Day 1: Monday, November 9, 1998
Series One: Land Triple - suspended at darkness and to be completed Tuesday morning.
Of the 91 entries, 89 starters were scheduled to run Series One, with two sratches (Dogs No. 8 and 76). Test dogs ran at 6:30 A.M. Dog No. 31 was the first running dog at 7:00 A.M. The first series averaged approximately eight minutes per dog.
Monday's weather was overcast with a brief period of rain in mid-afternoon. Temperatures ranged from the forties to the fifties with winds approximately 20-25 mph from the southeast, which was from right to left on the test.
The First Series was in the "Triangle Field" and was a Land Triple that was a vertical rise with the elevation ranging from low left-hand gun station to a high right-hand flyer gun station. The first bird thrown was the middle bird, a dead hen pheasant, thrown from right to left at 189 yards. The left hand guns were stationed in front of an "island" of sage grass, thick brush and trees. The gunners threw a dead hen pheasant from left to right at 148 yards in front of thick brush into tall sage grass; the gunners then sat down and retired. The last bird down was the right hand hen pheasant flyer at 201 yards, shot from right to left toward a tree line.
All three birds of the Land Triple gave many dogs problems. There were huge and long hunts on all three birds, particulary the left-hand retired gun and the right-hand flyer. Of the sixty dogs that ran the First Series on Monday, there were 3 pickups, 15 dogs that handled on one bird, 2 dogs that handled on two birds, and 2 dogs that switched. Dog No. 31 through Dog No. 3 ran the test on Monday. 29 dogs remain to be run Tuesday morning. The test will resume with a test dog at 6:30 A.M. and at 6:45 A.M. Dog No. 6, followed by Dog No's. 4, 7, and 5 (due to no birds just before darkness on Monday evening) and the remaining dogs through Dog No. 30. No partial callbacks were given tonight.
Pictures and a drawing of the Series One will be posted later.
