This is just a brief post to spread the word about a poll currently being run by BBC’s Countryfile programme

The poll asks an important question

“Does shooting do more good than harm?”

Obviously I think it does, and I hope you do too.

Is it worth voting

The results of polls like these can have quite an impact.  Voting will take literally two seconds, so it is definitely worth doing.

Here is the link:

Vote to support our shooting and gundog community

Do check the wording of the statement, it is quite easy to read it the wrong way around!

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How quickly the months roll around.

It’s July already and we are just settling in the first arrivals for the coming shooting season.

Two hundred ex-layers were unloaded, wing clipped, and released into one of our large woodland pens last weekend.

So it begins

And so begins the twice daily routine of feeding, watering, observing and worrying about, the pheasants in our care.

It is both a burden and a great pleasure.

Gamekeeping is a huge responsibility and a tie.  Long summer holidays are out of the question as we cannot  leave our charges for any length of time.

Water is always a big concern as we have lost our main water supply on the shoot.   This means that water has to be brought to the pens in bowsers and containers.

We do set up ‘rain traps’ in the pens to boost the water supply, but so far, the weather has been glorious.

The pleasures of a gamekeeper’s life

Carrying water and wheat, and filling hoppers,  is quite ‘physical’ so it does help keep us fit![wp_ad_camp_1]And as with all animal husbandry, there is great pleasure to be gained from just being outdoors in the countryside.

In all weathers, seeing to their needs.

The responsibility and daily tasks give life a rhythm, a structure and a purpose.

For me personally the biggest bonus is the benefits to my dogs.  

Watching birds being fed and watered each day, going in and out of pens, and being constantly exposed to the sight and sounds of the birds on a daily basis, is a great steadying influence on a gundog.

Two phases

Our pheasants arrive in two phases,  ex-layers first, followed by poults later in the summer.  Ex-layers are adult pheasants that have produced the eggs necessary to provide the next generation of baby pheasants (poults).

The majority are hens, but there are always some cocks amongst them, like the handsome fellow in the photo above.

Some shoots put down only poults and some put down only ex-layers, we usually have a combination.

There are pros and cons to releasing poults versus ex-layers.  Poults can be more susceptible to illness, and more vulnerable to bad weather,  whereas ex-layers are ‘street-wise’ and know how to look after themselves.   The main downside to ex-layers is the longer period of care required as they arrive earlier than poults do.

Wing clipping

We clip a few feathers from the wing of each bird before releasing it into our pens.

This prevents the pheasant flying out of the pen until the new feathers grow out and ensures that they are nicely settled into their new home before they begin exploring the farm.

Inside the new pen,  the birds are protected from foxes and badgers.  Once they begin to roam, they will be more vulnerable, so it is important that they know their surroundings and have familiar places to roost before being given their freedom.

The meadows are cut

Another seasonal change is the result of the annual hay crop.

The meadows have been cut this week and this is a great opportunity for me as it provides me with lots of short grass to train on.

For the next couple of weeks at least, until the grass grows up again, my dogs will be able to see the dummies where they land.

We can once again practice retrieves that work best with a clear sighting of the dummy.

Tess is surveying the meadow with approval, and probably hoping she will find some nice fox poo to roll in!

This was originally published almost exactly two years ago, on my first blog.  As it is that time of year again, I thought it might be a good idea to move it here, and to highlight the risk to these vulnerable creatures in May and June

I was fortunate this morning to have the opportunity to photograph this little beauty.

There are a fair number of roe kids born on the farm every year.

Many roe does have twins,  and there is a thriving roe population throughout this part of South East England.

Despite the number of deer it is quite unusual to find a kid.

This little ball of fluff was probably a few days old,  and curled up was not much more than twelve inches across.

Survival strategy

You are probably aware that roe does leave their kids alone like this for quite long periods of time,  until they are mobile enough to keep up with Mum and outrun predators.

The mother deer visits the kids to feed them and will bounce away, flashing her white behind,  to distract any predators that approach.

