continental badger problem

[tearem 31]

In this part of the continent, the badger is open to hunt, I must begin to say. In some states of Germany it has a season, in others it is open all year, and also in France.

In this particular hunt, I and my terriers have been guest for over 10 years. Wars have been fought here, battles decided. History made. The hunt contains at least 4 main setts and several less big ones, most of which immeasurably deep in stone and sticky clay. I have lost a precious, good little terrier here, Dixie, after 8 years of hunting with her. Little Duvel the Fell/Russell, got himself a new record here by staying in for a half day, when he finally emerged in the late evening I stopped the earth with my coat and the next day we bolted the fox with Tabasco and still got it.

We have had sport bolting foxes for many years. It took a good terrier to get them out these huge dungeons and from among the badgers. It was a serious testing ground and a merciless trial for many a young and even experienced dog, since digging was nearly always impossible and the locators didn't reach as far as the bowels of some of these catacombs. Every earth had gotten a name through the years; like we had the Steep Ledge, the Flower Earth, the Suburb, the Cellar and the Shaft, which went steep down into unknown depths. Some were the local of the fox population while others housed nothing but striped warriors. And some had a shifting group of inhabitants, or contained both.

The last years, we got fewer and fewer foxes as they were chased away and their cubs killed by the growing badger troups, and for that reason, if I had to come boar and deer hunting there, I gave the sweep hunt days away to my fellows as the numerous well known setts were too dangerous for many of my terriers. Sometimes we also had pheasant days and I would attend these for as soon as the terriers had flushed their first birds which were then shot for them, they would hunt short, leave the deer and when we approached a sett I would leash them until we had passed. The after hunt party was a feast always and since the group of hunters here was small, we were very intimate and became good friends. Everybody here was able to take each other for what they were worth and it mattered not whether you were rich or poor or what you did, if only you "fit in" the group. Disciplin was a bit less, but much was possible if you know what I mean, and since they had quartered in an old castle building with a complete hunting room, a kitchen, a bath room and 4 big bedrooms, we stayed overnight and always got pissed in the evening, but in a good way. No aggression, no problems.

The last time I had been out there, there was nothing but bad badgers in the ground and all my dogs were hurt at the end of the day and we got no bag. The badgers there, never ever bolted, they knew the dogs. When that evening, all the hunters had left, I decided to stay since it was such a beautiful place, and take a walk with 3 dogs. The weather was fantastic, it was spring. The 3 dogs crossed a big field with a bush in the middle and disappeared there under a pile of stones. It appeared to be another badger and for heaven's sakes, 3 dogs with him and just one entrance! It was all out war, I had no locator on any dog nor any equipment. Single handed, I managed to remove stones and boulders making a hole of 7 feet deep and wide, untill my last dog was out badly injured and we could go back to the castle and it was getting dark and I had to leave this bugger till next time. The rest of the season, I thanked for the honour and sent friends to track there with terriers wary of badger, or with little courage and talent to go to ground.

But now, I was back for a day of combined small game (bird) hunting and maybe a wild boar or two, and hopefully, to bolt a fox in between. There were only 6 men, the game warden, and I and some local trackers with the dogs. 2 Springer spaniels, a short legged Russell which never went to earth but was keen on boar, and the most cautious 6 of my lot, among them 3 youngsters. When I and my mate Jan got out of the car in the early morning it was still dark. Just as I wanted to walk the dogs after the long trip, we heard a vixen scream in the wood at the opposite of the stone quarry. It was mating season. She screamed and scolded long and it sounded as if she got killed by someting, but she probably just played with the dog fox, half rejecting him. I decided to take a pup and two leashed dogs to turn around the action, so hopefully driving those foxes in one of the holes of the stone quarry. So I got around it but the 9 monbth old pup which ran loose, took a line into that same big field with the bush in the middle. I remembered that for later and called the pup back. First, breakfast and coffee. Then we with experienced Semtex (black Fell/Jagdterrier cross) and a gun inspected the stone quarry earths and found a marten in one but left it; no fox. So we crossed the field to the heap of stones and the entrance was well used. It stank of fox. Except Semtex, we had a very small Russell/Fell/Jagdterrier of 11 inch and 1 1/2 years old which had to learn the trade of earth work after a season to boar. Both screamed to get in. Since it was a one eye thing we decided to dig right away and we would probably need some extra hands later. Glad I took the spade, thinking you're gonna need it if you don't take it, but that and the locator was all I had with me, the other equipment was in my car in a garage so I couldn't take it. First, little Cajun in, but she returned soon, then Sem in and she got to work, that is, she got hit in the face right away and then drove the occupant backward, furiously baying. After she had settled and cornered her beast for a half hour, I made a phone call for backup sending for one more strong man and my friend with the spade. They arrived soon. Sem was baying steadily and sometimes contact. I had stopped the entrance with my coat and with our hands, we removed the loose stones and boulders but we needed the spade, too. I now thought the earth contained the two foxes of this morning. The new Deben told us the exact whereabouts of our little brave soldier and now I had to motivate the two helpers that it was worth while to dig out the fox. They were amazed, they said, at my perseverance and action and energy, but I was full of adrenalin as usual in these situations. Although I'm not trained in any sport, I can move mountains to aid my terriers! These lads had never been at a dig before, just shooting. Later, I was told that before they got their hunting licence, they had been poaching many years, but still, this sort of thing was entirely new to them. Soon, they helped me as best they could and when we approached the fight, they got ever more enthousiastic. My friend Jan watched, as he had recently undergone 5 operations and was not yet well, but he loved every minute, he knows my dogs. Semtex had come out once to regain some breath I thought. The boys said she's lost the prey, but I said, don't worry. She'll go back in when it is her time. I forced her in no way. Before this, we had smelled the strong, musky stench of fox coming from the peeps in the stones. After a few minutes Semtex re-entered and was with her game in seconds. She could well have killed her first fox and was now with the next for it was in a slightly different place but still withing reach of our gap we had created. Finally, we opened up and could see Sem as of course I dug over the dog, not on the prey. I took her out but we couldn't find the beast yet and I would open up further but since it could collapse now, I opened without a dog. Sem was leashed up to a tree and a gun was stand by and the other helping me. Then, we gave the fox some time to come and bolt, waiting mouse still. But nothing showed. When after more labour, we let Sem in on the leash to control the opponent's position, it had not moved an inch. He's stubborn, he has not tried to break out yet, he will not bolt and is in a dead end or corner, I'll get some more dogs, I said. So I walked all the way back to the castle to get my other dogs. A good opportunity I thought, to teach the young class a lesson in entering to earth. Sem, clever as she was, was none the worse and nearly unharmed after 3 hours of continuous work. The previous saturday she had bolted 4 foxes and a badger, and killed 1 fox and retrieved it, at another hunt, working pretty much all day, single handed, in 4 different earths. We needed not dig there. Such a sort of terrier is Semtex.

