apprenticeships for pickers-up.

[Fatlad]

On the shoots I've been on beaters and pickers up have been paid the same the keeper on one was short of a couple of beaters he asked one of the picking up team to help everything was ok until we got near a flushing point and his dogs seen birds drop they ran straight threw the flushing point to go and look for the birds they didn't do to much damage to the drive as they went through that fast and down towards the guns, that picker up said he couldn't understand why his dogs did that but later in the day on a drive where the birds could be seen dropping they did it again he now has a dog for beating as well as he said his picking up dogs do his head in beating the picking up teams on the places I go struggle with the hills now so that is why a few of them are picking up

[Springfield Pointers]

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

To God?

[Judy]

You haven't been to the right shoots yet then, Ips.

Having said which my bitch was very near to meeting her God today, Cock runner about 10 yards behind her, I said "back!" and the little s**** did a 100 yard dash to her right, round the fence, into the cattle crush and came back with a dead hen. Why? Just, why? Beggar had been a star all day and a pleasure to work with, by the time she'd got back with the hen pheasant the cock had slunk into the pen behind me.

[ips]

You haven't been to the right shoots yet then, Ips.

Having said which my bitch was very near to meeting her God today, Cock runner about 10 yards behind her, I said "back!" and the little s**** did a 100 yard dash to her right, round the fence, into the cattle crush and came back with a dead hen. Why? Just, why? Beggar had been a star all day and a pleasure to work with, by the time she'd got back with the hen pheasant the cock had slunk into the pen behind me.

As i havent witnessed this picker up beater divide one could argue that "i have been on the right shoots"

[Contender]

Most places the difference in pay between beaters and pickers-up is simply down to that pickers-up are expected to use their own vehicle and anyone on shoots around here, whom are asked to use their trucks on a shoot day (sometimes the flankers are), are paid extra, too. So far, I've bashed up one of the alloys, one of the sidesteps is kaput (why on earth do they stick those on pick ups anyway? I call them old man steps ), the front grille has a hole courtesy of a pheasant and of course I had to stick some other tyres on it. Maybe I'm just a bad driver on a shoot day

Natasha

[ips]

Most places the difference in pay between beaters and pickers-up is simply down to that pickers-up are expected to use their own vehicle and anyone on shoots around here, whom are asked to use their trucks on a shoot day (sometimes the flankers are), are paid extra, too. So far, I've bashed up one of the alloys, one of the sidesteps is kaput (why on earth do they stick those on pick ups anyway? I call them old man steps ), the front grille has a hole courtesy of a pheasant and of course I had to stick some other tyres on it. Maybe I'm just a bad driver on a shoot day

Natasha

One of the shoots i beat on regularly the beaters and picker ups get paid the same (not a lot) and at least four beaters incl me use there vehicles as various beating lines need to start from a different place. Goes to show there is no one size fits all as far as shoots and pay is concerned

[Springfield Pointers]

Paid? You get paid to shoot over your dogs??

[westcountry]

I use my own truck picking up and the amount I get paid hardly covers the jet washing it takes to get it half way clean afterwards. When I have two dogs picked over a dozen birds on the first drive. You are damn right I want paying more than a beater. Any halfwit with a terrier can beat. Flushing the birds is one thing but its birds in the bag that pays the wages.

[ips]

I use my own truck picking up and the amount I get paid hardly covers the jet washing it takes to get it half way clean afterwards. When I have two dogs picked over a dozen birds on the first drive. You are damn right I want paying more than a beater. Any halfwit with a terrier can beat. Flushing the birds is one thing but its birds in the bag that pays the wages.

Ouch

[Miesque]

I use my own truck picking up and the amount I get paid hardly covers the jet washing it takes to get it half way clean afterwards. When I have two dogs picked over a dozen birds on the first drive. You are damn right I want paying more than a beater. Any halfwit with a terrier can beat. Flushing the birds is one thing but its birds in the bag that pays the wages.

Without the beaters there's no birds for you to be picking....