Not Many Left....

If you'd like one of these books you can click on the 'Older Posts' button at the very bottom of this page and all the payment links are there on the previous page. I'm happy to sign it for you or write a happy hunting type message if you let me know. Don't worry it's not a how to do it type manual, nor are there any rabbit recipes! It's all hunting tales but there are plenty of useful tips to be found within it too. This book very nearly didn't see the light of day. I'm sure it was cursed. I just managed to collect them from the printers before they went into liquidation. It was a very close shave as I'd had to pay them up front. Then a couple of years later we had a pointless tax investigation over it. It was clearly instigated by someone with scant knowledge of the self publishing of hunting books as there is little money in it! It's my old bitch Tawny on the front cover closing in on a mountain hare high up in the hills of the far north of Scotland. Yes she did catch it too.

The best read for terrier & lurcher enthusiasts

I write regular articles and submit pictures for Dave Harcombe's great magazine which gave me my first opportunity at writing. If you are into workers then this is the magazine for you. All of the contributors are genuine work dog men and women. It's a monthly publication and is available by mail order only. The format has recently been updated to include more colour pictures too. Here is the link to the official website. Please copy and paste it into your browse if it doesn't work by clicking ~ http://www.earthdog-runningdog.com/

White Collar Leads

Here's another old picture I shot when experimenting with black & white film. The hare has turned slightly and was running straight at me. In such situations it's best to stay dead still and hope the eighty pound greyhound doesn't run into you. The problem with hares is that they have been known to crash into things directly in front of them. Luckily this pair went straight past me.

Poll

Please click on your preferred type of lurcher in the poll at the top of the page. Thanks in anticipation.

The Last Waterloo Cup

Here's an old picture from the last Waterloo Cup with the judge on horseback right up close to the action. It was taken on the 1st day at 'The Withens'. The other picture was also taken there. I went to my 1st ever cup when I was seventeen {1981} and was hooked. I had no transport or anyone to take me back then so I got the first 78 bus into Liverpool city centre, jumped a train to Formby and started to walk in the direction of Altcar with my thumb out. Luckily I got a lift off a gentleman from Chester who turned out to be the official vet, Mr McWilliam and I got in for free! I never missed a cup after that and also used to attend the smaller meetings held earlier in the season. Incidentally since the ban there are sadly nothing like the number of hares on Altcar anymore. Contrary to the opinion of opponents of coursing few hares were killed at coursing meetings. Hare populations thrived under the protection they received on coursing estates. .

Fell hound x Greyhound

My friends bred this bitch and a few others like it for their own use {pre ban}. Some people questioned whether they were genuine 1st crosses as all were very racy animals. They were and what some people forget is that many fell hounds actually carry greyhound blood in them. In fact the hounds my friends kept that ran with their terrier pack actually had patches of brindle colouration on them. Yes the first crosses did take hares regularly though I believe lacked a gear when on the huge fields of the Lancashire mosses. As would be expected they were deadly on foxes. No they didn't use their tongue when in pursuit. I am surprised this cross isn't more popular. There are a few tales in my book about some of the great hunts we had with this little pack of hounds, terriers and lurchers.

Enjoying The Winter Sun

I took this first picture on a bitterly cold winters day. It was around midday and the weak winter sun was warming this little spot at the foot of a chestnut tree. There's a good population of foxes on this particular piece of land but it is rare to find one below ground even on the very coldest of days. I have painful memories of this place for it was where Tawny caught her first fox after my terrier bolted it from the bramble beds. She let go of it a little too soon due to her inexperience as I was trying to get a safe hold on it. This resulted in it biting through my welly into my foot and refusing to let go. This ended the day with a trip to A & E for a tetanus injection! The farmer still laughs about it now. The second picture was taken on the pony field behind my house. It was a vixen out hunting in theday to feed her cubs.

Internet Forums

In reply to some recent queries I'd like to clarify that I am not a member of, or contributor to any internet hunting forums.

My Goshawk

This big girl is deadly on rabbits.

One of natures finest sights

The first two pictures are old ones taken on film when I was experiment with black & white. I always enjoyed walking up the stubble fields in early autumn hoping for a hare to lift. The third picture is at the same venue but is more up to date and was one of a series I took this spring.

Bedlington X Greyhound

This is an old picture from about 16 years ago I found, which was taken on film. I've scanned it onto here. It's up in the Highlands on some heather moorland. The young lad Rob was a trainee keeper / stalker and the lurcher belonged to another keeper friend who was and still is a first class terrier and lurcher man.The dog was called Taffy and was very good. I saw it take lots of lamped rabbits, ferreted rabbits, blue hares and foxes.