I returned with Peyote, a killer, and young Coffee and Duvel, Semtex' children of 9 months. I allowed the kids in turns to have a short go in, and Cajun too. Cajun had to be encouraged a bit, went to it, bayed shortly and returned. Later I found she was badly bitten in the shoulder and elbow, she had ran straight into him. That's they way they learn, isn't it? Young Duvel did much better, she lay up close before and bayed steadily but would not allow him to bite her. After 10 minutes, she returned briefly and I took her out. Coffee was screaming on the leash and since the opponent was less than a metre inside, this was enough for me to prove her will. She had been in badger setts with her mother incidently during sweep hunts and had worked them with hardly any damage to herself but she was yet way too young for long serious work. Now, Peyote was allowed in for a quick finish, bolt or draw. Gosh, all out war. Screaming and hollering and stamping of feet and rolling of bodies clutched in fight! That was weird, in her first attack Peyote had not managed to master this evil fox and was now baying close up. And still, he would not move! Well, we do have huge foxes here locally, the biggest being 14 kilo 3 ounce. (28 pounds I think) But when she came out and there was no wave of musky fox stench and she bled, I saw a glimpse of her lower jaw being penetrated, it all fell into place. Sem had killed the fox or foxes (when the smell was so thick) and behind that, was a badger! She came out to make up her mind, then continued to work mr. Brock, as cunning as she could. We were now nearly at him and I rejoiced since in this same place I had to let two badgers go previously who had demolished quite some of my dogs, and now, I finally had one!!! I said to the boys, we're going to have a badger, man, this is unique for you and you may hunt another life time without seeing this sight again! It is legal in this place to hunt badger, and the farmers complain, but no one does because the setts are all stone and undiggable. But this one we had all but vanquished after 3 hours of good decent toil and it was all worth while! We opened up further as it appeared we had now landed under the stone pile and were in clay and the badger tried to dig himself in, in which he had succeeded for more than a meter, but Sem quickly opened up to him again and we after her, and then we were digging next to and underneath a big spruce tree and removed a lot of more stones with the dog in now and then to prevent him from digging before us too fast, we were approaching him. Sem dove in a final time but was hindered by a big tree root, behind which was our tough competition, and as Sem stuck her head underneath the root, she was received with a welcoming bite to the head. I waited until the beast let go and then carried Sem out. I ordered the guns to stand in the hole and shoot inside. First, they wouldn't. They were afraid of the noise, a ricochet, and the recoil of the gun. They had to, I said, for then, he would show himself and they could shoot him properly. Suddenly, after I had seen soil being thrown out, they saw a leg or so, and began to blast. They hit nothing, but the action made it clear to fatso he had to shift. Jan my friend, threw new cartridges at them. Finally, the badger changed place and got visible in the other hole we dug before, and on my directions they gave him a decent neck shot, upon which he died in a split second and Semtex could retrieve him and all the pups could rag the carcass for a bit. We took a few pictures of the pit we had made, the dogs, the helpers and the badger, you see, it is all legal here, and I decided to intentionally leave this hole open. The men who had given me such a useful hand, were quite impressed by the terrier work, my mate had always heard the stories and seen them work before, but not to badger yet and he was impressed too, and we all went back to the castle with the beast of 15 kilo to add him to the tally, the weather was fine, sunny and not too cold, and that afternoon we flushed some pheasants and the guns had 2 foxes and it was another day to remember!

The next morning on the way back, we drove 30 kilometres of Autobahn untill the next big city and on this short stretch of ashphalt counted 7 freshly overrun badger carcasses and just one dead fox. Surely, the pyama's were galore over here....

[Guest manda]

:wacko:

[Little Butch 16]

Enjoyed reading that mayte

Cheers

[felltool 5]

minted mate , great read

[Malt 379]

Great read there mate! Cheers for that!

[tearem 31]

I am a woman. And it doesn't cost, you get paid to get rid of the striped armoured cars! I rent myself and my terriers out per day to hunting combinations to drive boar or do earth work!

[CHUCKY 0]

how much would you get a day if you dont mind me asking and do you get much work?

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

striped armoured cars!

 

 

F*ckin Priceless!!!

[dytkos 17,802]

striped armoured cars!

 

 

F*ckin Priceless!!!

 

A very interesting post!

[TOPPER 1,809]

best read in along while

[nelson 0]

That was an excellent post, thank you