another dog ten minutes prior and now is
in another county? Yes it is. Is it possible your dog pointed
a bird you can't find and get up? Yes it is! It has happened
to me, and most anyone that has run. If you get a point and no
bird, you don't get the point!
And all you need is ONE pointed bird in 15 minutes to pass. So
don't waste a lotta time looking for a bird that isn't there.
Move on!
Which way do I go?
The bird field is like a hunting area. There is no forward or
back it's all fair territory. With the spaniel hunt test you
only go one direction, with pointers you have 15 minutes to cover
the entire area, or just where you think there's birds.
With Jim Busch he liked the area around the gallery. I like edges
and islands. Places that look like someone would plant a bird
there, or someplace a bird would hide in. I caught hell at a
hunt test because; the judge told me that, I was over handling
Jenny. He said "let her hunt, she's doing OK!" But
she was going a third time through the same area and had not
covered another area that looked promising. Yes I overhandled
her. And yes with less than two minutes to go she found a bird
in the area I wanted her to hunt in.
Judges guiding you to birds
I said the judges want you to pass. Take that at face value.
If the judge tells you the time is getting toward the end why
don't you start making your way toward the gallery? That may
mean the judge saw the last six dogs found birds there. Or it
may mean time is running out. I trust the judge to give me tips
when they can. Again, if you pass you may stick around to help
with the club and attend more events, if they fail you, they
may never see you or your dog again, and they want you to pass!
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Your brace mate
So what is etiquette when it comes to brace mates? There is not
much. You should be cordial to them as you would with any other
person. I try to have Jenny not hunt with her brace mate. I fear
any conflict or giving up a bird Jenny might have found to someone
else. Usually most dogs will run together in the first five minutes
then by the time they hit the bird field, they will be on their
own. If your dog is causing problems with the other dog your
dog will be removed. Brace mates are reality when people hunt
together and it does show dogs can get along part of the test.
And it makes the event go twice as fast.
Your time is running out
After Jenny finds her first bird I relax unless there was a fight
we probably passed. After that I just let her hunt and find birds.
Anything after that is just a training opportunity. And a Hunt
Test is a great training venue. But when the judge says you have
five minutes and you have not found a bird you had best kept
track where your brace mate flushed a bird and where it flew,
anything to get the point and get your dog over there.
Exit the bird field
At the end of your time in the bird field you will again walk
your dogs back out of the bird field. If you get a point while
exiting it still counts. Some call this time the "path of
prayers" if you haven't as yet found a bird.
You're done
Well if all goes well at this point your dog will have pointed
a bird, you will have gotten off a shot and you flushed a bird.
If that happened you can expect to pass with a 28 points. The
judges will confer for a minute and give their score cards to
the test secretary and hopefully they will pass on your score
to you. If that happens you have your FIRST LEG.
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What is a leg?
To get the JH Junior Hunter designation next to your dogs name
on its papers you will need to pass four legs or times. With
pointers that's not as hard as flushers. If you're in an area
with a few clubs that means two full weekends, but plan on three
we all have bad days. Most tests are run on Saturday and Sunday
at the same location. But you will need to pay for both to run
both.
What's next?
After your four legs, you advance to Senior Hunter SH. Senior
hunter is similar to Junior Hunter except we start to introduce
steady, honor and retrieves, but that's another article. Jenny
I expect will be competing in Senior Hunter by May. If it weren't
for a bad running day with my truck, she'd probably already be
there.
So there you go, its no big deal. The Junior Hunter program
is a great way to get your dogs in front of birds and judges
in the off-season and get some great tips from some experts.
North of Mason Dixon we typically run hunt tests from April 15th
to June 15th. Then break for the heat of summer and start up
again in late August and end in October when bird season beckons
us.
If you still have issues after reading this article, take a ride
out to see a hunt test. It will be a very educational day and
you will meet some great people. The worst that could happen
is that you get addicted to running the events like me.
So spend some quality time with your dog and go out and get your
JH, I did.. or should I say soon will.
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