Several people asked me to post how Jake did in his first MH test. Remember that Jake was the guy with the inner ear infection who was falling over when we let him out to retrieve. Antibiotics have done well for Jake, but he is probably not quite 100% yet. Well, I wish I could brag that Jake passed his first Masters try, but no such luck. He did come close, making it through all three series, including a really difficult land series using bubba guns as well as double blinds on both land and water. This was a new one for me after 20+ years in hunt tests. Basically, the bubba gun is a station from which a gun is shot, but no birds are thrown. In the first land series, the bubba gun was in plain site of the dogs on line about 40 yards out, while the stations with the bird throwers were completely masked by natural cover. They were both 50-70 yards from the bubba gun station, and one was about 100 yards from the line. A duck call was sounded at each station before the bird was thrown- sometimes you could hear it and sometimes you could not. There were four shots from the bubba station, one for each memory bird and two dry shots (as the dog was returning from the flier go-bird) for the double blind that followed, further bringing that empty gun station to the attention of the dogs The go-bird flier was the only bird not "shot" by that extraordinary targetman at the bubba station! A bubba gun station also was used later in a water series. This remarkable gunner also was able to bring down ducks from 50 yards plus. No one here in Wisconsin seems to train for this. I was told that they are more commonly used in some of the southern states. I'd be interested in hearing from field people- hunt test and trialers- if bubba guns are more common in other parts of the country and if people actually train for them. Are they accepted as a straightforward testing tactic? I specifically am referring to a gun station, not on the line, designed to draw the attention of the dog away from the actual mark rather than attracting its attention to the area of the fall.

If you are thinking that there might have been some unhappy handlers during that first series, I haven't even told you about the blind perfectly situated to be scented by a dog going out for the long bird, far enough out that a dog could excused for thinking it was in the area of the fall when it found an "old fall" (the blind was planted after the marks were picked up, so there was no danger of actually retrieving a bird there) but too short of the mark for a dog that was hunting the area around the blind to wind the long mark. I am thrilled that Jake made it through that and the technical water blinds of the second series. In the third series he ran by the shorter memory bird and found the long one. Although he did not establish a hunt for the short bird, the judges said he was too close to it and called it a switch. His trainer, who was handling him, told me that if he had established a hunt, he would have handled him back to the bird, but that he did not think Jake had switched, so he didn't handle. Other dogs who did similar things but didn't get so near to the fall were kept in. Jake's marking was not particularly good, however, in any of the series, and it may be that the judges were figuring he would not make it on marking anyway, and here was a non-equivocal way to drop him. We'll try again in two weeks. It was a tough test for the veterans, much less a neophyte like Jake. Two of the four dogs my handler ran probably did pass (I left before the ribbons were awarded), and all four went through the last series- that is not bad!

Hi Peggy! WOW - those sound like very tough tests and Jake did amazingly well too! Tks for the update and hugs to Jake too!

wow just you describing it makes my head hurt

makes me appreciate those MH titles even more.
good luck on the next try!

Thank you for sharing Jake's experience Carol, it sounds like it was a very tough test. Best of luck in two weeks!

What is a bubba gun?

OUCH!! It sounds like a test set up to deliberetly fail as many as possible.

I'm hopeful those are not any of the same judges coming to Fort Detroit or Wolverine in the next few weeks. We don't train for "bubba guns" either.

Peggy - sounds like an incredibly difficult test! Way to go Jake for doing as well as you did all things considered...

Peggy - sounds like an incredibly difficult test! Way to go Jake for doing as well as you did all things considered...

For those of us who have only seen a WC test, your narrative was very educational!

Sounds like you need to write those judges on your black list. Was it a huge entry where they had to cut #'s?
I have been out of tests for about 6 years , never seen bubba guns (north and south east), I am getting back in the game with some of my dogs and some client dogs.( 1 MH and some JH's)It should be interesting to see some of the new "tricks" I am hearing that MH is becoming watered down trials.....heavy sigh....

My first encounter with bubba guns was when I had a judging assignment in Kentucky. My co-judge and one of the host club members said to me "where do you want the bubba gun?" I looked and him laughing and said " what the ******** is a bubba gun ?". What was done there was a gunner shot all the birds from the line to the right or left of the working dog - similiar to what a hunting partner would be like. It eliminated having guns out at the stations and cut down on the # of workers needed. This was a senior test and it worked ok for them. Peggy what you described I have not seen before.

Good luck on your next test!!!!!

Thanks to all who commiserated with us. To Sighttosea- yes they had 60 dogs in that division (there was another division). I think they definitely wanted to eliminate some dogs.

To kab (is that you, Kim?) your experience being in Kentucky supports what I was told about the origin of bubba guns. I was told that clubs in Tennessee hired convicts to assist in hunt tests, but of course they couldn't have access to guns. So a club member would man the bubba gun station, while the bird stations were manned by the convicts.

One of the bubba stations was actually behind the line (my trainer complained about his ears after running four dogs), while the other was placed so that the dogs would see it and be distracted by it from marking the falls.

Welll never mind, I guess I really don't need to know what a bubba gun is.

I described it in my original post, because i didn't know until this past weekend myself, but it was buried in a long paragraph, so maybe you missed it.

"Basically, the bubba gun is a station from which a gun is shot, but no birds are thrown."

In the case of this test, the bubba gun was not realistically able to shoot the ducks where they fell, and seemed to be used to deliberately prevent the dogs from marking the falls.

Thanks!

Yes Peggy it's me, and for the other poster here is the description again.


I looked and him laughing and said " what the ******** is a bubba gun ?". What was done there was a gunner shot all the birds from the line to the right or left of the working dog - similiar to what a hunting partner would be like. It eliminated having guns out at the stations and cut down on the # of workers needed.

There are no shots at the station, duck call and throw only.

I am running my first SH this weekend with my two new guys, CH MH sire and dam BLM and CH MH sire and dam FCRF.

Good luck again Peggy, that first MH pass is always a sweet one.

And good luck to you, too, Kim. Impressive pedigree on your boy! Jake's sister Rosie is running in Masters for the first time this coming weekend. And I'm not worried that Jake didn't get a leg last weekend. I am thrilled that my boy was able to get called back twice in a very difficult test. In the kind of set-up he's been trained for he should be OK. I am a little concerned that he didn't seem to be running as hard as usual. Larry thinks it's because he was confused, but I'm concerned that he is still feeling some effects of the inner ear infection that had him wobbling on his pins less than two weeks ago. He still has a few days to go on the antibiotic. But he was running really well in training this week. I was gone all day yesterday at a conference, but I need to contact Larry and find out how he is feeling.