So You Want To Be A Keeper???

[danw 1,748]

Every estate I've keepered the rabbits where considered the keepers perk even to the point of being mentioned in my contract and funnily enough I've never had complaints from the estate about the numbers there are always plenty of beaters willing to sit on the back of the truck and shoot my holiday fund for me

[tjones3862 3,423]

 

I CAN NEVER WAY UP WHY A BIG ESTATE SHUD PAY FOR A PRIVATE RABBIT CONTROL COMPANY TO COME, IN,, ALL THE PLACE,S IVE BIN THE KEEPERS,,OR THERE PALS,,,,KEEP ON TOP OF THEM,,,,,,

i know a good grouse place in scotland... in angus.. not far from Aberdeen....and it has one fo the best and most productive and dedicated team of keepers and i think one of the beast grouse head keepers north of the border (thou the head man mayyyyy be slightly of his rocker ) and they have a guy separate from the keepers who catches rabbits all day every day and that's all he dose i fact he is the old head keeper.... simply because on a good estate a team of keepers dont have time for sleep let alone arseing about after rabbits

 

I WAS ON A BIG ESTATE IN DECEMBER,,NEAR THERE,NOT I MILLIAN MILES FROM BALLATER,,,,, THE KEEPER S UP THERE ADD THE RABBIT CONTROL SPOT ON,,, AND FROM NO HELP FROM OTHER ,S ,,,, TO BE HONEST HIT WAS NOT WORTH THE MILES WE PUT IN,,,,BUT I WILL SAY 1 THING OTHER THAN TUCKING YOU UP IN BED,,, THEY COULD NOT DO ENOUGH FOR YOU,,,,HATS OFF TO THEM,,,,

[gonetoearth 5,144]

Every estate I've keepered the rabbits where considered the keepers perk even to the point of being mentioned in my contract and funnily enough I've never had complaints from the estate about the numbers there are always plenty of beaters willing to sit on the back of the truck and shoot my holiday fund for me

. Lol paid for cars holidays , new sg the list is endless , every stoat weasel fox jay etc etc found its way to the fund lol

[danw 1,748]

I think what lads need to realise is that keepering should never be about the sport/shooting you may get but it is all about the sport you provide all the way from the beaters smacking rabbits, to taking people stalking,the hunt finding and of course shoot days to me the greatest pleasure will always be seeing others enjoy what I've worked so hard to achieve that's where the real satisfaction from the job comes, the times I've taken some one to shoot their first rabbit,deer,pheasant etc will always stand out in my mind just as clearly as it does for those that experienced it.

[TOMO 24,835]

Your right there Perthshire about the hammer and trigger,,,, I was 16 went to welbeck in north notts 22 thousand acre,,, one head keeper ,,, and 6 beat keepers,,,,

 

I went up in June ,,,,,doh,,,, feck me I never new what hard work was till them 2 month on that rearing field,,,, all birds were from eggs in incubators,,, and either under broodys on the old system or others in big rooms in the old kennels,,,,,

 

None stop from all day on the shovel cleaning out rooms,,,of the shit that's on shavings,,,, then cleaning everything with jays,,, and it was never clean enough for the head,,,lol,,,then moving the coops on the rearing field every day,,,hundreds of them,,,

 

Big disappointment to a lad that had only ferreted a few rabbits,,, and thought a keeper walked round the woods all day like Seth Armstrong ,,, compleat with 12 under your arm...

 

Anyway eventually the poults went to the woods,,,, they sent me up to a beat to help the keeper up there,,,,great I thought shotgun time,,, yer right,,,,

 

Sacks of sprats that had to be carried by hand or rather shoulder up hill to each wood,,,no fecking 4x4 or quad,,,,, then back down for more,,,,

 

Yep big eye opener for a 16 year old kid

[gonetoearth 5,144]

Your right there Perthshire about the hammer and trigger,,,, I was 16 went to welbeck in north notts 22 thousand acre,,, one head keeper ,,, and 6 beat keepers,,,,

I went up in June ,,,,,doh,,,, feck me I never new what hard work was till them 2 month on that rearing field,,,, all birds were from eggs in incubators,,, and either under broodys on the old system or others in big rooms in the old kennels,,,,,

None stop from all day on the shovel cleaning out rooms,,,of the shit that's on shavings,,,, then cleaning everything with jays,,, and it was never clean enough for the head,,,lol,,,then moving the coops on the rearing field every day,,,hundreds of them,,,

Big disappointment to a lad that had only ferreted a few rabbits,,, and thought a keeper walked round the woods all day like Seth Armstrong ,,, compleat with 12 under your arm...