Keep still!

As soon as Mum leaves, the kid will instinctively lie down  and keep very still.   That is its survival strategy.  And roe kids like these, are often very difficult to spot.[wp_ad_camp_1]Initially the only thing that gave the game away was the tiniest twitch of the tips of this little one’s ears.

Not all roe kids are as well hidden as this one.  

Sometimes the mother will leave a kid right out in the open.  

Even when this happens, the baby has not been abandoned.

The roe doe will usually hang around not too far away.   She doesn’t forget where she left her baby and she will always return once you have left.

When the strategy fails

This survival strategy of remaining completely immobile, unfortunately fails when uncontrolled dogs are allowed to charge around the countryside and/or when misinformed members of the public come across these adorable little creatures and assume that they have been abandoned.

Roe kids are killed by dogs every year.  And others are picked up by walkers.

Do not disturb

If you come across a wonderful sight like this,  it is important not to touch the kid or disturb the area that it is hidden in.   We took a couple of photos and slipped quietly away.

What a lovely start to the day

Many people simply have no contacts at all in the shooting world,  but would still love to have a go at this exciting sport.

The shooting community is a close-knit one,  and to an outsider,  it can be hard to find a way in.

Your first step should be to make sure that you are  taught to handle and fire a gun safely and effectively.

We’ll look at that a bit more closely below

Shooting activities in the UK fall into a number of distinct groups, including but not limited to:

• Driven shooting 
• Rough shooting
• Wildfowling
• Deer Stalking

Participating in driven pheasant shooting can be a very expensive hobby.  Guns pay hundreds, even thousands, of pounds for a single day’s shooting.

Before you attempt to participate in a day’s driven shooting,  it is important that you learn to shoot effectively and safely with a shotgun.[wp_ad_camp_1] Learning to shoot is a lot of fun. There are shooting clubs up and down the country which you can join and where you can learn basic gun safety and handling,  and acquire some skill and proficiency by shooting at clay pigeons (disc shaped clay targets which are thrown into the air by a machine).

You don’t need to rush out and buy a shotgun at this stage,  you will be able to borrow one to use under supervision of one of the coaches at your local club.

Once you are a competent shot,  then you can try your hand at shooting quarry species on a managed game shoot.

Whilst you will need deep pockets to buy shooting on a large formal shoot,  smaller and more informal shoots are less expensive,  and are likely to give you more opportunities to chat to keepers,  pickers up,  and members of the beating team.

These contacts will be important to you once you have a gundog that is ready for some field work.

Learning to shoot through a club

Shooting at ‘clay pigeons’ is a good introduction to shotgun shooting, for those that have no connections within the hunting and shooting community.

It enables the shooter to learn  safe gun handling,  and to become proficient and accurate,  before going anywhere near live quarry.

Because some clay shooters are also keen game shooters,  getting involved with clay shooting will also get you some contacts in the shooting community.     The Clay Pigeon Shooting Association is the governing body for clay shooting in the UK.  Check out the CPSA  website for more information on learning to shoot.

Learning to shoot through a mentor

The traditional way to learn to shoot in rural communities was through a mentor.  Usually a relative, a father or an uncle.   Growing up around guns, children learn at a young age what they must never  do with a gun and what they must always do in the presence of guns in order to remain safe.

Britain has a long and strong tradition of good gun handling and gun safety in its  legitimate shooting community,  and this has largely been passed down from mentor to pupil in successive generations.

If you have opportunity to learn from an experienced shot in this way, grasp it firmly.  For most of those coming to the sport of shooting as an adult,  this option is not available to them.

Other types of shooting

Rough shooting and wildfowling are other activities you can get involved in once you have learned to shoot with a shotgun.

Getting started with rough shooting can tricky. You will need the permission of the landowner which understandably is not often readily offered to strangers.

