Times Change

[DogMan85 722]

I was a little twat as a youngster, always out and about and up to know good. Playing on the pit top and in the woods. I've got a 9 year old daughter and I panic when she's on the park outside the house, no way in hell would I let her do half the things I did at her age and younger. My dad is a flapper regarding anything concerning the family so I don't know how he coped when me and my brother were kids.

[gnasher16 30,025]

 

Its called adaption and every generation does it i remember my ol man constantly saying " it aint like it used to be ".....you just have to stay true to yourself i didnt grow up around hunting/wildlife/countryside whatsoever but having found it later in life i,ll never be without it again in some form or another but i wouldnt push it onto my kids or grandkids as its a different time and they must be left to find their feet if somethings right for them they,ll find it like i did.

What sort of hunting do you do gnasher.

I remember you talking about the bulldogs.

 

I have the occasional turn out with the running dogs and lend a hand with some terriers i dont own dogs myself anymore so have to rely on a few good hearted folk near me meaning im lucky to get out much more than once a week so im nowhere near as hardcore as some of you chaps but as with the bulldogs ive found once you are bitten by the bug its hard to ignore it and the countryside seems to of got a bit of a grip on me over the years............how about yourself what sort of hunting do you do ?

[gnasher16 30,025]

 

I wouldn't say I push it on to my kids but I make sure they experience hunting and the outdoors, as if I don't get them out they would probably never know if they like it or not as it is not easy to find a place to hunt or to meet someone else to give them the experience. I have always loved hunting of any kind and I hope my kids do too but it is so uncommon and difficult I think that most kids would not even consider it an option.

 

Absolutely....it wasnt an option to me or my kids unfortunately as its only been the last 10 years or so that ive been around hunting/countryside my kids are in their 20,s now and just give me a quizzical look when i suggest a stroll out in the countryside .....opportunity missed i guess.

[delswal 3,819]

I recently moved back to the village that I lived in until I was 19 , during my early teenage years I owned a small lurcher bought from a pet shop as a staff bull cross , I don't think that it had ever seen a bull terrier its legs grew and it became a brindle strong whippet type lurcher. Almost every evening I would walk up the village with my dog often on the way I would be joined by two other dogs a corgi x alsation about a yard long and 12 inches high and a stocky little jack Russell ,with these dogs in tow I would head off to the hillside above the village a mixture of rough grazing thorn and gorse with some large rabbit warrens , the three dogs would work the cover with the two smaller dogs pushing through the gorse and the lurcher leaping around the outside looking for bolting rabbits I would often catch two or three, four was regarded as a very good hunt . thes.e rabbits would be gutted and legged and hung on my belt for the walk home . I would walk through the village rabbits hanging off my belt blood soaked into the side of my jeans ,no one would bat an eyelid sometimes I would meet one of the locals walking down the road with a broken shotgun over his shoulder off to try and bag a couple of pigeons no one bothered it was just part of country life .Fast forward to today I don't think that half of the youngsters in the village today would know how to gut and leg a rabbit , the police were called out because someone was shooting at crows and there's a court case because a new resident is trying to shut a footpath that has been in use for at least a century.Life in this village has certainly changed and not for the better .

I guess I am still lucky enough to live in a village that still recognises countryside activities. My grandson who will be 9 on Tuesday is stopping with us this weekend and he's gun mad, so his birthday present this year was a single barrel Baikal .410, we went for a walk with it this morning, him in his full camo set up and raring to go. We got in the field which is surrounded by plenty of trees, no sooner had we got in the field the 3rd tree along had a dopey wood pigeon, maybe still half asleep, but after a crack from the .410 it was fully asleep, as soon as the pigeon was falling through the branches the grandson was off to collect his guns first kill. After giving him some target practice 10 shells or so we set off back home, which is only a 5 minute walk. So here he is 9 years old carrying a freshly shot wood pigeon through the village, I swear his chest grew to about 40" swaggering down the road we bumped into 3 locals and every one had to listen to his hunting trip lol, but everyone of them simply praised him.........he's already looking forward to his next mooch..........and thats exactly how it should be. Times do change, but I hope its not for a few years yet and the grandson can be living his little adventure for some time yet.