Anyway eventually the poults went to the woods,,,, they sent me up to a beat to help the keeper up there,,,,great I thought shotgun time,,, yer right,,,,

Sacks of sprats that had to be carried by hand or rather shoulder up hill to each wood,,,no fecking 4x4 or quad,,,,, then back down for more,,,,

Yep big eye opener for a 16 year old kid

. Then filling all the sacks to fill the feed bins so we could feed the rides that we had cut by hand the carried bales of straw up into the woods Then feed out of a sack with baling twine as a shoulder strap If you were lucky a post mans sack NOT A QAUD IN SIGHT LOL

[Born Hunter 17,622]

I think what lads need to realise is that keepering should never be about the sport/shooting you may get but it is all about the sport you provide all the way from the beaters smacking rabbits, to taking people stalking,the hunt finding and of course shoot days to me the greatest pleasure will always be seeing others enjoy what I've worked so hard to achieve that's where the real satisfaction from the job comes, the times I've taken some one to shoot their first rabbit,deer,pheasant etc will always stand out in my mind just as clearly as it does for those that experienced it.

 

Did the hunt draw that good holding covert at yours Dan?...................... "The Keepers Garden Covert"

[danw 1,748]

 

I think what lads need to realise is that keepering should never be about the sport/shooting you may get but it is all about the sport you provide all the way from the beaters smacking rabbits, to taking people stalking,the hunt finding and of course shoot days to me the greatest pleasure will always be seeing others enjoy what I've worked so hard to achieve that's where the real satisfaction from the job comes, the times I've taken some one to shoot their first rabbit,deer,pheasant etc will always stand out in my mind just as clearly as it does for those that experienced it.

 

Did the hunt draw that good holding covert at yours Dan?...................... "The Keepers Garden Covert"

 

Bloody foxes

[RubyTex 1,957]

So who still wants to be a 'keeper after all this moaning?

[Alimac2 321]

 

I CAN NEVER WAY UP WHY A BIG ESTATE SHUD PAY FOR A PRIVATE RABBIT CONTROL COMPANY TO COME, IN,, ALL THE PLACE,S IVE BIN THE KEEPERS,,OR THERE PALS,,,,KEEP ON TOP OF THEM,,,,,,

i know a good grouse place in scotland... in angus.. not far from Aberdeen....and it has one fo the best and most productive and dedicated team of keepers and i think one of the beast grouse head keepers north of the border (thou the head man mayyyyy be slightly of his rocker ) and they have a guy separate from the keepers who catches rabbits all day every day and that's all he dose i fact he is the old head keeper.... simply because on a good estate a team of keepers dont have time for sleep let alone arseing about after rabbits

My first guess is Milden, my 2nd would be glen ogle??

[Alimac2 321]

 

 

I CAN NEVER WAY UP WHY A BIG ESTATE SHUD PAY FOR A PRIVATE RABBIT CONTROL COMPANY TO COME, IN,, ALL THE PLACE,S IVE BIN THE KEEPERS,,OR THERE PALS,,,,KEEP ON TOP OF THEM,,,,,,

i know a good grouse place in scotland... in angus.. not far from Aberdeen....and it has one fo the best and most productive and dedicated team of keepers and i think one of the beast grouse head keepers north of the border (thou the head man mayyyyy be slightly of his rocker ) and they have a guy separate from the keepers who catches rabbits all day every day and that's all he dose i fact he is the old head keeper.... simply because on a good estate a team of keepers dont have time for sleep let alone arseing about after rabbits