Getting involved with a small local driven shoot first will help you make contacts within the shooting community in your area

To get involved in  wildfowling you will need to join your local wildfowling club.  This is not a sport you can ‘dabble’ in as it requires extensive knowledge of the shoreline and target species.  You can links to wildfowling clubs on the British Association for Shooting and Conservation website

Deer are shot with a high velocity rifle and deer stalking is a very different skill than shotgun shooting,  check out this article : Deer Stalking  and visit the BASC website for more information.

If learning to shoot does not appeal to you, there are other ways to get  involved with shoot activities.   Check out Helping Out or Working on a Shoot for more information on gaining contacts and making friends within the shooting community.

If you enjoy my articles, you might like my new book: The Happy Puppy Handbook – a definitive guide to early puppy care and training.

A whole team of people is involved in putting on  a day’s shooting.

The beaters,  the pickers up,  and on larger shoots,  loaders.

Then there is the gamekeeper,  on large shoots several underkeepers, and  shoot manager.

All the pickers up and some of the beaters will be gundog handlers.

These are jobs for fully trained gundogs and are not suitable for young  dogs ‘in training’.

If you have a young newly trained dog,  picking-up is usually a better choice than beating,  but there is a lot of competition for picking up work in  some areas,  and it requires knowledge and experience which you can best gain with a mentor.

Initially what you need is contacts within the shooting community.

Beating

Offering to help out at your local shoot,  without your dog,  is a good way to establish these contacts ,  and to make friends with ‘gundog folk’.[wp_ad_camp_1] In the winter you can offer to ‘beat’ .

Check out Beating for the First Time for more information

You do not need a gundog to take part as a beater. 

Many shoots prefer beaters without a dog,  and most shoots have a proportion of beaters that are ‘dogless’.

Picking up

Picking up opportunities are greatly sought after and highly prized in many areas.   Most shoots can pick and choose their pickers up so don’t expect to be taken on as a picker-up without some good contacts and an introduction.

Check out  Getting started with Picking Up

Getting those contacts

Very often,  making those first contacts means getting involved in ways that you perhaps had not intended,  helping out in the summer for example. (see below)

You can make contact with shoots through the   National Organisation of Beaters and pickersup   whose objective is to bring shoot organisers together with those that want to participate in a shoot day.

There is a forum for NOBS members where you can chat to people in the shooting community.

In the summer, there are a number of ways in which you can lend a hand and get involved with your shooting and gundog community

Offering practical assistance

There is a plenty of work to be done on shoots during the summer months.

Repairing and rebuilding pens,  replacing rotten posts, or damaged wiring, cutting back undergrowth and so on.

Many small shoots do not employ keepers,  but are ‘manned’ by the guns themselves.  Offer s of assistance, with feeding,  cleaning out drinkers etc,  are usually very welcome.

Kindness repaid

Becoming part of your local ‘shoot community’ may also open doors to opportunities like helping out with rabbit and pigeon control during the summer months.

Your kindness in offering to help will be remembered,  and you will meet people that can help you.

If you enjoy my articles, you might like my new book: The Happy Puppy Handbook – a definitive guide to early puppy care and training.

Missing out?  Click here to get my new articles delivered to you

Many people that have a young, newly trained gundog are interested in having a go at picking-up

But what does picking-up actually involve?

And how do you get a foot in the door if you don’t know where to start?

What is picking up?

Picking up is the collection of shot game. Any kind of shooting requires that game is collected quickly and efficiently.[wp_ad_camp_1] Both to ensure that wounded animals can be despatched humanely, and to provide food fit for the table, which is of course the primary purpose of game shooting.

This applies to a small rough shooting expedition, an afternoon in a pigeon hide, or a day on a formal driven shoot.

However, when people say that they are ‘going picking-up’ they are usually talking about working their dog on a driven or walked up formal shoot day. Picking-up is a job for a fully-trained dog.

Formal shoots

On a driven pheasant shoot, guns are arranged in a line and birds are shot as they fly over the guns. Many of these birds will fall behind the line,  and this is where the pickers-up and their dogs are waiting.

