FEATHERS AND FINS

If you’re fortunate enough to be owned by a bird dog, then you know that training a pup, conditioning an experienced campaigner, and competing in field trials make September a busy month. I’ll bet my bird-hunting boots, though, that you haven’t heard of the American Kennel Club’s hunting tests for pointing dogs. The first mention I heard of the relatively new concept came when Gary Currier, a bird hunter from Waterville, lit into my office.

Because he has participated in the hunting tests, Gary believes there are many pointing-dog owners in Maine who would enjoy the same opportunity. Therefore, the man said he was trying to scare up some publicity. I said he was in the right place. He began by emphasizing that the tests were not field trials. Instead, they are designed for the purpose of demonstrating a dog’s hunting abilities, and to earn AKC-recognized titles. In addition, the tests provide opportunities to work the kinks out of dogs kenneled during the off season.

Pointing dogs participating in the tests can earn titles of Junior, Senior, and Master Hunter. The Junior hunting test includes four classes of judging: hunting ability, tractability, bird-finding ability, and pointing style. Dogs participating in the Senior and Master tests must honor another dog’s point and display retrieving abilities.

Dogs are judged on a point system ranging from 1 to 10. To pass a hunting test, a dog must accumulate a score that will average out to a 7 or higher. A score of 4 or less in any class of judging will result in the dog failing the test. Naturally, Junior Hunters are judged with more leniency than Senior and Master Hunters. But if you’ve been behind bird dogs for long, you know that any dog is capable of completing all the tests on a given day.

The relaxed, uncompetitive atmosphere at the events allows the experienced and the unexperienced to mix and mingle and share the pleasures and disappointments known to those who own pointing dogs.

On Sept. 29, the Central Maine Brittany Club will conduct AKC-sanctioned hunting tests for pointing dogs at the Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area in Bowdoinham. At this time, that is the only hunting-test event held in Maine. If you’re interested, you can flush more information about the tests for pointing dogs by phoning Gary Currier evenings at 872-7806.

With duck hunting season scaling straight at us, many hunters will be heading for offshore shooting grounds. Interest in sea-duck hunting, as you know, has increased dramatically because of reductions in regular duck-hunting seasons and bag limits.

Obviously, boats are required to reach half-tide ledges. Needless to say, so are boat-handling abilities. I don’t know about you, but each fall and winter I shudder at the sight of two or more hunters setting out to sea in a 12-foot boat loaded with bags of decoys, guns, pack baskets, and a retriever. That burden, you can imagine, leaves only a few inches of freeboard.

If you’ve rigged up for sea-duck hunting and will be heading offshore for the first time this fall, you should consider attending one of the United States Power Squadron’s Boating Safety courses. On Oct. 4, an affiliate member, the Wawenock Power Squadron, will hold a boating-safety course beginning at 7 p.m. in Room 200 at Rockland High School.

In case you can’t find a mooring on that date, you might want to dock at one of the Penobscot Squadron’s courses that are currently under way in Room D4 at Bangor High School. The courses cast off at 7 p.m. Wednesdays and will continue through October. For more information, contact Jim Sexton at (207) 942-3456.

Recently, the Department of Marine Resources received a contribution of $1,200 from the Committee to Restore Striped Bass to the Kennebec River. The contribution will assist the department’s Anadromous Fish Division in its efforts to restore native “stripers” to the beautiful and once bountiful Kennebec.

It’s no secret that Marine Resources has been involved in striper restoration efforts on the river since 1982. During that time, about 210,000 striper fingerlings were stocked at various points below the Edwards Dam in Augusta. The contribution by the private committee will be used to defray costs associated with stockings.

In expressing the department’s appreciation of the contribution, Lew Flagg, director of the Anadromous Fish Division, said, “Thanks to the generosity of private organizations like the Committee to Restore Striped Bass, we have been able to enjoy a strong measure of success in our efforts to restore this native Maine fish to a river where it once flourished.” He also pointed out that a recent sampling of the Kennebec produced a “young-of-the-year” striped bass – documented proof of natural reproduction.

In recent years, gains in the management of anadromous fisheries have been great and grand.