Day 3- Tuesday, October 12, 2010

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Welcome back to the Retriever News' report on the 10-10-10 Master National!

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT OUR REPORT: We don't want you to miss anything! We post updates and we continually are adding details about all the Tests and Flights, dating back to Day 1 on Sunday, 10-10-10.

This is the beginning of Day 3. Today, we have a new feature in this Report. The addition of a third Flight to this year's national event has created some brain-twisting challenges, on top of the many planning and logistical concerns. As in prior Master Nationals, each of the six venues has been given a name. Those of us interested in keeping track of more than ourselves now have to keep straight in our minds (and we most definitely are people who like certain things 'straight') the names of six tests/venues times three flights. To comprehend, remember or discuss intelligently what's going on here, we're asking ourselves to mentally picture 18 different tests, instead of 12. Remember when you were a Junior handler contemplating Master level for the first time? This is a lot like that!


Also, not to be underestimated, is the ability to mix up the very simple names of the five tests we've  been privy to see as of this morning (listed here in alphabetical order): Donut Hole, Never Again, Not So, Oh No, and Par 4. It has been 'par for the course' behind the golf course for some of us to confuse 'Oh No,' 'Not So' and 'Never Again.'


Here is one way to 'handle' the first ever three-flighted Master National.....

SERIES #	1	2	3	4	5	6
DAY(S)	SUN-MON	MON-TUE	TUE-WED
A	Donut Hole	Oh No	Not So
B	Never Again	Not So	Par 4
C	Not So	Par 4	Never Again

We hope this chart helps. To make our report even more useful, we are including the official event photos provided by the MNRC of each of the 18 tests as they are in progress, which means they will be repeated. You can scroll up and refer to these photos, if needed, without having to go back to a prior event date on our website. Please keep in mind that some changes in cover and the amount of water have occurred since the time these photos were taken.

Flight A: "Oh No" Land Triple with Double Blind 

This land test consists of all rooster pheasants. All birds are launched from left to right and at square angles, going round-the-horn from left to right. Lengths are 75, 95 and 110 yards, respectively. The right mark is a flyer. The left blind is only 35 yds and is between the left and middle marks. The right outside blind is 85 yds. A key factor in this test is the milo strip that begins about six yards from the Line. Some of the plants are as tall as five feet. They are very green and flexible, and wave back and forth with the wind. The proximity to the Line and movement can create quite a visual distraction from the middle and right marks. The field contains are variety of cover. It slopes gently downward toward the middle and right marks and is dotted with low moguls.

FLIGHT A CALLBACKS TO THE 3rd SERIES: Dog #5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 50, 53, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120. (Dropped this Series: 1, 2, 9, 31, 36, 39, 41, 49, 52, 54, 64, 68, 84, 91, 105, 108, 121) 92 dogs called back. Flight A starts Wednesday am with Dog #21

Flight B: "Not So" Land Triple with Blind

Flight B has moved to the Not So venue. This is a mostly land Triple, with surprise water on one of the marks, and a land blind. All birds in this series are hen mallards and are launched out of wingers. 1st down: Right-hand bird is out of a station completely hidden by cattails, angled back to the left, at 70 yds. The right mark is separated from the two on the left by a fair amount of distance, a wide angle and significant changes in cover. 2nd down: A huge Flyer long bird, most of which are landing at a square angle to the right around 125 yds. 3rd down, from a station in line with the Flier's station but closer to the Line, landing in green cover of varying length, at 78 yards. The blind is under the arc of the short left bird, between the station and the tall cover on the left outside of the test, at 94 yards.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing handlers is that their dogs must disappear on their way to the right-hand bird, even those dogs holding a good line. There is a very long land entry, after which the dogs go down an embankment, and out of sight. The bird lands on the other side of a 20' wide span of water connecting two ponds. The majority of factors around the area of  fall are not visible to the handler. The shortest time in the no-see-um zone has been five seconds, according to some of the handlers. Dogs reappearing close to the line to the bird have been averaging 20 to 30 seconds out of the handlers' range of vision. Flight B's handlers say they feel that only a few dogs in their Flight seemed to have problems with it.

CALLBACKS FOR FLIGHT B: Dog # 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 119, 120. (Dropped this series: 1, 4, 5, 6, 13, 58, 76, 78, 113, 117) 91 dogs called back. Flight B starts Wednesday am with Dog #21.

Flight C: "Par 4" Water Double with Diversion Bird 

Yesterday, it was decided that the left station of the Par 4 test would be moved approximately 50 to 60 feet to the north (toward the left in the photo above) to compensate for the strong north wind, so the bird would land where intended. The consequential delay in the start of this test was mostly due to the fact that this necessitated getting all six Judges together to approve it. The time it took to accomplish the changes themselves was minimal, by comparison.

Two drake mallards are launched from stations on the other side of the water. There is no flyer. The 75-yd memory bird is on the left, and is launched right to left. The 68-yd go-bird is launched left to right. Both land near the water's edge. As the dog is returning with the go-bird, a 40-yd diversion bird is hand thrown from the near shore into the middle of the channel. The handler begins the test seated on a bucket.

Flight C's 2nd series ended at 2:55 pm.

FLIGHT C CALLBACKS TO THE 3rd SERIES: Dog #1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 68, 69, 71, 73, 75, 76, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 102, 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114, 117, 118. (Dropped this series: 105 & 120) Total # dogs called back: 84.

Flight C started on "Never Again" at 4:30 and ran 20 dogs before quitting at 6:30 pm. Flight C finished with Dog # 45. They are starting at on Wednesday am with Dog #48.
As the end of a long day comes to a close, workers pack up, contestants head back to their trucks to feed their dogs and everyone rests up for tests to resume Wednesday morning.