Back to work – 8th January 2012
Well, I am back at work now but this post primarily relates to the Sunday before I went back. A blue sky and a sudden, almost desperate, urge to make the most of the last day of the last weekend before I went back to work saw me out on the fringe of the hill. Going back to work throws everything into sharp focus, not least the fact that however well-intentioned, holiday time is rarely spent doing what was intended. I had planned to be out with the dogs, getting that quartering right and burning off some excess weight, both on the dogs and around my middle. I went back to work a quarter of a stone heavier leaving dogs no better trained than they were in November. Best laid plans ‘n all that.
I wanted to work the dogs over a wet area of hill, predominantly covered in willow, bog myrtle, bracken and the odd conifer. I specifically wanted to work them through the willow that produced the woodcock a week ago, not with any intention of finding a bird but more for the reminder as to who was in charge. If you remember they both hunted the woodland on their own last week and as a result of my laziness flushed a woodcock on their terms, not mine. So this is what we did.
Within seconds of casting the dogs off Archie was on point. The willow was thick so I dropped Grace and went in to road Archie in. The cacophony coming from a jealous Grace who whined continually was a stark reminder of the difference between these dogs but there you go. I roaded Archie in and we produced nothing. He then relocated and pointed but moved forwards himself, pulling up alongside a fence. It was here that he went on point….with his head through the netting. The fact that he followed the scent of the bird along the fence line for some distance would indicate to me that we were following a pheasant, not a woodcock. I had a choice – put Archie over the fence to road in further or pull him off and go and get Grace whose location wasn’t difficult to determine. I did the latter and Archie didn’t seem to mind one bit. Maybe not the most desirable ending but there you go.
I am beating tomorrow and, where possible, I will try to learn something from watching the guns – mount, stance, speed of swing and so on. I am, quite honestly, a useless shot. A group of us from work have the privilege of a day’s shooting at Barney Stratton’s shoot in Wiltshire. Now this is extremely generous and will be an experience to savour but Barney writes a column in a well known shooting monthly and if we get a mention I want it to be for the right reasons! Roll on Thursday. I will let you know how it goes.
Oh, and I have an informal meeting on Monday night with the local authority regarding this idea I have to bring the local moorlands back into production. Will let you know how that goes too.
