I invited Rustic over with Williamswick Cavalier AKA Ozzy and John With Williamswick Casket AKA cassie they are litter mates.
John is my regular ferreting and lamping partner and cassie has been lamping half a dozen times before and is starting to catch well on a regular basis.
Now Rustics dog Ozzy has only been lapming a couple of times but has upto tonight never chased a rabbit in the lamp due to lack of rabbits over on his permission.
I didn't have Vixen with me tonight as she is injured at the moment. So i was running Ozzy hoping to find a couple of nice squatters for him to run. We wern't to be dissapointed as the first rabbit squattered allowing us to get within 20 feet of it before deciding to make a break for freedom. Ozzy spotted it straight away and i slipped him he ran it just 25 yards before striking and picking it up like a pro. I was as delighted as Russell was with ozzy's first run on the lamp. You couldn't have asked for more...
The next field we spotted a rabbit squatted about 70yds out, john slipped cassie and she was soon on it, the rabbit lifted and ran for home. This rabbit knew the score, cassie managed to turn it but it made it through the hedge to freedom..
The same field a little further on, i spotted another squatting rabbit just 30 yds out form the hedge, i thought ozzy had spotted it and i slipped him. Unfortunately he hadn't seen it and it ran for home unhindered. This was totally my fault, i'm so used to running Vixen and her following the beam of the lamp, i'd totally forgot that it was ozzy's first time out actually running rabbits in the lamp.
The next field was rough plough and yet another squatter was spotted just 30 yds out from the hedge. John slipped cassie as the rabbit lifted and after just 10 yds she struck well and caught the rabbit going head over heals in the process. I quickly checked her over and we were on to the next field.
I flicked the lamp on and there were rabbits hot tailing it back to there burrows then in the distance were the telltail eyes of charlie. I put the red filter on and gave it a couple of sqeeks, behind him was another charlie!!!. The first one responded to my squeeks and came trotting down the beam. I switched the lmap off as i didnt have my gun with me and i didn't want them getting spooked. I'll get them another night when im more prepared and when i've my gun with me.
The next couple of field drew a blank no rabbits to be seen, it wasn't the best of nights, no wind and the dew was heavy.
We walked a little further and found a nice big rabbit for cassie to run, she gave a very good account of herself but it made it to the hedgerow. The next run was Ozzy's again another squatter this time i made sure he had seen it before i slipped him. He ran this rabbit really well and did everything bar catch it. The rabbit was running away from the lamp which alwayd makes it difficult for an inexperienced dog to catch as there are alot of shadows form the dog etc. he was really unlucky not to catch this rabbit.
On the way back to the car in the very last field we spotted a rabbit 80yds out, john started to walk upto it with cassie and it lifted 50yds from him, he slipped cassie and she chased it towards the hedge, she did a remarkable job cutting it off from the hedge and after a few turns she made an amazing catch. I'll give her 10/10 for this catch it was by far the best catch of the night and the best catch that i've seen her make. We called it a night after this catch.
It was a shame about not seeing many rabbits out but the ones that we did see were good sport for the inexperienced dogs. It was a real pleasure to see these dogs work and i have no doubt that both will make very good lamping dogs with a few more outings.
It was also a good laugh especally when Russell put his foot down a rabbit hole and fell flat on his face in a patch of nettles
i hope you wern't that sore this morning mate lol.
I'm already looking forward to going out with these two dogs again in the future. Thanks for a great evening i really enjoyed helping out to get the dogs catching.
williamswick casket (Cassie) on the left and williamswick cavalier (ozzy)
John is my regular ferreting and lamping partner and cassie has been lamping half a dozen times before and is starting to catch well on a regular basis.
Now Rustics dog Ozzy has only been lapming a couple of times but has upto tonight never chased a rabbit in the lamp due to lack of rabbits over on his permission.
I didn't have Vixen with me tonight as she is injured at the moment. So i was running Ozzy hoping to find a couple of nice squatters for him to run. We wern't to be dissapointed as the first rabbit squattered allowing us to get within 20 feet of it before deciding to make a break for freedom. Ozzy spotted it straight away and i slipped him he ran it just 25 yards before striking and picking it up like a pro. I was as delighted as Russell was with ozzy's first run on the lamp. You couldn't have asked for more...
The next field we spotted a rabbit squatted about 70yds out, john slipped cassie and she was soon on it, the rabbit lifted and ran for home. This rabbit knew the score, cassie managed to turn it but it made it through the hedge to freedom..
The same field a little further on, i spotted another squatting rabbit just 30 yds out form the hedge, i thought ozzy had spotted it and i slipped him. Unfortunately he hadn't seen it and it ran for home unhindered. This was totally my fault, i'm so used to running Vixen and her following the beam of the lamp, i'd totally forgot that it was ozzy's first time out actually running rabbits in the lamp.
The next field was rough plough and yet another squatter was spotted just 30 yds out from the hedge. John slipped cassie as the rabbit lifted and after just 10 yds she struck well and caught the rabbit going head over heals in the process. I quickly checked her over and we were on to the next field.
I flicked the lamp on and there were rabbits hot tailing it back to there burrows then in the distance were the telltail eyes of charlie. I put the red filter on and gave it a couple of sqeeks, behind him was another charlie!!!. The first one responded to my squeeks and came trotting down the beam. I switched the lmap off as i didnt have my gun with me and i didn't want them getting spooked. I'll get them another night when im more prepared and when i've my gun with me.
The next couple of field drew a blank no rabbits to be seen, it wasn't the best of nights, no wind and the dew was heavy.
We walked a little further and found a nice big rabbit for cassie to run, she gave a very good account of herself but it made it to the hedgerow. The next run was Ozzy's again another squatter this time i made sure he had seen it before i slipped him. He ran this rabbit really well and did everything bar catch it. The rabbit was running away from the lamp which alwayd makes it difficult for an inexperienced dog to catch as there are alot of shadows form the dog etc. he was really unlucky not to catch this rabbit.
On the way back to the car in the very last field we spotted a rabbit 80yds out, john started to walk upto it with cassie and it lifted 50yds from him, he slipped cassie and she chased it towards the hedge, she did a remarkable job cutting it off from the hedge and after a few turns she made an amazing catch. I'll give her 10/10 for this catch it was by far the best catch of the night and the best catch that i've seen her make. We called it a night after this catch.
It was a shame about not seeing many rabbits out but the ones that we did see were good sport for the inexperienced dogs. It was a real pleasure to see these dogs work and i have no doubt that both will make very good lamping dogs with a few more outings.
It was also a good laugh especally when Russell put his foot down a rabbit hole and fell flat on his face in a patch of nettles
i hope you wern't that sore this morning mate lol.I'm already looking forward to going out with these two dogs again in the future. Thanks for a great evening i really enjoyed helping out to get the dogs catching.
williamswick casket (Cassie) on the left and williamswick cavalier (ozzy)
