Day Four Report and Highlights

Day 4 August 21st Report

Judges, competitors, volunteers, and spectators were welcomed to another exceptional day - - a land duck hunt in Swamp Dog Farm’s Poplar Field (T 4).  The morning’s atmosphere was described as “suspenseful”!

The morning started cool, 8 C, but was predicted to warm to 26 C.  Bands of high, thin, and feathery Cirrus clouds capped a picturesque grove of Douglas fir trees and rows of poplar trees; over the course of the day the clouds thinned.  There was no discernable wind in the early morning, however there were periods when it was slight and variable, and later light, coming from the north.  In the morning the running line and closest parts of the test were in shadow, but the light improved as the day progressed.  

Day 4’s sponsor was Blackstone Creek Ranch, the generous hosts of our Day 3 pheasant hunt.  Thank you, Brianne, Dom, and family!

Twenty-three dogs would run the Day 4 land duck hunt; 1 dog was dropped after Day 3’s pheasant hunt.  Dog number 8 was the first running dog.

The test was in the middle of the Poplar Field, adjacent to the north forested property boundary.  The running line was tucked in the northeast corner, backed by a row of poplar trees and facing a grove of scattered Dougla fir trees ranging in height from 6 through 30 feet.  The test was generally oriented to the west and a bit southwest  

Judge Alan Davies welcomed all, and expressed his excitement about the day’s hunt.  Hopes were that ducks would be funnelled towards the grove of scattered Douglas fir trees by the rows of tall poplar trees; 4 gunners were situated in holding blinds that were well concealed at the bases of several of the fir trees.  Numerous goose decoys were positioned across the field.  The test was a delayed quad, interrupted by a poison bird under-the-arc, slot, hot blind and an honour.  Marks were thrown middle, right, and left.  Instructions were to retrieve the 3 marks, when the dog arrived back at the running line with the final mark, the judge would count 4 seconds and then release a poison bird from a winger.  The dog was to run the under the arc, slot blind as it was a cripple; finally, the dog retrieved the poison bird, then moved to the honour position to the right of the running line.  

Similar to Days 1 and 2, when standing at the running line, handlers had the choice to start with a duck call or to indicate to the judges they were ready.  The first 3 throws were initiated by the judge’s duck call from behind the running team.  The first 3 gunners in turn responded to the judge’s duck call with loud duck calls.  All marks were ducks, and were thrown by wingers.  The order of the first 3 throws was middle, right, left.  The 4th mark, the poison bird, was between the middle (first) and left (third) marks.

The first winger throw, a drake mallard, was the middle mark.  It was a left to right flat throw, with a very high, but somewhat narrow trajectory; it landed 44 yards from the running line in an opening in front of some smaller fir trees.

The second winger throw, a hen mallard, was the right-hand mark.  It was a flat right to left throw, with a high and very wide arc; the bird caught some sky as it traveled across a mowed corridor / strip.  The fall was 114 yards from the running line.  Where this bird landed varied considerably – some landed in low cover to the right or to the left of the poplar tree, some landed in very high cover at the tree’s base, others to the right, and others to the left of the poplar tree.  

The third winger throw, a hen mallard, was the left-hand mark.  It was a flat, right to left throw, with a high arc.  It landed 70 yards from the running line in knee high dried grass cover.  

When dogs arrived back at the running line with the third bird, the judge waited 4 seconds before firing the right to left poison bird.  There was no duck call on this mark, however this gunner fired 2 shots as the poison bird was in the air; the hen mallard landed in front of a patch of 20-foot-tall Douglas fir trees and was 53 yards from the running line.  

The blind was hot and was 97 yards from the running line.  The line to the blind was under the arc of the poison bird and through an off-set slot; the narrowest part of this off-set slot was estimated by a judge to be 5 to 8 yards wide.  About half way to the blind was a shallow dip; dogs were out of sight for a split second.

Female test dog was black lab Flicker - FTCH AFTCH GMH OTCH Tsolumside Shine the Light - handled by owner / breeder Linda Page.  Flicker’s work was spectacular: she lined all 3 marks, ran the blind with one whistle, and located the poison bird with a tiny hunt.  Impressive!!  

Male test dog was standard poodle Louis – Artistry Prospero MH WCX – handled by owner Debra Pile.  Louis appeared focused and intent - with each mark his head raised high.  He selected the middle mark as his first retrieve and found it with a tiny hunt.  His second retrieve was the left-hand bird; he hunted a distance right of the fall, ending up behind the trees, the left-hand, and poison bird gun stations, arriving close to the middle bird’s area of fall.  Debra whistled and struggled to handle him to the left-hand mark, the scattered patches of Dougla fir trees caused great difficulties requiring many whistles and casts.  His route to the right-hand mark went down the mowed corridor; he hunted out of sight near the mark’s gun station, then short of the mark, finally arriving at the bird.  The poison bird was thrown and Debra sent him for the blind; he took a good initial line, but immediately in front of the slot between the fir trees, he started toward the poison bird.  Debra quickly whistled, cast, and kept him in sight in the corridor – well done!  Louis demonstrated many of the challenges and complexities of the test!

First dog to run was number 8; she was called to line at 8:20.  Test dog Louis honoured dog 8’s work.

Dogs took approximately 5 minutes to complete the test.

The test presented a diversity of considerable challenges to the teams.  Some dogs hunted short and to the right of the left-hand mark and disappeared behind the fir trees presenting great difficulties to the handlers as the hot blind was close by.  Some dogs struggled to find the right-hand mark; hunting short and close to the middle fall.  The mowed corridor in the general direction of the right-hand mark misled some dogs.  The poison bird, under the arc, narrow offset slot, blind caused significant difficulties to many teams, however there were many text book perfect blinds!      

One spectator described the morning’s developments: “Well, today there’s blood in the water” ….

The final dog completed the test at 12:30 pm

• Number of Dogs Running Day 4 - 23

• Number of dogs dropped 8

• Number of dogs Running Day 5 test - 15

• Series 5 starts with dog #25

• Caravan to series 5  leaves the Swamp Dog Barn at 7:30