Hunt Service

[neil cooney 10,415]

JMHO but most huntsmen in this day and age would love to be able to hunt their fox from the find to the mark or otherwise.

But nowadays most hunts wont cross the same land 2 or 3 times a day and combine this with wire and motorways they often have to pull back.

But IMO if these factors weren't there and scent allowed a lot of huntsmen could achieve it, here in Ireland they often do.

[DIDO.1 20,875]

It's horses for courses. Last few years iv seen many young men showing good sport under bad conditions in crap country with constant monitoring from the scumbags....iv been very impressed with hunt staff the whole length of Britain.

[Philluk 181]

as i said im not saying today isnt hard, but on a good scenting day you dont need a huntsman, there is a difference between a huntsman and a showman, a good huntsman only needs 1 fox and a good showman doesnt need a fox.

 

conditions have always been hard and antis have always been about, yes the monitoring is hard but some huntsmen's lack of experience doesnt help here, when i was at the Albrighton i spent many day as a whip turning and or stopping hounds from going to antis and the huntsman screaming at me as they were going roundme, then i moved and the new huntman far more experience, and we had a day where 50 of them turned up, we were drawing a potatoe field and working our way towards them, the hunting horns started the calling etc and the guy i worked for said let them go, the hounds went, they were safe they got there he whistled his unique whistle and they came back, as he said they are going to the horn, the horn is him when they get there they will come back and they did. it got to the stage hounds didnt take any notice of them.

 

When i learnt and many others of my era around the 80s were with a good huntsman you watch learn and move on you go to a new guy and learn then when you take over your knowledge is high you know how to look after a pack of hounds, you know how to look after your country and you know how to hunt, and most important you know how to find foxes, you then teach newcomers and as a whip spending 8 - 10 seasons in different counties seeing how grass, plough, woodland differ you are able to gain vast experience, then when you have a whip you can teach him. today ive seen kennelmen to whip to huntsman in 3 years, what will you be able to teach your whip, so when he becomes huntsman what will he teach his whip and so on. now there are some born hunters and they are naturally good but guidance is still needed.

 

A good huntsman and they are out there is the one to learn from, i got on really well with my last huntsman he hunted hounds for 20 years and he gave me a cracking compliment when i left, and then i hunted with an amateur huntsman the following year who said i wasnt much good, in turn that was also a good compliment coming from him.

Edited July 19, 2015 by Philluk

[Alimac2 321]

There's one thing ruining packs & jobs more than anything & that's the money saving trend of amature huntsman

[foxbolter 447]

Could be the opposite alimac2 amature huntsman are in it sometimes for the love of it when professional huntsmen sometimes it just their job and just go through the motions

[Philluk 181]

I'm not sure anyone would do the job just as its a job, amatures have proved their worth over the years, or some have but I can service a car but I'm no where near as good as someone who has been taught.

[foxbolter 447]

Ive seen quite a few professionals huntsmen been in a job too long and just go through the motions in a days hunting wasting time in cover when it is clearly nothing there and what I see in it there are good and bad in amateur and professional just cause ur paid to do something doesn't mean ur better than someone who isn't paid and amature huntsman can also learn the trade coming up from a young age and if you love something and brought up to it the right way what is the difference ive seen good terrier men who dont get paid which then be called amature but ive also seen many bad.

[Philluk 181]

I agree there fb but when you learn from a experienced person you learn tricks, i spent many year learning to dig foxes and did it professional for 3 seasons for the warwickshire i was under a guy called Slim, his real name was Graham farmer from kent way, not a popular guy but my god he knew his stuff, ive seen people do it today making noise pocking torches down holes and think what the hell are they doing.

[Lutra Lutra 611]

Hello Philluk,

Just replying to certain posts you wrote about regarding working in the hunt service. I did find your posts very interesting and you made some very valid points regarding certain Huntsmen regarding hunting with hounds.It is always the case regarding certain type characters in life, not just regarding hunting but many more aspects in life. An old boy once remarked that the (B,,,,,,,S always get by in life. 'And it is certainly true'. We all know that there are many types who just have the knack of bluffing their way through in almost any situation. I have seen terrier men who didn't have a clue but they always seemed to get by."Funny that is for sure"! However, there are still some very good huntsmen in the game."More than I can ever say for some of the terrier men I have often encountered".I wouldn't mention names of those concerned due to the simple fact that they will always have a small minority of followers on their side. 'I can remember many years ago when hounds had marked a fox to ground in a very short land drain. The local terrier man arrived and proceeded to enter one of his terriers.The terrier could be heard baying and after just a few minutes a fox came to the entrance, touched a net with its nose and went back. Just minutes later the terrier showed and wouldn't go back. The so-called terrier man of high repute decided it a better idea to bolt the fox by using drain rods. To cut a long story short, he never did get that fox! It is of course always a good idea if you can learn from a skilled hand; but especially with some terrier men, they do regard their job with added zealously. 'To myself I would always be willing to help anyone out in the hunting field, especially newcomers to the game".....I have witnessed some incredible huntsmen who thought like a fox, which of course added to their success in the field.I also knew one huntsmen who wasn't too good at all and he had a very bad drink problem, although he did manage to keep his position for quite some time.I think many years ago it was a total different ball game. Nowadays of course the situation is somewhat different.My attitude to life is, 'nothing ventured nothing gained". Thanks again to Philluk and to others who have posted of their experiences.

