Pre Locator Days

[fat man 4,740]

 

 

Ya he was showing me pictures of prince. I had two pups out of Winnie. Gave him back the bitch when hector got killed. There a great line of dogs

I knew a Winnie once,good little bitch she was too,used to work on her back a lot lol.

 

Had a few Winnies in my time Fatman very expensive,a few of them bit me.

 

Lol were they inoculated Liam,catch anything of them winnies,JEYES FLUID only cure from a bite of a winnie.

[liamdelaney 2,586]

 

 

 

Ya he was showing me pictures of prince. I had two pups out of Winnie. Gave him back the bitch when hector got killed. There a great line of dogs

I knew a Winnie once,good little bitch she was too,used to work on her back a lot lol.

 

Had a few Winnies in my time Fatman very expensive,a few of them bit me.

 

Lol were they inoculated Liam,catch anything of them winnies,JEYES FLUID only cure from a bite of a winnie.

Left it to late,no cure,have to live with it.

[fat man 4,740]

 

 

 

 

Ya he was showing me pictures of prince. I had two pups out of Winnie. Gave him back the bitch when hector got killed. There a great line of dogs

I knew a Winnie once,good little bitch she was too,used to work on her back a lot lol.

 

Had a few Winnies in my time Fatman very expensive,a few of them bit me.

 

Lol were they inoculated Liam,catch anything of them winnies,JEYES FLUID only cure from a bite of a winnie.

Left it to late,no cure,have to live with it.

 

At this stage of your life it wont make any difference,your well past that auld craic anyway.

[kirstysdad 827]

good topic some good questions and answers I kept white dogs for a longtime wish I still ha some now only myself to blame it think with the coming of locators came a different style of digging ie harder terriers hence the explosion in thepopularity of the black dogs seen good and bad of all types but still like a good sounder that I can use acouple of times aweek instead of a couple ofweeks in sickbay and the old dogs had to have a good voice or you would not find them lost a good bitch this year she was seven just a baying bitch and heres another question she had a very poor bay very squakie would of been hard to find with out a locator would not of got7years out of her without a locator maybe because of the locator we are now getting away from what was needed in in a working terrier. Ie good voice stamina and not being in sickbay after every dig

[foxhound45 167]

The thing I can't understand is if the earth was about 7 feet deep, deeper than the spit, how did the old diggers know where to start digging or did you's ever end up missing the tunnel completely?

[liamdelaney 2,586]

The thing I can't understand is if the earth was about 7 feet deep, deeper than the spit, how did the old diggers know where to start digging or did you's ever end up missing the tunnel completely?

Ear to the ground,where you thought it was the loudest.

[terryd 8,134]

The thing I can't understand is if the earth was about 7 feet deep, deeper than the spit, how did the old diggers know where to start digging or did you's ever end up missing the tunnel completely?

 

 

Ive been known to miss the tunnel completely with a locator

[fat man 4,740]

great replies folks but one question to col100,,,,whats the hose pipe for????I had russells before and a percentage were bayers,they were very vocal to the extent you'd think they were being absolutely pulverised below ground and when you'd open up on them they'd be relatively unscathed,in fact the best sounder we ever had was a lump of a white terrier which was a 1st x bull/russell.we could work this dog knowing his voice was his main tool,but ironically we lost him in a sand burrow when he slipped his lead one day while out walking.one more question to throw out there,IF we were back in the good old days,would a sounder have the skill/tenacity to work the ultimate quarry and hold his ground till the light broke through.I think educated game,,,ie :game pre dug and released game,put that bit more pressure on the dog on the job.were there that many quality sounders capable of successfully finishing the job.as was said,there were a few practicing the art of ''ALL IN TOGETHER GIRLS''(OR MULTIPLE DOGS BEING USED IN ONE DIG) Is the quality of dog after improving over time?have the terrier folk that have been there and worn the t shirt refined their skills to near as perfect as they can?are all these questions simply drivel .keep the topic going for another bit,see the folk involved?no arguing.............its afirkin miracle

