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The Great Outdoors

So, it’s been a while since I put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard to be more precise. But just because I have been quiet on the “Game, Set & Match” front, it doesn’t mean I have not been busy. A big work commitment this summer had me caught up for the most part (but a great result made it worth it). Then an endless list of jobs to do about the house from the good wife, when I had a few weeks…

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Mid Season Training

A lovely spell of warm weather throughout the Irish country has brought us into the month of June. Just shy of the mid-way point between the end of last hunting season and the start of next season. Most outdoor enthusiasts are busy fly fishing with the mayfly spotted around the country. A lovely stretch across the evenings with the school kids counting down the days to the summer holidays.

On my…

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Seasons End

  The end of the season, how quickly it is here

No more shooting at wild fowl…but a few weeks left at Deer

  September for the Grouse and all sorts of Duck

Be it on the Heather or Ponds. I wish you all good Luck

  On to 1st of November when it is all in full flight

Pheasant and Woodcock are fair game from first light

  For the next three months, the hunting becomes Life

Often the cause of a…

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Ruffle my Feathers ep.3 - Feast or Famine

Ruffle my Feathers ep.3 – Feast or Famine

A topic I find of interest and always seems to spark a hundred different answers is what to feed your dog. From the amount of times a day, dry or wet food, raw or cooked there never seems to be a definitive answer. All dogs are different and what works for one person just might not work for another.

Now to make it very clear I am only giving a write up on what has suited my dogs and this is in no…

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Making Memories in the Field - The Sweet Lou Story

Making Memories in the Field – The Sweet Lou Story

My Granddad Kisner was a bird hunter and outdoors man. I first experienced upland hunting with dogs on his farm of eighty acres located in Bates County, Missouri in the mid sixties at the age of twelve. Opening day of quail season was a special time and as tradition the male members of the Kisner family always gathered to pursue the three to four coveys that could be found on his farm.  While…

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Flying The Flag

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of talking to a man named Donal O’Leary who has been involved in field trials in Ireland for more than forty years. Donal has not only been at the centre of both trialling and judging but has also had the achievement of making up field trial champions with both a Pointer and an English Setter so he has experience with both breeds. As the cold snap covered the…

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If you are on Facebook and have an interest in hunting and Gundogs in Ireland then I have no doubt you would have come across a photo or a comment from non-other than James Flynn. Born and bred in the Kingdom of Co. Kerry, he is a great contributor through social media as both an admin on a number of pages and also a person who enjoys a good debate about the good and bad and rights and wrongs of dogs and hunting. When I decided to speak to people for my blog, about their own experiences with Gundogs and shooting, I made contact with James and asked him if he would be interested in speaking to me. His response was short and simple – “yeah no problem, sure all I do is hunt”.

Our conversation started with James looking for a phone charger so he doesn’t leave me talking to myself and I begin by asking him when he started shooting and what got him into it. He tells me that he is “shooting about seven years, well maybe a bit more but seven years with my own gun…No body belonging to me had a gun bar my Grandmothers crowd. The interest was always there it just had to come out. I have always had dogs….my Grandfather had Red Setters growing up but just as pets, but they were from working lines. My Grandmothers crowd had given them to him but they were gone out of shooting and fishing before I got any interest in it. It just took off from there, I remember getting my first Gundog, a Springer Spaniel but I never really shot over him. The first good Gundog I had was an English Pointer crossed with an English Setter and I also had an English Pointer bitch and I used my friends gun, I had them for a few years. Then I got my own gun and had Setters and German Pointers and just ended up getting into the Springers then about 5 or 6 years ago”

  The late “FERN” who died in November 2016

  I jokingly remark to James about the Springers, asking him was this going to the dark side or have you never looked back. He doesn’t hesitate and has a witty reply of “Oh!! I don’t know I always said I will get a Setter again when I’m old and lazy.

James continues to tell me that he “just loves working with the Springers and the excitement of it you know. I used to hunt with a fella and he had probably one of the best Setters I have seen but when I am going with lads with Springers I mean the birds we were meeting in comparison is frightening…. But I will possibly or probably get a Red Setter yet at some stage, even if I had them only as a pet, but I would still shoot over it. I just think they are beautiful dogs and our native Gundog. I would like to get one just to have it. But I shoot over Springers all the time and I have one Black Labrador, but I bring her rough shooting the whole time as well as she picks up.”

