Our first gun changed happened after dog #143 at 9:38 am. Our temperatures 72 degrees with overcast skies. Our wind has shifted to the east northeast.
The change in wind direction from north to northeast is creating much more difficulty for the handlers. Where as the dogs were able to get a wind save by driving deep and up hill on the long retired, with the north wind the dogs can no longer wind the bird when they are climbing the hill deep and to the left of the long bird.
Conditions for the short retired also have changed and dogs can wind the short bird more easily now from deep and right of the bird.
Good Morning...
We are getting the last minute preps done for our 7th Series here on the Spangler's Property. The judges called back 47 dogs with the first running dog being #112.
Our temps are currently at 66 degrees with a high of 82. We are looking at a partly cloudy day. Humidity again is going to high at 93%. Currently we have a south wind coming in at 3 mph.
We will be back shortly with the test description and the test dogs.
At 12:12 pm we have a gun change. All gun stations are doing practice throws. Temperatures has rising only two degrees since 8:00 am to 77. Humidity is about 75%. Depending on the length of their hunt, the combined heat and humidity is taking their toll on the dogs.
The winds are varied some but is back coming from the south at 9 mph.
10:41 am
The clouds cover has remained. The temps are pushing 78 degrees and the winds are coming in at 11 mph from the southwest that will shift more west southwest as the day progress. The dogs are returning feeling the effects of the hunt and the humidity.
Good Morning from Mondovi!
The crew is putting the final touches on the set-up for today's Land Quad here at Spangler's Property on the southwest side.
The air is thick with the humidity at 75%. Our current temperature is 73 degrees with a 5 mph wind coming from the south. It will be mostly cloudy with a high of 84 degrees with a 20% chance of rain.
Stay tuned and will be back with the 6th Series Land Quad test description, test dogs and our first running dog #60.
SERIES FIVE – Land Blind
The temperature is 77 degrees with a south wind at 10 mph, which will be a crosswind for the Land Blind.
The mat sits atop a mound facing east. When the dog comes off the mound and they are are basically faced with a flat field. This dead rooster is planted by a marked bush at the end of the field 256 yards from the line and approximately 60 yards in front of the trees. The field is timber lined on the left sloping slightly down hill to the right. There are two little trees at approximately the halfway point. The vegetation is a sparse grassy hay meadow with a wide keyhole to go through. This is a straight forward land blind – the main factor is the cross wind.
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| 5th Series Drone Diagrams by Pat Burns of Elite Retrievers |
We are nearing in around 9:00 am and our temps are at 63 degrees. The wind is coming in from the south at 10 mph. They skies have a high overcast.
The wind is slowly increasing and making it slightly more difficult to hear the whistles on the far point. The visibility at all points of this blind is excellent.
We have sunny skies with a temp of 70 degrees. The wind is southwest at 4 mph. The visibility is still excellent on all guns and bird. The wind appears to have shifted to the south and is now coming straight towards us. The wind has apparently made it easier for the dogs to stay on the fall areas and come up with the bird. Work has drastically improved and we are seeing less tendency for wide and extended hunts.
Beautiful in Wisconsin!
The contestants are gathering waiting for the judges to start the trial.
A heavy dew on the grass. Not a cloud in the sky so things will burn off quickly. Gleam is rising from the ponds and shadows are still reaching across the sparkling pasture. The ponds are like glass. No wind at the moment. The wind is supposed to stay light out of the west to southwest today. The temp is in the mid 50's topping out at 70 today. Should be a chamber of commerce weather. :)
Gunners are in place and test shots are being fired. We will be underway soon.
The temps are at 65 degrees with NO wind.
The sun is shining, the guns and the birds are still very visible. The wind has completely died. Which is making the test even more difficult. Where as dogs were getting assistance from varying winds through out the earlier part of the day, that is no longer the case.
Zero wind is making this test tough.
We are having out 2nd Gun Change of the day.
Our temps are holding at 59 degrees with the wind still coming from northwest at 16 mph.
Our conditions have not changed that much. The skies have clouds coming and going. The wind has diminished only slightly. Visibility on all the guns and birds is still excellent.
10:10 am Conditions Report From the Field
We have sunny skies and a tempature of 57 degrees with a northwest wind at 19 mph.
Visibility is good and improving as the sun gets higher in the sky and the guns are becoming increasingly more visible.
It is a beautiful day in WI! The sun is shining and no rain in sight!
Temps are at 55 degrees and we have a cloudless sky. Winds are about 12 mph out of the NW. The breeze has already dried the grasses.
We have shadows along the treeline, that will linger a bit longer today. This could affect the dog work on the middle retired gun until the shadow are gone.
We are currently waiting for the sun to raise a bit higher before we send the test dog, Zues to the line. Our first running team will be 134. FC-AFC SEASIDE'S SMARTY JONES, "Smarty" BLF, with Derek Smith as handler.
Let's see how today pans out. Stay tuned, and remember to keep refreshing your browser to get the latest information from Mondovi!
At 9:35 am we had our first gun change of the day. Our temps are at 64 degrees with an overcast sky.
The conditions have changed substantially with the wind shifting and now coming to the south and blowing at 8 mph. Wind change appears to be affecting the blind as the crosswind is causing the dogs to drift to the right. The wind change is also affecting the hunt patterns on the retired gun. Dog are hunting short and then finally working their way out to get the bird.
We will be back soon with the next running dog # 69.
The temps are in the 60's and there is a damp feeling in the air. The wind is coming in ESE which is 180 degree difference from the way the wind was coming in yesterday.
Lighting is muted and high clouds are still and promising to bring rain by late morning.
We had our 3rd gun change / re-bird at 3:20 pm.
The temps have gone up to 79 degrees. The wind has dropped slightly to 8 mph but still holding at northwest. Clouds are building slightly but visibility on all birds and blind is still excellent with no shadows.
We had our 2nd gun change starting at high Noon! At this point 50 dogs have completed this series since we started at 7:00 am. We are averaging approximately 6 minutes per dog.
Our temperature has increased to 75 degrees. We are seeing increased in little cotton ball clouds. The wind is holding fairly steady at 10 mph but appears to be shifting slightly northwest. When the sun is out there are no shadows in the field. Visibility is excellent weather it cloudy or sunny! Over all it is a very pleasant day in the field.
We had our first gun change at 9:41 am.
Conditions have changed substantially since we started. The wind has increased to 11 mph which has improved scenting Conditions but added a slight cross wind to challenge the blind. Shadows affecting the retired bird and the blind have pretty much vanished.