apprenticeships for pickers-up.

[trekmoor]

It was always a bit of a closed shop. But when you broke through though, on merit, you used to get more picking up than you could handle providing you had handy dogs that got on with the job.

Naj

I can easily remember when pickers - up got a fiver more than a beater per day out. Some of those beaters didn't have dogs and, on some shoots, those beaters were paid even less. I thought that was pretty fair after all a man or a boy without a dog could only tap trees or wave a flag, they had no outgoing expenses of feeding a dog or providing it with all year round training and veterinary care.

A good, experienced beater with a decent dog is worth as much as a picker-up in my opinion. A lazy, crap beater is worth about the same as a lazy, crap picker-up ……… F all !

I once went to a shoot that decided their beaters should get paid according to how many dogs they each brought with them..... You should have seen the variety of mutts that decision brought into the beating line ! I think that idea only lasted for two days shooting.

Once I'd served less than two seasons as a beater with a dog I was asked if I'd pick-up and hardly ever went beating again after that.
My dog got me into picking-up. I see no reason why the bloke up the road from me cannot do the same thing ....if he has good enough dogs and "shows willing" as a beater.

Wullie

[Nickheref]

It was always a bit of a closed shop. But when you broke through though, on merit, you used to get more picking up than you could handle providing you had handy dogs that got on with the job.

Naj

A good, experienced beater with a decent dog is worth as much as a picker-up in my opinion.


Wullie

That is what I was told when I "aspired" to join the picking up team!!

[Stacia]

I think the saying goes:

Beaters speak only to keepers, keepers speak only to guns, guns speak only to pickers up and pickers up speak only to God!

[ips]

I think the saying goes:

Beaters speak only to keepers, keepers speak only to guns, guns speak only to pickers up and pickers up speak only to God!

Not on any shoot i go to, from my experience everyone is equal

[Stacia]

Supposed to be fun Ips!

[Naj]

I think the saying goes:

Beaters speak only to keepers, keepers speak only to guns, guns speak only to pickers up and pickers up speak only to God!

Not on any shoot i go to, from my experience everyone is equal

They’re all equal until you try getting into the picking up team.

[trekmoor]

They’re all equal until you try getting into the picking up team.

[ips]

I think the saying goes:

Beaters speak only to keepers, keepers speak only to guns, guns speak only to pickers up and pickers up speak only to God!

Not on any shoot i go to, from my experience everyone is equal

They’re all equal until you try getting into the picking up team.

Na, too much standing about for my liking. Would rather do "proper" work on the beating line

I will get me coat

[MDP]

I think getting some experience in the beating line is a fair way. It is rare to be simply invited to pick up. Most shoots have long established teams or are has been said, closed shops.

I myself started beating with one dog and just waited for the opportunity to arise to pickup, now i have 7 dogs and too many offers to pickup than i can squeeze in. I found once you are in one place and doing a good job, keepers speak to each other and recommend you to other places OR the established pickers up do the same. That's how i have ended up with 5-6 different options for picking up varying from 100 bird farms days to very large commercial shoots. I stick with 3 regular picking up gigs and have agreements with the keepers on the others that i will help them when i can.

On one of my newer regulars i actually spent the whole of last season on a trial run with them with the resident 'old boy' stood with me with his two old dogs. I didn't mind, after all he had picked up there for the last 20 plus years and it was good to get the tips and tricks of the ground off him.

That all being said i do still go beating when i get chance and find it great for tuning up obedience etc on the spaniels.

There does seem to be two types of picker up from my limited (3 years at it) experience, those there to train dogs and want to stand close to the guns and pick off the 'bowling green' and those that are rarely seen as they are so far back from the guns, they're the ones that get after those birds that are hit but lock out and glide on for about 40 miles. Some keepers ask you to do a bit of both types, all depends on the shoot.

I myself prefer the back marking positions but can do either. For me it is important to have a decent sized team of dogs or at least dogs that can do different things i.e. one you can handle on to birds under pressure, ones that hunt close, ones that range out far that are half wild. Good dogs will open the doors for you

Mike

[Dan Newcombe]

I think that it boils down to the fact that pickers up are largely autonomous whereas beaters can be relatively closely supervised - therefore as a picker up you should know what’s going on and how it works - if you haven’t got experience in the shooting world in general then you won’t be able to get yourself in the right place, go the right way etc and effectively do your job. It honestly isn’t as simple as it looks to do the job well.

It is also a fact that good beaters take a long time to understand their trade, not just pickers up - in the line you just don’t volunteer yourself for additional responsibility, it is given when you have shown you can do it. With picking up people volunteer themselves.

It won’t ruin your dogs unless you let it, if anything a beating dog has to be better behaved than it’s picking up counterpart because it’s ability to ruin the day is much greater in the line than behind the guns.

100% agree that you should not be ‘getting them in’ they should be proving themselves as useful staff members.