We're Outa Here...

Shaq has the birds...and bye dog is coming up now. 

Test dog will be at 7:30 in the morning.

Be here! :)

Radar is Threatening...

...Not a huge storm, but looks vicious with red in it...could miss us, could hit us and it's just a few miles away. Shaq and Bill are on line and then we are pulling the plug, for safety's sake...to see what it does. We hear thunder and see lightning. This may change at the last second as we do have a dog in the holding blind, but we also have a bye-dog ready for that honor.   

Pirate Says Land Ahoy Mates!!!

...I've got 'em, pull in the anchor!

Tough one for Bill and #72...

...with a pretty big handle to recover the left bird...

John Stracka is Watching His Dog...

...As the storm approaches...  now he's got 'em all...

Wind is Rising Something Fierce...Clouds Zooming In...

...If I disappear you know why...

Jimmie and Diamond...

...had to wait out a quick gun change...they've got the birds and have now been excused from the honor as we're off and running again.

Jimmie and Diamond share a moment on the honor mat in this photo.

Comin' At Us...

...Ominous clouds are approaching...will we get lucky...? 

Po--GO!!!

Has brought back all the birds for co-owner/handler Martha Russell. 

Pard-on Me...

...has all the birds...Brad Clow is breathing again...

For Your Eyes Only...

Here is a photo of the test, taken from the mat with the wide angle zoom lens...    

Remember, if you click on it the photo will enlarge somewhat...and then you can use your "back" button/arrow to return.  

What a Rush!

John and #85 get all the birds...

Good on #71 and Just a Glitch ... to Blue birds...

...on dog #72...a gun was called for before he was ready...he was excused and will wait six dogs.

Dog #80 came up behind him and although Blue had a hunt on the long middle bird, he got 'em all... 

Photos: Dog #71 on line behind the tent pole, and Dog #80 on the honor mat

Rough and Skeeter...

...have both done it. :)

Here is Rough...

and on the left, Skeeter...

Big Flyer Hunt...Handle...Pickup

...in the process for #50...oh, things are looking up...we'll see.

Nope, the hunt continued...quite an effort, but he couldn't come up with it. Now is handling...now has the bird. 

Sadly, this dog is hot, and certainly his memory has been sorely damaged on the next two birds. He broke down going for the next bird and a handle quickly changed to a pickup.

Nice effort to go this far...good job, and that's a tough break on that flyer hunt. 

She's Got 'Em!! First dog has two birds...

...Dog #34 is returning with her second bird at this moment.

All the birds are back with Brooke. Way to go!

Test Dogs Are Running...Test Description

Test dogs are tackling this test....which is a triple with two retired guns, a big flyer and an honor.

A very long channel interrupted by a road goes through the property and angles through this test, closer on the left side by about sixty yards and all the way angled up to the right almost to the far tree line and behind the flyer guns. It is en route to both retired guns. 

Up the middle, a station with three people--out at a distance of 370 yards--shoot and throw a dead rooster flat out to the left. They are standing out just steps from the tree line and they retire into a holding blind in the woods. Next, the left hand gun with the "standard" two people shoot and throw a dead rooster to the right, angled back slightly to land in front of an evergreen at 235 yards. They retreat backwards into an enclosed and brushed blind. Then, over to the right on this side of the diagonal channel is a flyer setup with four people manning the station: one thrower and three guns shooting a big arcing rooster pheasant to the right at 160 yards in pretty high cover. 

Picture coming shortly.  

Callbacks to the Ninth

3, 15, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 34, 50, 53, 68, 71, 72, 80, 85, 95, 102, 105, 106, 107, 109

Dog #34 starts the next test.

Jeff Talley--You're Being Paged...

...As Cutter is heading left on the long bird and getting out of the water going left...Jeff's cell phone is going off in his pocket... 

Ranging hunt on the long bird, a hunt on the boat bird, but Cutter has 'em...

We've got a handle on #2...

...Change that to a double handle. 

Boat Handle for Bull

Nice long bird...and very quick handle on the boat bird. 

Here's a study on concentration as Steve O'Connell waits in the last holding blind.

Handling on Zee Boat...

...Is dog #120 as we speak. 

Boat-itis

Chalk up another handle on that boat bird...Dog #110. 

Handling on the boat bird--#109

...This bird has proven difficult for many dogs, and it takes its toll once again.

Changing skies...

This morning when we began we had heavy overcast skies and even a hint of drizzle...and just after the first gun change, the sun made its first appearance and held on for that entire stretch of dogs. About the time of the second gun change skies clouded back up again and now there is just an occasional burst of sunshine.  

Dog #99 needs a handle...

....as he went right of the boat and then set up a hunt on the land where he came out onto terra firma...

Back Under Way...

...after the gun change. Dog #96 has emerged from the water to the left of the line to the long bird and is hunting in the field. Now a pop has become a handle.  

