Oak Lunch Wagon. Today, the menu is hamburgers and even more popular than those were the ice cream cones.

As of 2:37 pm, Flight C Fourth Series Callbacks are now posted at www.masternational.com
Flight C will move to Pearly Gates test.

Rick Winnie describes the test…

#157 Chris Reynolds and Sunfire's Lacey Of Notch Hill, MH (Lacey)

DAY SEVEN – Test Four – Flight B – Buffalo Wallow – Ed Arnett and Laura Judd

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.

With an exceptionally strong wind from the south, Flight B will be running "Buffalo Wallow" with the wind at their back. Watching the marks, all of the dogs we saw did nice work. The diversion bird and shot seem to really influence the left hand blind. Handlers had to really work on the mat to line up the dogs correctly for the blind and often needed a few quick whistles to get the correct line. The high grass on either side of the slot through the trees to the right hand blind challenges the handlers to keep their dogs on line.

Dan Heard describes the test …

#84 Trish Jagoda and Silverbrook Joey's Girl, MH (Lucy)

#89 Jody Ware and Lock Five's April Foolya, MH (Tricky) 

#93 Barry Smith and Silver Creek Jessie, MH (Jessie)  

AKC Rep Wayne Bleazard 

#99 Dave Kress and High Mileage JB's Believer, MH MNH (Faith)

DAY SEVEN – Test Four – Flight A – Roy's Pond – Bob May and Duwayne Bickle (Dewey)

"Roy's Pond" is a land/water triple with a blind. This test contains a flyer which is shot first. The handler faces across a pond and looks up on the side of a hill. The flyer comes out of a well-brushed blind and is thrown angled back to the left. The bird lands high up on the side of the hill. The next bird down is the middle bird. The gunner is to the left of the line close to the water. The duck is thrown over high dense weeds out into the pond. The third bird is the left land bird. This bird station is left and behind the line, throwing right into a mowed area over a small hill. After the three ducks are retrieved, the dog is sent on a blind to the far right corner of the pond. This duck is planted just out of the water behind some tree roots.

The second day at "Roy's Pond" for Flight A has much of the same work as yesterday. The challenge on the test continues to be the flyer. The word from the gallery is that 10 of the first 12 dogs had to be handled. From the line, if the flyer lands behind the willow tree on the far shore, the dog cannot see where it actually lands. This seems to produce a much larger hunt than the birds that do not land behind the tree. While some dogs have hunted, most of the dogs that we saw later today did not seem to be having as much trouble as those who ran early. The blind has caused no problems during our visits. The consensus among the handlers is that black is still the best color to wear for visibility. When we left, there were still 35 dogs to run this test.

Jack Morris describes the test…

#156 Chuck McCall and Seasides Boomerang, MH (Boomer)

#158 Ed Kilbane and Windy K's Just Got To Do It, MH (Nike)

#148 Jack Morris and Rocky Hill's Icey Blue, MH (Icey)  

#162 Tracy Davis and Davis' Main Attraction, MH (Hank)  

#164 Lee Davis and Psalm 24:1, 2 Captain Red Sailors Delight, MH (Dee)