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My Beating Experience..........


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What a load of bollocks. Whoever the keeper is needs a kick up the arse. Single minded shite pocketing the sly hand outs and enjoying his new suit each year. Fck him. I paid , not only the beater but also for dog food if he brought one. Lunch was always 5 star and a good drink and a brace mandatory. Don't you worry pal, there are good keepers out there and if you keep looking you will meet them and get the perms.

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I beat for a couple of sound keepers -its the bloody guns I don't get along with! im trudging through brambles etc to put birds over them and there on there fckin mobiles as birds fly over them ! last week a couple of guns had girl friends with them and all they did was kiss cuddle and giggle all day & poor keeper gets judged on number of birds shot -whats all that about I ask myself

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Thrown my toys out after yesterday.

 

Mine was the only dog in the beating line so worked her socks off flushing and retrieving, meanwhile i'm constantly trying to keep the line straight (loads of uninterested kids), and to top it off another beater turned up for the last drive with his dog and was sending it for retrieves that were around me and it kept harassing and snatching birds off mine.

 

Even walked all the way back to the shoot cabin with a couple of kids who couldn't fit in the beaters wagon to make sure they didn't get lost.

 

Not even offered a brace or a thank you for my exertions. Good luck..

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Thrown my toys out after yesterday.

 

Mine was the only dog in the beating line so worked her socks off flushing and retrieving, meanwhile i'm constantly trying to keep the line straight (loads of uninterested kids), and to top it off another beater turned up for the last drive with his dog and was sending it for retrieves that were around me and it kept harassing and snatching birds off mine.

 

Even walked all the way back to the shoot cabin with a couple of kids who couldn't fit in the beaters wagon to make sure they didn't get lost.

 

Not even offered a brace or a thank you for my exertions. Good luck..

I did think that on my first beat with the shoot, they knew I was new but didnt take names or nothing and then just left a lot of the new beaters to it. Very unproffesional but from what Ive heard theyve struggled on the last few shoots so what goes around comes around.

Any way on a good news front managed to secure a vermin control permission last week so all ended well.

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:hmm: Some real sad tales,... :yes:

 

Some real strange attitudes and lack of professionalism, seemingly taking place as well :blink:

 

I work with commercial pheasant/partridge shoots, and no way, would beaters or pickers up be treated badly..

 

There is a lot of money at stake,..and for a paid day to run smoothly, it is imperative that everyone mucks in and helps the Keeper and the Guns, to get the bag...this is what is all about....

 

Obviously,.if a man is being shit upon or taken for a ride,..he must make his feelings known and if nothing is done,.then walk on by,...loads of shoots around the UK and plenty of genuine Keepers, looking for genuine beaters.... :thumbs:

Edited by Phil Lloyd
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well said phil -I wouldn't put up with any crap I would just walk away and find the "right "shoot where im appreciated -ps a good keeper will tell you without a decent set of beaters the shoot wouldn't work

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i have heard some bad stories....

IMO a lot of it falls down to the keeper..unless he is pussy-whipped by the estate owner/factor/manager, the buck realy should stop with him.

you can have the best birds in the world and the best guns in the country to pull them down...the best trained FTC to put them in the cart....but unless you have a good team of happy beaters aint gone be a happy shoot.and you aint going to get good birds

our outgoings for beaters and pickers up was over 20 thousand pound a year.....yeh that much and thats not including the odd pub lunch on special days and beers and pies...

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It's worth remembering that not all driven shoots are the same. Broadly there are three types, commercial, private and syndicate. If you want a low pressure, friendly type shoot find a decent syndicate shoot where beaters and guns all mix freely. The craic is excellent. Boundary days on commercial shoots tend to have a similar relaxed atmosphere.

 

Of all the types of shoot there are I've heard the most negative of reports be in regards to experiences with commercial shoots, from a beaters point of view at least. I've little experience with private shoots, the only one I do know of is excellent. I'm also sure that there are hundreds of commercial shoots with very happy beaters! So i don't mean to generalize.

 

Plenty will disagree, but imo it's the lack of prioritizing profit margins that makes syndicate shoots and private shoots often more enjoyable, again for a beater at least. Guns aren't there to kill as many birds as they can for their pound nor beaters for their 20 quid and a brace, they're all there for the experience, for the socializing and craic.

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Its not about the money but you have to be treated well .

 

We have lots of shoots locally so they have to look after the beaters.

 

On the shoots I beat on we get bacon rolls and tea and coffee when you turn up in the morning. One does sausages at elevensies . Both do full sit down lunch , with cheese and biscuits and tea and coffee and then at end of the day teas and coffees and home baking and £30 and as many birds to take away as you want. Both do cracking keepers day at end of season where everyone who has beat and picked up gets to shoot , again full lunch and full dinner laid on.

 

Do not let anyone rip you off. Driven pheasant shoots are enjoyed by some of the richest people going so they definitely can afford to look after their beaters.

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