2024 Master Amateur Invitational begins with a land triple and an honor. The first series is set in a field of high cover with abundant yellow buttercup flowers. From the ground it’s difficult to appreciate the intricate mowing of the field. Zig zag pattern can be seen from the drone view but from the ground it’s hard for the dogs to navigate the depth of the marks. The judges commented that it looked like a drunk farmer tried to mow this field so that is the name that stuck for this series.
The first series begins with a dead bird on the right side of the test thrown flat from right to left into a patch of cover at 65 yards. The second mark is the middle dead bird station set in a hole and is extremely difficult to find the gun station in the high cover, this mark is a hip pocket to the flyer and is thrown angle back from right to left at 70 yards and is the longest mark in this test. The go bird flyer is at 53 yards and the shortest mark in this series, this is on the left side of field and is thrown right to left slightly angled back into heavier cover. Note: the video description is incorrect on the order of the marks but the drone description below is correct on the order of the marks.
What makes this series challenging? Is the middle longer go bird past a shorter flyer. Terrain sloping downward and a very well-hidden middle gun station could create difficulty for some dogs.
There are numerous Canadian Geese decoys around 25 yards off the line and some are out in the cut grass and others in the taller grass.
It’s estimated to take dogs around 5 minutes to complete this test.
Professional retriever trainer Gary Abbot worked tirelessly to cut and groom the property for this invitational so please reach out to him and thank him for his hard work on our behalf.
