BORCH'S FALCONRY - english
I had been invited by a friend to join him for a day's snipe hawking with his Merlins (F. columbarius) in the bogs of Ireland. I accepted the invite without a thought as to what a mammoth expedition it was to be!
I left home this am at 0300 to catch the ferry, arriving in Ireland round about 0900, we then drove for another two hours to meet Liam at the hawking ground. Anyway, not to be deterred and a goodly slug of Irish Whiskey (no brand names here) we set off. Liam had very kindly lent me 'a bird for the day', a beautiful 5 yo male whom he'd hand reared and was only his second merlin. Now, as y'all know Merlin don't fly well 'out of the hood' so we unhooded the birds and let them 'settle'. By the way, Liam was flying a cast, brother and sister , something that puts me in awe of the man!
Now you have to remember, this is Ireland... Liam flies his birds over dogs, no problem you say... Wait 'till you see the dogs! One Irish setter (no problem), one English pointer (mine. Still no problem)... Wait for it... one Jack Russel Terrier and one miniature Dachshund!
When I asked about the JRT and the Dachs. Liam just calmly replied, "they're for the flush" and on we went... The first point/set/flush was to be mine and liam flies his birds in the 'waiting on' style, so I felt quite comfortable except for 'The Flush'... We did not have far to go before Liam's dog set a bird and my pointer backed it. The JRT/DX combination were surprisingly still at Liam's heel. (Apparently they are called Sit and Down because Liam figured that as he was always telling them to do so, why should he confuse the dogs with other words... It didn't work.)
I cast off the little male and he flew out in a big cirlcle around the set and when he got to about 150ft over the dogs, Liam yelled SIT, which Down did and the terrier ran in and flushed the snipe!!! (Are you still with me?)
Well, Merlins are tenacious little creatures and snipe are hard to catch, jinking here and there... What a tail chase, but the snipe was wise and suddenly dived for cover in a reed bed. Loosing sight of his target the little Merlin threw up to about 75ft as Liam yelled DOWN, at which the terrier did and the Dachs hurtled off across the bog and into the reed bed... Now no self respecting snipe is going to keep company with a 'fired up and ready to go' miniature Dachshund, so out pops the snipe again, this time with the Merlin right over him... Wallop... End of snipe!!!
Now then, Merlins are notorious 'carriers' and as I make in on the bird Liam calls to me and produces from his receiver case (he ALWAYS uses telemetry)... a three piece carbon fibre fishing rod with a big hook on the tip. "Here", he says. "You might need this." We are in Ireland, but I remember what Lascelles wrote, and hastily taking the rod, make in on the Merlin with extreme caution, using the hook to pin down the snipe (not the Merlin!). As they say 'A bird in the hand...' and so on...
The next set/point/"Flush" was to be Liam's so I let 'my' little fella eat a part of the snipe on the glove and then hooded him.
Snipe aren't as plentiful in this part of Ireland (Probably because Liam has 'thinned them out' over the years), and it was half an hour before we came to the next point. (I'm happy to say that... it was MY pointer that found it.) Liam readied his cast... Off they go, flying along together for a few minutes before splitting up and climbing to about 200 ft over the dog. At this height a Merlin is damn near 'specked out'!
Once again Liam yells "SIT" which Down did and again the terrier runs in to flush the bird, only this time there are two... The Merlins come in together at the same snipe, then the male spots the second one and decides to give that a go. The female clobbers her target good and proper, whilst the male is giving his all in pursuit of the other. This is big brother snipe. He's not diving for cover like a wimp. He's gonna outfly this poxy little Merlin... He thinks...
"Follow them", cries Liam as he makes in on his female, "don't try to pick him up WHEN he catches it, I'll catch up"... Off I go splashing through this Irish Bog in pursuit of a Merlin, in pursuit of "Breakfast"... Nearly a mile on the Merlin still won't give up and the 'Wise old Snipe' decides to give it best and dives for cover in some forestry plantings. S**T! Then I notice, as the little male casts himself up over the trees, that I have company. Down the Dachshund. Trying to remember Liam's commands, I yell "SIT", which it immediately does... Then remembering I yell "DOWN", at which it lies down. Frustrating or what?
Glancing over my shoulder I see Liam puffing along towards me (He's not as fit as he used to be), and the little Merlin is raking back and forth over the plantings. Liam approaches with "What the devil are you waiting for? Flush the bl***y bird!" At the sound of Liam's voice Down 'ups' and shoots off into the trees, 'flushing' the snipe right under the Merlin, and... Yes! He got it... What fun!!
Sadly, with an hour's walk back to the car and a two hour drive to catch the ferry that was all we had time for.... BUT WORTH IT!!!
© 1996 Jeremy Masters All rights reserved
BORCH'S FALCONRY - english