Learning on the job
Shooting Times & Country|July 19, 2023
With an ambition for a full-time stalking companion, Will Pocklington hopes his keen young teckel can rise to the challenge
Learning on the job

She wove through the sparse stalks of bolting wheat on the field’s edge, nose pinned to the floor. The grass margin a few feet to our right had recently been cut, and on it, some way ahead, a young roebuck sauntered towards the big wood below the keeper’s house. I watched the pup carefully and wondered if she was on the deer’s trail or simply transfixed by the stew of other scents that surely filled her nostrils. I suppose it’s a different world down there when you’re vertically challenged and ruled by your snout.

‘She’ is a teckel, a wirehaired dachshund — my first, and not yet five months old. Her name is Scribble and this was our maiden outing. A milestone in her journey as a budding ‘deer dog’? Maybe, though I was keen not to make a fuss of it. It was just another short and steady potter, really, only I was carrying a rifle in case we came across the animals that, in time, would hopefully become her focus.

Early induction 

Even so, as the song of skylarks peppered the pollen-filled sky on that cool June morning, I couldn’t help but mull over the pros and cons of such an early induction. Had I been impatient? Should I have waited? On the one hand I’d been advised to take her out as soon as possible, and I liked the idea of her learning on the job; on the other, I was conscious that her nose is still far more developed than her brain.

In the end the whole affair was pretty relaxed — an extension of what we’d been doing during our brief, thrice daily sessions in the back garden, practising recall, patience and a bit of heelwork.

この記事は Shooting Times & Country の July 19, 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Shooting Times & Country の July 19, 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRYのその他の記事すべて表示
United we stand
Shooting Times & Country

United we stand

Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors

time-read
5 分  |
August 02, 2023
Serious matters
Shooting Times & Country

Serious matters

An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning

time-read
3 分  |
August 02, 2023
They're not always as easy as they seem
Shooting Times & Country

They're not always as easy as they seem

While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort

time-read
5 分  |
August 02, 2023
Debutant gundogs
Shooting Times & Country

Debutant gundogs

There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting

time-read
4 分  |
August 02, 2023
When the going gets rough
Shooting Times & Country

When the going gets rough

Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique

time-read
5 分  |
August 02, 2023
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
Shooting Times & Country

The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition

In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make

time-read
4 分  |
August 02, 2023
A step too far?
Shooting Times & Country

A step too far?

Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work

time-read
6 分  |
August 02, 2023
Two bucks before breakfast
Shooting Times & Country

Two bucks before breakfast

A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem

time-read
6 分  |
August 02, 2023
Stalking Diary
Shooting Times & Country

Stalking Diary

Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill

time-read
2 分  |
August 02, 2023
Gamekeeper
Shooting Times & Country

Gamekeeper

Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside

time-read
3 分  |
August 02, 2023