Irish Extra January 2020
Happy New Year! It seems only a flash since I wrote that in 2019 and he we are in 2020 the year of the Rat, a little less exciting than 2019 which was the year of the Salmon. The rat is not all bad, I suppose he is quite a sporting character and we don’t have to look too far now to find the many rat packs up and down the country, not to mention the Tweed Valley rat pack that really brighten up my day with their social media posts! Ratting is not something I have done a huge lot of but if and when the opportunity arises I grab it with both hands! A couple of years back Rock Blaster, his brother and another lad had the opportunity for a large rat hunt on a pile of disused Barley and it was phenomenal fun. We had my Lurcher Fudge, two Teckels, 2 German short haired pointers and a Staffordshire bull terrier all working together, the Staffordshire being the most switched on of the lot as she lived on a farm and was well educated! Fudge was not so switched on and got a good few bites on the nose before she realised the game was not like rabbits and there was a requirement to shake and kill the rats rather than attempt to retrieve them!
The Christmas holidays for me brought a welcome break after what has been one of my busiest years ever, not only for work but for many other things and it seemed that every day lasted literally from dusk till dawn. It is I suppose a good complaint, but it was thoroughly nice to take a day or two relaxed shooting and raking about with the Teckels and Lurchers with no constraint on time nor place.
For me, Boxing was once an occasion with many other guns and really a BIG day. It was a BIG day which I now do a lot differently and spend it usually with a few of my own dogs and sometimes the gun or maybe a ferret or two. I usually travel to the same old remote area and enjoy the day having a chase at a rabbit, a shot at a Teal or a hunt with the Teckels and if I am lucky, all three!
Boxing day meets were thoroughly successful across the country with many packs including The Route & The Iveagh reporting a great day. My good friends in the East, the newly formed Valentine Chase had a spectacular Boxing Day and the Hounds have really now found their feet in Ireland and they can look forward to a continued good season. I spent a couple of days with them between Christmas and New Year & enjoyed some fine sport Hunting, Shooting & Teckling!
January is usually a pretty dreary old month and I do as much as possible to brighten it up. I have an added bonus this year as my usual meeting with Lee, Willie and Tommy for a date on the coursing calendar was shifted from before Christmas to after so we have at least one if not two days of coursing to look forward to early in the month.
Well done Irish Clay Target Association!
National Shooting Grounds Esker update
Peter Hanifin, ICTSA Chairman reports “After many months and countless hours of meetings, hard work and commitment, today I am delighted to announce the signing of the lease last week between the ICTSA and the Trustees of the lands of Esker where our New National Shooting Grounds will be located.This is a momentous achievement for our Association as for the first time in our history every single member from all Disciplines will have representation at our new home. I would like to thank the Executive for their full support and patience over the past months as the process has been very time consuming but has finally paid off. A special mention to our Treasurer Conor Mooney who guided us through all aspects of this transaction with so much knowledge on matters of this nature. On a final note, I would like to thank the Rooney family for having us on their lands in Ashbourne for so many years, where past and current members met at weekends to enjoy their sport and build friendships. We hold the same hope for our new National Shooting Grounds and look forward to the continued promotion and enjoyment of the sport of Clay Target Shooting in Ireland.”
Until next time…Happy New Year & Good Hunting!