Wounded birds are collected immediately, but the majority of work is done after the whistle is blown at the end of each drive.

The same rules apply to partridge or grouse shooting though the terrain may be very different from the typical pheasant shoot.

What is involved

If you have spent a great deal of time teaching your dog how to handle with spectacular style at a distance, you may be a little disappointed to find out that much of a picker -up’s job is rather less glamourous and involves what is known as ‘sweeping up’

Sweeping up means hunting an area of ground thoroughly, in order to ensure all the birds that have fallen there are picked up and taken to the game cart.

For this purpose, you won’t need to ‘handle’ your dog other than to keep him within an area,  but will need your dog to hunt fast and efficiently.

There are opportunities for those really satisfying retrieves and if you spend a whole season picking up, you will have some wonderful retrieves to remember,  but sweeping up is the ‘bread and butter’ and those special retrieves are the icing on the cake.

Demand for places

In many areas, there are more people wanting to go ‘picking-up’ than there are spaces for pickers-up on shoots. And pickers-up tend to guard their ‘territory’ with enthusiasm

So don’t expect to waltz in to a shoot as a total stranger, and be automatically be welcomed with open arms That is not always how it works.

Starting in the beating line

A good way in to a shoot often begins with the beating line. Don’t take your dog if you don’t want to beat with him, beaters without dogs are a useful asset to most shoots.

You may be given a flag to wave and you will certainly be doing a lot of walking.  Check out Beating for the First Time for more information

If you make yourself useful in the beating line, you will be able to make friends with the pickers-up, and may get an opportunity to help out in the picking-up line later in the season.

An experienced picker-up will often be willing to encourage and support someone new to the sport, especially if the person concerned appreciates the help, follows instructions, and is willing to learn.

Gaining experience

When you take a young dog on a driven day for the first time, it is really important to be able to pick and choose your retrieves. You don’t want a young dog retrieving runner after runner,  and melting his brain with the sheer excitement of it all.

You need to gain some experience too.

And if you do not know how to humanely despatch a bird,  make sure you learn this important skill without delay. Ideally, for the first few outings, your dog should be mainly observing.

This means finding an experienced picker up who will let you ‘tag along’  with them, perhaps selecting you a couple of suitable blind retrieves for your dog. This type of experience is worth its weight in gold and if you don’t have friends in the trade, your best way of getting it, is to hire the services of a professional trainer.

Once you have some experience assisting an ‘old hand’  you will hopefully get a chance to pick up in your own right.

Your first day alone

Your first time picking up on your own can be quite daunting. There is a lot to remember and think about, but it is important to stay calm and not let your ‘nerves’ be transmitted to the dog.

It is another good reason to begin on small shoots where you won’t feel intimidated and will be able to relax. If you are asked to pick up for a specific gun,  introduce yourself and make sure he knows where you are standing.

Don’t cast off your dog the second the whistle goes for the end of the drive or you will soon find him dashing off at the sound of the whistle. Pick up any birds in clear sight nearby, by hand,  let the dog sit and watch you do this.

On a small shoot, the gun will probably have an idea how many birds he has down and some will know roughly where they are.  Some guns however, are over optimistic in this respect,  so you will have to use your judgement to an extent.

Making yourself helpful

The more helpful and friendly you are,  the more likely you are to be asked back.   If you have picked up for your gun, offer to help any of the other pickers up that are still looking.

Always ask first,  don’t just cast your dog into someone else’s patch! Learn how to tie up a brace of birds and hang them in the game cart.  On a small shoot, everyone has to help with these tasks.

Remember to stay calm.  Annoying things happen on shoot days.

Expectations run high and  it is easy to get upset and make yourself look silly.  On small shoots,  the beaters’ dogs will often pile in at the end of the drive and hoover up the birds your dog has sat patiently waiting to retrieve.

It is all part of the day, so bite your lip and smile,  and think how your dog’s steadiness will be improving. Be prepared to socialise at the end of the day.

