Eric
06-02-2004, 09:40 AM
Rustygunner, Congrats on the JH test passes. I really liked the pictures you posted. I ran my first JH test a few weeks ago. We did not fare as well as you and your two dogs. I was curious as to what type of cover you encountered for your JH test. I couldn't tell from your pictures. Could you give a breif description of the land series and the water series?
On our JH test, the land series consisted of a flyer that was off the edge of two to three foot high cover. The flyer landed at the bottom of a side hill in a strip of a food plot (some knocked down stubble) that was not very dense. The second mark required the the dog to drive over a knoll, thru some short, medium thick cover to a mark that was in another strip of the food plot. The way this mark was set up, unless you were 6'6", you couldn't see the fall area. My dog did real well on these two marks and we were carried to the water series.
The water series was set on a pond that was 50-60 yards by about 80yards. The first mark was a straight away that required the dog to drive thru a wall of reeds that were three to four feet high and about two yards deep and up the dike into shorter dense cover. The reeds extended from the edge of the water up the dike and ran the length of the dike for 30 yards. The second mark required a longer swim but there was no cover at the edge of the water. The dog had to drive up the bank and the mark was in shorter, less dense cover than the first water mark. My dog didn't take a good line on the first water mark and was un-nerved by the wall of reeds. We had never encountered this type of cover in our training or in our prior season hunting trips. She did not want to drive thru the reeds and we failed the test. Needless to say, we are now working on driving thru thick cover and up steep banks in our water training.
On our JH test, the land series consisted of a flyer that was off the edge of two to three foot high cover. The flyer landed at the bottom of a side hill in a strip of a food plot (some knocked down stubble) that was not very dense. The second mark required the the dog to drive over a knoll, thru some short, medium thick cover to a mark that was in another strip of the food plot. The way this mark was set up, unless you were 6'6", you couldn't see the fall area. My dog did real well on these two marks and we were carried to the water series.
The water series was set on a pond that was 50-60 yards by about 80yards. The first mark was a straight away that required the dog to drive thru a wall of reeds that were three to four feet high and about two yards deep and up the dike into shorter dense cover. The reeds extended from the edge of the water up the dike and ran the length of the dike for 30 yards. The second mark required a longer swim but there was no cover at the edge of the water. The dog had to drive up the bank and the mark was in shorter, less dense cover than the first water mark. My dog didn't take a good line on the first water mark and was un-nerved by the wall of reeds. We had never encountered this type of cover in our training or in our prior season hunting trips. She did not want to drive thru the reeds and we failed the test. Needless to say, we are now working on driving thru thick cover and up steep banks in our water training.