When it comes to introducing a young dog to the shooting field for the first time, especially beating, many try to make that introduction a gradual one, with the intention of perhaps missing out the early part of the season and curtailing any real exposure till later on when there are fewer birds about on the shoot. A couple of days out for the pup at the tail end, and then the long wait until next season. The thing is, it sometimes feels like the wrong way round; not particularly helpful as far as training a dog is concerned. I mean, surely it’d be easier if there were somehow fewer birds at the start of the main season and the pheasant population gradually increased as the season went along. That way you could slowly build up the exposure and training, with your dog gaining enough experience to deal with the increase in game as both its experiences and game influx simultaneously increase.
Unfortunately, the start of the season on many shoots hails a different reality for a handler desperate to start working his young dog – a bundle of often docile young adult birds walking around in front of his keen spaniel as the birds try to decide if flying will be a good thing or not! The only choice is to wait until later in the season when there are fewer tempting birds parading around. And just when things are going well and progressing nicely, the season ends, along with many training opportunities.
The most common failure I see is a dog that did well from the little taste of the beating line it had in January then being thrown in the deep end come the following October. The owner somehow forgets how different in terms of game population the respective months are, and the dog’s mind is often blown because it remembers the excitement of a handful of pheasants it flushed during the last few January beating days. Only now it knows what it’s looking for!
Introductions
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2020 من Sporting Shooter.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2020 من Sporting Shooter.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
RSPB gives mixed message on shooting
Having recently attended the RSPB’s virtual AGM, Conor O’Gorman discusses the outcome of the charity’s year-long review of game bird shooting
Causeway for concern
Alan Jarrett’s renewed interest in reading takes him down memory lane to an offshore island duck flight that very nearly ended in disaster
Through a purple patch
The Garrows Estate is taking a conservation-focused approach to restoring the wildlife populations and biodiversity on the Scottish heather moorland.
When the wheels fall off
Losing form on a day’s shooting can be infuriating, especially if you’ve been shooting like a god up to that point. Simon O’Leary looks at some common causes and how to remedy them
Beaches, books & bad behaviour!
The annual Kay family vacation to Northumberland offers a chance to give the cockers a blast on the beach – although they don’t always shower themselves in glory, as Ryan Kay recalls...
Using the Stop whistle
Now you’ve instilled the basics, it’s time to up the ante with some more tricky distance work. Howard Kirby explains how to take the core Stop whistle command to the next level
The humble teal
They may be tiny, but as far as Rupert Butler is concerned, the appeal of this little duck is huge. He recalls some of his most memorable nights in pursuit of these aerial acrobats
Fab all-rounder
Mike is impressed with the Fabarm Elos B2 Field Notte, which offers great value for money, is suited to fieldwork or clays and is future-proofed for use with steel in all choke constrictions
CALL OF THE WILD
Dom Holtam reconnects with one of the purest forms of shotgun shooting as he walks-up woodcock over pointing dogs in the Scottish Highlands
A yen for the Fens
Tony Jackson recounts a memorable duck flight over an area of Fenland in Norfolk with his friend and author, the late Alan Savory