A Good Reason for Ferreting Dogs

I'd never go ferreting without a dog as I don't like to see rabbits running off like this! I much prefer to see a dog behind them. I also like to know that rabbits are at home in the first place before I net up and enter a ferret. A good marking dog that can catch anything that slips a net is essential. My preferred choice of dog for the job is of course a lurcher. Even the best setters of nets have rabbits that slip them. Sometimes a rabbit will hit a net whilst another following it out bolts for freedom. You need a steady lurcher for this game and I prefer to use just one when ferreting. There can be enough going on without having to constantly look out for dogs. The dog well schooled in the job will mark the occupied holes and then wait patiently while nets are set. Once the ferret is in the dog should be steady enough to quietly move about on the warren without any restraint and without upsetting any nets or peering down holes. This way they will usually be in the right place for when a rabbit bolts. I prefer my dogs to leave rabbits safely caught in the nets. This is easily taught and I've covered it in depth in my book 'Stormy Nights & Frosty Mornings'. It is normal and desirable for a dog to dart over the a netted rabbit to be on hand in case it does escape or another slips out behind it.

Here's a photo of one which did slip out behind another which was safely netted. It headed across the meadow towards the wood. Luckily Moss was on guard and quickly onto it as you will see in the bottom picture. A ferreting lurcher must be a good retriever too as you may well be busy with nets and ferrets so the last thing you want is to be running over to a dog stood over its catch in the distance. The very best ferreting dogs I've seen have been ones that have done lots of it. A good ferreting dog must work loose too. It's no use have one restrained by a slip lead as I've sometimes seen. A slip lead takes the edge of a dogs reflex and shows a lack of confidence from the owner. A good dog working free will often have caught a bolting rabbit before you've even seen it.

Two Old Friends

The shaggy grey dog on the left was one I rescued and named Reggie after the friend who found him. The dog on the right was Brucey an old favourite of mine. I took this picture after they just had a run on a hare and were getting their tongues back in! Reggie eventually went up to a gamekeeper friend in Scotland and proved to be a useful dog. Sadly he was killed in action hunting on the lamp.

Here's some pictures of a spot of ratting along my local brook. A dog must be good in water to have any chance of success. After a few dives the hunted rat tends to run the water line which is when most kills take place. We don't get any huge hauls as all the kills are hard won. It takes good team work from both dogs and hunters. In the first picture they are marking one which proves to be in a shallow spot under the overhanging bank. In the second picture the older more experienced dog gets in the water anticipating the bolt. After some prodding of the bank the rat dives straight in and emerges on the opposite bank {3rd photo}

Long Netting

Here's an old picture from a night of long netting in Frodsham, Cheshire. Note: no buckles on the wellies! I've had some good fun working with long nets and been in some good tangles too. This was an old shop bought net held on some metal pins I made and supported on hazel sticks. The modern systems in the baskets on fibre glass poles are much better and easier to use. This particular night we walked the fields with a length of rope held between us {bant cord} to drive the rabbits home. My dogs are OK at working alongside long nets during the day when ferreting but not at night.

Mountain Hares

Here's some old pictures taken on film that I came across recently and scanned. Note how well camouflaged the mountain hare is as it sits in its form in the deep heather. These pictures will have been taken in the early autumn before the hares start to get their white winter coat. Not all of them change white in the winter. This is natures way of seeing a nucleus survive the winter. In a harsh winter with a lot of snow the ones that have turned white will stand a better chance of remaining unseen by their predators like the eagle, whilst the ones that haven't changed colour will stand out more. Likewise n a mild winter without any snow the white ones will stand out more and fare less well.

The middle picture is Tawny at full stretch closing in after an exciting course over some hazardous ground. In the final picture she is retrieving it back to me. I had some great sport up in the Highlands hunting these fascinating animals over the years until the Scottish ban came into force. They are much easier to catch than their cousin the brown hare but the challenge of hunting them is in the rough terrain which they inhabit. They would use rocks, knolls, peat hags or any feature to try and throw off their pursuer. They will also go to ground quite readily even when not hard pressed.

Deerhounds

In the 1970's when, as a schoolboy, I discovered lurchers the deerhound and its various crosses were among the most popular. Lurchers were bought and sold through the Exchange & Mart paper back then, which came out each week. A school friend had what was supposed to be a genuine 1st cross and we spent a lot of time running it at the local hares. It was a big tall dog and had been passed on to him as an adult. We never had much success with it as we were blissfully unaware that it was simply too big for our small fields but how it tried. I'd have liked to of seen it in action on some more suitable terrain. After the deerhound popularity boom the collie crosses & bedlington crosses became the flavour of the 1980's, saluki crosses in the 1990's and currently it is the bull terrier crosses that dominate the pups for sale adverts.

