Pam and I recently participated in our first tower shoot at the Vernon Shooting Preserve. We volunteered Fox and Quill as retrievers at separate stations that were shared by two guns. These stations rotated every twenty minutes and included a variety of open field and woods opportunities for the shooters. In addition, to keep everyone on their toes, there was a money bird indicated by a ribbon with the successful shooting team splitting the pot. To make things even more interesting, there were multiple ribbon birds released, but only one true money bird identified by a subtle yellow leg band that you could not see from the ground. The valued bird had to be retrieved to the station so the dogs were looked upon as providing value above and beyond just their normal retrieving. The dogs had to be reliable, steady and in shape as the shoot was an all day affair. In addition, the weather was abnormally warm and windy. Quill had seventy-five retrieves through out the day. Several of the pheasant were runners, and he was able to make some wonderful retrieves. These birds were at speed in the air when hit, and they fell a considerable distance from the station into a variety of covers. Sometimes there were doubles so marking was important. So was the race to get the retrieve away from the competition of the neighboring station dog, especially if it was a shorthair! The two shooters Quill and I were working for were using 12ga autos choked modified so there were some long shots. We got several ribbon birds, but unfortunately, not THE ribbon bird that flew over another station. Quill slept for two days after the event. Pam and Fox did not have nearly as many opportunities at their station. Fox did the usual yammer thing (patient by the blind?) but was magnificent with her retrieving even if she was not quiet about it. Don Crumb and Fopaw were there. Don both shot and and ran his dog. He said that the distraction of working the dog while trying to be alert to the flying birds made for a frustrating day. If you have not had the opportunity to go to Vernon, check it out. For a pay to play place, it is the best in the area with 600 acres of excellent cover and nice birds.