[Silversnake 1,099]

 

 

I recently moved back to the village that I lived in until I was 19 , during my early teenage years I owned a small lurcher bought from a pet shop as a staff bull cross , I don't think that it had ever seen a bull terrier its legs grew and it became a brindle strong whippet type lurcher. Almost every evening I would walk up the village with my dog often on the way I would be joined by two other dogs a corgi x alsation about a yard long and 12 inches high and a stocky little jack Russell ,with these dogs in tow I would head off to the hillside above the village a mixture of rough grazing thorn and gorse with some large rabbit warrens , the three dogs would work the cover with the two smaller dogs pushing through the gorse and the lurcher leaping around the outside looking for bolting rabbits I would often catch two or three, four was regarded as a very good hunt . thes.e rabbits would be gutted and legged and hung on my belt for the walk home . I would walk through the village rabbits hanging off my belt blood soaked into the side of my jeans ,no one would bat an eyelid sometimes I would meet one of the locals walking down the road with a broken shotgun over his shoulder off to try and bag a couple of pigeons no one bothered it was just part of country life .Fast forward to today I don't think that half of the youngsters in the village today would know how to gut and leg a rabbit , the police were called out because someone was shooting at crows and there's a court case because a new resident is trying to shut a footpath that has been in use for at least a century.Life in this village has certainly changed and not for the better .

I guess I am still lucky enough to live in a village that still recognises countryside activities. My grandson who will be 9 on Tuesday is stopping with us this weekend and he's gun mad, so his birthday present this year was a single barrel Baikal .410, we went for a walk with it this morning, him in his full camo set up and raring to go. We got in the field which is surrounded by plenty of trees, no sooner had we got in the field the 3rd tree along had a dopey wood pigeon, maybe still half asleep, but after a crack from the .410 it was fully asleep, as soon as the pigeon was falling through the branches the grandson was off to collect his guns first kill. After giving him some target practice 10 shells or so we set off back home, which is only a 5 minute walk. So here he is 9 years old carrying a freshly shot wood pigeon through the village, I swear his chest grew to about 40" swaggering down the road we bumped into 3 locals and every one had to listen to his hunting trip lol, but everyone of them simply praised him.........he's already looking forward to his next mooch..........and thats exactly how it should be. Times do change, but I hope its not for a few years yet and the grandson can be living his little adventure for some time yet.

Great to hear delswal and hopefully things NEVER change. Atvb.

[Silversnake 1,099]

 

 

I wouldn't say I push it on to my kids but I make sure they experience hunting and the outdoors, as if I don't get them out they would probably never know if they like it or not as it is not easy to find a place to hunt or to meet someone else to give them the experience. I have always loved hunting of any kind and I hope my kids do too but it is so uncommon and difficult I think that most kids would not even consider it an option.

 

Absolutely....it wasnt an option to me or my kids unfortunately as its only been the last 10 years or so that ive been around hunting/countryside my kids are in their 20,s now and just give me a quizzical look when i suggest a stroll out in the countryside .....opportunity missed i guess.

You will just have to have another kid then lol

[gnasher16 30,025]

 

 

I wouldn't say I push it on to my kids but I make sure they experience hunting and the outdoors, as if I don't get them out they would probably never know if they like it or not as it is not easy to find a place to hunt or to meet someone else to give them the experience. I have always loved hunting of any kind and I hope my kids do too but it is so uncommon and difficult I think that most kids would not even consider it an option.

 

Absolutely....it wasnt an option to me or my kids unfortunately as its only been the last 10 years or so that ive been around hunting/countryside my kids are in their 20,s now and just give me a quizzical look when i suggest a stroll out in the countryside .....opportunity missed i guess.

You will just have to have another kid then lol

 

Thats what grandkids are for......im working on him but he,s not 2 yet

[greg64 2,806]

 

I recently moved back to the village that I lived in until I was 19 , during my early teenage years I owned a small lurcher bought from a pet shop as a staff bull cross , I don't think that it had ever seen a bull terrier its legs grew and it became a brindle strong whippet type lurcher. Almost every evening I would walk up the village with my dog often on the way I would be joined by two other dogs a corgi x alsation about a yard long and 12 inches high and a stocky little jack Russell ,with these dogs in tow I would head off to the hillside above the village a mixture of rough grazing thorn and gorse with some large rabbit warrens , the three dogs would work the cover with the two smaller dogs pushing through the gorse and the lurcher leaping around the outside looking for bolting rabbits I would often catch two or three, four was regarded as a very good hunt . thes.e rabbits would be gutted and legged and hung on my belt for the walk home . I would walk through the village rabbits hanging off my belt blood soaked into the side of my jeans ,no one would bat an eyelid sometimes I would meet one of the locals walking down the road with a broken shotgun over his shoulder off to try and bag a couple of pigeons no one bothered it was just part of country life .Fast forward to today I don't think that half of the youngsters in the village today would know how to gut and leg a rabbit , the police were called out because someone was shooting at crows and there's a court case because a new resident is trying to shut a footpath that has been in use for at least a century.Life in this village has certainly changed and not for the better .