  “BANNER” on watch at the lake and showing composure with a Pheasant

  I compliment James on the calibre of his dogs from the videos I have seen and inquire about how he got into training them;

“I just asked a lot of fellas for different advice and took a bit from each person. I had German Shepherds when I was younger and was able to train them and I was always able to handle a dog and train them some bit. Friends of mine helped me out and just going on advice, but the dog you train yourself will always be better than the dog that gets trained for you.”

I then remark about maybe he should look into field trials, however he tells me

“I’m not trying to be better than anyone. I’m just trying to be better than myself. Basically, I’m in competition with no one but myself. I don’t want better dogs than the next man. I just want to keep improving my own”

As we continue the chat about different aspects of Gundogs we talk about the great setup with kennels that James has built. I smartly say you must be happy with them, however you got the permission from the other half to do them. Again, the answer rolls off James tongue with a hearty laugh, “She asks no questions and I tell no lies!! But yes, I am happy how they turned out because I put a lot of hours into them, when I was digging out that place. I remember I got up one day at 5am and then done a few hours work and then drove the school bus, afterwards I went back and was at it till 10pm at night. But they are still not finished, I am waiting for some good weather to come to paint them and do more on the yard”

L-R- “FERN, SELLA, BANNER” Front – “BOBAWH”

As our conversation progresses onto hunting there is no doubt James has fantastic ground in his area for Woodcock but I decide to firstly ask about how he has been getting on with the ducks and pheasants this season.

He explains that “we wouldn’t have a massive amount of duck, but when the river bursts its bank we have to make hay while the sun shines. We had a lot of widgeon this year but we wouldn’t have duck like they do on the Shannon…Its all rough shooting, I do shoot pheasants and the most of them are wild. I do a lot of vermin control and I hatched pheasants out a few years ago so there are a few about the place… If I met 10 pheasants in the day I might fire at one. I let them off a lot, maybe if it was over a pup or something and you wanted to get game for them. That’s what makes them you know”

With such a love for the sport and the dogs I ask James how often he gets a chance to get out hunting;

“I am out probably four days a week hunting. I have done nine days in a row then one day off and back out for five days in a row. I am off two weeks at the Christmas but I have eased back a bit as I have two little girls.”

James laughs as he tells me that “I time it well, I get the missus on maternity for the season, one was born in October and one in December so I plan it out well.

I prep and eat everything that I shoot, I do shoot a fair amount but it is all used myself so nothing goes to waste. I drop in a bit to a few farmers and there are fellas that aren’t able to shoot anymore and I give them a pheasant or two”

  “HEATHER” taking in the scenery of Co. Kerry

With such an interest in hunting and plenty of days under his belt to do it, I ask James what exactly it is about Woodcock he likes so much

“I don’t know, I have hundreds of them flushed but it’s still every time one flushes it’s the same feeling as the first one. The heart goes, I’d say if there was a monitor on the heart it would go through the roof. For me there is just so much enjoyment out of it.”

An obvious point of our discussion, is when I ask James about all the talk this year on low numbers of Woodcock and ask how he found this seasons numbers;

“They were definitely down at the start, some fellas have said to me “I have never seen numbers so good in my area” but that’s not good enough you have to look at the overall picture. If you see a lot of the big hunters, the real Woodcock men this year in the Country, they have said the numbers were back. It was a funny year as the birds were in places they were never before. The ratios were definitely way off as well. Like we would have always been shooting seven juveniles to three adults, so two thirds would be juvenile. That changed right around the last two years, like two thirds we were shooting were adults…Like the scientists have said it has been two bad breeding seasons due to water. We would be flushing a lot of birds compared to what we are shooting you know…we count every day how many we flushed, it’s the only way to keep track of numbers. We have a record of how many days we were out and how many were flushed. It means if the authorities came and said we were going to ban Woodcock shooting if the numbers are down but at least we can keep a record to show the way numbers are.”

Sleeping Beauty

As James and myself discus the impact of social media these days I remark how he is active a lot on Facebook as both page admin on a number of groups and also that he has about 4000 friends. With a laugh James says “I think its 5000 now, it’s fairly scary at times!!

