markyboy Posted February 13, 2013 Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 I'm 30 years old and when I was at school I wanted to become a keeper on pheasant shoots but all the keepers always use to say get a trade first ! So I've been at electrician work for 13 years and I need a new challenge ! What's the best way to get involved ? College ? I've always had some sort of involvement in pheasant shoots work experience etc and know the basics of how to run a shoot but not on a large scale as such ! I just fancy somthing differant is there any advise you can give me to get the ball rolling into the world of being a game keeper ? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillmouse Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 So far this season there have been 2 single handed keepers posts advertised. There are literally dozens of full time qualified keepers who have received redundancy notices or been downsized to part-time positions. There were 6 or more shoot closure sales in the Shooting Times this week alone. I had over 80 responses to an advert for an EXPERIENCED beatkeeper in a week. If you find a way to get in then I take my hat off to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannabe_keeper Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 Hi Markyboy, It can be very hard to get into Gamekeeping as theres so many people keen on this type of work and just not enough job posts that come up. It all really depends on what it is you want exactly. If you are looking for a complete career change then it may well be very hard (not impossible) to do, as; like mentioned before there are plenty of experienced keepers for the few jobs that do come up and no offence to you but without previous of working as a keeper you would probably be overlooked. However this doesn't mean you cannot do it as a sideline. You can approach local shoots and gamekeepers to help out at weekends and around your current work commitments and this can lead to all sorts, like pigeon shooting, lamping with the keeper etc... I'm sure your electrical experience will be a good bargaining tool! Or you could go down the route of what i did which was to approach farmers/landowners to rent the shooting rights to set up your own little shoot but this will require a certain amount of basic knowledge and probably money! I wish you all the best and hope you find what your after, if you were down my way you'd be more than welcome to help on my shoot. Harry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 Wrong time of year but beating is probably the best way to get into it, it is often eps in keepering circles who u know not wot u know. If u know a few local keepers offer a hand at wknds pen building or setting up rearing fields type thing, i'm sure u'll get in somewhere but it will be more volantry type work Like others have said not easy to get ur self in to a job and plenty of good exp keepers are out of work looking for a job. On a side note i run a small diy syndicate not too far from u and are looking for guns, sort off best off both get to do a bit off keepering type work at work parties plus u get to shoot on sat's plus keep ur better paid and (hopefully) more secure job. Althou i ken things arenae great in the building trade around dumfries the now If ur interested drop me a pm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grousemoor Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 So far this season there have been 2 single handed keepers posts advertised. There are literally dozens of full time qualified keepers who have received redundancy notices or been downsized to part-time positions. There were 6 or more shoot closure sales in the Shooting Times this week alone. I had over 80 responses to an advert for an EXPERIENCED beatkeeper in a week. If you find a way to get in then I take my hat off to you. Why is this? Is it the 'recession', or the weather we had last year? It is very sad, shoots bring a lot of money into rural areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannabe_keeper Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 A variety of reasons really, shoots constantly shut down or downsize due to no longer being profitable anymore. Gamekeepers rarely move job and if they do its often within known circles and many jobs are filled internally and never advertised. Just so many people going after few jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markyboy Posted February 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 Thanks guys for your replys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomh111 Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 For colleges go to sparsholt im there at the moment doing gamekeeping and they find us a job at the end of the year...but im not going to lie at the age you are trying the find a job will be hard as most estates or shoots are looking for young keepers they can keep for a long period of time that have at least 3-6 years experiance either up on the hills down the rearing but most of these jobs come up from who you know not what you know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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