[Philluk 181]

I agree there is still some good huntsmen out there, not enough in my book and some who have been doing it a long time, I was second whip at a well known pack and the first whip then is now a huntsman still some 20 plus yrs later.

Your story of a fox in a drain reminded me of a situation I was watching when visiting a neighbouring pack, in the southern half of UK, the hunt put a fox in a drain, it was running water, the young lad who was doing the terriers was gonna put his dog in, they netted the down drain and an older guy who used to do terriers said never put your dog in a drain lad where it has running water. I'm watching and the lad went to the huntsman and said sorry we can't get it. The huntsman said ok but they wanted it as the hounds had done well, I said to the lad do you want this fox he said yes and I said so your gonna bolt it and shoot it he said yes. I said take your coat off we walked to the down side, I said stick your coat in the hole and put your foot on it and don't move till I say so. I went to the other end of the drain some 40 yds up the road and watched the water going in and then the water stopped I walked to the lad said give it 3 mins and take your coat away. He took his coat away to a flood of water I said grab the fox as it comes out, he did.

Edited July 24, 2015 by Philluk

[Alimac2 321]

Most amatures wouldn't be near a pack of hounds if they didn't have money to throw at it. I'm not saying there's not a couple out there that aren't good huntsman, but imo there few & far between..

I'd much rather work under a man that had served his time, starting from cleaning beds & drains, then through to the flesh house for a season or two, and so on, atleast hunting & hunt service is in there blood..

You'd certainly not stay in the job as a professional if your heart wasn't in it, especially in this day & age.

[perthshire keeper 1,237]

i agree 100% hunting is like all other jobs you get good bad and indifferent! i know of a couple of amature huntsmen who put other professional huntsman i know to shame..
what makes a huntsman? because one of the best up and coming huntsman and hound man i know has a hand full of wild irish harriers and can read his hounds and foxes like a book! i honestly hope he gets a good pack going and keeps at it.
hunt service is some thing i have always wanted to do and lasy year i was offerd a job with a harrier pack....and got all set but turned it down at the last min and have and will always regretted it

but i had a call from queensland last week offering me a job with a old friend of mine out their as a mounted whip..and a little bit of wild dog controle
dont mind if i do

[Philluk 181]

When i was at the Warwickshire they had a guy who spent a year in Kennels learning the basics of the kennels, he was treated like a posh kennelman, his name was James and was only later i learned it was James Berkley, not sure as i dont follow hunting now, but he was a huntsman a few years ago.

 

Then you get the ttwat Jeremy Whaley he was an amateur Huntsman (where is he now the useless fcker) he used to go home from cubbing and put on his computer where he found foxes and on hunt days he would do a print out where to find a fox, it was almost funny watching him he didnt have a clue what he was doing. he became a MFH as he said he would do all the work visiting farmers so the other MFH didnt have to. needless to say he didnt last long but did a lot of damage to the hunt, the farmers, and other MFH.

 

i was once offered a huntsmans job at the Canadian Eglington & Caladonian i think it was, coyote hunting. i nearly took it but was told once you go its not easy to get back into UK.

Edited July 24, 2015 by Philluk

[Bo Duke 420]

Master Huntsman of the Southdown Bloodhounds

[neil cooney 10,415]

i agree 100% hunting is like all other jobs you get good bad and indifferent! i know of a couple of amature huntsmen who put other professional huntsman i know to shame..

what makes a huntsman? because one of the best up and coming huntsman and hound man i know has a hand full of wild irish harriers and can read his hounds and foxes like a book! i honestly hope he gets a good pack going and keeps at it.

hunt service is some thing i have always wanted to do and lasy year i was offerd a job with a harrier pack....and got all set but turned it down at the last min and have and will always regretted it

 

but i had a call from queensland last week offering me a job with a old friend of mine out their as a mounted whip..and a little bit of wild dog controle

dont mind if i do

So are you taking it PK ?

Nice opportunity.