Trying New Dogs In An Easy Earth ?

[woottonsheart 214]

Whats your opinions on an easy earth . As in what To look for if you have never dug it before ? . My friend thought he would try an easy earth as he called it this morning and ended up ringing lads out of bed who had been on a nightshift lol. In all fairness it had to entries and it looked quite simple and i always though it would be a 3 foot dig it ended up a 2.4metre dig with hard earth .. Wish i had pics to share

[pjmc 90]

Ha not much fun in that lad.i don't think you can really tell what your getting into there could be a deep pocket.

[jeemes 3,665]

I dont think there is any such thing as an easy earth unless you have done it a few times and with a dog that can push his game back..We recently did a three hole place that turned out a nightmare and 11 foot deep. It resulted in the loss of a good dog too. If you havnt dug it many times with different dogs you just cant know it enough to rate it as easy..

[woottonsheart 214]

I hear a lot of lads say try dogs in an easy place lol you just dont know what you are going to hit

[young man 225]

The earth we did on Saturday doesn't look like a hard earth fairly easy actually but the shallowest pocket is 7ft. Thats what I hate and love about the terrier game. Ya just dont know what you have got yourself into lol

[Rabbit Hunter 6,612]

I like the ones that look really bad and when you drop a dog in they're only 2 foot!

[DOGGINLAD 538]

You never know untill you stick a dog in

[the goat 642]

Tell your mate hang his boots up if he's ringing tired men out of Bed for 8 foot ???

[chilli 369]

Once had a 17 footer with the old grey box ,before the bellmans were out . I dropped a young dog in a place the keeper said was only 5 foot . We were very lucky to find him & be able to dig him out as well . The keeper was so appologetic all the time whilst saying its always been 5 ft over here never had it anywhere else .

[Waz 4,226]

2foot sette turned into 4 metres before. Dug same place again and got 2 in the pot @ 1 foot!

[foxdropper 17,098]

Might seem contraversial,might seem that i know it all lol but im a pretty good judge of whats an easy earth and whats not .For years there was a place near me that people said was undiggable,was split level and a dog killer .ive dug it along with others on here between 25 and 30 times and no more than 1.2 deep .The piles of spoil are menacing but every tube levels out just inside ,a sure sign it aint dipping away .Knowing the local substrat is paramount .On the estate near us if there is shale kicked out no more than 1.6 but if theres lumps of sandstone then its an all dayer .Clay colours vary according to depth and region so knowing this is a big help .Tops of banks are generally ok but half way down can be real problems.

Knowing whether or not an area has been made up over the years is a must too .Theres a place on a farm near me that looks mint but it stretches back a fair way under a yard that has had nearly 6 foot of hardcore on it to level it up .Theres a one holer in a ditch that looks a cracking puppy place until your told the farmer ploughed up the other 3 acres of holes with chambers ,tunnels still under the turf intact .With the bellman it is no probs but old style deben was a right ball ache as dog could be anywhere .Local knowledge should never be dismissed .Travelled a fair bit too in the past and not been far out .If an entrance leads straight down you can be sure its split level .Dont mean to appear like it reads but thats my take on it .

[fat man 4,740]

Many years ago before the locater we used to pass an earth on the bank of a drain.This earth looked like it went down to hell so terriers were always put on a lead when in close proximity to it.One day while doing an earth on the other side of the field with an old dog i had called Spot,the fox bolted and before anyone could catch Spot he was also out and gone after the fox who was heading straight for the earth on the drain.Well they both went down the bank and we guessed had both entered the big earth.We made our way across towards the earth in silence thinking of the job we were goin to have to locate Spot in this earth.We got within about 30yds from the bank of the drain and my mate froze,he told me to stop aswell and then we could hear the dog sounding away almost right under us at about 18in,lol within a few min we were down to Spot and fox dispatched,the amount of digs we had in that same earth from then on was unreal and only the fox had bolted from the 1st 1 we would never have put a dog in it.There was about 5-6 entrances to it in a line along the bank for about 35-40 yds all down about 7-8ft on the bank yet everytime we dug it afterwards no more than 2ft.

[woottonsheart 214]

Some crackin reads here thanks for sharing .

[THE GENERAL 1,975]

I know a place an old tip filled with hardcore. I have dug it a dozen times at different depths usually it turns into a hard dig. I've dug it at 2.1 with great difficulty but it has been 1.2 1.8 and sometimes less at times. Ran it one morning expecting an all day job 0.4 under the spoil. Never thought it could go so handy, not a place id run a pup, knowing my luck the pup would end up at the deep side. When running a young dog on I try and keep it not too complicated so the pup can get a few hunts over them. The day will come that the pup enters a place you think is not overly difficult and it turns out a whole handling session. That's the time you know whether it has the makings of a good dog or not.

Edited January 22, 2015 by THE GENERAL

[pjmc 90]

7 ft is a fair dig,it can all depend on the ground to if it's very stoney or rooty it can be slow,but look it's like this lads if we didn't like it we wouldn't be at it.right or wrong