Drop of the hard stuff

Being drunk in charge of a dog isn’t against the law but drinking too much while on a shoot is not good practice, warns David Tomlinson

BOOZE: THERE ARE few gundog-related topics that I haven’t touched on over the years but one that I have never mentioned is that of drinking on shooting days. As far as I am aware there is no law against being drunk in charge of a dog — unlike a horse, cow, sheep, pig, bicycle or steam engine — but it is clearly not good practice.

I was told about a female pickerup who was plied with drinks by the Guns and fell over drunk. A fellow picker-up, unaware that she had been drinking, thought that she must have had a fit or a heart attack as she didn’t move after hitting the ground. What her dogs thought isn’t recorded.

She wasn’t in a fit state to drive herself home, so a recruit had to be found to do so, plus someone to drive his car, which was all rather irritating for those involved. I mentioned this story to a friend, who told me of a shoot he had been on this season where the gamekeeper drunk too much during the day. He also fell over, intoxicated, breaking his glasses and causing general embarrassment.

I was a member of a small syndicate for many years where not a drop of the hard stuff was ever touched on a shooting day, with the one exception of the Boxing

Day shoot. It wasn’t that we were an abstemious bunch, it just never occurred to us to stop for anything more than a coffee, while lunch was sandwiches eaten in a crumbling old barn. The shoot’s terrain was challenging enough when sober, so the last thing you needed was alcohol. I used to get incredibly sleepy on the 40-minute drive home — a case of fresh air and exercise — and a drink would have made matters worse.

Stirrup cup

In recent years I’ve been on many shoots where a sausage roll and a glass or two of port or sloe gin after the second or third drive is the norm, not the exception. It is something

I look forward to. It is invariably a social occasion and gives me the chance to admire everyone’s dogs. A small stirrup cup of port is just right, but a beaker full of the stuff is too much.

I’ve been on rather too many shoots where the Guns stop for a drink after each drive. The worst ever was a syndicate of ex-rugby players who displayed an amazing ability to drink and still shoot accurately and — on the day I joined them — safely. We all know that with drinking and driving the former impairs your ability to do the latter, and the same is true of shooting.

“Most dogs would rather drink from a muddy puddle, but a thirsty dog might lap up some beer or wine”

We wouldn’t drink and drive, so why do some people think it is fine to drink and shoot?