advice for wanna-be-gamekeepers

[nathgoon 2]

ater seeing quite a few wee youngans putting up posts about aprentaships etc . i thought illjust give you lot some advice . alot country lads these days want to become gamekeepers (like myself) . if your serious about it go beating, write to local farm shoots, and write to gamekeepers. i understand we all dont have a book full of contacts so i would recomend you make getting into beating your priority. there is alot of very good courses on offer but as my grandad and dad say gamekeeping cant be learnt in a text book . offer free help and show your entusiastic and get somewere belive me . i have done all these thing and now i curently helpout on a shoot in sussex learning my trade , and hopefully youll be doing the same .

 

another thing is in every 30 students in a class room only about 4 of them will become fulltime keepers . so all these storys you hear about every job has thousends after it doesnt matter as long as your good enough youll get it

Edited March 9, 2010 by nathgoon

["Earth!" 503]

ater seeing quite a few wee youngans putting up posts about aprentaships etc . i thought illjust give you lot some advice . alot country lads these days want to become gamekeepers (like myself) . if your serious about it go beating, write to local farm shoots, and write to gamekeepers. i understand we all dont have a book full of contacts so i would recomend you make getting into beating your priority. there is alot of very good courses on offer but as my grandad and dad say gamekeeping cant be learnt in a text book . offer free help and show your entusiastic and get somewere belive me . i have done all these thing and now i curently helpout on a shoot in sussex learning my trade , and hopefully youll be doing the same .

 

Times have changed.i didnt go to college,i started the hard way and was taught by old school keepers although i did do a YTS sceme with rural pursuits in which i hated and didnt see the whole course through.im affraid any wana be keepers id advise to get into a college,do EVERY course you can get,including the forestry/land management side of things,this way your options are left wide open.many commercial shooting estates want to see paper work rather than dirty hands nowadays.

[nathgoon 2]

ater seeing quite a few wee youngans putting up posts about aprentaships etc . i thought illjust give you lot some advice . alot country lads these days want to become gamekeepers (like myself) . if your serious about it go beating, write to local farm shoots, and write to gamekeepers. i understand we all dont have a book full of contacts so i would recomend you make getting into beating your priority. there is alot of very good courses on offer but as my grandad and dad say gamekeeping cant be learnt in a text book . offer free help and show your entusiastic and get somewere belive me . i have done all these thing and now i curently helpout on a shoot in sussex learning my trade , and hopefully youll be doing the same .

 

Times have changed.i didnt go to college,i started the hard way and was taught by old school keepers although i did do a YTS sceme with rural pursuits in which i hated and didnt see the whole course through.im affraid any wana be keepers id advise to get into a college,do EVERY course you can get,including the forestry/land management side of things,this way your options are left wide open.many commercial shooting estates want to see paper work rather than dirty hands nowadays.

 

 

agreed , but , abit of first hand experiance always looks good on your cv

["Earth!" 503]

ater seeing quite a few wee youngans putting up posts about aprentaships etc . i thought illjust give you lot some advice . alot country lads these days want to become gamekeepers (like myself) . if your serious about it go beating, write to local farm shoots, and write to gamekeepers. i understand we all dont have a book full of contacts so i would recomend you make getting into beating your priority. there is alot of very good courses on offer but as my grandad and dad say gamekeeping cant be learnt in a text book . offer free help and show your entusiastic and get somewere belive me . i have done all these thing and now i curently helpout on a shoot in sussex learning my trade , and hopefully youll be doing the same .

 

Times have changed.i didnt go to college,i started the hard way and was taught by old school keepers although i did do a YTS sceme with rural pursuits in which i hated and didnt see the whole course through.im affraid any wana be keepers id advise to get into a college,do EVERY course you can get,including the forestry/land management side of things,this way your options are left wide open.many commercial shooting estates want to see paper work rather than dirty hands nowadays.

