Beaters

norma 308

Well-Known Member
We all know that without beaters driven shooting Over guns would be a very poor affair .keepers rely on them and pickers up to make the day run smoothly and efficiently and a good bunch of boys and girls are worth thier weight in gold .
so how much notice do you think is fair to expect the beaters to give the keeper of thier absence on shoot day the day before the week before ?
Norma
 
Depends on how indispensable they are, how many beaters there are and if they get paid I guess?!

I shoot on one shoot and beat on another on alternating weeks so I'm only there beating for half the Saturday shoots so clearly I'm not indispensable :lol:

Ideally a shoot should have enough beaters to afford a few no-shows and rotate jobs about so when one beater isn't there to do a critical role another can do the job!
 
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We all know that without beaters driven shooting Over guns would be a very poor affair .keepers rely on them and pickers up to make the day run smoothly and efficiently and a good bunch of boys and girls are worth thier weight in gold .
so how much notice do you think is fair to expect the beaters to give the keeper of thier absence on shoot day the day before the week before ?
Norma


As much as possible to give the keeper enough time to arrange someone else if needed. But these days some people think that they can text the keeper half an hour before the shoot commences and thats ok.
 
I text them all the sun/ mon before the sat to ask them to let me know ASAP so a working week before .
i must admit to being a little pee'd off the day or night before the shoot but hey Ive just watched a little kid on telly with cancer at 10 yrs of age now that is a problem ! I'll survive rang around and guess I'll have to eat the extra bacon butties pasties and penguins myself .
norma
 
I'm only starting off as a beater so as this is my second year don't think I'm that important to the shoot...
maybe in time
 
Every beater has a role in the day! A beater with a good dog is worth 3 beaters without. On a shoot where i beat only 3 of us have a dog and the keeper dont appreiciate what we do. Dont get a lookin at pigeons or the chance of a deer after the seson!
 
No cry off calls this am yet ! good wet night and breezy hopefully a few partridge about today all being well .
 
As Norma says good beaters are worth their weight and good beaters with a good dog even more. I usually have a team of 12 beaters and 4 picking up. Running with slightly less can be done but on one drive 12 is sometimes just not enough so if reduced to say 9 it can be very difficult. If you take on beating please understand that the keeper is reliant on you for the day. The late phone call to say I am not coming is not helpful. What really annoys me is the beater who says they are coming but then gets a better offer of say picking up from another shoot and cancels at the last minute. Believe me Beretta Man you are important. Learn the ground so when you are sent to a point you know where it is, don't just walk but think about what the drive is trying to achieve. In a big line the keeper cannot see everywhere and it is sometimes up to you to see what is happening and take some action to avoid disasters.
 
Without a good beating team you are stuffed! I had the same team for years and unless they were actually dead they would turn up. I have to say I had little time for those who thought they could come and go as they pleased, and in the past any who let me down didn't come again.
Keepering is a hard job and the shoot day is always pressure, the last thing you want is people letting you down.
I think my lot would agree they got treated as well as I possibly could, a couple of beaters shoots, but one would always be in the season not when everything was gone. Plenty of food and pigeons and fox after the season ended. And always a brace of birds. Most I would count on as friends, they were brilliant
 
Gr8 day with some inexperienced beaters the bosses family bring As well as my team I shall text them my thanks tonight even though I have already thanked them ,all got payed and there was enough partridges for everyone to take a brace home as well as the guns and we were done by 2pm shooting through .roll on next shoot as the phezys wernt flying too bad either but left till next shoot .
Going to spin some corn out in the dark going for a stalk in the am .
 
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top bloke

Gr8 day with some inexperienced beaters the bosses family bring As well as my team I shall text them my thanks tonight even though I have already thanked them ,all got payed and there was enough partridges for everyone to take a brace home as well as the guns and we were done by 2pm shooting through .roll on next shoot as the phezys wernt flying too bad either but left till next shoot .
Going to spin some corn out in the dark going for a stalk in the am .
Doug if ever there was an award for enthusiasm towards there job you would get my vote keep up the good work. Trevor
 
Cheers Trev the birds must have thought I was nuts spinning in the dark but they have corn on the rides now for the am and I can concentrate on the job in hand on the estate :lol:
 
Been in contact with the National Organisation of beaters this last week and have been pleasantly Suprised how many folk are looking for beating in our area .ive managed to source a few new beaters and hopefully they will fit in well with what we do here .i suggest if any shoot needs a beater or two to give them a call ASAP
norma
 
The shoot I am in have found some good beaters via NOBS as well :thumb:

Been in contact with the National Organisation of beaters this last week and have been pleasantly Suprised how many folk are looking for beating in our area .ive managed to source a few new beaters and hopefully they will fit in well with what we do here .i suggest if any shoot needs a beater or two to give them a call ASAP
norma
 
Been in contact with the National Organisation of beaters this last week and have been pleasantly Suprised how many folk are looking for beating in our area .ive managed to source a few new beaters and hopefully they will fit in well with what we do here .i suggest if any shoot needs a beater or two to give them a call ASAP
norma

Im looking for a few more beaters for this season, so will try there. Thanks hopefully there are people in the area looking for beating.

stacey
 
Gr8 day with some inexperienced beaters the bosses family bring As well as my team I shall text them my thanks tonight even though I have already thanked them ,all got payed and there was enough partridges for everyone to take a brace home as well as the guns and we were done by 2pm shooting through .roll on next shoot as the phezys wernt flying too bad either but left till next shoot .
Going to spin some corn out in the dark going for a stalk in the am .

I wish all shoots were like yours, I work 3 good reliable spaniels and as such get to cover the roughest parts of the shoot and walking more miles than most to dog out this or that little spinney. I along with the other beaters get to hang around for 1.5 to 2 hours while the nobs have 3 course lunch. We then get to carry on until the birds go to roost. I think it is so that the guns have had a full day from us for the £20 and brace of birds. Looking for another local shoot i think!
 
I wish all shoots were like yours, I work 3 good reliable spaniels and as such get to cover the roughest parts of the shoot and walking more miles than most to dog out this or that little spinney. I along with the other beaters get to hang around for 1.5 to 2 hours while the nobs have 3 course lunch. We then get to carry on until the birds go to roost. I think it is so that the guns have had a full day from us for the £20 and brace of birds. Looking for another local shoot i think!

I am looking for 2 beaters with dogs 1st November and 29th November.Small formal woodland family shoot,near Silverstone.
Lunch provided with the guns outside.£25 towards expenses +birds if they can hit them!!! Wildfowler 1.
 
I'm only starting off as a beater so as this is my second year don't think I'm that important to the shoot...
maybe in time
without you and a few others there would be very poor shooting.
on the shoot day you are more important than you think thats why you get a few quid and a brace of birds.
 
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