Spring field trials for pointers and setters

I was invited to attend this event as it was on the farm i work harvest on, and it would be my job to guide everyone round the farm and select the most suitable fields for the dogs to work and when they go to point and flush a bird, i was to let a shot off (not at the bird) in order to make sure the dog was not gun shy.

I have never really seen pointers work before but i had a rough idea of how it would happen. The weather managed to be on our side with no rain, just overcast but the heavy rains from the previous day meant not a huge amount of game was out in the fields. In the morning we had the group stages where the owners took it in turns work their dogs as a pair up a field until the two judges decided they had seen enough of the dog or it broke the rules and was disqualified such as flushing a bird or chasing a hare. You could tell which of the handlers and dogs stood out as the dogs would work back and across the field quartering into the wind to try a scent out the game, and the most skilled dogs required very little commands and was a sight to watch.

In the afternoon the chosen 6 out of 16odd dogs who entered went through to the 2nd round. Luckily the weather improved and the sun brought a few more birds for the dogs to find and i got to see some great skill shown by handler and dogs working back and across the field to find the game and go to point. The final 4 dogs were chosen as the judges couldn't quite decide upon a winner and so a 3rd round was in order.

At the end of the day we all meet back at the cars and the judges made their minds up on who would be the winner. I was also asked to pick my favorite and based it upon the basis of which one would i most enjoy to shoot over and who i thought would find me the game. Anyway, without knowing who the judges had picked as their winner the dog which i chose managed to earn itself 2nd place so i cant have been to far out.

The day came to a close at 4 and i had a very enjoyable day and loved seeing the dogs work out in the countryside. I will certainly be keeping my eyes open for a days shooting over pointers when the shooting season comes around.

Cheers, Tom
 
It is certainly impressive watching a Pointer/Setter/HPR quartering and then bang on point they go, and
a delight to shoot over them.
Sounds like you had a great experience.
 
The judges were Mr. S. McCormack and Mrs. F. Kirk. The winner was FT CH FEARN MATE OF BURNCASTLE. Mr Howden the handler. The dog was a pointer.

Tom
 
I had a GSP that i ran in spring pointing test at Duxford many years ago,before i discoverd labs and a stress free life:) was great fun on the big flat fields and plenty of wild partridges,there where no shots fired in these tests, was about hunting, pointing and steadiness.....

Do you know if the Burncastle prefix belongs to Wison young of eskdale sporting.....
 
You'll need a Lab too, unless you plan doing all the retrieving yourself ..... or you could always go the HPR route ;)

already got the lab! just use him for wildfowling as i prefer to focus on my shooting on shoot days. but as i said i want one but am no where near getting one! maybe 10-15 years down the line!
 
I had a GSP that i ran in spring pointing test at Duxford many years ago,before i discoverd labs and a stress free life:) was great fun on the big flat fields and plenty of wild partridges,there where no shots fired in these tests, was about hunting, pointing and steadiness.....

Do you know if the Burncastle prefix belongs to Wison young of eskdale sporting.....

Yes this was the same but a dog could not earn a award without having a shot fired over it to make sure it wasnt gun shy as it was based around how they should work on a day out shooting. No im afraid i have no idea!

Tom
 
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