17th January 2009

I have been lucky enough to get the opportunity to join the beating team for the Abbeyleix Estate shoot in Abbeyleix, Co. Laois. The shoot is mostly in woodland and perfect for working Molly in a variety of cover such as light and thick briars, ivy floors, laurels and open woodland.

The day started fine and breezy but cold. It soon deteriorated to storm force gales and driving rain that eventually forced an end to the day at about 2.30pm as it was getting dangerous to be in the woods in such strong winds, not to mention very uncomfortable for Guns, beaters and pickers up alike in the driving cold rain.

I arrived at the estate and introduced myself to the Head Keeper James whom I had spoken to on the phone. He gave me a run down of the terrain and also told me that he used to trial Spaniels and that the gound on the estate was perfect for spaniel work. 

I entered the line for the first drive of the day wondering how Molly would react to the excitement of the other dogs running around and the large numbers of birds on the ground. She was a little nervous for the whole comotion at the start and was a little bit down on pace, but she soon settled down and got moving. We had numerous flushs and she was steady to everything. I made a point of blowing the stop whistle everytime she made a flush and she responded perfectly each time. At one point we were hunting up to a derelict farm shed and she went into the shed and flushed a large number of birds from inside the walls. She was steady as they all ran and flew out of the shed.

During the 3rd drive we were hunting in heavy briars and she grabbed a cock pheasant on the ground. At first I thought she had pegged it, so I told her to leave it. She dropped the pheasant but it didn't fly and walked slowly a short distance. The walking gun indicated that he had shot the bird and it was wounded so I told her to fetch it and she retreived it nicely to hand. I was very pleased with this piece of work. 

All in all it was very enjoyable day out despite the savage weather conditions. I was not 100% happy with the pace Molly showed but I think that might be down to a combination of the new surroundings of the beating line with everyone shouting and banging sticks along with the gale force winds and rain.

I am going back again this Saturday and hope for better weather and great day out.

3rd January 2008

Happy New Year to everyone!

This was a perfect morning to be out with dogs. Frost on the ground, sun in the sky, not a cloud in sight.

I took Molly to Donnells farm to try for a Woodcock in the wooded areas. She was really motoring well in the low briars and covering her ground very well. Sometimes she has a tendency to be right handed in her pattern but not today. She was covering a very nice even beat. I think the bit of game scent helps her to push out more and cover the ground better.

There was nothing in the first beat of briars along the ditch so I moved to the middle to try the bank of whitethorn and briars. She flushed a woodcock to the far side of it and was steady to the flush. I got not shot through the trees. I walked out to her and praised her and walked back to my position again and waited a minute before sending her on. Further along at the bottom end of the wood she flushed a hare and went to give chase but ran straight into a tree and toppled herself over. Before she got her bearings I was on top of her as well and dragged her back the 3 yards to where the hare flushed. I let her know in no uncertain terms that this is not on. I think she got the message in a few different languages ;)

We then went into an area of trees that gets flooded in wet weather but it was dry mostly today. There is a lot of rushes and white grass in here and she was hunting it nicely. She flushed a Snipe and was steady. It was obvious though that the Snipe was injured as it only few about 10 yards on "one wing".  We hunted towards it and Molly flushed it again. It flew through the trees a good 30 yards this time but still obviously injured. We hunted in the general direction of the Snipe and Molly flushed it again and was steady. This time I got a clear view and shot it dead about 15yards in full view of the dog. She was steady to this. I kept her down for a minute while I put a fresh cartridge in the gun and opened the game bag. Then I sent her for the retrieve. She had a good mark on the fall and went straight over.  She picked the Snipe and brought it about 5 yards and spat it out. And I mean SPAT it out (in disgust even). I told her to fetch it and she picked it again and did the same thing. On the 3rd attempt she brought it to hand. I am trying to think back but I think this was her 2nd Snipe. I know some dogs don't like to bring Snipe. I am only guessing here too but maybe the wounded and distressed Snipe produced a less than pleasing scent or something I don't know. It was in the bag anyway. I will have to get out this weekend for some Snipe shooting with her and see if the problem arises again with a fresh shot bird. I'll let you know how I get on. If anyone has any theory's also, I'd love to hear them. Do wounded distressed birds produce a different scent/taste than fresh shot birds???

We called it a day then with Molly as she had a long run out.

Later that morning I had Tyson out on Saddliers Hill and he tore the heavy cover to shreds. He flushed a lovely Melanistic cock pheasant that I shot into the heavy cover and after a bit of searching he brought back nicely to hand.

It was a magic end to a good mornings hunting. Good dog work, 2 shots and 2 birds in the bag, the sun was shining. Does life get much better than this???

29th December 2008

Molly was in heat for most of the Christmas period so I didn't have her out at all before the 28th Dec. The first trip was just a blow out for her in Ruffly Bog. And boy did she blow the cob-webs off. She was giving it 110%. It was one of those days when she blows me away. I know she will never be a really top class trial dog, but at times she puts in a performance that to my mind anyway (and I'm probably more than a bit biased) is top drawer.

I cast her off and straight away she was at full speed. Bursting through the rushes and cover with a lot of speed and drive. There was plenty of Snipe around and I wanted to get a few flushes for her and to make sure she was steady to them. As you can probably recall she ran in on a Partridge in our last trial and on a woodcock since then too. 

Not long into the run she flushed a Snipe and made a move to chase but I stopped her on the whistle easily and walked over and moved her back a yard to where the Snipe flushed and let her know the error of her ways. I left her on the drop for a little while and then continued on.

A few Snipe got up wild due to the very calm conditions but we kept going and it wasn't long before we had another flush. This time she was steady as I was very quick on the whistle. I walked out to her and gave her pat and walked back to my position and kept her down for a couple of minutes. I had previously hidden a dummy by the large telephone pole at one end of the field and walked to within a reasonable distance (40yards) and sent her for the blind retrieve. She was a bit rusty on the going back but after a few casts she picked the dummy and delivered nicely.

On the final stretch by the lane she was getting tired and slowing down. I was about to pick her up when she had a Snipe flush from right under her nose. She was steady to it. I walked out. Praised her and kept her down for a few minutes before calling her in and picking her up. I was very happy with the mornings work.