We arrived at Tired Bottom, Flight A late in the afternoon. The judges set up a fun land water triple with a water blind and honor using a mixed bag, pheasants for land, mallards for water. The first bird down was the right-hand bird thrown to the left landing mid-way up a slope in a small patch of cover 80 yards from the line. The next two birds resembled a mom and pop due to the proximity from where the bird came from, but in actuality there were two separate holding blinds a few feet apart. The second short middle bird, also a land bird, was thrown to the right, crossed behind a tree and from the dog's perspective landed behind another tree 31 yards from the line. The flyer go bird, a water mark shot to the left landed across a narrow pond a few yards onto the shore. The water blind at approximately 90 yards was to the left of where the flyer landed.
Four of the five factors that affect dogs pushed these dogs to the right en route to retrieve the flyer. The terrain sloped to the right; the longer the dog stayed on land the wider the swim became; the suction of two bird stations and, finally, the wind was blowing left to right, so the dogs had to shoulder the wind. The line to the flyer also required an angle entry into the water. Upon returning from the flyer, the dogs primarily selected the short middle bird as their second one to pick up. If the dogs over ran this mark, the wind helped them to locate the bird for a quick retrieve. The terrain to the right long bird had a slight slope to the left down into a gully. Once the dogs reached the gully, if the dog was to the left of the bird as they went up the hill, they had a large area of land to hunt in.
The same factors that affected the dog retrieving the flyer were also in play for the down-the-shore water blind. The terrain fell off to the right, angle entry was required, and the dogs should not land early.
