A day at the Mountain Hares

[Guest SJM]

Had a day out with one of the keepers today, the head keeper ran us out onto the top of the hill with the argo and we walked the top and then back down the valley again. It was a nice wee walk, took us a couple of hours and the scenery was amazing! All we had with us was a backpack, his gun and my collie/geyhound Ollie. Ollie worked non stop from the minute she came out of the back of the pick up, til we got back down to it again. She even got fed up when we stopped to show the video footage to the keeper and she took off and had another wee hunt about

 

Basically the plan was to walk the hares up using Ollie to put them out and the keeper would shoot them when they got within a safe firing range We saw 9 hares in total, not as many as we hoped we would, but better than none at all. We got 4 chances to take a shot and Ollie retreived nicely. The hares are starting to turn white and a couple we saw on the top of the hill that we didnt get close enough to shoot, were almost pure white.

 

On the second last one, Ollie cartwheeled on the run out to the injured hare (boy you would be amazed how fast they can move even with some shot in them ) but she picked herself up quickly and carried on, got on terms with it again and forced it off its flight path, back downhill where she tried to strike and ended up nose diving into a ditch sliding along the ground and ending up facing away from the hare, before having to pick herself up and try and carry on again, She lost too much ground though and the hare got away sadly this is the reason I dont like shooting hares as too much can go wrong, what a pity hare coursing with lurchers is now banned Anyway, heres some stills from the video footage hope you enjoy them for looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[breeze 1,241]

Some good pic's there SJM, have you invested in a new camera ????

 

How's that pup out of Ollie coming along ???

[Guest SJM]

Its a camcorder Breeze, you can freeze the frames and save them as pics The pup out of Ollie is doing great in every respect except for speed, she is not as fast as I hoped she would be. Everything else is there in abundance though, biddable, keen, stamina, nose etc. Will have to see how she goes, she will do for the moors etc, but thats not really what I bred her for

[snoopdog 1,255]

it looks great up there S .....that old girl is still doing the bizz for you ......it wont belong now before they a all white ........cant wait for a day on them ... ..good pics old lass

[DIGZY 4]

well done s looks like you got a good few runs.

[luke 2]

looks like youse had a great day out and somecracking pics

thanks for sharing them with us

[Lennard 10]

Hey SJM,

How much time did you spend getting up 9 hares? We don't have them here and I am curious at what densities they come? They look pretty different form brown hares.

 

L

[Guest SJM]

We walked for a couple of hours, this bit of moor doesnt hold that many to be honest, but it was a day out and we didnt blank which is the main thing The moor across from the moor we were on holds much better numbers you wouldnt have to walk long to see 9 or 10 on there, but they were gathering in sheep on there today to take them away to market so we didnt bother going on there, save that bit for next time.

 

The main differences between the mountain and brown hare are that the mountain is smaller, has a thicker coat, which obviously changes colour when the hare lives on high altitudes, smaller head and ears and also they do not run anywhere near as good as a brown hare. They are a different flavour when you eat them, they have a much more gamey smell when your dressing them out, and when cooked, probably due to the diet of heather and marsh/moorland grasses

[skycat 6,173]

Cracking footage. You say they're smaller than brown hares, but they still look like a good old mouthful for the lurcher.

[Tyla 3,179]

Looks like a cracking day out. im green with envy! My pups is just gone 7 mths and as keen as mustard, its agony not slipping her but i dont want to bring her on too quick. Enjoy your next day out!

Edited November 6, 2007 by Tyla

[FERRETBOY 680]

great pics sjm ,your dog is looking well how do you think a grew would perform on that terrain.would love to see the photage you got. i have always thought they look very smart when they are near enough full white and i would love a few attempts at a retrieve in the future with my pups when they are ready.keep it up.

 

good hunting

 

rew

[Guest the gers]

nice one sjm looked like a good day out cant wait intil a have ago on them blue hares this winter

[Giro 2,648]

Good crack SJM but i am a greedy fecker the stills have just wetted my apitight i want the footage...

 

Do you get brown hares in the same area?? I have ran hares on the fells here even at some altitude too.

 

How is ollie for pace now has she lost gears?

 

Or has she replaced speed with couning and experaince ?

 

good to see you got a few well done

[cúagusgiorraí 57]

Brilliant photos!

I cant think of anywhere better to be, the scenery and the good hunting!

[Guest SJM]

You dont get brown hares on this particular moor, but lower down in the valleys you do see them in the reed beds Ollie is definately getting slower but she has never lost any committment so the runs are longer now she is older, they sometimes last 10 - 20 secs instead of 5 Just kidding. This will be her last season, she is finished as far as serious work goes, she will just potter about for the next few years, I wont be demanding much from her, shes more than earned a place by the fire

 

I came home to a nice surprise when the keeper dropped me off, my collie bitch who I was convinced was holding her pups in over the firework period had let 'em go and gave birth to 3 healthy pups with a 4th which arrived just as I had a peek in the kennel door. Ive just been out now and she has 7, not sure if she is finished or not yet, I wont disturb her too much as she seems to be doing fine without any help from me.

 

The next generation of potential collie/lurcher breeding collies has been born Am going to celebrate with a glass of home made sloe gin