A Good Mentor

[Silversnake 1,099]

good luck, it is good to have new people getting into field activities, particularly these types. Please look after anyone who helps you, your permissions and especially your dogs. When you do good noone will mention it but when you do bad the news will travel a thousand miles. ATB and happy hunting.

[Bradford Lad 74]

As far as i can remember you only need permissions when asking for fac not sgc, plenty of people only use shotguns for clays and have no permission. if you are of good character and dont have previous for firearms then you should apply for one

[Truther 1,579]

 

A couple of thoughts mate,

 

What are you going to get permission for? with just a pup you cant secure foxing permission, even when its older you could look daft if you cant produce the goods, not a good start.

 

If i were in your shoes i would apply for the SGC, you need it anyway to dig legally, then you could try for shooting permission, easier than foxing permission now with the stupid laws, not only that it would show any "old hand" you weren't a "wrong un" if you get the ticket, some of my mates have had to apply for the SGC just to carry on digging legally, they didn't want it at all, some will disagree but not a big percentage of the old guard were ever into guns in a big way, if you could find a half decent old boy he might be glad of not having to have the shotgun himself, it would be a plus if any young lad asked me for help and he had it, if i still did it that is lol.

 

If you have to go it alone the best teacher is a well bred dog, but let him grow up, early entering is a big no no usually, normally i wouldn't let a dog hunt anything bar fox if i intended to dig with it, but if you go it alone with the pup you need to build a working relationship with the dog, and a big part is the dog trusting you, so the best way is to hunt what you can but avoid foxes until the dogs ready, and pick your earths when you think he is, think "bolting foxes" rather than digging, if the fox runs away from the dog the dog thinks he's won, getting a novice a good hiding can set you back months/ruin it for good, that's when breeding comes in.

 

Hope that's useful.

Problem with that being an amateur who is planning on learning by himself, as I did, he can't have any idea on size/depth/hazards of earths unless he puts a dog in. Luckily I had some really shit terriers to start with & one border in particular helped me learn all about the earths on the estate I had permission on. A 20 minute fox only wonder dog that bolted loads of foxes for the lurchers preban in places that went 'off the box'. As said previously, not many will show a newcomer the ropes for the reasons mentioned. Join a terrier club, in the hope you can get in with some other lads but more importantly to help rescue your dog if the worst should happen. Good luck

 

 

That is true i suppose mate, even a simple looking set can be tricky at times, without knowing the ground its a hard call, but i'd be looking for straight drains, and pulled out rabbits sets round cubbing time. To be honest i started the exact opposite, got a terrier for rabbiting and had lots of scary times with him going to ground, i learn't to avoid dodgy places pretty quick, but i had some very good lads to turn to when it went wrong, hard learning curve but taught me a lot.

[CorkyJohn 808]

I took a couple of older lads out on my estate hoping that I'd click with them & I'd be able to learn from them. Turns out they were clueless muppets that didn't know their arse from their elbows.

[dillydog 8,463]

I took a couple of older lads out on my estate hoping that I'd click with them & I'd be able to learn from them. Turns out they were clueless muppets that didn't know their arse from their elbows.

Truth be known, I think we've all had that experience. The sad thing is there's so many fools pretending in this game you'd do well to find anyone to teach you anything worth knowing.

Good luck in your education, and here's hoping they don't fill you full of shit and hold you back.

[rfndan 0]

getting an air rifle to try for some permissions plus have been told the sire and dam were only used for bushing so will look into getting an sgc some time in the future if he shows any interest in entering, have a converted loft which seems like the perfect place for a gun clamp to go , does anyone one here have any contacts for the Northumberland and Durham working terrier club, seems like a good idea to go along and meet some people before the pups up enough to start anything,

[CorkyJohn 808]

 

I took a couple of older lads out on my estate hoping that I'd click with them & I'd be able to learn from them. Turns out they were clueless muppets that didn't know their arse from their elbows.

Truth be known, I think we've all had that experience. The sad thing is there's so many fools pretending in this game you'd do well to find anyone to teach you anything worth knowing.

Good luck in your education, and here's hoping they don't fill you full of shit and hold you back.

That was a long time ago D, I learned from my own mistakes & the first dogs I had. Learned a lot from a red lakey bitch I bought for £, the terrier that wouldn't leave its quarry & taught me to learn your land before letting a dog like her off lol

[dillydog 8,463]

 

 

I took a couple of older lads out on my estate hoping that I'd click with them & I'd be able to learn from them. Turns out they were clueless muppets that didn't know their arse from their elbows.

Truth be known, I think we've all had that experience. The sad thing is there's so many fools pretending in this game you'd do well to find anyone to teach you anything worth knowing.

Good luck in your education, and here's hoping they don't fill you full of shit and hold you back.

That was a long time ago D, I learned from my own mistakes & the first dogs I had. Learned a lot from a red lakey bitch I bought for £, the terrier that wouldn't leave its quarry & taught me to learn your land before letting a dog like her off lol

I was thinking more of the original poster Corky

[chilli 381]

It can be hard for most terriermen nevermind somebody trying too get started