The first bird to be shot in Series 7 is Middle Retired Hen Pheasant (MR) thrown to the right and lands on a grassy knoll. This bird measures 343 yrds and the gunners retire behind a clump of pine trees artfully placed by the grounds crew. Fun Fact: the grounds crew has dug post holes and artificially placed over 30 trees for the tests in the 2013 NARC.
The next bird to be shot is situated to the right of the (MR) on a peninsula protruding from the right-hand shoreline of the pond. There are 4 gunners sitting here measuring at 198 yrds. This station will remain a stand-out gun station. The bird is a Hen Mallard thrown to the left landing in a small group of watery cattails to create an exciting splash. We will refer to this mark as the Right Bird (R).
The final bird, the Go-Bird, to be shot is a big swing across the test to the left and is a Hen Mallard Flyer (LF) measured at 387 yrds. The gun station is located deep of a group a trees up the hillside in a bowl. This station is an optical illusion in that it looks as if the gun station is sitting on top of the trees. However, this is a well-placed flyer being thrown BIG and flat left landing in a cover strip on an opposing hillside. A beautiful test to watch with many factors to negotiate: cover, distance, terrain, water, a mixed bag, and gunner influence just to mention a few.
*The Handler Instructions: If a contestant has a Handle or equivalent work to a Handle in the books and the contestant has to Handle the dog to a mark in the 7th Series Watermarks the contestant will be asked to pick up there dog and will not be allowed to finish the series.
 |
| Judges Drawing |
