40-acre night test has a real nice shine!
Tonight, we’re up outside of Saratoga on state land doing our “40-acre night” test. This is one of two off-team tests that an area search team must take. The night test is to really test the handler’s navigation and to read their dog at night.
I sized up the wind for the night based on what it was doing at my first corner and we went to work. Quax ranged beautifully….. this area was fairly marshy but very flat with some rolling areas. We did one and half passes and just walked past the subject myself by about 15 feet curled up in a sleeping bag that I didn’t see and as Quax circled on by, he caught scent of the subject and roared into his indication and guided me by a hop, skip, and jump right on the subject. I got out my map and grid reader and double, triple….. quadrople checked it, then my coordinates …. right on the money. 45 minutes for 40-acres.