Working in the Rushes

Moss pointing at a rabbit sat in a form. This is ideal cover to start off a lurcher working cover before gradually progressing onto harsher cover like bramble, gorse or blackthorne. A lurcher with no fear of cover will always catch more rabbits than one that is reluctant to face cover. Incidentally the length of a lurchers coat has no bearing on its willingness to face harsh cover. It is a myth that coat gives protection against thorns or bramble. It's like saying a man with long hair will come off better than a man with a crew cut if both plunged their heads into bramble! It is all about gameness and the dog that wants its quarry more rather than coat length.

Rabbit sat in a clearing

Successful interception

Near miss!

On A Dark Stormy Night

Lurcher bitch walking steadily up to the spot of light created by the lamp where a rabbit squats motionless, hoping to be overlooked. Different dogs adopt different methods when going down the beam to a squatter. I had one bitch called Blaze who had a lot of greyhound blood in her. She used to race down the beam at top speed to squatters. If she missed her strike at the rabbit it would often jump up about two feet into the air. Tawny the bitch in the picture would trot out quite steadily to squatters sometimes stalking in the final few yards. Her daughter Moss adopts a more a faster approach. All methods can be effective and dogs will usually continue to do what has been successful for them.

Article in EDRD Magazine, September 2012.

Here's a link to the articles section of the Earth Dog Running Dog magazine website.There's an article of mine from the September 2102 edition entitle 'Summertime Foxing (with camera only) ~ http://www.earthdog-runningdog.com/articles/ {You have to highlight the link and then click on 'go to' or copy and paste it into your browser}

Early Season Ferreting

Here's a couple of early season ferreting pictures from last year down in Shropshire. Hedgerow ferreting can be difficult early on when there is still a lot of cover. The ideal team is two people, one on either side of the hedge. A few ferrets are often needed here to get the rabbits moving underground. You need to be very alert as a ferret can easily slip out unnoticed in the undergrowth. Moss is a fairly good marking dog which is also essential

I was trying out some new purse nets which can be seen in the middle picture made by a friend from South Wales. I am very pleased with them. I like colorful nets as they are less likely to get lost. I've never known a rabbit complain about them either! The white nets {bottom picture} were made by a lad from Yorkshire and have a metal slider instead of a ring. Moss is guarding a netted rabbit but not touching it. If another slips out of the now unnetted hole she's ready for it. A dog that grabs the netted rabbits will missing anything following behind.

Moss

Here's Moss my current worker in a pose stance in the first picture on the Marsh by where I live.

In the second picture she's at full stretch after one of the many rabbits in this spot. She caught her first rabbit on this marsh, on the lamp, when she was about 11 months old. She is approaching nine years of age soon {January 4th 2013} so is I suppose a veteran but still working hard & enjoying it. These unglamorous worker type lurchers tend to have a longer working life than the faster, racier lurchers with more running dog blood in them. Moss is the last of this line as I decided not to breed from her though I have questioned this wisdom at times, usually after she has done something special. My decision was not based on lack of working qualities but personal reasons.

Bedlington Lurcher Swimming

I like working lurchers to be able to swim. The Bedlington crosses my friend and I worked about 30 years ago were all good swimmers. We did a lot of waterside rat hunting back then so it was essential they were confident and capable in the water. They would also hunt Moorhens and retrieve them live to hand as in this photo. The dog in this picture also once caught a Teal in a reed filled dyke and took quite a few rabbits that ended up in the water when we used to ferret a rabbit infested,steep Welsh riverbank. He would also retrieve shot game from water. I've found 1st cross lurchers to be keener and better swimmers than those with more sight hound blood in them.

Essential Fox Control

The start of a small dig. Moss the lurcher stands guard, listening intently to the terrier working directly beneath her.

The break through reveals the game bird and poultry killer with Sage the terrier close up and personal in the bottom corner of the picture.