 

 

agreed , but , abit of first hand experiance always looks good on your cv

 

first hand experience in my mind is better than any paper work saying you are able to do such and such BUT actually doing it is completely different.many young lads and people are under the impresssion all keepers do is walk around with a gun shooting things.we know that is completely wrong.

[borntoshoot 1]

As stated in original post do what I did and what many of the other kids doing the course i am starting in september did.

 

go beating, offer help as much as possible, dont be frightened to be told off a few times ( i dropped a feeder down a fooking huge cliff in our big wood) and if you are not enthusiastic and are 100% certain gamekeeping is the life for you then by all means go to college but as already stated do forestry and land managment aswell ( im doing first diploma in game and wildlife and then a forestry course) and will also be keepping my eyes and ears open for any either evening or part time butchery courses so if i cant get a keepering job i will do butchery or possibly work for a hunt doing kennel work etc.

 

Jake.

[lilvixen 26]

ater seeing quite a few wee youngans putting up posts about aprentaships etc . i thought illjust give you lot some advice . alot country lads these days want to become gamekeepers (like myself) . if your serious about it go beating, write to local farm shoots, and write to gamekeepers. i understand we all dont have a book full of contacts so i would recomend you make getting into beating your priority. there is alot of very good courses on offer but as my grandad and dad say gamekeeping cant be learnt in a text book . offer free help and show your entusiastic and get somewere belive me . i have done all these thing and now i curently helpout on a shoot in sussex learning my trade , and hopefully youll be doing the same .

 

another thing is in every 30 students in a class room only about 4 of them will become fulltime keepers . so all these storys you hear about every job has thousends after it doesnt matter as long as your good enough youll get it

 

Have to agree with you nathgoon. Just to add a couple of things, if you are one of the many lads looking to get a start you have to make yourself stand out from the crowd. In my opinion you can't beat an apprenticeship/nvq but if you choose to go to college use your time wisely. Get as many tickets as you can and don't spend your holidays sat on your arse, especially the summer when you could be grafting on a rearing field somewhere. A bit of time working for free could pay dividends when you need a reference or the keeper you've been helping hears of a job!

 

Another thing please think very hard about your letter and CV writing (or even just a pm on here!). Take your time, get help if you need it (teacher, lecturer or parent) make it eligible, get the spelling checked and make it concise. If you see a position advertised remember it might not just be the keeper who reads it, agents and owners will want to know they are employing the right man as well.

 

Finally if you get an interview, make yourself smart, (shirt and tie minimum) and most importantly just because you have been to college and got the bits of paper doesn't mean you know it all!

 

Sorry if this reads like a rant, just a little bugbear of mine!

 

Lilvixen's OH

[jf1970 328]

is there a minimum age requirement?

[mudman 14]

Not wanting to put the aspiring young gamekeepers off but I will add all the gamekeepers I know do very little shooting themselves. In general it is more rifle work than anything else, mainly foxing and rabbiting, and often they let a trusted helper do the bulk of that, especially during the summer when most daylight hours are spent on the rearing field.

[borntoshoot 1]

Not wanting to put the aspiring young gamekeepers off but I will add all the gamekeepers I know do very little shooting themselves. In general it is more rifle work than anything else, mainly foxing and rabbiting, and often they let a trusted helper do the bulk of that, especially during the summer when most daylight hours are spent on the rearing field.

 

Sensible keepers buy poults in and save all that time and just focus most of the time in fixing up/building pens, doing drinkers and feeders etc. and also alot of the keepers round here use that spare time to do a bit of pigeon shooting as well as fox control.

[borntoshoot 1]

is there a minimum age requirement?

 

Not reall just the fact that it helpes to have a driving licence, FAC etc and be sensible and mature enough for the job but i would think most lads straight out of college get underkeeping jobs first.

