bshadle
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Everything posted by bshadle
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Well, I know I'm not qualified to do it or pass judgement on it, but I have a friend who has crossed a fine-working Russell dog with a fine-working smallish Border bitch trying to downsize the Border for our smaller earths here as well as add some of the Border's characteristics to the Russell style. He could probably explain it better than I can though. The first generation cross all have sort of a red fell appearance. One pup turned out to be a nice size for here, the others somewhat large for my taste but still smaller than the Border dam. Saw the small one work a few weeks ago, it w
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I know we have different hunting conditions on this side of the pond than on that side, especially here in the NE where the primary quarry is groundhogs, but if you have a dog here that can't work completely through a 6" tube or even smaller it's probably going to spend a lot of time topside watching. Maybe serving as a pull dog if that's to your liking. When the dog spans much over 13" - 14" it's going to work hard just to get in. By the time it gets over about a 15" - 16" span it's just not going to fit. My personal preferences are for the smaller dogs. I've found that a small dog ca
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Easy verdict IMO. A dog that does its job with voice and brains is as much a worker as a dog that does its job with muscle and teeth. An outstanding dog knows when to use either set of skills. Personally, I'd prefer the dog 3" away and ready to work quarry again that day or the next rather than on it but beat up enough to require a long lay-off, but that's just my preference. As said prior, horses for courses.
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Ah... The debate over a dog that can be called off... If you've never had one you don't know how valuable that can be. But let me add another criteria that will certainly be controversial. What about the dog that will stay until dug when required, but can also reliably bolt quarry from a den? Is that not also a worker?
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Apparently some over here will. And some are more than happy to give them the opportunity to spend their money. All for the sake of preserving an ancient breed verging on extinction of course.
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Here's the link to the "Euro Russell Club of America". Read it and judge for yourself. http://www.eurorussell.com/ It was formerly the "Hunt Terrier Club of America". It seems in some way related to the "Atlas Terrier".
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There's no shame in shedding a tear for a good dog. There's one last hole to dig for him. Make it a good one, one to be proud of. Sorry for the loss.
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Don't the Brits classify hunting as shooting rats with a bb gun? An activity that most American boys stop at about age 10 - 12? I think you're painting with a mighty broad brush rizzini. I won't deny that there're people on this side of the pond that practice what most of us would consider unsportsmanlike conduct while hunting. I've never been to your fair country, but I'd imagine there're probably a few on your side that could be said the same of as well. IMO sportsmen are sportsmen regardless of where they live. And outlaws and rogues are outlaws and rogues no matter where they
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It's good that you can finally come to terms with that.
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I thought about it but could never learn to play the piano. Figured if I could play piano, when people asked me what I did for a living I could tell them I played piano in a whorehouse and they'd think more hightly of me than if I told them I was a lawyer.
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Feck me that would be a tough one to live with! It is a little for me now that I know about it, but I'd never even heard of lurchers before starting to work the terriers about two years ago. It's been illegal here for so long that it's not something we think about. When I was a youngster just learning to hunt with my Dad we hunted cottontail rabbits with beagles and shotguns. The dogs would flush the rabbits from cover, and if you didn't get a shot on the flush the dogs would scent trail the rabbit and bring it back around to the gun. Every once in a while a beagle would get lucky o
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I don't use PayPal, and no offense intended to the Mods here but I'm extremely selective about who I give my credit card number to. If there was some way to provide an address I'd be happy to send a money order. 5 GBP is about 10 USD and I can piss away more than that for a lot less fun and information.
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I have some friends in other states that run lurchers with the terriers for groundhogs. It's a very effective combination all right. And a real pleasure to watch. Here in Pennsylvania where I live hunting with lurchers isn't legal. Doesn't make a lot of sense. Unlike your situation across the pond, I can walk into a gun shop, lay down my money and walk out the door with just about any gun I want and use it to hunt that day, but I can't legally let the dog kill the game. Can't hunt with ferrets either. Guess it comes down to different traditions developed in different countries or
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They're from the Toronto area. They dig to raccoon primarily and harvest the pelts. There're some groundhog nearby, but he tells me they've had a big increase in coyote and the groundhog numbers are dropping fast. Only a few areas where the soil allows the groundhogs to dig away from the coyotes faster than the coyotes can dig to the groundhogs. That was a good size groundhog, especially for this early in the year. I'd think she'd have a hell of a time NOT seeing her shadow though. She'd cast a pretty broad one.
