Sunday, September 19, 2010

Land blinds

Rolling Ridge

As Laddie and I often do when we don't have time or opportunity for other field training on a particular day, today we went to a nearby field — in this case the field behind the Rolling Ridge housing development on nearby Goshen Road — to run blinds.

Today, I set up three blinds while Lumi stayed near as I walked, and Laddie waited in the van. I didn't measure but estimate the distance of the blinds at 160, 220, and 300 yards. All of the terrain was medium to high cover with uneven footing.

First, Laddie ran the 160-yard blind on the right. The line to the blind was thru prickly undercover and fallen branches into a shadowy area surrounded by trees, to one of the trees furthest to the back of the area. Here's a picture:

20100919 300-yard blind
160-yard blind

Second, Laddie ran the 220-yard blind on the right. The line to the blind was across a ditch — currently dry because of the draught we are having in our area — then past the end of a line of trees, then uphill on a line diverging from the tree line, ending at the crest of the hill. If Laddie had run too far to the left, he would have gone out of sight behind the tree line, and if he'd gone past the blind, he'd have gone out of sight behind the hill. Here's a picture:

20100919 220-yard blind
220-yard blind

Third, Laddie ran the 300-yard blind in the center. The line to the blind included diagonally crossing a downhill slope, then diagonally crossing an uphill slope, with the blind planted in a featureless spot on the sloped area of the hill in high cover. I used orange tape to mark the blind so I could see where to handle Laddie to from the SL. Here's a picture:

20100919 160-yard blind
300-yard blind

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