I WAS ON A BIG ESTATE IN DECEMBER,,NEAR THERE,NOT I MILLIAN MILES FROM BALLATER,,,,, THE KEEPER S UP THERE ADD THE RABBIT CONTROL SPOT ON,,, AND FROM NO HELP FROM OTHER ,S ,,,, TO BE HONEST HIT WAS NOT WORTH THE MILES WE PUT IN,,,,BUT I WILL SAY 1 THING OTHER THAN TUCKING YOU UP IN BED,,, THEY COULD NOT DO ENOUGH FOR YOU,,,,HATS OFF TO THEM,,,,

some great rabbit ground tucked away in that area, lived up that way for 9 years..

[smiles40 24]

There's some cracking keepers but there's some not so good,I have done beating,feeding building pens all in my own time at my own expence for a keeper that I knew only for him to give away shooting and ratting right in front of me, did two seasons before I sacked it,never had anything back to this day.

[foxdropper 17,092]

After leaving college i started going out with a keepers daughter .Nothing special there but good practice if you know what i mean .Her old man was single handed on about 3000 acres and i started doing a bit with him weekends,evenings ,Time goes by and im doing the pest control in 3 large woods on my own ,snaring the perimeters and trapping inside thoroughly loving it .One day he says to me the boss has decided to pay me for what im doing ,more joy .I knew the boss from my full time work working for a local fencing contractor .The boss was the late Paddy Featherstone Godley who some of you will no doubt have known .A giant of a man but approachable .I was asked to go to the house one evening for a chat and it was agreed i was to get £30 quid a week which back then was half my wages fencing .Proper made up .This was back in the days of the old vermin lines ,gibbets and i was to be paid for what was fresh on the lines each week as a bit of bonus .The keeper and i walked the woods Fridays and he jotted down what was fresh .Cant remember the rates but i made 3 or 4 quid a month on that which was nearly beer money then ,oh how times have changed .This was also my introduction to terriers through girlfriends dad .Did this for 5 years getting more and more involved with shoot days etc then came the day when i decided i needed a change of girlfriend but still keep the old one if you know what i mean mean lol .Needless to say it ended badly and i fell out with her old man ,fancy that .Fair play to the boss though ,he gave me a shining ref and thats how i got the full time position up country a bit .Moral of the story is dont let your dick ruin something good lol

[Lab 10,979]

Suppose I grew up with pheasants...wasn't keepering but rearing. I've dabbled in the keepering world, 5 years on one estate and a year on another. Both were rented and we did it commercially. Would never class myself as a 'keeper' though.

I enjoyed that side off it to be honest. The challenge of holding birds being the exciting part when on shoot day your hard work shows.

The shoots I ran never ran to there potential though as our main income was the rearing and things like trapping and vermin control lacked as there were just not enough hours in the day.

My life was dedicated to pheasants in they years, they always came first and my life came second.

Growing up my Grandad was the man to show me the ropes, the hints, tips, shortcuts and workload. But he was old school...a serious grafter and if you didn't graft you knew about it. If you done something good...you never knew it...but by f**k if you did something wrong you did.

Over the last 5 years I've worked hand in hand with my local college...I get to see all the young folk wanting to be keepers..I could send half home in under 2 mins though...there f***ing useless and have no idea what world lies ahead of them.

The rearing field became a slog the last 3/4 years, a number of reasons but I was getting fed up and I needed to change and I have. I won't miss it, far from it..the pressure involved is unreal and the constant battle with our shitty weather gets you down.

If it's pissing down in June this year I'll be able to look out the window and not give a f**k...:-)

 

I suppose it's not all doom and gloom..there are jobs out there for young lads that are great jobs...you just have to work hard and you might just land a right cushty number.

 

Oh and I'll just add I've dealt with a lot of different keepers over the years and most have been great to deal with, some of them greedy c**ts, some off them couldn't do more for you.....that's life!!!

[RubyTex 1,957]

What are you going to do with all your land then Lab? Rent it off?