Irish Extra November 2023

My first duck excursion wasn’t on September the first, but only a little over a week ago. I felt no urge to go out as the weather had been so mild and warm. I had a free day one Tuesday and left home in what began as a cold morning, a little dew on the ground and the sun coming up nicely. The summer is a nice time of year but the Autumn and winter, especially the mornings are so much more. I enjoyed an overpriced coffee from one of the many vans along the route and took in the scenery as I anticipated a great days shooting. By late morning I had removed my coat and hat and changed to a gilet as it was just too warm. By lunchtime it felt almost summer like and I stopped under some blackthorn hedging and hung up my cartridge and game bag and rested my gun against a tree. By now I had shot a brace of Teal and that was plenty, I had missed a Mallard further back but there would be more opportunities today and further ahead. As I walked, I thought of the words of Richard Jeffries in “The Amateur Poacher” where he described going for a walk as simply a walk. A walk is a walk, its nothing exciting really. However, should we carry a gun on that same walk through a few fields or along a hedge row it takes on a whole different meaning. We may and often don’t get a chance of a shot but the act of carrying the gun and having the opportunity of a shot makes it so much better. I sprung a few Snipe here and there on the big ground but gave them best as I didn’t want to rise any ducks further up and while they are fantastic shooting, I prefer to only pursue them a day or two in the season with my .410. I saw very little else the rest of the afternoon and two posts I had hoped would hold a few birds were empty. I noticed the water in a few of these places looking very stale despite the rain and did give some thought on the current green algae situation in Lough Neagh and if anything, similar may have affected these spots as looking over my records for previous years these held the highest numbers of birds. I put it down to weather conditions, but a return trip a few days revealed the two areas still without birds although there was an increase on the other spots. My father was very adamant that the weather is yet too mild for the Teal to be in any numbers, although again my records from previous years would say otherwise, so it’s just a waiting game to see what happens.

I have always loved the pursuit of Teal, probably because it was the first type of shooting I was introduced to. My home village had very flat ground and was over a century ago, criss crossed with lots of hand dug drainage ditches to prevent the land from flooding. These ditches filled with aquatic plants and insects with in turn provide great habitat and feeding for wintering Teal and also Mallard. A Teal hunter in this area has to be quick off the draw, they are a lightning-fast small bird that flush on the crunch of frosty grass or a heavy boot, so speed is required. One may flush a dozen or more and they will fly up, go round and drop back down a few hundred yards ahead leaving you in a false sense of security that you can simply walk onwards, flush them again and get another shot only to reach where you marked them down to find nothing! Many times they will fly ahead, drop down and swim backwards towards you so that in following them up you actually pass them. I have, over the years worked out some strategies to outwit them which sometimes work and often don’t but the thrill is in the chase. I was amazed to read recently that Teal and Mallard fly at the same speed, but Teal appear faster due to their smaller size. Fly tiers are always glad of Teal wings for tying flies and I collect the livers and gizzards for the dogs and ferrets who delight in them – I had a Teckel some years who used to eat duck feet & heads by the bucket load! He had such a thing for them that he would stand at the block waiting while I dressed the birds and clipped off the feet and heads each time and eat both in seconds and wait patiently for the next. I often use a breasted Teal for retrieval training with the Teckels as they are small and easy to carry, an elastic band round the middle with the wings covering the breasted area is great for training and can be stored in the freezer for use again.

Busy, busy, busy

Back in September, my bitch Poppy whelped a fine litter of puppies – A long day resulting in a late trip to the vets to extract a stubborn dog pup who didn’t want to leave. I arrived with my vet “Anne” at around 6.45pm and she said “Poppy” would need a caesarean and she would get it done sharpish as the rugby was on at 8.00!  Within no time at all, Anne had TWO puppies out and they were in good health as was Poppy when she came round and the entire litter of 7 did very well from the off. I had expected a slow start with “Poppy” having a section but within a few hours they were feeding well and now at 8 weeks old have been wrecking the entire place and enjoying some play time with the older Teckels. Puppies are all well and good but it is getting genuine, caring and sensible homes for them that is the difficult part. A few of “Poppys” whelps are off to the USA, a few are remaining in Ireland with one going to my good friend and long-time Teckel enthusiast “Drue” and one is off to my pal Daniel in England in a few days to work along side his birds of prey in the future and I know he will have a great life with him.

The Simplicity of lamping…

When working at my regular rabbit control work, or predator control work during the summer, it becomes common place to have a lot of equipment. Ferrets, nets, lurchers, locators etc. Then when doing predator control work we get into night vision, thermals, rifles etc, the list goes on. A few weeks ago I let my Lurcher bitch “Sadie” out onto the grass and she was having a run about while I got ready to go for a quick spot of lamping. My mind had obviously got used to running through a check list before leaving home – Gun, thermal, bolt, magazine, jacket, lamp, etc, etc and I went to the garage and picked up the old “often soldered and re wired” lamp and jumped “Sadie” into the back of the truck. Before I set off I thought, “I must have forgotten something” No, Lurcher, lamp. Slip…It was all present and correct. It was then I thought, the simplicity of lamping with a Lurcher is fantastic! No nonsense, charge the lamp and take the dog! No equipment to carry, no zeros to check and bolts to remember, no ammunition to buy and shooting sticks to carry, no boxes to lock guns in, no thermal to look through, just the lamp, the dog and me…Real hunting, hunting at its best.

Until Next time…