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Well, I attended my very first hunt test last weekend at Rockport, Texas. It was quite an experience. I didn't take my knucklehead but rather the camera. I shot about 1575 images THE FIRST DAY!!! I found shooting the tests relatively difficult. For much of the day the light was less than ideal. In the afternoon we were facing South and so the sun was in my face and the dogs were mostly backlit (not a good situation when photographing BLACK dogs esp). Since one has to photograph from behind the line you don't get those great shots with the dog charging toward the camera on the way to the bird, and the dogs were a bit far even with my 600mm. I did have a great time, and learned quite a bit. Everybody was very nice and the dogs were great fun! Am hoping to attend another one this coming month to see if I can improve on my technique. Here are a few of the shots that I liked. Many of you may notice that the dogs aren't retrieving ducks. Apparently due to a scarcity of our web-footed quarry, on this hunt we were seeking the much less well known Marsh Pheasant. A strange and rare bird that apparently has somewhat less scent than the average duck and, even though a marsh dweller, does not have a water repellant plumage, so rapidly becomes nasty soggy when repeatedly exposed to water. I don't think the dogs really approved and there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm exhibited by some of the bird boys too.





