Day 3 dawned overcast and showery. The air temperature was 12?. The forcast was for showers and temperature of about 20?. Winds were moderate and from the south. Test #4 was a water blind at the same site as Test #3. The Running line was close to the fall of Mark 1 in the previous test. The test dogs ran at 8:00 a.m. and the first dog, #49 ran at 8:26 a.m. There were 63 dogs invited to the fourth series.
The participants in the Saturday night calcutta (with the eight largest waters) breathed sighs of relief that dogs 1, 6, 7, 41, 46, 57, 64 and 66 were included in the invitees.The blind (a drake mallard) was 193 yards in length with a distance of 84 yards to the first point and 121 yards to the second point. The consensus of the gallery was that the two points were in play.
Dogs lost in Test #4 were, 5, 9, 27, 54, 58, 62, and 68.
The Judges moved the line about 70 yards south and advised that Test #5 would be a land blind (cock pheasant). Test dogs ran at 2:20 p.m. dog #67 ran first at 2:45 p.m. There were 56 dogs to run the Test. The blind was 197 yards and the poisoned bird station was 90 yards from the line. The line to the blind was under the arc of the throw. Handlers were allowed to move up about 8 yards to handle. The Test took about 2 1/2 minutes per dog.
Work on the blind was generally good. Most dogs required a cast or two to pass the poisoned bird and only three dogs retrieved it.
Dogs lost in Test #5 were 18, 35, 39, 45, 49, 56 and 71.
Participants were thankful to the Judges for both the tests and scoring to this point. There was some thought that both tests and scoring might be more severe tomorrow.
Everyone then retired to the HQ for a Lobster Boil sponsored by Shur Gain.
