My Hunting Life and Dogs
I got into hunting at a young age at about around 5 or 6 by following
the local fox hounds.
The local hunt would meet at least once a month on the farm my grandpa
managed and where my dad was shepherd .
The hunt was only a small family run hunt not many people
rode horses they mostly used trail bikes. My dad I used to follow on
the quad bike that he used for herding on the farm.
I have one hunt meet that still sticks in my mind to this
day . We were sat up a forest track surrounded by trees listening to
the hounds give tongue when all went quiet. A few hounds came popping
out from the trees noses to the ground but no traces of blood on the
hounds so this fox must off out smarted them. They worked away trying
to find the scent again, when I looked up a forest ride and what did I
see but cunning mr fox sat looking at us. I called to my dad and he
noticed it so he called over to the hunts master who managed to round
up the few hounds that were around and get them after the wise or not
so wise fox. The fox was caught by the hounds and I was given a sweet
for spotting it.
I continued to follow the hunt but as I got older I was able
to ride the quad by myself and ditch my dad.
When I turned 10 years old my grandpa had to retire from
farming for health reasons one heart attack was enough of a warning. So
my dad took over as manager of the farm which meant moving in to the
farm house, that’s when I got my first terrier a Jack Russell a small
type called Dinky, she had belonged to my grandpa who knew it was not
fair to take her to live in a town, she was used to fields, hills, she
was rarely ever on a lead. She was getting on in years but still a game
little bitch. She was only ever used for ratting and she was good at
that.
I always remember a story my dad used to tell me about an
afternoon ratting with her on the farm. They were lifting the boards in
the shearing shed and rats were coming out in every direction. Dinky
was the only dog there and she managed nearly all of them herself she
would grab a rat flick it in to the air, the rat would be dead before
it hit the floor again due to a broken neck. I spent four long years
with dinky but age got the better of her and she passed away when I was
14. I was gutted my first ever dog that I called my own.
I would admire the hunt terrier mans dogs and knew that I
wanted another Jack Russell but my parents said no and that was the end
of that dream. So instead I asked for my own trails bike so I could
follow the hunt, trails bikes could go better places where a quad would
not. That my parents agreed to so they got me an old Honda xl 125cc ,I
had a great 3 years with that bike till I sold it when I was 17 to fund
a car and to this day I regret it. Also that year I asked for an air
rifle for my birthday, I got a second had weihrach 80k .25,I struggled
to cock the gun maybe not the ideal gun for a 14 year old girl. I must
admit I never shot very much with that gun the odd crow or bunny, I
spent most of the time having competions with friends by shooting beer
cans.14 years later I still have this gun but its no longer in working
condition maybe one day I will get it fixed up.
At 17 I started to learn how to drive and passed my test I
also found the pubs and the demon drink and not forgetting finding men,
that’s when I forgot about hunting and getting a terrier of my own
It did not take me long to fall head over heels in love with
a man, a local shepherd it worked we had the same interests. Not long
after we meet we were in engaged, he was made redundant he got another
job but out of the area with a house so we moved in together, when we
moved in and got settled in I made it clear I wanted a Jack Russell it
did not have to be from working stock as I was not in a position to
work it at the time so we got a 6 month old rescue Jack Russell (parson
type) called Casper. As she grew and got bigger ,bigger than she should
have got it was plain to see there was some other breed in there to
this day I am still not sure what maybe whippet I am not sure anyways I
did not matter she was meant to be a pet
My other half hated his job so we only stayed for a year, he
got another job but yet again after 4 years he became fed up and got
another job shepherding this time it was back in the area I grew up in
and only 10 minutes from my parents and not far from his. We were
finally settled and now in a position that I could work terriers I was
interested in the ratting side of things, but Casper was only really a
pet so I decided to get another terrier, I found a litter of Lakeland x
Jack Russell’s from another local hunt so we went for a look picked a
pup and brought it home, a black and tan bitch we called her wisp after
a hill on the farm back home, I could feel the hunting bug coming back
I was also starting to follow the local hunt again ,that I followed as
a child
The plan for the new pup was to work her on rats, Next task
was to find a place with rats that I could start her off on when she
was old enough. I need not have worried the newly acquired chickens we
had got had attracted rats under the huts. I went out and bought 2 live
catch traps in the hopes I could catch a rat for the pup, so I could
start her but her chance came before I caught anything .My hubby and
his boss were mucking out the sheep shed next to the house when they
had uncovered a lonely rat, he came and got me and dogs I took both
dogs out I knew Casper would most likely be useless but she could no
harm she might as well come. Well we could not find where this rat had
went to but noticed Casper marking behind the sliding door and yes sure
enough the rat was there a fair sized one at that. So Casper did have
the hunting in her after all, we managed to get the rat out from behind
the door straight in to the young bitches mouth she made short work of
her first rat.
So my ratting team was born Casper to mark and wisp to
do the killing. Since this Casper has gone on to kill rats herself
although she makes a meal out of it sometimes and gets quite a few
bites. Wisp has also showed that she would like to become a digging
terrier I have lost her down a few holes but I am not in to digging
that much to much like hard work for me but maybe in the future it will
become apart of me.
So for the next year or so I was happy with my team but I
knew time would be against Casper she was reaching the age of ten .So
yet again I was thinking of getting another terrier. Wisp was now 3 and
I decided I wanted a pup out of her so back in January this year we had
her mated to a patterdale who belonged to the terrier man from the
local hunt I used to follow. In march she had a litter of 6 pups 1 dog
and 5 bitches, I said before she had pups I wanted to keep a dog for a
change so I did not have much of a choice I nearly changed my mind and
kept a bitch.The pup has one fault and its not his fault he has a long
tail due to the tail docking laws in Scotland, I suppose I will get
used to it in time as long as he works fine it wont be a problem. He is
only 4month old at the time of writing this and he has already showed
he might be a good ratter by catching a shrew not quite killing it
outright but there is time. If he shows some interest in going to
ground it might just give the push to give that a try next
Also in the last year or so I have started to get in to
trapping starting of on rats to catching an odd fox in a trap I was
loaned I hope to do more in the future, also back in September last
year I got a new air rifle nothing fancy a weihrauch 99s but enough to
get me the odd crow and bunny think I leave the beer can shooting to my
childhood for now.
I hope to continue my love for hunting and the countryside
in the future and as I am only 28 I hope it’s for many more years to
come but that all depends on the government you never know what they
will ban next.
Keep hunting in what ever is your passion be it shooting, lurchers, ratting, digging
FIGHT THE BAN.
Anon