in the feilds of where we roam

[stej 0]

hello everyone i would like to get a topic of "YOUR DAYS NIGHTS OUT"going.

pictures are more than welcome.

it was a cold windy night with that slight bit of drizzel,me and a pal who i did a lot of rabbiting with

arranged to go out,"AND WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS".we set of with our 2 dogs,SID and GYPSY,

sid was a first cross whippet greyhound and gypsy a collie greyhound whippet.

we had only been lamping about 1 hour and we had 23rabbits,

the night carried on rabbit after rabbit slip for slip.

i can remember my freind mark saying at one point we aint gonna be able to carry this lot soon,ha.

i replied lets just keep going at it.

The dogs were still bouncing so we brayed on,we came up to our local golfcourse witch holds a lot of rough and

woodland as we aproached we seen a fox,we never had the recomend dogs for the job but they both had hearts like lions.

i started calling allmost soon as i started charlie was coming in to me like a train,

you no how it is when they are flying in at you,THE HEART WAS GOING THE HAND WAS SHAKING,.

As it came right on top of me we let them go,1 bend, 2bends and the third sid got him,they took a bit of stick but they done the job and i can tell you it wasthe best night of my life and we had only walked out round our local area.

after that we thaught the dogs are tired and lets head back,

we finished the night with 36rabits 4hairs and a fox, to me thats good going,sid stood only 22inch to the shoulder and gypsy 23,those 2 dogs are no longer with us now,and i would like to say it was a pleasure to hunt the years we had with those 2 dog R.I.P , SID-GYPSY,Thanks for your time taking to read this and i hope replies follow!STEJ

[Rabbithunter 456]

not a bad night out by anyone's standards Who were you with on the particular night?

[jolong 1]

cracking write up mate

[undisputed 1,664]

Theres so many things that go towards a good night/day out with the dogs, the company, the craic, a particular incident. Many years ago we had what I suppose you would call a bobbery pack of lurchers and terriers. Throughout the week these dog's would be worked constantly but Sunday was our get together day. The phone would start ringing around 9.00am and everyone would meet over at the football pitches and we would set off. Now you needed really thick skin on these days as the slagging was none stop and continued from start to finish. There was a hard core of us who went every sunday usually 8 sometimes 9 of us with assorted dogs which gave us a pack of around 25 dogs of various shapes and sizes.

 

As I said this was never about hunting just a long slogg which would often last up to 8 hours. Most of the guy's would have the obligatory bottle of Buckfast...or marching juice as they called it and a few tinny's of beer. So by the time the drink kicked in banter would become insults and there would be the occasional punch up to settle matters with everyone else rolling about laughing as the offended party would set about each other. I've seen more split lips, scratched faces and black eyes on these walks than any night out in the pub. Occasionally we would hit into some quarry and then there would be chaos, poor bunnies often mangled and other quarry pushed out of the heavy cover by the terriers to be pursued by a pack of Lurchers more often than not unsuccessful. Occasionally we would hit gold and bring down a Roe or old Charlie and then the slagging would really start. Woe betide you if your dog lagged behind any of the others or missed a seemingly easy catch. Anyways I miss those days and have often tried to get them started again but people are older dogs have gone to the happy hunting ground and the quarry appears to have moved on to pastures new. Fields were we walked are industrial estates now and theres only a few dedicated dog men left here. Sad really but time marches on...enjoy what you do and do it as long as you can....ATB

Edited September 4, 2008 by undisputed