I guess I am still lucky enough to live in a village that still recognises countryside activities. My grandson who will be 9 on Tuesday is stopping with us this weekend and he's gun mad, so his birthday present this year was a single barrel Baikal .410, we went for a walk with it this morning, him in his full camo set up and raring to go. We got in the field which is surrounded by plenty of trees, no sooner had we got in the field the 3rd tree along had a dopey wood pigeon, maybe still half asleep, but after a crack from the .410 it was fully asleep, as soon as the pigeon was falling through the branches the grandson was off to collect his guns first kill. After giving him some target practice 10 shells or so we set off back home, which is only a 5 minute walk. So here he is 9 years old carrying a freshly shot wood pigeon through the village, I swear his chest grew to about 40" swaggering down the road we bumped into 3 locals and every one had to listen to his hunting trip lol, but everyone of them simply praised him.........he's already looking forward to his next mooch..........and thats exactly how it should be. Times do change, but I hope its not for a few years yet and the grandson can be living his little adventure for some time yet.

 

excellent I was 9 years old when my dad bought me my first shotgun .that was a .410 started me off by blasting squirrel dreys in the hope that some where at home he used to pick me up from school every week on his half day off from work and go shooting he will remember those days for ever delswal he is a lucky lad

[delswal 3,819]

 

 

I recently moved back to the village that I lived in until I was 19 , during my early teenage years I owned a small lurcher bought from a pet shop as a staff bull cross , I don't think that it had ever seen a bull terrier its legs grew and it became a brindle strong whippet type lurcher. Almost every evening I would walk up the village with my dog often on the way I would be joined by two other dogs a corgi x alsation about a yard long and 12 inches high and a stocky little jack Russell ,with these dogs in tow I would head off to the hillside above the village a mixture of rough grazing thorn and gorse with some large rabbit warrens , the three dogs would work the cover with the two smaller dogs pushing through the gorse and the lurcher leaping around the outside looking for bolting rabbits I would often catch two or three, four was regarded as a very good hunt . thes.e rabbits would be gutted and legged and hung on my belt for the walk home . I would walk through the village rabbits hanging off my belt blood soaked into the side of my jeans ,no one would bat an eyelid sometimes I would meet one of the locals walking down the road with a broken shotgun over his shoulder off to try and bag a couple of pigeons no one bothered it was just part of country life .Fast forward to today I don't think that half of the youngsters in the village today would know how to gut and leg a rabbit , the police were called out because someone was shooting at crows and there's a court case because a new resident is trying to shut a footpath that has been in use for at least a century.Life in this village has certainly changed and not for the better .

I guess I am still lucky enough to live in a village that still recognises countryside activities. My grandson who will be 9 on Tuesday is stopping with us this weekend and he's gun mad, so his birthday present this year was a single barrel Baikal .410, we went for a walk with it this morning, him in his full camo set up and raring to go. We got in the field which is surrounded by plenty of trees, no sooner had we got in the field the 3rd tree along had a dopey wood pigeon, maybe still half asleep, but after a crack from the .410 it was fully asleep, as soon as the pigeon was falling through the branches the grandson was off to collect his guns first kill. After giving him some target practice 10 shells or so we set off back home, which is only a 5 minute walk. So here he is 9 years old carrying a freshly shot wood pigeon through the village, I swear his chest grew to about 40" swaggering down the road we bumped into 3 locals and every one had to listen to his hunting trip lol, but everyone of them simply praised him.........he's already looking forward to his next mooch..........and thats exactly how it should be. Times do change, but I hope its not for a few years yet and the grandson can be living his little adventure for some time yet.

 

excellent I was 9 years old when my dad bought me my first shotgun .that was a .410 started me off by blasting squirrel dreys in the hope that some where at home he used to pick me up from school every week on his half day off from work and go shooting he will remember those days for ever delswal he is a lucky lad

 

I hope we both do pal, I hope we both do

[Nik_B 3,790]

 

