I am new to this world, and especially new to the world of hunt tests. I handled in my second hunt test this weekend, the Tennessee River test. Maggie and I passed our first test, Seasoned at Southern Flight, and I thought we passed this one... turns out we failed.
Rather than complain about failing, I wanted to ask some of the experienced guys if the conditions of this test, as well as the judging, were normal. The judge, in my test, was a friend of mine who lives in the area. I'm certainly not blaming or blasting, just trying to get my bearings straight.
Here are the details I thought perhaps questionable:
land -
12-24" cover (grass) over entire test
go bird approximately 80 yards (across small valley)
25-30mph winds (blowing this speed before test was set up)
50yard blind on side of hill with 25mph cross wind
diversion bird thrown in direct path of dog returning from blind blind
water -
blind was a "down the bank" at 50 yards. Extreme angle on entry and dog must stay 5-15 feet from slightly curved bank on left to reach the blind, with a 25mph cross wind left-to-right.
I thought these may be a little much for seasoned, I was just wondering the opinion of some more experienced hunt test handlers/judges? 18 of 36 dogs passed, 18 failed.
My dog was flawless on the walk-up, stepped on the land marks, ignored the diversion (that nearly landed on her face), and completed the water marks with no issue (swam 20ft. left of the memory water (60-70 yard swim) and caught scent of the bird). No handling on any marks.
My problem was the blind. I had seen 5 dogs fail on the land blind by falling to the right (down the hill) and refusing a left-over cast (up hill/into wind). My dog did the same thing, so after 4 refusals (back instead of over) I called her in and re-sent her. She lined it on the second attempt, with one accepted left/over cast.
I also saw a lot of dogs get knocked out on the final retrieve, the water blind. Many handlers, to compensate for the down-the-bank run (the judge emphasized that the dog must go by water), handled the dog too far right (into the water). My dog did the same... and there was a shallow portion about 10 yards too far right that many dogs found themselves standing up on (what dog doesn't prefer to stand instead of tread water?). After 3 left/over casts, my dog continued to go left/angle back. Finally, on the 4th cast, my dog took the over and went straight to the blind.
I failed because I had more cast refusals than cast acceptances. Here is my second question - is it better to blow the whistle when unnecessary, simply to get a positive cast? If I had known that there was a "more/less" rule, I would have blown the whistle 4 more times to show the judge some positive casting, especially once she was headed right for the bird.
I look forward to learning from you experienced folks, thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice!
Rather than complain about failing, I wanted to ask some of the experienced guys if the conditions of this test, as well as the judging, were normal. The judge, in my test, was a friend of mine who lives in the area. I'm certainly not blaming or blasting, just trying to get my bearings straight.
Here are the details I thought perhaps questionable:
land -
12-24" cover (grass) over entire test
go bird approximately 80 yards (across small valley)
25-30mph winds (blowing this speed before test was set up)
50yard blind on side of hill with 25mph cross wind
diversion bird thrown in direct path of dog returning from blind blind
water -
blind was a "down the bank" at 50 yards. Extreme angle on entry and dog must stay 5-15 feet from slightly curved bank on left to reach the blind, with a 25mph cross wind left-to-right.
I thought these may be a little much for seasoned, I was just wondering the opinion of some more experienced hunt test handlers/judges? 18 of 36 dogs passed, 18 failed.
My dog was flawless on the walk-up, stepped on the land marks, ignored the diversion (that nearly landed on her face), and completed the water marks with no issue (swam 20ft. left of the memory water (60-70 yard swim) and caught scent of the bird). No handling on any marks.
My problem was the blind. I had seen 5 dogs fail on the land blind by falling to the right (down the hill) and refusing a left-over cast (up hill/into wind). My dog did the same thing, so after 4 refusals (back instead of over) I called her in and re-sent her. She lined it on the second attempt, with one accepted left/over cast.
I also saw a lot of dogs get knocked out on the final retrieve, the water blind. Many handlers, to compensate for the down-the-bank run (the judge emphasized that the dog must go by water), handled the dog too far right (into the water). My dog did the same... and there was a shallow portion about 10 yards too far right that many dogs found themselves standing up on (what dog doesn't prefer to stand instead of tread water?). After 3 left/over casts, my dog continued to go left/angle back. Finally, on the 4th cast, my dog took the over and went straight to the blind.
I failed because I had more cast refusals than cast acceptances. Here is my second question - is it better to blow the whistle when unnecessary, simply to get a positive cast? If I had known that there was a "more/less" rule, I would have blown the whistle 4 more times to show the judge some positive casting, especially once she was headed right for the bird.
I look forward to learning from you experienced folks, thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice!
That ended up being a late, disappointing phone call. He was the one who explained my exact number of cast refusals and how that works. He also let me know that 18 of 36 failed. Is this number, 50% passing, normal? 