On many shoots everyone will repair to a barn or the local pub to mull over the days events.  This is where friendships are formed and contacts made.

Picking up is a fantastic hobby,  for you as well as your dog.   You will both be fit, healthy and happier for it.  And each time you go out, you will learn something new!

If you enjoyed this article, you might like my new book: The Happy Puppy Handbook – a definitive guide to early puppy care and training.

The last of the pheasants arrived on Friday.

All of our pens are now stocked once more.

The pen repairs and early summer work is done.

Rotten posts have been replaced, holes in the fences repaired, electric wires mended, vegetation cleared from the perimeters, and feed rides restored.

And so it begins

We must now settle down to the serious job of keeping these little birds safe and well.  Drinkers must be kept clean and filled, a harder task now that we have no mains water supply to our pens, and hoppers kept topped up with food.

We have one pen stocked with ex-layers and three with poults.

Each morning and evening the entire perimeter of each pen must be examined by an experienced eye.  We check for attempted ‘break-ins’ by four legged predators that have braved the electric wire, fallen branches that may have compromised the electric circuit or damaged the main fence, and escapees.

Flying practice

This year our poults have arrived un-clipped and are able to fly short distances.  This has its advantages and disadvantages.[wp_ad_camp_1] Poults that cannot fly are more vulnerable to predators, but on the other hand unclipped birds are more likely to escape over the wire.

Something we would rather they did not do until they have grown a little bigger.

Any that have hopped over and into the big wide world, must be ‘walked back in’ via one of the purpose built pop-holes that are built into the base of the pen.

Steadiness training

Many people do not realise just how big a pheasant pen is.   This is not some little ‘chicken run’, but a fenced area that encloses a large piece of woodland.

Walking the pens is therefore good exercise for me and the dogs.   It is also good steadiness training for a young dog to regularly have to walk at heel past scuttling pheasants on the other side of the wire.

Poults are easily spooked and if given a fright the whole lot could crash into the fence and hurt themselves, or shoot over the wire into the open wood on the other side,  so it is important that dogs remain calm and quiet at heel as we walk the pen.

I have not introduced Rachael to the pheasants yet, but will be doing so over the next few weeks.  At the moment, I am hand feeding the ex-layers who arrived earlier to the poults and are now settled in.

Hand feeding encourages the birds to gather around me when I whistle, this means that in due course, I will be able to have Rachael sit next to me whilst I do this.

An asset for any trainer

It is hard physical work, but the benefits to a gundog enthusiast of raising pheasants, or being involved in helping someone that does so are immense.

There is simply no replacement for regular daily contact with pheasants for steadying up a dog.

If you have a young dog that you are preparing for the coming shooting season, I strongly recommend that you offer your services to a local keeper in exchange for some valuable ‘close encounters’ for your dog.

We have been practising Rachael’s new delivery to hand, at home in the garden.

I was now ready to take her down to the farm and begin some ‘proper’ retrieving.

We also needed  to re-establish a basic heel/sit/stay out in this more distracting environment.

Rachael will be wearing a harness and long line to begin with as there are still plenty of pheasants about on the farm.

First trip to the farm

This was Rachael’s first trip to the farm for a while.  There are all sorts of other skills that come along with being taken out in a vehicle (with other dogs) for training,  and we will be working on these as we go.

The first I had to deal with was a little bit of ‘whining’

Whining

Rachael made a few small ‘whiny’ noises when I switched off the engine after driving onto the farm and parking up.  This is not surprising as she associates the feel of going ‘off road’ with having fun.[wp_ad_camp_1]She may have whined like this in the past,  however, until recently I had a truck with a separate cab.

So I would not have been aware of noise at this low level.

Noise in the vehicle is a big no-no  for several reasons.  Firstly because I don’t like it.

But most importantly because it tends to escalate  if not nipped in the bud.    A lot of people fall into the trap of letting the dog out of the car whilst whining (or shortly afterwards) and thus rewarding this habit, which then increases with every journey.

