ENGLISH SETTER NATIONAL HUNT TEST DIARY
September 24, 2006

Two years ago when Ringo earned his AKC Junior Hunter Title, we set our sights on the Senior Level Test at the English Setter Association of America's Hunt Test held in conjunction with the National Specialty in 2006. Those two years passed quickly, and Ringo and I both had a lot to learn. Ringo needed to learn to be obedient and reliable in the field, to hunt strongly and with purpose, to retrieve and to honor. I needed to get a firearms card, take my hunter's education course, get my hunting license, learn to shoot, and make time to get out with my dog to hunt. Attending the hunt test weekend turned out to be a lot more than a quest for an orange ribbon.
Saturday afternoon we arrived at the test grounds late in the afternoon. We met our friend Barb there. Barb brought her talented blue boy Breezy as well as her veteran dog Holdyn. Barb and I had met a few weeks earlier for a private training day at Decoverly Kennels with our trainer Bridget.We made arrangements to meet for dinner later on, and we each went our separate ways at the Wildlife Management Area, Barb heading for the JH course while I headed for the longer SH course. Since I was the first brace in the morning and would not have the benefit of walking a brace as a spectator, I wanted to get a good idea of how to run the course.

Ringo struck out boldly, and I had Molly on the long line. Molly had already been bathed and groomed for a show the next day, so I could see disaster coming as she bounded through the mud and got covered in tiny sticky burrs (that did comb out pretty easily). She even managed to lose a fight with a yellow jacket in the woods, and came out of it with a swollen up ear. Poor kid!
Ringo sensed immediately that "the game is on" and hunted with intensity. He found a quail in the bird field (unplanted) and held a nice point while I flushed it. We finished up at 5:30, and Barb and I made plans to get together for "take-out" later on.
At 6:30 the next morning, we said good-bye to Molly and met up with Paul who had come to pick up Molly and bring her back to Goshen to show. Then we were off to the test site.
When we arrived at the site, we met up with Frank, a fellow Hudson English Setter Club member and Decoverly owner. Our dogs Duke and Ringo were to be the only Senior Hunter brace at the event.
At the cast-off, Frank and I had a big open grassy field in front of us. Both dogs had a beautiful cast-off, with no interfering or playing. The boys definitely had their game faces on right from the start. We crossed the grassy field into a short wooded area and into another field. The judges told us to SLOW DOWN since they couldn’t see our dogs. I had been walking quickly because my handbook advised to walk a brace briskly to make it look like your dog is moving ahead (a good thing but not if the judge can’t see your dog). Another field, another wood, another field, and still neither of us had a backfield point. I was getting worried.
We then moved into a wooded hillside area. Neither Duke nor Ringo had hunted in the woods before, since we generally hunt flat sorghum fields of central NJ. Duke found and pointed a bird on the downhill side of the path. I was getting worried that Ringo wouldn’t find a bird before the birdfield which I knew was coming up soon. Ringo was working uphill, and I had started to walk forward (breaking hunt test rule #1 which is never take your eyes off your dog) when the judge said to me “Handler, check on your dog.” I looked uphill to see Ringo standing with his front paws on a stone wall. He was stiff on point on a bird on the other side of the wall! I got up there quickly and flushed the bird, firing off my pistol as the bird left the ground. Whew! Got that backfield point needed for a pass. Now we could go on to conquer the birdfield.
We entered the birdfield and I headed towards the back, thinking that a planted bird would be farther away from the road and the gallery. Wrong. Frank called point on Duke almost immediately. That meant that I had to call Ringo over to honor. Duke’s point was spectacular as we approached it from the side. Easy for me to see over the tall grass, but Ringo was confused by my trying to position him since he couldn’t see Duke through the tall grass. Then it happened – visual acknowledgement. Brief but real. Not a great honor, but it was there. I collared Ringo off while Frank flushed Duke’s bird and the Master of the guns brought down the bird. Duke went bounding off after it and then bounding back with his bird in his mouth. Beautiful retrieve!
Now we really needed to find a bird. The judges told me to work the back (which is where I was originally headed) and soon Ringo showed real interest around a small bush. Ringo was still but his tail was flagging so I knew that he didn't have the bird yet. I didn’t call point. The judge said “Handler, is your dog on point” and I replied “no!” Ringo then repositioned himself around the bush and went hard on point. I called "point!" It was our turn now. Duke came over to honor. The gunners positioned themselves and I flushed the bird. Ringo leaped after it, and the gunner brought the bird down. “DEAD BIRD RINGO”, I shouted. Ringo picked up the bird and brought it back to within a few feet of me. Good Boy Ringo! We were done.
The judges complimented our dogs hunting and gave us some words of advice (“you both need to work on your honoring”). When the scores came in, both Duke and Ringo had strong scores in the following categories: Hunting, Bird Finding, Pointing and Retrieving. We both had passable scores on the honor, but we had a low score in the Trainability category because our dogs broke before the shot. Ooops! No Senior Hunter passes today.
Our dogs ran a great test. They had a wonderful time and so we. The test site was beautiful and the people were friendly. I said good-bye to Barb and wished her Breezy good-luck and headed back to Goshen to pick up Mol and head back to NJ.
In the end, I am not overly disappointed that we did not get a pass. Senior Hunter tests with a dog that handles beautifully and loves to hunt is a really wonderful experience whether or not you come home with an orange ribbon.


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