Beaters Wages.

kevhumps

Well-Known Member
I know that no one in their right mind, does it for the money, but, just wandering what beaters and "pickers up", are being payed, up and down the country, for their contribution to the Guns day? At my grandfathers old shoot, where I've been beating for the last 42 years, we've not had a rise, for about 7 or 8 years. I've just heard that this year, we are getting an extra £5 to make it £25! Don't get me wrong, the keeper looks after ,us in other ways, but I sometimes get the feeling that we are subsidising wealthy peoples sport! If it wasn't for my mate traveling with me the 70 mile round trip (and splitting the fuel cost), I would be out of pocket! Don't even get me started on vet's bills for the dogs! I know of shoots closer to home that are paying more, but, I still love going up to the "old mans place", it's a bit like coming home!
Kev.
 
As you said,no one does it for the money.As for subsidising wealthy peoples sport,you need to look closer to home,there is a middle man that is doing nicely out of both of you,i reckon.............
 
The last place I worked we paid min wage x 7.5 hrs incl lunch, if a grouse day ran late we would pay the extra hours.
everyone else round here is paying £50 - £65 a day. Beaters , pickers up, young ones, all the same wage. Loaders are slightly different depending on guns/estates.
this price is both grouse and pheasants.
i know in Caithness, they don't pay beaters! And still charge the going rate per bird to shoot!
some places may have a keepers grouse day, all have a pheasant beaters shoot.

£25 they are having a laugh.
 
So much depends on the type of shoot it is. I've run shoots where we just couldn't afford to pay beaters, but we looked after then as well as we could and we kept the same team for years. on big commercial shoots it's a different story but £20 to £25 would be top whack down here.
 
I guess it depends on the type of shoot, local non comercial shoots around here pay £20-25 with beer and maybe food at the end of the day. No shortage of beaters at that rate. As already been said it's not done for the cash. I shoot & beat.
Big money comercial shoot may well pay more. But to pay £50-65 it must be hard work.
 
So much depends on the type of shoot it is. I've run shoots where we just couldn't afford to pay beaters, but we looked after then as well as we could and we kept the same team for years. on big commercial shoots it's a different story but £20 to £25 would be top whack down here.

sounds harsh, but if you can't afford beaters you can't afford to shoot.

stick a couple of quid a bird on the retail to guns or get an extra syndicate member to cover the cost.

in this day and age it is only fair. Folk are taking time of work to come along, ok they enjoy it. But someone is profiteering on their good will. To be honest, if you are self employed £65 comes no where near it.

when I was self employed, one estate paid me my usual hourly rate to come and load. The cost is put straight back to the customer, simple business prpractise.

as an industry, how can you be taken seriously when you pay the main workforce cash, way under min wage.
 
I guess it depends on the type of shoot, local non comercial shoots around here pay £20-25 with beer and maybe food at the end of the day. No shortage of beaters at that rate. As already been said it's not done for the cash. I shoot & beat.
Big money comercial shoot may well pay more. But to pay £50-65 it must be hard work.

not hard work, just a decent wage.

not sure what a pint costs with you but £20 doesn't go very far here.

a can of beer is not a form of currency. Most folk are driving and we are dealing with firearms. A social tin of beer or dram is fine but it's not pay.
 
not hard work, just a decent wage.

not sure what a pint costs with you but £20 doesn't go very far here.

a can of beer is not a form of currency. Most folk are driving and we are dealing with firearms. A social tin of beer or dram is fine but it's not pay.


At that kind of money (£50-65) it's more like making a living. I don't know of a beater who looks for a wage for his day in the field (check out Spiders appeal). Our days are more social most of the guns and beaters are personal freinds and as with "Old Keeper" if times were hard the beaters would still turn up. I did say beer at the end of the day when all the guns are in the slips and the bag has been counted.
 
Nobody I know goes beating for the money. They enjoy the walk, working their dogs, being part of producing a good day,the chance of a good keepers day etc What I do not agree with is pickers up being paid more than beaters. Ok it is their dogs and the skill of them working an area that should put birds in the bag but how many times after a picking up team have finished that a beater can go over the same ground with a hard hunting team of spaniels and pick more. It's all part of a team effort, beaters/flankers putting birds over guns, guns on form to kill birds and pickers up to fill the bag.
As long as I am not out of pocket it's a good day.
 
There are great discrepencies in the rates beaters are paid, some pay for dogs ,others don't , the same with food and
drink etc.Some shoots are very good but others do tend to live in the dark ages of serfdom etc.Most people go because they enjoy the day and the country etc.It would be nice to see more appreciation of their efforts though!
 
Nobody I know goes beating for the money. They enjoy the walk, working their dogs, being part of producing a good day,the chance of a good keepers day etc What I do not agree with is pickers up being paid more than beaters. Ok it is their dogs and the skill of them working an area that should put birds in the bag but how many times after a picking up team have finished that a beater can go over the same ground with a hard hunting team of spaniels and pick more. It's all part of a team effort, beaters/flankers putting birds over guns, guns on form to kill birds and pickers up to fill the bag.
As long as I am not out of pocket it's a good day.

Totaly agree, prema donas not picker ups. I'm just happy if I find my dog at the end of the day (think he smells the beer & food).
 