Squatters

Squatters is name given by night time hunters to the rabbits which choose to squat down when the beam of the hunters light illuminates them. They don't do this because the lamp is blinding them; it is a natural freeze response. The rabbits natural instincts tell it to stay still to avoid detection. In many cases it works and the rabbit is overlooked. During the night when illuminated with a lamp the rabbits eyes glow red in the beam which gives them away. Many novice lampers make the mistake of walking their dogs as close up to the squatting rabbit as they can. The rabbit inevitably jumps up and the dog pursues it with the lamper illuminating its escape path. I've seen some shocking antics over the years with lurcher men when lamping. The late Harold Wyman in his excellent book 'The Great Game' describes perfectly how a lurcher should work the lamp and squatters {page 95 - 96}. This Welsh poacher certainly knew his trade. The lamper should illuminate a squatting rabbit by holding his lamp as high as possible creating a downward spot of light on the rabbit. A correctly schooled lurcher should then trot out towards this beam of light. It's very unlikely that even the tallest of lurchers will always see every squatting rabbit, especially on rough ground. Remember how much lower your dogs eyes are to yours. Despite what certain authors say about lurchers not using their noses at night, a good one will. Yes a lurcher shouldn't hunt on with it's nose but it will certainly use it to pinpoint a tightly squatting rabbit it might not be able to see, thus helping it zero in. Remember you should be hunting with the wind in your face. Once the lurcher reaches the spot of light it will in most cases be rewarded by the rabbit jumping up and hopefully running back towards you the lamper providing you have correctly positioned yourself against the fence / hedge / wood. Once a dog knows that the spot of light is likely to hold a rabbit it will go out remarkable distances to it. In brief, you teach your dog to go to the spot of light so in never matters whether it has seen the squatting rabbit or not. I've covered all this in greater detail in my own book {see below}

In Stalking Mode

Crafty old lurcher bitch using her head to save her legs! Note how she is using the cover, keeping tightly tucked in. This is a small copse near my house that houses a good number of rabbits at times. They sit out feeding on the adjacent meadow. Even with the wind in your favour it's very difficult to get between them and the cover during the daylight hours. My lurchers know this and often try to stalk themselves into a better position. It's probably due to inherent behaviour from their collie blood but also learned behaviour as they have been successful using this method. Either way it is fascinating to watch.

Feathered GameI

I've always encouraged my lurchers to hunt feathered game. The pheasant is probably the most common feathered game suitable for the lurcher to catch. Once they've been shot at a few times on shoots they tend to start sitting tighter in cover making them a bit easier. Partridge are hard to catch though most lurchers will point & flush them. I've caught odd ones over the years, both Freench and Greys. The moorhen is probably the easiest feathered quarry for a lurcher to take and in the past I've started many lurchers off as feather hunters on them. Moorhens are less numerous by me now due mainly to the increase in Buzzards which predate them so I try to leave them in peace.

Moss

Moss is a third generation collie type lurcher. She stands at 23 1/2" to the shoulder and weighs about 48lbs. She's not quite as deadly at the lamping as her mother Tawny was but she's a better daytime worker. She reminds me of a first cross collie lurcher as she has their good scenting abilities and keenness to go in any cover. She would never win a show but will certainly put you game in the larder. She also has great stamina and will work none stop. There is a tiny dash of saluki on her fathers side which is where I suspect the black and tan colouration comes from and perhaps her stamina.

Tawny in night time action

Tawny was a second generation collie lurcher and probably the best lamper I've owned. She stood 23" to the shoulder and weighed around 45lbs. I bred her myself and had one of her litter mates down as the one I'd be keeping before changing my mind just as they were all going. She was an easy bitch to train and very good natured. Sadly she had to go for her final walk on Thursday 29th March 2012 just a fortnight after her 14th birthday. She worked hard all of her life and still wanted to come hunting right up to the end. I only ever bred from her once and still have her daughter Moss from that litter. This picture of her was taken in 2008 when she was eight, past her peak but still hunting strong. It was on some rabbit infested grass parks up in the Scottish Highlands where I was stopping with a keeper friend. She was an all round type lurcher but my favourite memories of her will always be our nocturnal exploits. She seemed to know we were going lamping even before I did and would pace about in her kennel on those dark windy nights eagerly watching me.

Tawny in daytime action

I love to see a lurcher working in the daytime. This picture of Tawny was taken on the edge of some moorland bordered with boggy ground and lots of hard rush. The rabbits like to sit tight in the rushes so your lurcher has to use its nose. Sometimes thay can sit too tight and a good lurcher will snap them up from their seats. Mostly they will make a dash and can provide great sport. I prefer just a single, methodical dog for this type of work as more than one can result in a lot of disturbed rabbits and chaos. A couple of miles further out on this moor is where I got the photo of her chasing a mountain hare which we put as the cover on my book.

Sage my Jack Russell in action ratting

This was up at my friends stables when we moved a chicken shed. I've had some great sport here over the years with rats and poultry killing foxes. Good ratting spots are getting harder to come by as the number of working farms decline.