Start Of The Life

What i refer to as 'the life' is not just about hunting with dogs, shooting and fishing even though they play a big role in it, its about just being able to get out and about in the countryside. I count myself very lucky in being part of this way of life as i got brought up and live on a council estate, i was who people would call a chav, yob etc. many people who i grew up with havent and wont get the chance to get out into the green space of our country. I suppose i was very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time and get took under the wing of a lover of field sports. I went from a teenager who just sat and hung around the streets to a young lad who learnt and enjoyed his spare time out in the fields. First of all i got taught how to repect the countryside and what goes with it, and got my thoughts of go out with a dog and kill what i can took straight out my head. The first few times out i was took local and lamped a few rabbits which i would later find out to be lamp shy, which explained why all our hard efforts to catch them wernt working. I did say hunting wasnt just what i meant by living the life but i am going to talk about it as this is what does it for me and it was how i found myself getting into the countryside.I will start with a story from when a few of the lads stayed on some permision for a few days to get away from all inner city problems.

This weekend was already sorted out through the week, so as i sat in college from wednesday to friday all that went through my head was i can not wait to get away from this council estate and into South Wales. We set off with the van, landrover and caravan about 7:30 pm and got to South Wales around 10pm. We had with us 3 terriers, 3 lurchers and a harris hawk. When we got there we got everything set out then got the lurchers ready to go for a little shine. The hour we where out only produced 1 rabbit but we had a few runs, as we where all tired we went back to the caravan to have some food. A few of us slept in the van this night and a few in the caravan.

Next morning woke up around nine o'clock and took the dogs for a little mooch about, the terriers got a rabbit up out of some gorse and it headed for the wood with ged straight after it a few turns and it had beat the lurcher to the hedge and safety. A few of us took the landrover and the dogs and drove to a few earths, the first one the dog was in and out with no one at home the second earth we came to was a decent size, the dog searched it for about ten minutes but found nothing, as the day warmed up we decided to go back to the farm.

We got an old frontera going and another old 4 x 4 going from the little scrap yard on the farm, and went down the track and on to the hills for some offroading.The offroading tracks take you down in to the valley and along the river, the land isn't the best to run lurchers on of a night as its very hilly land and the quarry always goes out the beam. After we finished playing with the 4x4's, we went down the local pub to get some dinner. Quite a few of the farmers drink in here and there always asking what we have caught and seen, and always make us very welcome.

It started getting dark and the rain was battering on the van roof, we let the rain die off a bit then all got into the landrover to drive some fields looking for some fox because the farmer is putting some pheasants down this year. We started lamping and straight away 2 foxes were in the field, ged got slipped over the hedge and he ran one of the foxes, this fox got to safety pretty quickly. We drove on to the next fields and there where a lot of bunnys sitting out we took one from these as we didnt want to knacker the dogs out. The next field was a big stubble field so as we started driving across I illuminated a pair of eyes up, this fox started running for the woods ged and smig got slipped ged was first upto him and pulled this one with smig straight behind him. I got over there and got it undercontrol. The dogs took alot of stick off it, so we had to call it a night. Iver the farmer was pleased about this catch and wanted us to carry on for some more, but the dogs where to sore. we got the dogs cleaned up and went to bed. The morning came, and we all got ready to go for a mooch with the harris. We went down in to the valley and paul cast the bird in to a large oak tree, we started beating the hedge with a stick and a pheaant came out... the flight was on, the hawk swooped and crashed in to the trees and this hen pheasant escaped. The hawk was following on, while we where beating the woods out, we heard the bells jingling as she was flying then the sounds of a cock bird indistress, as we ran down she had it in the river, paul got her out and got her ready for the next flight. This was the birds first kill of the season from coming out of moult. We started walking the field full of braken and bits of gorse, and we watched three big healthy foxs come out and stroll across the bottom fields. As there was not many pheasants to fly on we decided to walk a few fields on to a shoot. We came to a strip of kale and pheasants where every were, the hawk werent at its best and had a few flights and took one cock pheasant from these. Paul let her feed on this one and get a full crop on her. When we got back to the house we had a little look by the barns which produced two rats for jab. This weekend flew over and it was time to leave the countryside and head back to Liverpool. When i was younger and getting out in to the fields it made me think about what i wanted to be when i left school, well after alot of thinking i decided to join up to a college that done countryside managment and gamekeeping. I have just finished three years of this and now decided that i dont want to move away to become a keeper just yet, it was great being able to do it for three years but when it comes down to it, i would miss going out lamping and digging with my friends on a weekend. Maybe i will regret this in a few years to come but at least i will have my qualifications. heres another little venture out that we laugh about every time someone brings it up....

As i slammed the boot down on the dog's and started our journey to the petrol station, thoughts where going through my head, will we catch? will we even get a run? We fill the tank up with the petrol and start making our journey on halloween to our destination. On the way there we where talking about how this spot hadn't been lamped before so our hopes for tonight where high. We hit the curvy welsh lanes and drove on for another five minutes and parked the car up. The first field drew a blank, so we walked across this, on the second field I illuminated a fox mooching around, missy and smig where slipped, first up to it was missy and then smig banged in, we rushed over to dispatch this one as we wanted to run the dogs a lot tonight. The fields a bit further on were very hilly so we decided to go back the car and drive down to some lower land, back on the first field I spotted a fox in the far corner so i started squeaking and another appeared, they both start coming in but the one from the corner was coming in nicely across the middle of the field, he got 3/4 of the way across then smig and kenny where slipped, this fox nearly made it to the hedge but kenny caught up to him and turned it out in to the field then one more turn and he struck and it was all over.

We walked the lane back to the car and washed the dogs down, then went to drive off but the car wouldnt start, we pushed it down a lane to get it going but this didnt work, a few fone calls and no one could pick us up, it got to 2:30 and we where all getting restless sitting around, people where arguing on how to get home me and browny was just pleased we broke down where there was an abudance of foxes. Me callum, and browny got the lamp and went for another shine, no point in sitting in the car worrying about how to get home when there are fields to hunt. We told Danny and Josh we would be back in an hour or so.

We followed a different lane this time, the first few fields had dips in them so we didnt have a call, we had been walking for about 30minutes and hadnt seen one pair of eyes yet so the night was getting worse. We decided to cut across the fields and hopefully come out by the car, we started our mission and a few fields away produced the goods, a fox mooching around in the middle of a large field. As we where getting closer it heard us coming and started bounding towards home, but it wasn't fast enough as smig smacked in to it, as we got over there this fox was giving a lot of stick out so i stepped in and humanely dispatched it. We washed the dogs down and checked them over and they where ok to run again, just what we wanted. As we got back to the car we got told a recovery van would be out later for us. The time was now 4:50 and i was getting cramp sitting in a metro, the dogs had a decent rest so me and browny set off out again with kenny and smig. We
walked the fields we walked ealier as we didnt want to venture to far incase we had to be towed away. It started getting later and the time was 6:10 by now and it would be light soon, we started heading back and i could hear whistles and my name getting shouted so i knew some one was there to get us home. As we got back, the recovery van had come from southport and the fella didnt look too happy, i asked Danny "what was up with the car" and he told me he had left the immobiliser on, so we could of just flicked the switch and drove home. Well the clutch was recked due to us trying to get it going and it was a struggle to get in to gear but it was good enough to get us home. All the lads out that night where aged 18 or under, now if we weren't out hunting our dogs and enjoying our selves what would we be doing?

Good hunting lads.....