Day Four

Series 4 – Sponsored by Todd Cormier and East River Property care and management

Day 4’s test was a simulated waterfowl field hunt in a pasture that was intersected by a dirt road with a small ditch on each side of the road. The field was rimmed by a swampy area, which was covered in marsh grass and reeds.  PEIRC members had prepared for the hunt by placing 10 dozen Dive Bomb goose decoys in the field.

The test was an interrupted quad with a walk up and a blind.  All gunners were located in extremely well camouflaged blinds and were instructed to remain hidden at all times.

At the judge’s invitation, the handler exited a holding blind and walked toward the decoys while the judge blew a duck call. When the dog reached a designated location G1 blew a duck call, and threw his mark (L-R) at 90 yards. Next G2 threw (R – L) at 84 yards and G3 threw their mark (R – L) at 35 yards. G3 is shot from the line with a 12-gauge popper load. After retrieving the “go bird”, the handler is then instructed to retrieve a 103 yard blind located centrally between G1 and G2. After the blind is retrieved, G4 throws its mark (L – R) at 100 yards and the dog retrieves the remaining 3 birds.

Work on this test was mixed, there were some excellent jobs, some catastrophic failures and many jobs somewhere in between.

The test took approximately 12 minutes per dog.

There were 9 dogs dropped after this series. 31 dogs were invited to participate in Series 5, which will be water marks, a water blind and an honor.