Rabbits in rough country

Every year, I head up to Cumbria to enjoy a few days of rabbit shooting. It’s a ritual I have followed during the same week of March for the past 15 years, because it’s the last opportunity before the moors and Fells are left to the myriad curlew, grouse, lapwings and oystercatchers as they head to higher ground to nest and produce young. Spring is a time of replenishment, representing an opportunity for rabbits to breed and produce quarry for the future.

“A novice dog will bounce over the top of the cover”

I get quite excited about working my dogs among the gullies, rushes, heather and bracken of the fells. It is not all about the shooting; it is about watching, handling and enjoying the dogs working in what must be spaniel heaven. I was spending a few days training gundog trainer, Fran Ardley of Tarncrag Gundogs, who has access to some stunning areas in which to work.