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Had a couple friends from Canada stop by for the weekend. Quick bite and conversation until it cooled off a bit, then out to the orchard Friday evening. They took a nice small Russell and a Russell x Border, I took my Russell. Dogs bolted one fast, then we dug one at a nice easy two feet and another at a tough foot and a half wrapped around the roots of a cherry tree. Started losing daylight, so we returned home for some good brews and better conversation. Forecast of triple digit temps for Saturday so we got an early start. Hit one farm with their 12-year-old “queen†Russell,
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Ken James lives about 140 miles from me. I read his book and exchanged some correspondence with him. He's offered a hunt with him if we can work out a mutually agreeable time, but frankly I'm still fairly new at this game and stand in awe of some of the old-timers. Never can quite figure out when I'm being too pushy and when I'm just wasting a golden opportunity. I might know your mate, at least by reputation. The working terrier world isn't all that big on this side of the pond. Enjoy your trip over here. Those North Carolina folks know how to treat a person right.
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There's also one in a similar vein, "Memories of a Fox Huntin' Terrierman" written by Pete Bassani. A quick read, but worth the price. http://www.digi-life.us/PeteBassani/ I'm abroad and hunt primarily groundhogs with a smallish Russell. Haven't written a book though.
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I use that light digging bar for everything you mention. Additionally, our groundhogs can dig away from the dog, filling the tube behind them. The dog sometimes has a hard time digging through the fill to catch up. If I can figure out where the groundhog is and where it's heading, I'll sometimes bar down right in front of it to slow it down and give the dog a chance to catch up. While our groundhog dens are not as elaborate as your brock's settes, they can be a pretty good maze underground. Early in the year when the groundhogs are smaller, and particularly when there's more than one
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There's a bit of difference between your version of English and mine. But I'm pretty sure this is what the lad is asking about. I call it a probe, a T-probe or a T-bar. This one is made of s/s and about 3 1/2 - 4' long with a rounded end. This is a light version of what I call a digging bar. It's made of 3/4" hex mild steel, 6' long ground to a chisel on one end and a dull point on the other. I don't use the T-bar myself, my soil here is generally too hard and rocky to work it in efficiently. I have some friends who use a T-bar quiet effectively in sand and loam. I do
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wetdogsmell, groundhogs have chisels for teeth and can put a nasty slice to the dog if they get the chance. Most of the time it's a clean cut that's easy to treat though. A hard dog can take some stick from 'em, a soft dog far less. Terrier man, you're half right. The dog is a sounder/marker if I understand that term. She's fairly soft, and in nearly two years hasn't taken any stick from 'em yet. I prefer to think of it as smart, knowing to bite at the sh*ttin' end and bark at the bitin' end, but everyone has different preferences in dogs. The groundhogs weren't shot though, they wer
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Deben LRT. Finally saw one of the B&Fs in action a little bit ago though and they are impressive. Might have to look at them harder when it eventually comes time for replacement. Especially if they ever come out with their long-promised smaller version.
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That area is right on the change from clay to shale here. Move 100 yards south or east and the digging's not bad. Even the shale wasn't bad that day since we've had a fair amount of rain. By August if we get our typical dry summer it'll be chip and scoop for even a two-footer.
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Been a while since I could get out, but had a decent morning. Dug two easy two-footers and got two groundhogs.
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Guess What Terrier Breed This Is
bshadle replied to cúagusgiorraí's topic in Earthdogs & Working Terriers
Miniature bull terrier? -
IIRC, Ditch, it's an instinctive behavior that no one completely understands yet. Some say it's to disquise their scent so they can sneak up on prey more easily. Others say it's to carry the scent of something interesting back to the pack. Some say it's like people who like the scent of certain perfumes - they just enjoy a particular scent. Does that make it clear as mud? I think the reason they do it is because they can.