Ah you know when a fella has a Gundog and they add me that’s just how it happens. On social media there is good and bad you know, you can get too much attention too. But from the pages Jesus I love the different opinions, you have to listen to them all. But things are fine until they get personal, you see it on a few pages you have the craic and the whole lot but before people were not as uptight, but now the fun is gone out of a lot of the pages too, there is a lot of jealousy in fellas too and they are the ones you have to watch you know… a good friend of mine from Tipperary said to me “you can’t keep everyone happy, so long as you’re happy yourself that’s all that matters, keep doing what you’re doing, some people don’t like to see others getting attention you know”. I asked nobody to follow my page or that and he said to me “some people just attract to other people and it’s as simple as that”

Like I have a few people onto me saying you post way too much on Facebook but then I have one fella onto me that ended up in a wheel chair and he said following my page it’s like I am out there with you. I have a few people on my page that are wheelchair bound and then others that have illnesses and they have contacted me and thanked me for stuff I have put up.”

Not just limited to hunting feather, James has also been involved in Deer Stalking of late and I ask how this came into being;

“I’ll be honest, a lot of farmers where I had permission were asking me to shoot Deer and I would say I have no licence but I can get someone to do it for you. But I have always had rifles so I ended up getting the Deer licence then myself… it was an easy process but I know they are bringing in the HCAP now and all that craic. I agree to a certain extent like it’s kind of crazy a young fella can go away with no experience what so ever of gralloching or anything to do with the animal and can go away and get a Deer licence and go out shooting Deer with a high-powered rifle it’s kind of mad.

But then the other side there are men out three shooting thirty or forty years and will have to go away and pay a couple of hundred euros and that’s just the start of it. It’s like everything in this Country, it is only a matter of time before it will cost you a small fortune to shoot Deer”

“SELLA” with her quarry for the day

As our conversation comes to a close I enquire of James about what else he enjoys in relation to hunting;

“I get offered a lot of driven shoots and I’ve been asked to shoot at trials and stuff, I have done it but it’s not my thing. I don’t get enjoyment out of shooting, but I get enjoyment out of shooting vermin. If I want to shoot driven stuff I’ll shoot pigeons and crows in the summer time. I enjoy that because it’s part of it and benefits the farmers… In the summer time I will shoot crows for nearly all of August for farmers over barley fields. All year I will be shooting foxes and trapping greys and magpies too… there is a huge problem with grey crows, I don’t think there are enough fellas at it either. As soon as the season is over the guns go away”

Although it was to my surprise that James has only been involved in shooting less than ten years, he no doubt has taken to it in his stride. He has received great advice from those around him to build his own knowledge of the Sport and Gundogs. In a world revolved around social media James has stood out through fantastic photos of his dogs with their quarry against the backdrop of the Kerry landscape, along with comedic posts and well written poems he is now able to say he has 5000 friends.

A proud “MAGGIE” with the lovely Kerry landscape around her

  The Man with 5000 Friends If you are on Facebook and have an interest in hunting and Gundogs in Ireland then I have no doubt you would have come across a photo or a comment from non-other than James Flynn.

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Ruffle my Feathers ep.2 – Un-Social Media Unless you’re living under a rock, then social media at some point comes into contact with your day to day living.

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Ruffle my Feathers - Permission or Poacher!!

Ruffle my Feathers – Permission or Poacher!!

So a few years back I tried to join a local gun club that has its boundary situated 1.5 miles from my front door, as the crow flies. I spoke to two of the members and they informed me that they would nominate and second my proposal for admission as a new member at the AGM. Some time later I got a phone call from one of these men who told me that unfortunately I was unsuccessful with my…

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Passed on Through Generations

Last weekend I got out hunting for a while and had the pleasure of bringing my six year old son Danny with me. At his age all he wants is to do whatever I am doing. Depending on the job at hand, this at times can be more of a nuisance than a pleasure, but when it comes to hunting and dogs my son is obsessed and I love to see this. When it came to my own father, Danny was like a shadow with him.…

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As I open the blinds in the bedroom, after waking up to a new weeks beginning on a Monday morning, I notice the first real frost of the year has happened. Of course, there is part of me that is excited about the proper winter period starting, but unfortunately this soon passes and I am filled with a real sense of doubt. A doubt that my car will start on a morning like that!!