Fortunately I had bought my flask with me,  so I settled down with a cup of coffee, to wait for Rachael to relax.   Eventually I heard her lie down and sigh, then all went quiet.  This was my cue to get Rachael out.

Heel / sit / stay

I often start a training session with a little heel/sit/stay routine.   This establishes the concept for the dog that she is here to work,  not to play,  and that getting out of the vehicle is not a reason to get in a  quivering state of excitement.

My first heel/sit /stay session with Rachael was very simple and went like this.  Rachael must

• Walk 5 yards at heel and sit when I stop
• Remain sitting whilst I remove the lead and stand next to her for 5 seconds
• Walk on at heel off lead on command,  five yards, sit when I stop
• Remain sitting whilst I walk 5 yards away in any direction (I vary this) and return

Each time I return and reward her,  then we walk on another 5 yards at which point I may do any of the following

• Walk around her in a five yard circle
• Walk 5 yards away and wait five seconds before returning
• Walk behind a tree for five seconds

And so on.  You can see that the number 5 figures quite a lot,  and using just one number like this is entirely for my benefit.  I jot down the number and if all went well,  next time I will increase it to 7 and then 10 and then 15.  etc.

It just helps me remember where I am at,  and lets me build up time and distances gradually.

I always break heelwork up like this with a young dog,  I never walk more than a few yards without either a sit or a change in direction.   This helps to ensure the dog doesn’t make mistakes through losing concentration on where her position is meant to be.

The first retrieves

My next objective was to get a simple retrieve going out here.  I had a dummy tucked into the back of my belt, but to start with I just did a few ‘hand touches’ to get Rachael focused on the objective of putting her mouth against my hand.

Once Rachael had bumped my hand firmly with her nose a couple of times I threw the dummy just a short way in front.

Rachael delivered to hand and I threw it out again, this time she ducked her head away as she reached me.  I interrupted her with an ‘ah-ah’ and she dropped the dummy on the floor (she hates any kind of disapproval).  I stood and waited and she picked the dummy up and delivered nicely, pushing it hard against my hand.

This is one of the lovely things about the clicker delivery, it doesn’t matter how many times the dog drops or fumbles the dummy (and a soft mouthed dog will often do this initially),  she will always pick it up again.  With a traditionally taught hold,  very few dogs will pick up the dummy once dropped,  unless it is re-thrown.

We then did two more retrieves, rewarding the last one with food,  and Rachael was perfect both times, giving me a really nice standing delivery with her head held high.

Running In

I haven’t steadied Rachael to fall yet.  I allow her to charge out after the dummy as I throw.

I will probably steady her up quite soon as she is so keen,  but I want to make sure I have the retrieve well established first.

Alone in the vehicle

After putting Rachael back in the vehicle, I took the spaniels out for a while.   Waiting in the crate whilst other dogs get in and out, is quite difficult for a puppy but Rachael has practiced this in the crate at home and she did well.

I was pleased that Rachael didn’t cry when left alone.    If she had done so,  I would have left one dog with her next time,  so as not to get a fussing habit established.

More visits to the farm

Over the next few days we made several more trips to the farm.   I repeated the heel/sit/stay in different areas,  sometimes in woodland,  sometimes out in the open.   And introduced some very short periods of heelwork and stay off the track where scent is stronger and there are more temptations.

Once we were away from the harder surface of the tracks, Rachael found it quite hard not dropping her head to sniff at the ground,  and we are going to need to practice this regularly.

I am still having to wait a few minutes after switching off the engine for Rachael to ‘settle down’  but apart from that her behaviour in the vehicle is excellent.

Her delivery is holding up nicely and I will need to ‘rope in’  a thrower soon to give me some longer ‘marks’ for her.    I will also be steadying her to fall in the next week or two, and introducing Rachael to heelwork and stay amongst the other dogs.

All in all a nice start and a good week’s work for Rachael

If you enjoy my articles, you might like my new book: The Happy Puppy Handbook – a definitive guide to early puppy care and training.