Mid 70s al that was about me was bullxrussells of various xs and fox terrierxrussells bar 1 auld lad that had a yard full of red terriers simular to a red fell or lakeland.I seen a lot of stuff dug using these type of terriers with very little failures in litters,but they were bred tight as most lads dug together and transport was not that easy come bye back then,either was money so a lot of hunting was done on foot.Many think a bullx is an out and out head case but most i have seen or owned were sensible workers,happy to sound away unless the quarry brought the fight to them then they would take hold for awhile until the quarry settled down a bit and back sounding away again.I had 1 particular dog that worked to 15+ years of age and he had to be dug everytime he went to ground regardless of what was at home,and when there was a good bounty on fox pelts that dog was worked hard as times were hard.I can remember been really short on diging dogs at 1 stage and a friend of mine from uk came over for a wkeds sport bringing with him 2 mates and 3 lakeland type dogs with the plan for me to purchase 1-2 of them.I took them to a place i had dug a few times already that season and 1 by 1 there dogs were tried but evicted from the earth after a short time.I had also brought the old dog for the walk just to stretch his legs but i was so disgusted with these dogs that i asked for the coller and let the old boy to ground.We gave him awhile as the others had this animal wound up a bit at this stage.We tried for a mark and after a we bit of a run around the dog settled way out in the field at 4ft where after about 40 minutes we broke through to the old dog trying to gum the animal to death.When i told the 2 lads the age of the dog they just laughed but my mate who had brought them over said it was truth so that left them thinking about there own 3 young terriers,1 lad actually tried to say that his dog was sick due to the traveling on the journey over,i just said BOLLOCKS.

[foxhound45 167]

I am beginning to see how special these dogs were, basically ya needed a dog that would near treble itself deaf but at the same time have the fire to hold whatever it was put. In the pre-locator days you would be talking badger too, so finding that dog that could do both must have been like finding gold. I know good working terriers are like hens teeth now but pre-locator days when someone said good terrier.....by frig they really meant a god damn good working dog!

[fat man 4,740]

The thing I can't understand is if the earth was about 7 feet deep, deeper than the spit, how did the old diggers know where to start digging or did you's ever end up missing the tunnel completely?

Some several times but by probing the bar into the walls of the dig usually you found the dog unless you wereway of.While listening for the dog all involved listened and then it was agreed where the best mark was so most times we got it right,took time but no other way to do it.

[fox digger 1,086]

im like you liam, id never go digging without the bar. use it on every dig. the old man has a couple of the old buck rake bars hanging in the shed. they were the bellman and flints in his digging days. he would come to the odd dig with me if i was local and a handy spot, he can still tell me the way the tube runs from being on the bar for a couple of mins and will be able to say if the dog has his quarry bottled in a pocket or leave him be that he is not finished moving yet!!

Edited December 28, 2013 by fox digger

[liamdelaney 2,586]

This white dog dug everything back in the day.

[Cleanspade 3,322]

i'm surprised not so many folk have mentioned that on a lot of occasions you would have to dig more than once and often trench in or tunnel to your dog. in wooded area's sound can travel along tree roots. and that could be deceiving spent many hours laying halfways down a hole with my jacket pulled over the back of my head listening for the muffled sound of a baying dog with the blood running to my head and beasties crawling in my ears. lol. it was'nt nice when you entered a dog in an (easy) earth to find you just couldnt get a mark. from the mouth of any hole or on top despite laying spread eagled on your belly and trying everywhere. you where often soaking wet and cold before you had even lifted a sod. the only option was to make an educated guess by trying to work out the run of the tunnels and the lay of the ground and then dig.a trench you could try your bar every now and then untill you got some sort of mark. or you would hit a tube and listen again. often when you broke through. you had a bit of luck and you wasnt far off the mark. but sometimes you would have to decide to tunnel or dig another shaft. i have a couple of old buck rakes i use em daily at my work. but have broke the tip off one. i come across them regularly at work. nice lite and a handy size. i dont reckon a lot has changed with the dogs in my time. but most the lads that use them arnt as hardy thats for sure.

[Blaise 2,258]

i'm surprised not so many folk have mentioned that on a lot of occasions you would have to dig more than once and often trench in or tunnel to your dog. in wooded area's sound can travel along tree roots. and that could be deceiving spent many hours laying halfways down a hole with my jacket pulled over the back of my head listening for the muffled sound of a baying dog with the blood running to my head and beasties crawling in my ears. lol. it was'nt nice when you entered a dog in an (easy) earth to find you just couldnt get a mark. from the mouth of any hole or on top despite laying spread eagled on your belly and trying everywhere. you where often soaking wet and cold before you had even lifted a sod. the only option was to make an educated guess by trying to work out the run of the tunnels and the lay of the ground and then dig.a trench you could try your bar every now and then untill you got some sort of mark. or you would hit a tube and listen again. often when you broke through. you had a bit of luck and you wasnt far off the mark. but sometimes you would have to decide to tunnel or dig another shaft. i have a couple of old buck rakes i use em daily at my work. but have broke the tip off one. i come across them regularly at work. nice lite and a handy size. i dont reckon a lot has changed with the dogs in my time. but most the lads that use them arnt as hardy thats for sure.

That's a great part of the pleasure ! Search, listen, doubt, try, listen again and ever, with the hose, with the bar, the smell of the earth and grass and after a long time... the great great success : hear the dog !

Locate the dog with the ear is the most important part of the hunt, the rest is far behind.

[Blaise 2,258]

Don't forget the two little metal rods.

With your rods, you will be able to find where are the tunnels underneath, you will be able to estimate the depth.