I recently moved back to the village that I lived in until I was 19 , during my early teenage years I owned a small lurcher bought from a pet shop as a staff bull cross , I don't think that it had ever seen a bull terrier its legs grew and it became a brindle strong whippet type lurcher. Almost every evening I would walk up the village with my dog often on the way I would be joined by two other dogs a corgi x alsation about a yard long and 12 inches high and a stocky little jack Russell ,with these dogs in tow I would head off to the hillside above the village a mixture of rough grazing thorn and gorse with some large rabbit warrens , the three dogs would work the cover with the two smaller dogs pushing through the gorse and the lurcher leaping around the outside looking for bolting rabbits I would often catch two or three, four was regarded as a very good hunt . thes.e rabbits would be gutted and legged and hung on my belt for the walk home . I would walk through the village rabbits hanging off my belt blood soaked into the side of my jeans ,no one would bat an eyelid sometimes I would meet one of the locals walking down the road with a broken shotgun over his shoulder off to try and bag a couple of pigeons no one bothered it was just part of country life .Fast forward to today I don't think that half of the youngsters in the village today would know how to gut and leg a rabbit , the police were called out because someone was shooting at crows and there's a court case because a new resident is trying to shut a footpath that has been in use for at least a century.Life in this village has certainly changed and not for the better .

I guess I am still lucky enough to live in a village that still recognises countryside activities. My grandson who will be 9 on Tuesday is stopping with us this weekend and he's gun mad, so his birthday present this year was a single barrel Baikal .410, we went for a walk with it this morning, him in his full camo set up and raring to go. We got in the field which is surrounded by plenty of trees, no sooner had we got in the field the 3rd tree along had a dopey wood pigeon, maybe still half asleep, but after a crack from the .410 it was fully asleep, as soon as the pigeon was falling through the branches the grandson was off to collect his guns first kill. After giving him some target practice 10 shells or so we set off back home, which is only a 5 minute walk. So here he is 9 years old carrying a freshly shot wood pigeon through the village, I swear his chest grew to about 40" swaggering down the road we bumped into 3 locals and every one had to listen to his hunting trip lol, but everyone of them simply praised him.........he's already looking forward to his next mooch..........and thats exactly how it should be. Times do change, but I hope its not for a few years yet and the grandson can be living his little adventure for some time yet.

 

 

Anyone who can shoot anything with a 410 has to be a decent shot, he deserves to be proud

 

Since moving here we've got out daughter in to horse riding, £11 a lesson which is very cheap. She swims 3 times a week and I'm dying to get her out shooting if we can get some permission, unfortunately our syndicate that we had on Anglesey is no more but we're looking for land to train a new dog on and for a bit of rough shooting.

 

My folks came down to stay this week and there is a country house that owns the land where their house was. They were shooting right outside when we went to visit, we watched them work their dogs for a while and my missus was absolutely buzzing (it's her that wants the cocker we're looking for) Not bad for a vegi She will love going out with the dogs as long as she doesn't have to handle a dead bird ha ha.

 

The countryside is like an addiction in my opinion, I can't count the times I've almost crashed because I was looking in fields lol

[NEWKID 27,048]

The times have certainly changed, the out at first light and not back in until dark days have all but gone for kids from what I can see.

 

I lived on the end of a council estate, I could see the River out of my window and the woods were at the bottom of the garden, we would be out with dogs, ferrets, fishing rods, air rifles, nesting, making dens etc..... well now there are houses on most of the fields the main lump we would hunt on has a tescos and a big industrial estate on it now...

I've recently moved further into the country, my kids are exposed to the countryside and hunting/fishing it's up to them if they want to carry it on, but I do think it's a bug and once you have started it's very hard to stop.

Yes computers etc have a place nowadays, kids do want to sit in and be glued to the latest technological gadget but I don't see that as healthy living....

[tandors 888]

Think that's it urban sprawl has gotten out of hand I'm sure immigration can be blamed for loss of habitat and environment lol.

[NEWKID 27,048]

Well you've got to try and pass it all on.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now getting stroppy teenagers out aint so easy!! lol

 

 

 

 

 

Spot the lookout!! lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

Can't fault it NEWKID! Good on you mate!!

[Lab 10,979]

Great reading lads...??

 

Growing up I spent the best days on my grandads small holding. It's a couple of miles from the nearest village but it could well be the middle of nowhere.

Tucked away in the middle of around 400 acres of forestry it was a great place to do what you liked.

I was allowed to walk the woods at 12 with the .22 rifle or shotgun, bagging a pigeon, rabbit or knocking down a crow. No license back then.

Now I own this wee place....the woods have recently been clear felled. The place is not the same.

Lots of dog walkers now makes it stupid to even risk taking the gun for a walk. I think my wee boy who's 7 at the end of the month will miss out on some of the fun that I used to get up too because of stupid laws and nosey twats.

Couple of years I think I'll get him a wee .410, I've already bought a clay trap to get him going.

He enjoys the shooting side of things and loves the dogs......wouldn't mind winning the lottery and buying the surrounding woods. Make life a bit more like I remenber it back then.