MS/BAMA HRC Fall Hunt

[Waboduck]

MS/BAMA will hold their fall hunt on October 13-14 at Joe Gray' farm in Waynesboro. The hunt will be 2 wks before the fall Grand at Mossy Oak. This will be a great tune-up for any one getting ready for the Grand.The hunts will be held in flooded timber. There will be 2 flights of finished and 1 each in seasoned and started. Last spring we had over 100 dogs and the hunt was a success except for the ducks which we have corrected. Thanks

[Brian]

Careful, these folks can be rough! [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[chance]

We are just good ole boys---never meaning no harm [img]images/smiles/icon_cool.gif[/img]

[Waboduck]

Brian...
Any HRC club that has not made a few mistakes raise their hand. We have made a few and have learned from them. We appreciate feed back and look forward to making our club the best it can be. We realize that you can get hurt feelings at a hunt as easy as you can at church.

[Waboduck]

Brian
No emus yet, but I do predict that emus will be the next coyotes. You will be able to see them everywhere in the wild. By the way i saw a post about primers being used instead of poppers..we used them at the started class and they were a big hit. What is your opinion about the use of them just in the started class?

[Brian]

I could have sworn that I saw a flock of emus at Sherman's farm last fall [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] I think that using primer poppers at Started only is a good idea and a good compromise for those opposed. As poppers become harder to get we may all have to look at alternatives. It seems that with HRC's buying power they should be able to go to other manufacturer's and work out something. If not on the national level, maybe the clubs in a region could go to a supplier and negotiate a bulk price and guaranteed supply. I also think the same thing could be done with ducks. What do you think Bobby?

[chance]

Big to-do at the national meeting comparing primer loads to popper loads. Question is---does the loud report from poppers cause our dogs to lose their hearing at an accelerated rate?
Old school handlers are mostly dead set against the primer loads. They feel that going to the primer loads is taking even more "hunt" out of the hunt tests. Next thing you know we will be using the little toy guns as the AKC crowd does. Or white coats in the field as the field trial folks do.
I dunno. Last time I duck hunted I shot live loads near my dog. If we believe that the loud report of poppers is deafening our retrievers then why not go to blank pistols or even just "hey hey".
I might would give in to the use of primer loads at the started test but I would first ask if you can get your gunner to stand away from the dog when he shoots. This is permitted in the rules.
Clubs in Colorado been using primer loads for years. Certainly would be less expensive.Especially if you reloaded shells with just the primer in the empty hull. This would also lessen the danger of a person being unsafe with a firearm and accidently harming someone or a dog with the close proximity blast of a popper load.

[goosebruce]

Why would started make an exception? They now title dogs in started...you want to title a dog that hasn't been exposed to gunfire?
Started handlers paid their money for a test, and should be given one. They are already paying more per bird than any other class, and often get a test with less thought, and less equipment than any other. Now take shots away from them too? I'd say of ANY class, the started class needs a real popper. If its a young dog, sure move the gunner away. You arent going to be shooting and holding a dog, your buddy is gonna be shooting, and I make my buddies move away before they ring my ears. But not shooting a popper at that level very well may title a gunshy dog, a fault that makes it not suitable for the duck blind, therefore not suitable for an HRC title. 4 shots per test, and 4 tests for a SHR, I don't thinky 16 shots gonna deafen any dog or handler. Its the dog thats run dozen of tests, and hundreds in training, with extra loud ft poppers we have to use now, that are feeling it. You can duck hunt with a dog that you got to tie up, and wont deliver to hand. You can't duck hunt with a dog you can't shoot next to. travis

[Bobby Williams]

Let me answer Brain question first. Years ago HRC had an idea that they would get each club to order all the poppers they were going to need for the test season. Each club would let the field rep. know how many cases they wanted. They were to send the check to the HRC treasure. The poppers were to be shipped to the field rep. and he was to deliver them when he went to the different hunt test. That did not get off the ground thank goodness. You can see how much trouble that would have been. OK I think Glenn Stelly should appoint someone to look into buy poppers form Kent and Winchester. Get their best bulk price. Now with over a hundred clubs how many cases would you say we need? Who is going to house that many poppers? Would the savings be large enough to justify this kind of operation? I have loaded poppers at home for years but it is so time consuming. And I was on a small scale. Now for the primers loads vs. factory poppers. There is no comparison. Everybody knows the factory poppers is LOUD. A primer popper is almost too soft. I wish there was an inbetween. Now I am going to make a suggestion and I know Goosebouse and Chance are going to jump all over this with both feet. Why now give the handler the option? At the handler meeting you can explain to them they can use the primer load or the factory load. Both will be on the line. I can see how some will think that using the primer load cheapens the test. It is almost like when you were a kid using a broom handle for a gun and saying Pow Pow your dead. I remember I would put a rickershay in every once in awhile. Powsingggggggg. I personally do not like the Kent poppers because they have two wads. I have seen dogs distracted by those wads coming out of the barrel. Brian maybe someone from MO could use their pull or know how and check into the popper thing. It really does not make a lot of difference to me which a handler uses I am already hard of hearing. I will leave you all with this. No matter where you are and what you are doing if it is around loud noise wear some ear protection. When you have lost it you can't get it back. That is all for now. Boy I can't wait to see the combacks on this. [img]images/smiles/icon_redface.gif[/img]

[goosebruce]

Why not give the handler the option between a rubber duckie and the real one? A white coat and a hidden gun? Either you belive in the ideal of a simulated day in the field or you don't, there isnt any middle ground (i.e. either you belive in the ideal of testing HUNTING DOGS, or you don't). travis

[chance]

Here it comes. Give me,as the hunt test chairman one more thing to deal with. How many primer loads do I need and how many popper loads do I need? Is a test changed by the use of different sounds at the retrieving line? Would Bill Rath approve of the test?
As a great man said once while standing at a microphone---Love ya like a brother but you are dead wrong on this one. I will abide by the majority vote to go one way or the other but by jiminy, not the handlers choice.

[Brian]

chance,I agree that there are already too many things to worry about without "handler's choice" on loads. I understand that Winchester has 2 types of poppers available. Does anyone know the difference? Maybe that is the answer to Bobby's idea of something in between. Those Kent poppers are louder than a 3" mag. Brad and Radale are at the DU festival in Wisconsin this weekend & are going to get with the Winchester reps about the poppers
travis-I understand your concern for realism in hunt tests,after all we are training hunting dogs. What is your opinion on shot flyers? That is the only area where an AKC test might be more realistic, even though the shots are from the field and I couldn't get the gun I had with the orange paint on it to fire. I guess they don't have to worry about poppers either, huh? [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[Brian]

Bobby, couldn't the poppers and ducks deal be worked out among clubs in a region with a minimum annual commitment from each club in order to secure a price. Then the orders could be placed and paid for by each club as long as they met their obligations. If a club cancelled a hunt they would beresponsible for seeing that their share was passed onto another club in order to maintain the agreement. A $2-$3 dollar savings per duck could mean a lot of money over the long run. I know we get around 200 ducks per test. This also could help clubs be able to afford the best ducks available.
Do you know where I can get any emu decoys for our hunt? [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]

[Brian]

AMEN! By the way, will there be any emu decoys at this year's hunt? [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[Bobby Williams]

Brian I am not being ugly but don't ask me another damn thing. What ever I say will be wrong with too many people. I'm out of here.