Nobody I know goes beating for the money. They enjoy the walk, working their dogs, being part of producing a good day,the chance of a good keepers day etc What I do not agree with is pickers up being paid more than beaters. Ok it is their dogs and the skill of them working an area that should put birds in the bag but how many times after a picking up team have finished that a beater can go over the same ground with a hard hunting team of spaniels and pick more. It's all part of a team effort, beaters/flankers putting birds over guns, guns on form to kill birds and pickers up to fill the bag.
As long as I am not out of pocket it's a good day.

Unfortunately Gazza you don't have to go very far from where you live to find dozens of beaters who do go just for the money. They don't work, or have any interest in shooting but picking up £40-£50 a day cash is a nice stash of beer money when you consider they start at the grouse and finish at the pheasants in January...

dress code can range from shell suits and trainers (I am not joking) to jeans and T-shirts in November (again I am not joking) and you will lucky to see a terrier between them. large commercial shoots cannot be fussy if they are shooting 6 days a week for most of October and November.
 
Totaly agree, prema donas not picker ups. I'm just happy if I find my dog at the end of the day (think he smells the beer & food).
that is something else that really used to **** me off. I would turn up to pick up with 3 or 4 dogs and get paid the same as a joker turning up with a 10 year old lab who's favourite trick was to 'watch the river (6' across at widest)' on every drive...

i would give up days on my syndicate for the sake of a good day working my dogs but sometimes there is a point where you have to ask yourself, ' who is being a mug here'?
 
They don't work, or have any interest in shooting ......dress code can range from shell suits and trainers (I am not joking) to jeans and T-shirts in November (again I am not joking) and you will lucky to see a terrier between them.

Yep, been there and as soon as you get a camera out to take a few pics for posterity, they all vanish! :-|
 
On a serious note we all understand what is being said in this thread but how many "shell suits" would you want on your shoot? Better the devil you know.
By the way looking for a black lab lst seen swiming up the A1, let me know if you spot him.
Thanks
Pete
 
I think a lot of people do beat for money.. Some of the lads up here are probably out 5 days a week on 2-3 Estates. Shell suits may not fit in with the country dress code but you can sure see the beaters lined out across the hillside and keep in line. On a large commercial shoot I dont think £20-£25 is enough. There is many an occasion when the beaters work through lunch so that outlying ground can be brought in or eat their sandwiches on the hoof, ready to resume when the guns re-appear from a large log fire and 3 course spread. At the end of the day it is decided to put in an extra drive and off you go again. The Tax man is wanting his cut and the shell suit brigade will disappear and so I suspect will many others - look after the beaters.
 
I've heard that so many times, "if you can't afford beaters you can't afford to shoot" As I said before it totally depends on the circumstances. The shoot I referred to was set up by the farmer on about 500 acres of not ideal land. He wanted to have a little family shoot and to entertain a few friends. I said I would do the keepering for nothing as I was then retired. We built up the shoot from virtually nothing to putting down a couple of thousand birds. We then took in a few paying guns to help with the costs. It cost the farmer about £2500 each year and myself and the beaters did our jobs for free. It was probably one of the best shoots I was ever involved with. The beaters had three days at the birds (and not all at the end of the season) all the food they could eat and a brace of birds each time out. Everyone got on and it was brilliant. I had people on a waiting list to come and beat. It's not always about money!
 
Over the years I have done beating at many shoots but with this being my first year of keepering and running commercial shoot days my appreciation of a good beating/flanking/picking up team has gone through the roof. I have a team of between 15 - 20 regular guys and girls who range from youngsters who would love a permanent job and appreciate a chance to give their lives purpose, a few who are 7 day a week beaters/loaders/pickers up who just enjoy the days working their dogs (these guys do make some cash but when you take off the expenses of getting to the shoots, feeding/vet care for dogs etc not a lot), some who actually use holidays from work to go beating. Ages range from teens to a young and fit 75 year old picker up who runs a very good team of labs. Commercial shoots only exist by hard work and putting birds over guns. If this can be achieved through guys with shell suits etc who are prepared to do a hard days graft for their beer money it is better than the well dressed people who turn up with a tribe of dogs that are not allowed to hunt in case they turn a bit wild or have to be directed onto every bird they pick. I have no space for the guy who is not prepared to walk the extra bit to turn a reasonable drive into an excellent drive. I can try and influence the wages paid by showing comparison with other places and ensuring that the boss is aware that the good drives are achieved through the hard work of beaters/flankers and hope that it does not fall on deaf ears.
If you are beating this weekend believe me that your efforts make the day and whatever the pay deal is it is probably not enough but is appreciated by whoever is running the day even if they come over as grumpy buggers.
 
Well said Gazza, beaters DO make or break shoots. Personally I couldn't have had a better team, it took a year or two to build up with a bit of weeding out, but in the end they could run the shoot days without me doing much at all.
The problem istoday, the sheer costs of running even a small shoot are becoming horrendous. Many I am sure have no idea what cash a shoot will eat up. It's not just the obvious things, birds, feed etc: but the host of odds and ends that are always needed. Many commercial shoots are finding it difficult to survive and one very large shoot I know has given its beaters the choice of pay through the season of two big days shooting as they cannot afford both any more. It's sad but a sign of the times. And to you Gazza I wish you well in your new role, knowing a bit about you i am sure you will succeed. ATB
 
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