We arrive in the dark to Edwards Training facility for Series 8 Land and Water quadruple marking test. We are located in a similar area as Series 6 and 7 blinds. The mat has moved 35 yards to the south in the cut grass. The mat over looks a ravine at the south of the end of property near the front gate. The field has a wonderful variation of grasses and terrain to throw the dogs off an accurate path to the bird. Well the judges are liking the "Sanger Special" concept where the long bird is thrown deep and in the same direction as a shorter more prominent mark. The bird lands tight to the backside of a shorter mark. This Series 8 Land/Water quad utilizes the "Sanger Special" concept twice, almost creating a "look" of a training - double, double.
The first mark to be thrown in this quad is situated up the middle of the ravine. This bird thrown is a dead Rooster pheasant thrown to the left landing in clump of medium cover. This gun station retires in a heavily brushed-up holding blind and will be referred to as the Long Retired or LR. The LR is measuring a distance of 295 yards.
The next mark to be thrown is a slight twitch to the right and shallow of the first (LR). The gun station is placed on the western shore-line of a tail-end channel in the large pond utilized in Series 5, 6 and 7. These gunners walk out to the left of a concealed holding blind on the water's edge and also throw to the left. This second bird thrown is a dead Hen pheasant landing in a big tuft of cover on the same shore in which the gunners stand to throw. We will refer to this mark as the short retired or SR and measures a distance of 180 yards.
The third mark to be thrown in this quad is a Hen Mallard Flyer. This Hen flyer is thrown to the left and measures a distance of 240 yards. This mark is a twitch to the right of the SR and deep on the hill-side west of the pond near a group of widely spaced trees. The flyer station remains visible during the test. We will refer to this mark as the right flyer or RF.
The final bird down in this quad is a swing to the left across the test and is a Rooster pheasant Flyer. This station is sitting in heavy cover throwing to the left measuring 130 yards from the mat. The Rooster is landing in medium to heavy native grasses. This mark will be referred to as the Left Flyer or LF and remains visible to the dog for the entire test.