Handling for #90... This is tough...

...Meaning, it appears the dogs that pick up the long bird second seem to have extreme difficulty getting back in to that boat bird. 

Unfortunately, #90 wasn't comfortable in settling up through the route to that bird and went right, requiring a handle.  

Puttin' on the Ritz...

...for the crowd is #85...a very pretty job. 

True Blue!

Blue, dog #80, trued right up through the water to the left-hand bird and just missed the bird on the left side, exited and had a few quick zips behind the bird before scooping it up.  

Handling for #74... Double Handle.

...Jim Powers is handling #74 from well right of the boat.  

He is now hunting left in the field for the long bird....now handling again. 

In this photo,  Jim and the Judges exchange feelings about the trial. A veteran handler and National winner, Jim knows his double handle is the end of the road for this year. 

Handling on the Boat Bird... Now a Pickup

...for #73, and the long bird is now being picked up as handler Mickey Rawlins moves over to receive his dog. 

Here is a Photo of Two Water Marks...

 

Handle for #72

When sent for the boat bird, #72 worked his way back to the long retired. Now, when sent for the boat bird again, he went on a left line as though in his mind he'd already picked up that bird, and required a handle to recover it.  

INTERFERENCE!!!

The birds just went down for Dog #68 and he was sent for the flyer. Before he got to it, however, a dog appeared from the direction of the gallery--a yellow Lab--and scooped up the bird from nearly under his nose. 

Thus, #68 was picked up and will receive a rerun. 

Investigation is under way to reveal the identity of the offending canine. 

Sadly, The End of the Road...

...for #59. When sent for the boat bird, he went left and rounded up the long retired. Then, when another attempt was made, the dog didn't go. In his mind, he was done...  But eight series in a National is no slight effort. 

The Patriarch Is Handling...

...Dog #57, oldest entered dog in the National and first dog after the gun change, started to pull hard left in the water when going for the retired bird, and when he exited the water, still going left, his handler Steve Ferguson put the horn on him with a few crisp casts to the bird.  

Gettin' in the swing of things...

...is Pepper, #50. Just a pretty neat photo I wanted to share. :) 

Big Handle Gives Way To Pickup...

...for the long retired, #54 went right of the boat and deep, began handling and eventually required help to recover the bird.  

Roughin' Em Up...

...Rough just put down a beauty...That's dog #53, folks...

Following dog #54 we have a gun change...

Handle For Windy

...From far left, she is handling to the retired bird. This is the second handle for #48 and Ken Neil.  

Nerves...Michael?

...But, things turned out okay for Brooke! (photo coming)

Ridin' that Tide...

...Another nice set of marks is turned in by #28, FC-AFC The Tide Ride. 

Work Summary

Thus far, dogs have done varied things on this tests, with some big and ranging hunts in the field to the left of the long retired mark that then recover to the bird or handle, to a dog that went right of the boat, deep to the peninsula and then continued deep to the long bird, and hunts short of the boat bird.   

Here Joanne Mackey, #27, watches her dog set out for the next bird.

First Handle This Morning...

...Unfortunately, #25 needed to handle on the retired mark. 

Fickle Wind

This test is set primarily southeast with a forecast wind of west/northwest. Ideally, this would be a downwind set of marks. However, currently the wind is blowing from the southeast, so essentially the wind is in our faces.

Off and Running...

...With dog #21 as the first contestant. 

Water Marks at Furin Property

Set primarily to the south, we are presented with two converging birds on a pretty piece of water, with a flyer well to the right out of the test shot on land. First, out at 260 yards on the left is a station with three people that shoots once and throws a dead drake mallard flat to the right at the edge of the far end of the pond with a bit of splash. This station then retires into a well-brushed holding blind. The actual line to this mark is into the pond, over the left edge of an island, back into the water, over a point protruding left from a peninsula coming into the pond from the far bank, back into the water to the bird. Next, a boat bird that sits out in the right portion of the pond throws a hen mallard to the left at a distance of 225 yards; the bird lands in the water amongst some cattails at the edge of this same peninsula (just described). The line is into the water and to the right of the aforementioned small island on out to the right of the peninsula. Several decoys bob in the water en route to this bird and the boat. To wrap up the test, a hen mallard flyer is positioned well out of the test to the right on land and is shot out of the test, landing 155 yards away from the line.

The running line is a good hundred yards from the edge of the pond. 

Currently the test is being set up and tweaked.      

Our Fearless Announcers...

....Announcer Bob Lindgren and his co-announcer, Bob Beyer, pose in the early a.m. hours for my candid camera. They're doing a great job. Announcing dogs in full in the first and last series, with titles and owner and handler names, along with regular announcing throughout the trial, adds a nice dimension to the National. Both of these Minnesota-grown fellas have radio-quality voices...and lots of National and trial experience.