Where to begin?

[ips]

50 bird day will be an ideal type / size of day to cut your teeth on sounds like your list is complete, I can't think of anything else other than water and food for bothman and dog,

[PRH]

Don’t forget the dog will feed off your nervousness (if you are nervous!) so the more chilled you are….

[Judy]

Thanks guys, I believe last week was about a 50 bird day.

On another note, is there anything in particular I’m forgetting to take? Other than appropriate clothing, dog, whistle, lead, towel jacket for the dog, pop out bowl and some water do I need anything else that’s glaringly obvious?

Spare lead, food for you. Maybe small first aid kit of the dog.

[Nickheref]

Thanks guys, I believe last week was about a 50 bird day.

On another note, is there anything in particular I’m forgetting to take? Other than appropriate clothing, dog, whistle, lead, towel jacket for the dog, pop out bowl and some water do I need anything else that’s glaringly obvious?

Spare lead, food for you. Maybe small first aid kit of the dog.

Stick?

[Judy]

Thanks guys, I believe last week was about a 50 bird day.

On another note, is there anything in particular I’m forgetting to take? Other than appropriate clothing, dog, whistle, lead, towel jacket for the dog, pop out bowl and some water do I need anything else that’s glaringly obvious?

Spare lead, food for you. Maybe small first aid kit of the dog.

Stick?

Nah, twist, ta.

[ips]

Spare lead, food for you. Maybe small first aid kit of the dog.

Stick?

Nah, twist, ta.

Lol.... it took some thought but eventually

[Alexgudmunsen]

So then, first of all we have both had a brilliant day! The guys on the shoot were all really welcoming and friendly which made the whole thing easier and the sloe gin went down nicely! Overall Chester was absolutely brilliant and really did work well for me, thank god!

He went a little bit too far ahead a couple of times and went a bit whistle deaf when he was on scent a few times but I fully expected it to be worse. He hunted in a nice pattern, getting a few flushes, and he even got a few compliments on how efficiently he hunted from other beaters, which made me very proud.

After the second drive I was asked to hunt up a bank of a lake with very thick cover, where it was thought there were two birds. After a couple of minutes I heard Chester splash into the water and assumed he’d given up hunting and decided to go to his favourite place (water). I recalled him to continue hunting and after 30 seconds he appeared from the brambles with a hen bird in his mouth!! It does mean I sadly didn’t get a picture but hey ho! He then retrieved a second bird from the same lake, so atleast I know he will happily retrieve from water!

Overall we had a great time and can’t wait to do it all again next week! Thanks to everyone who gave advice!

[PRH]

Glad to hear it went well, getting started is the hard part .

Maybe think about how to address the dog deciding to switch from beating to picking up mid drive. On a bigger day the keeper probably won’t want to see a dog leave the beating line to make retrieves.

[Alexgudmunsen]

Thanks! Ah yeah my fault I didn’t explain that very well, we weren’t coming back to that part of the shoot again and the birds that had been shot and dropped there had to be picked there and then, so they let me go and sweep it before we moved on. I don’t know if that’s the norm or not?

[ips]

So pleased for you, I remember only too well my first day onwards and upwards now