[nathgoon 2]

 

Have to agree with you nathgoon. Just to add a couple of things, if you are one of the many lads looking to get a start you have to make yourself stand out from the crowd. In my opinion you can't beat an apprenticeship/nvq but if you choose to go to college use your time wisely. Get as many tickets as you can and don't spend your holidays sat on your arse, especially the summer when you could be grafting on a rearing field somewhere. A bit of time working for free could pay dividends when you need a reference or the keeper you've been helping hears of a job!

 

well said

 

Another thing please think very hard about your letter and CV writing (or even just a pm on here!). Take your time, get help if you need it (teacher, lecturer or parent) make it eligible, get the spelling checked and make it concise. If you see a position advertised remember it might not just be the keeper who reads it, agents and owners will want to know they are employing the right man as well.

 

Finally if you get an interview, make yourself smart, (shirt and tie minimum) and most importantly just because you have been to college and got the bits of paper doesn't mean you know it all!

 

Sorry if this reads like a rant, just a little bugbear of mine!

 

Lilvixen's OH

 

not a rant mate just sound advise .

 

another little snippet in that i read in shooting times under the good times section, that the BASC have boughta 60-page booklet "the directory of gamekeeping 2010"which contains more than 1000 shooting-related buisnesses for a copy of the free directorytel 01244 573000r. or just buy shooting times .

["Earth!" 503]

Not wanting to put the aspiring young gamekeepers off but I will add all the gamekeepers I know do very little shooting themselves. In general it is more rifle work than anything else, mainly foxing and rabbiting, and often they let a trusted helper do the bulk of that, especially during the summer when most daylight hours are spent on the rearing field.

 

Sensible keepers buy poults in and save all that time and just focus most of the time in fixing up/building pens, doing drinkers and feeders etc. and also alot of the keepers round here use that spare time to do a bit of pigeon shooting as well as fox control.

what are you on about by sensible keepers buy poults in? every estate wants to save money and have the best from their birds.it works out alot cheaper for many commercial shoots to rear from day old.i admit the initial out lay to start this is exspensive but after a couple of seasons money is saved.im not talking about shoots that release a couple of thousand birds but commercial shoots releasing in excess of 10,000.they are all around me and ive done it

[ad22 1]

I went back to college at 21 to try and get a national diploma in game and countryside management, the course wasn't great but it allowed me to get my foot in the door when i went looking for a work placement, i did a year on a big shoot 30,000+ , ( by the way it isnt economically viable or sensible to buy in poults. Most low ground shoots will expect a full time keeper to rear most or at least some of his own birds.)

 

Doing my placement meant i could prove myself and gave me the opportunity to meet lots of other keepers to once i was known to be a good worker on the estate i was on, the headkeeper liked me as i worked as hard as i could, he wanted to get my a position on the estate but those in charge of the finances said no, he spoke to other keepers he knew and before I had finished college I could have had 2 jobs, one was a underkeeper and one was a single handed position, I took the single handed position and now have cottage vehichle and my dream job, it has worked out great for me, I would say go to college, put yourself out there and meet as many keepers in the trade as you can, go beating on as many estates as you can, your reputation will follow you and when a job comes up hopefully you will get it.

Worked for me anyway. College isnt great but it is a means to an end and a good way of getting your foot in the door.

[Grousekeeper84 2]

There isnt even that big a shortage of keepering jobs in the country there is actually a shortage of decent young keepers coming through the problem is a lot of the ones coming out of the collages were never fit to be keepers in the first place therefore cant get jobs!

[danw 1,748]

There isnt even that big a shortage of keepering jobs in the country there is actually a shortage of decent young keepers coming through the problem is a lot of the ones coming out of the collages were never fit to be keepers in the first place therefore cant get jobs!

 

Well said

 

I have had college lads on day release and now I refuse most are a waste of time the last one that came is now working in mcdonalds I know one lad who came out of college with top qualifications 3 years and 3 keepering jobs on he drives a tractor for a living cause he can't hack the work as a keeper.

Good lads will shine through college or not.