Shooting Times & Country – 21 August 2019

DAVID’S VIEWPOINT

A MATTER

OF IDENTITY

It is mandatoryfordogs

toweara collarinpublic^

T

helawisquiteclearonthesubject

ofdogsinpublicplaces:they

mustweara collarbearinga tag

withthenameandaddressoftheirowner

engravedorwrittenonit;a telephone

numberisadvisedbutisn’tmandatory.

Thereareexceptions,includinganydog

beingusedforthedestructionorcapture

ofvermin,anydogusedforsporting

purposesoranypackofhounds.

Despitethefactthatalldogsmust

nowbemicrochipped,theserules

haven’tchanged.Withouta chipreader

microchipsareuseless.If youfinda lost

dogwearinga collarwithanidentitytag,

you can usually contact its owner.

I’veoftenbeenguiltyofhavinga dog

ina publicplacewithouta collarandtag,

becausemydogsseldomworecollars.

That’snolongerthecase;bothmy

spanielsnowwearcollarsnearlyallthe

time.Witha 13-year-oldspanielthatis

quitedeaf,there’salwaysthechanceshe

mightwanderoffandgetlost.It’s never

happenedbutit coulddoso.

It’ssensibleformyyoungsprocker

toweara collar,asshecouldgallopoff

andgetlost.Shehasnevershownany

inclinationtorunaway,butit paysto

bebothcarefulandlaw-abiding.

Gundogswhenworkingmaybe

exemptfromwearinga collar,butthisonly

applieswhentheyareactuallyworking.

There’sa soundreasonforthis,asa

dogcangethookeduporcaughtbyits

collarwithpotentiallyfatalresults.Field

trialJ-regulations,thelawscontrolling

trialling,explicitlysaythat“dogsmust

not wear any form of collar when under

theordersofthejudgesexceptfor

identificationwherenecessary”.

However,ina lifetimeofshooting,I’ve

neveryetseena dogcaughtbyitscollar

andI haveseenmanydogsworkingwith

collarson.It musthappenoccasionally

—if youhaveexperienceofa doggetting

caughtbyitscollar, I’d interested to hear

from you.

Email:[email protected]

inScotland.Thebirdswerebeing
shotoverpointers,withretrievers
thendoingtheretrieving.Onebird
wasshotnotfarinfrontofthegallery
whereI wasstanding,andweallnot
onlymarkedthefallbutexpected
oneoftheLabradorstomakeaneasy
retrieve.Nonedidso.Thejudges
cametolook,butfailedcompletely.
Thebirdappearedtohavevanished.
Everyonemovedon,butI stayed
behindtowatchtheofficialpicker-up
toseeif hecouldmakeanythingofit.
Hehadn’tmarkedthebirdandnor
hadhisdogs,butI toldhimwhere
I thoughtit mightbe,thoughit was
wheredogsandjudgeshadfailed.
Heslippedhisdogandit wentstraight
tothefall,returningseconds later
withthedeadbird.
Whyhadthisdogsucceeded
whentoptriallingdogshadsearched
withoutsuccess?It wasa reminder
tomeofthedifficulties and challenges
ofpickinggrouse.
Understandably,manypeopleare
unclearofthedifferencesbetween
shootingwalked-upgrousewith
dogs,orshootingoverdogs,as
bothsoundthesame.Thelatter
involvespointersorsettersbut
sometimesHPRs.Inmyviewit is
thepurestformofgameshooting,
whilemuchofthepleasurecomes
fromwatchingthedogsworkand the
shooting is almost incidental.

Bagsareusuallysmallandare

workedhardfor.Traditionallyany

birdsshotareretrievedbyspanielsor

retrievers,notthepointers,thougha

numberofhandlersarenowtraining

theirdogstoretrieveaswellaspoint.

Walked-upgrousearesimplythat —

youwalk,usuallyaccompanied

byspanielswhichyouhopewill

keepinrange— afterthegrouse.

Someyearsagoa friendofmine

wenttoScotlandtoenjoysome

walked-up grouse shooting.

Gundogs

Working gundogs don’t have to wear a collar

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 43

Alas,hereportedafterwardsthat

thespanielswerewild,whilethe

walkingwasextremelyhardwork.

Hedidn’tenjoyhimself.Walked-up

grouseshootingrarelytakesplace

onmoorswitha plentifulsupplyof

grouse,andtheterrainis usually hilly,

boggyandchallenging.

Carpet-slippermoor

ByfartheeasiestwalkingI’veever

experiencedona grousemoorwas

intheNorthYorkMoorsNational

Park.Thekeepertoldmejokingly

thatit wasknownasa carpet-slipper

moor,asbootsweren’tneeded.He

wasright,butmoorslikethatare

theexception.Mostarehardwork,

a surprisingnumberhaveanaptly

namedHeartAttackHill,whileyou

needfitdogstoworkonanymoor.

Picking-upona drivengrouse

mooris a strangeexperiencefor

anyonewhohasn’tdoneit before.

Towardstheendofthedriveallthe

shootingis behindthebuttsand

is oftenverylow,sothepicking-up

teamshavetokeeptheirheadsdown.

Onlyoncethefinalhornis blownis it

safefordogsandhandlerstoventure

out,bywhichtimetheGuns’and

beaters’dogswillhavepicked-up

mostofthebirdsaroundthebutts.

Frustratingit maybe,buta grouse

moorona sunnyAugustday is a great

place to be, regardless.

Ourredgrouseblendwellintotheheather,

which makes pick-up challenging for dogs