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Giorgio Peppas |
Sportsman
Giorgio Peppas of Athens, Greece
Giorgio Peppas lives in Athens, Greece. He is a Pharmacist
by profession and is 43 years old. Giorgio has 3 Gordon Setters
and 3 English Pointers. His passion for the last 14 years is
hunting over birds dogs. Besides his native Greece, Giorgio
also hunts in Europe including Bulgaria and Albania. He trains
his own bird dogs with an easy hand and without the use of an
electronic collar. Giorgio first introduces a young dog to pigeons
and later to wild birds (first Alectroris Graeca - Perdix-Perdix,
Quail, Woodcock and Snipe).
Greek Hunting
As early as the 3rd and 4th century lions, deer, boar and birds
hunts were observed. The goddess Artemis (goddess of the hunting)
was said to provide good fortune to hunters. Today, public hunting
is wide spread over Greece as well as on private hunting farms.
The bird hunting season begins 20th August and finishes 28th
February. Hunting is highly regulated with bird seasons, bag
limits and the used of bird dogs for harvesting of birds. For
example, some birds can only be hunts with the aid of a bird
dog. There are approximately 300,000 Greek hunters in a total
population of 11,000,000.
There are various bird dog breed clubs such as English Pointer,
Setter, Hellenique, Bretons and others. Most hunters own pointing
dogs (70 %), spaniels and dogs for tracking (29 %) and retrievers
(1 %). The pointing dogs can be divided into English Pointer-Setter
(50 %), Breton (20 %), German Pointer (15 %), Gordon and Irish
Setters (5 %), Brake (5 %) and other bird dogs (5 %). Popular
shotguns are automatics in the 12, 20 and 36 gauges with a few
favoring the over and under. Most hunters (90 %) prefer 12 gauge.
In the field these guns can only hold three shells. Other guns
considered for war, stripped, pistols and others are prohibited.
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| A divided find on woodcock. Pointers Awos Reno and Awos Roza
pointing out the hiding place of a woodcock. Note the thick
forest this woodcock inhabits. |
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| Aoos Reno, Awos Roza and a Gordon Setter work a bird during
a training session. Good bird dogs must learn to work together.
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| Gordon setter after a hard hunt for European woodcock and
ducks. Gordons are wonderful bird dogs and a favorite among
Europeans. |
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| Aoos Reno, an English Pointer, points a woodcock in the thick
forest of Greece. Depending on the weather and time of year,
these birds can be found in various mountain terrain |
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