After throwing on the clothes and getting my two sons, Danny and Rhys out of bed, to be dropped to their child minders, before I head to work I begin the normal routine. Turn the car key to knock on the ignition and say a quick prayer. If the prayer works the ignition will come on. Wait a few seconds say another quick prayer and turn the key the rest of the way to see does the engine start.

Most days it does and runs for the day and on the days that it doesn’t, I have my trusty Halfords jump pack left on the floor in the back to come to my aid. On with the battery jump pack and after a few seconds we are ready for lift off and away we go.

However today is not like most days or the ones in between. Today I am late for work and Jack Frost has been out in force. I run through the routine again and again but not a budge from the car. My neighbours are probably confused as to why they can hear someone saying the Novena at 8am in the morning followed by the noise of the starter motor of a fifteen year old Renault Clio being murdered.

A few phone calls later that start with the words “can you do me a big favour”, and I have two kids dropped to the childminders and I am away to work. After a chat with the mechanic and weighing up my options I decide the Clio has to be put out to pasture. For the €700 owners fee, road tax mostly paid in arrears rather than paid in full, and one passed NCT over the three years of ownership, it seems it was good value to me for the little run around motor.

Now time for the decisions, what car do I get now. You see it isn’t easy bringing a wife, two kids and the dogs anywhere at the one time. On occasions it was me and the dogs in the Clio and the wife and kids in the Kia Optima (aka “the good car”). With this a major inconvenience at times, I decided to look at something to suit all needs……Leave the wife and kids at home. No, no I mean buy something to fit everyone.

So a week later phase one is done. A few pound exchanged between hands and away I am in my Volkswagen Amarok. Quite the contrast to the 1.2 litre engine of the Clio I am now keeping within the speed limit in a 2.0 litre 180BHP Pick-Up Truck and it even has a working radio. Of course, Danny thinks this is the greatest mode of transport he has ever seen and tells Ashling (aka “The Wife), that he isn’t going in her rusty old car. Now bear in mind that her “rusty old car” is in fact a year newer and 30k less miles on the clock but to a child none of that matters.

Now onto phase two, getting the dogs in on the transport. I have an idea in my head of what I want and its just a matter of putting it all together. The Amarok is an open back and I am not a fan of the canopy, so I decide to start searching for dog boxes to suit or someone that makes custom units. After some recommendations I make contact with a man in Kilkenny, from Bolton Boxes and Steel Fabrications, and describe what I am looking to have built. Out with the measuring tape, a few confusing phone calls later and all of my 1st year of secondary school technical graphics skills put to use and the order is in motion.

I’ve been kept up to date all week with text and photographs of the progress he has made. It was great seeing the unit come together from a few drawings on paper, to the steel frame and finally the finished product. It is always nice to travel in comfort and for dogs this is no different. The practicality of this dog transit box along with the shelving and cabinets is an added bonus.

  A week after making the order I am off to Co. Kilkenny where I have the custom unit fitted into the back of the Amarok. To say I am impressed is an understatement. It fits perfect for a start but also the standard of the whole piece is superb.

With the new wheels and the fantastic Dog transit box I am like a child at Christmas. Onwards and Upwards!!!

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The New Wheels As I open the blinds in the bedroom, after waking up to a new weeks beginning on a Monday morning, I notice the first real frost of the year has happened.

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The Peak of The Blackstairs

Hailing from Co. Wexford I was introduced to Christy Davitt last year, through a mutual friend and dog/hunting enthusiast, named Peter McArdle from Dundalk. I was looking to buy my first gun dog and on the advice of my late father, I agreed to buy an English Setter from Christy. I would describe Christy as a very pleasant man, never short of a few words and I have enjoyed many a conversation over…

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New little piece I wrote before the hunting season takes full flight

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Roll on the First

Roll on the First

First things first, check to see if I’m rostered to work. If I am, apply for the day off. Second thing, let on to the wife that I’m working that day. It’s a strange feeling as the summer months come to an end. The kids are getting ready to go back to school and the evenings begin to get a little longer. Most people see this as the run in toward the winter months. But the shooting community are…

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Kodi on a pheasant

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Kodi and Quinn out for the day

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Kodi on the stop whistle (distraction from Quinn)