Hunt test distance change for master

[BlaineT]

Exactly right. Barring very weak test grounds, there is no reason to have 150 yard marks for hunting dogs.

i wouldn't say NO reason...

hunt rice fields in Southeast Missouri on a real cold windy day with 30 mph cross winds and shoot a fast flying canvas back and watch him sail 200 yards across the field over a levee. happens all the time in hunting situations in the open fields.

[dixidawg]

Well, if you are able to watch him sail away for 200 yards, your dog can too. That is a significantly different mark and retrieve than one coming out of a winger at 150 yards.

Just because there MIGHT be a few real hunting retrieves at distance does not mean we can or should necessarily test for them.

[BlaineT]

Well, if you are able to watch him sail away for 200 yards, your dog can too. That is a significantly different mark and retrieve than one coming out of a winger at 150 yards.

Just because there MIGHT be a few real hunting retrieves at distance does not mean we can or should necessarily test for them.

alright then...we will just agree to disagree.

I'm a hunter first. Testing is what i like to do during the off-season. I like training and testing way beyond what we'll see in hunting.

And I get the fact that you can set up very meaty tests without the long distances. I just like the variety. Heck we ran a finished test 2 weekends ago with my boykin and i bet none of the water marks on Sunday were over 40 yards (and it was a blood bath for most the dogs), and land marks were maybe 60,70,40 with the go bird being a 40 yard mark thrown straight at you. Very tough little test that was set up nicely.

Obviously you DONT have to have long distances to test the dog. But its fun to run em long too.

[dixidawg]

I agree. Some of the toughest tests I have run didn't have any marks more than 75 yards. Ate up LOTS of very good dogs.

And yes it is sometimes fun to run long, but I don't think it is necessary to evaluate a good hunting retriever.

[DarrinGreene]

Worry not about the judges who must use distance as a challenge but, those who use concept as a factor.

Not sure what you mean Paul? Given the tendency for multiple falls in a hunting scenario and the inability of judges to set the order marks need to be retrieved, why is the use of a concept as a factor problematic?

Beyond that, how do you avoid it? A triple is going to be some sort of pyramid, indent or inline pretty much no matter how you try to avoid it.

I suppose you could have all equidistant marks but that's just lame.

[duckdawg27]

Worry not about the judges who must use distance as a challenge but, those who use concept as a factor.

Could not agree more.

The "Current" AKC rules say "should not".......exceed 100 when in fact they sometimes do anyway so why not just change the rule to reflect reality. The other factors of the mark will get you a lot quicker than the distance anyway.

[Buzz]

Well, if you are able to watch him sail away for 200 yards, your dog can too. That is a significantly different mark and retrieve than one coming out of a winger at 150 yards.

Just because there MIGHT be a few real hunting retrieves at distance does not mean we can or should necessarily test for them.

You throw a quad inside of 75 yards and everything ends up being pretty tight, even if you have the dog swinging close to 180 degrees. Throw a blind or two into it and you have a lot of birds pretty much in a pile...

I probably shouldn't be commenting because I don't run hunt tests (although I'm thinking about it...), I would think that bumping out the distance a little would open up opportunities for good bird placement.

FWIW, I know I'm a bad shot because I have birds go down beyond 150 quite often.

[Cleo Watson]

Concept can and is sometimes a factor for those judges who have never hunted.

[dixidawg]

You throw a quad inside of 75 yards and everything ends up being pretty tight, even if you have the dog swinging close to 180 degrees. Throw a blind or two into it and you have a lot of birds pretty much in a pile...

Quad are really rare in tests that I have run....never mind a close tight one.

but the scene you describe sounds like a pretty typical hunting scenario. Group of birds come in...bang bang bang bang and the retrieves are usually under 75 yards. Is that not a good hunting retriever test?

[Buzz]

Quad are really rare in tests that I have run....never mind a close tight one.

but the scene you describe sounds like a pretty typical hunting scenario. Group of birds come in...bang bang bang bang and the retrieves are usually under 75 yards. Is that not a good hunting retriever test?

Didn't say it's not a good test. On a recent pheasant hunt we had 4 birds all on the ground at once, several different shooters, birds all falling at once. There were 3 dogs out and I had the only dog that could handle. My dog picked up one he saw drop, another dog picked up another. Two other birds were laying in a slough that the other dogs had no chance of getting to. I handled my dog to them, we got them quick and continued hunting. In the real world I want those birds picked up fast so we can continue shooting. In a HT, I would have used up all my handles.

But we're getting off track here...