What Got You In The Game

[TOM HEAVY 140]

i've got 2, my 1st dog (in the profile pic) died in a very unfortunate road accident

[wrighty17 36]

Looks a biggun mate what was he

[TOM HEAVY 140]

not big 24 tts, collie/whippet/greyhound. The 1st but certainly not the last

[Carraghs Gem 1,675]

my first ferret & being married (for a while) into a farming family who were into shooting and digging... i went the ferret and lurcher route

[wrighty17 36]

Looks big on the photo haha, looking for something with collie in myself

[roybo 2,873]

Probably the very first bit of hunting at 8 or 10 was a bin lid and string to catch song birds lol then moved on to quick lime when I saw the neighbour doing it.

Shooting rats and pigeons and moorhens with a gat gun,they usually just ran or flew away,lol,

using my old ladies poodle to catch rats too,then my uncle took me ferreting ,

Then the family staff on foxes

Then lurchers and terriers ,

[wrighty17 36]

A working staff? Don't hear of them my way well I never have anyway , most people start with ferreting it seems

[Slippery_Weasel 460]

The person that got me into it the most was this guy, my Mums, Dad. By taking me to catch my first trout when I was about 5. My mum is the little lass on the right here.

 

 

If I am honest though, it was probably already there. I lived along way away from my Grandad so although I would hear stories when I saw him and he always took us fishing and occasionally shooting when we went to stay with them, most of my free time as a young kid was focused on trying to catch stuff. Whether it was birds under a box with a stick attached to some string, trying to teach myself how to snare rabbits, use a catapult etc etc I was always trying... thinking about it days before the internet for someone who didnt get to spend much time with someone to show them the ropes meant loads of trial and error and very little sucess

[NEWKID 27,159]

My dads best mate became basically my 2nd dad..

We did't live with my dad as kids but every weekend I came back I ended up staying with Dave, going fishing, lamping, ferreting.. then back with my mum counting the days down to be back around the ferrets and dogs..

started at around 6 or 7, mum got me my own dog, a little whippet x I called Haglar (after Marvellous Marvin) he was my constant companion, and when Mum and Dad patched it up he came back to Devon with us..

Spent all our time out and about, or at Daves with his Collie x , Susie....

It really was all we done, didn't even see it as hunting we just went out and ratched about, there was always a few of us as I got older that got out and about...

 

Dave showed me the lot, fishing, lamping, nesting, ferreting.... I owe him loads!!

He died a few years back now, only 57, I was completely gutted... he gave me an old hob ferret before he died, I took him out ferreting one last time, he wasnt well but kept up all day and enjoyed it... still miss him most days!!

[darbo 4,776]

First proper outing in 1984 first light hare coursing with a old lad i met through work took me under his wing was always grateful to the man.

[Blackdog92 2,047]

Just grew up with it, me and the other kids from the valley would always be ratching about on bikes armed to the teeth with catapults and air rifles trying to trap or shoot anything that wasnt a sheep or cow.

 

I would often get a thick ear for stealing a couple of my dad and grandads sheepdogs to take ferreting with us. Terriers came naturally as my grandad was into them so it just clicked. It was a lad i went to secondry school with who got me into lurchers, i knew nothing about lurchers at the time and i didnt care much for them to he honest. Until he took me out lamping and seeing his dog twist and turn after the rabbit, i was hooked a few months later i got my own lurcher and the rest is history.

[Daniel cain 45,459]

It was easier for my dad to take me out with him when I was young(save the ear ache of mam),my uncle tommy gave me two ferret jills and 20 handmade nets that I still have for my 8th birthday,I saw my dad dig a fox with one of his Russell bitches when I was ten,my dad's sister was married to a mfh and big into hunting-my nans brother owned a farm and I would go shooting every boxing day,they used to put down a few birds and have a little rough shoot between a few of the old boys.when my parents split up when i was 12yr old,my dad got me two russells jack and Toby, and I used to live for the weekends when we would go out ratting,digging,fishing and being places we shouldn't.I've always been the outdoor type and was never inside as a kid-just like my 3 little uns.as long as I have a hole in my arse I will hunt,fish,shoot and enjoy just being out in the countryside.atb dc

[Stud dog 632]

My step dad got me a ferret an he had a lurcher an about 4 terriers for digging he used to take me out bushing with him an I would get up early on a weekend an take the lurcher an ferret round to my mates climb in his window wake him up an out we went for the day never really took to terriers but after seeing that lurcher work day an night there wasn't an isn't another dog I would have

Edited March 17, 2016 by Stud dog

[wrighty17 36]

Some great little stories , shame today isn't like it used to be, I remember my uncle had a big hairy dog called mixie dh gh x collie gh the most placid dog I've ever seen but completely different when she be out working, there would be times she would lay that close to the coal fire we would have to put her out, never had a dog like her since

[bob84 189]

My grandad got me and my uncle who's younger than me into hunting the grandad started us of fishing then shooting and lurchers he got me a whippet at 12 I've spent around 30k shooting but always had either a whippet or lurcher around for the last ten years or so it been lurcher alway the way its the excitement of working lurchers that draws you back everytime it never the same twice and I wouldn't have it any other way now my uncle went the other way and stuck with shooting he don't see the attraction in walking fields when darkness falls .