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Shooting under the moon ?


marsh man
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Have you thought about bismuth loads? Ok, expensive per box,(c.£25-30) but it's unlikely you'll fire many shots and they will allow you to get out with the gun you have.

 

Hi Marsh Man,

I'm not a fowler yet, alas this season looks to be possible of a flight watching it done, but I haven't the gun for the job yet (not steel proofed) and can't afford a nice shiny new one until next year now :-(. However I am hopeful to see it done first hand this coming season.
Shooting my first goose and shooting under the moon both are ambitions of mine I one day would hope to realise, and I'm still fairly young (25).

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Have you thought about bismuth loads? Ok, expensive per box,(c.£25-30) but it's unlikely you'll fire many shots and they will allow you to get out with the gun you have.

 

Perhaps would be a good idea - You are right, not going to send off many shots per outing (and even if i was to then It would be worth it!).

 

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Hi Marsh Man,

 

I'm not a fowler yet, alas this season looks to be possible of a flight watching it done, but I haven't the gun for the job yet (not steel proofed) and can't afford a nice shiny new one until next year now :-(. However I am hopeful to see it done first hand this coming season.

Shooting my first goose and shooting under the moon both are ambitions of mine I one day would hope to realise, and I'm still fairly young (25).

Mentalmac.... Some people wont agree but to get a goose round our way now is not as hard as it once was , on a good year there can be up to 15,000 and I think last year we had around 10,000,living locally and having the time are the two main ingredients for success and of course knowing where they are during the day. For mornings a strong wind from the north is best and for the evening flight the reverse in fact stronger the better. As for getting one under the moon that is more difficult because once they are on the reserve they are normally there all night, but it come back to the same old story the more you go the more chance you will get. You could get one the first time you go or you could go a lifetime and never get one. My first goose was a single White Front, I then went on and got r + l at all the shootable geese over the years although it took 45 years before I got a r + l at White Fronts so at 25 you have got time on your side, and like Penelope said to begin with buy some cartridges to suit your gun rather than buying a new gun to suit the cartridges. Good luck and I hope it work out alright for you.
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Used to plenty of moon flight and like most others I have had very little reward bag wish. But on those rare occasions when it all comes together its unforgettable. In over 20 years of wildfowling on only 2 occasion did it all come together. Once local when the greylags flighted off the shore straight over me and I was fortunate enough to be in the right place and bagged 4 then just lay on my back and savoured the rest of the flight and atmosphere of total solitude and satisfaction, and again on a trip to Scotland where on our last flight we got the line right and bagged our first ever moon pinks, I can picture those flights in my mind like they were yesterday.

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I shot my first pinks under the moon a few years ago. I then shot another the next night. I have been out under the moon a few times since, but not been lucky enough to shoot another.

I would imagine where you are you would need a lot of local knowledge , I have been to have a look around the Wash a couple of times and the area I looked at around the East Lighthouse was vast but if I had lived fairly local I would have loved the remoteness and the size of the place. You done well to do it two nights running and I am sure you will remember it for many years to come.

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I would imagine where you are you would need a lot of local knowledge , I have been to have a look around the Wash a couple of times and the area I looked at around the East Lighthouse was vast but if I had lived fairly local I would have loved the remoteness and the size of the place. You done well to do it two nights running and I am sure you will remember it for many years to come.

I tend to 'do' more morning flights and I have been quite successful in getting into the right spots. Pinks tend to be a lot more predictable in the mornings.

There are many 'fowlers in the area who shoot quite a few pinks under the moon.

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Hard to explain by text/type but moon flighting Pinks is art in its self Takes a lot of hard work effort and understanding the way of Pinkfeet and the effect the moon has on them IMHO

I know what your saying" stalkerboydy" it the same as most of the quarry we go after, understanding there way of life and to do that takes time, a lot of time in fact, once you know ( or think you know )you then have a slight advantage over what you are going after. I shoot several Widgeon over our flooded marshes and some will shoot better in different wind conditions than others same with the tides, if the tide is low the duck are sitting on the flats further down the river so I then go on my bottom marshes and if the tide is making up I then go on my top ones it don't always work but that's the same as everything, but at least you are thinking like the duck and that's the way " stalkerboydy " goes about his moonlight shooting , thinking what he would do if he was the Goose.
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100% correct Marsh Man.try and think like your quarry. Lower higher tides slight degree change in the wind or temperature moon rising later cloud conditions all can make a vast difference from one night to another also with Geese they will often feed on different fields to what the feed/fed on during the day oh and to less experienced moon shooter adapting to see importantly identifying your quarry then shooting straight. Marsh Man if you fancy a cracking this season at a North Norfolk/Lincolnshire Pink under the moon I'll sort it for you. No guarantee apart from my 100% effort to give you a chance oh and plenty of fowling chat

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Undoubtedly the best Wildfowling experience there is and I love getting out under the moon but now never bother until November as the days are just too long before.

 

Sadly our club has lost some of the areas best to shoot under the moon but I had a cracker last year taking a couple of wigeon and 4 pinks before calling it a night. I had a constant stream of Pinks coming off the reserve to go to feed and back.

 

On my last moon flight I shot 1 cock wigeon and 1 pink but it's never about the bag size under the moon, it's about the wildness of it all. No other fowlers were out on either night and it was magical. Most fowlers don't bother with the moon and most people probably don't even realise birds fly at night. Good to share the experience if you can though.

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100% correct Marsh Man.try and think like your quarry. Lower higher tides slight degree change in the wind or temperature moon rising later cloud conditions all can make a vast difference from one night to another also with Geese they will often feed on different fields to what the feed/fed on during the day oh and to less experienced moon shooter adapting to see importantly identifying your quarry then shooting straight. Marsh Man if you fancy a cracking this season at a North Norfolk/Lincolnshire Pink under the moon I'll sort it for you. No guarantee apart from my 100% effort to give you a chance oh and plenty of fowling chat

Thanks for the brilliant offer stalkeboydy just the chat and being there would be my ideal night, if a few geese showed up, well that would be a bonus. If my old body is up for it I will get in touch , but thanks again for a kind and thoughtful offer. One advantage with forums like this is there are always a lot of nice people on the other end who are willing to give there time and help to the young and less experience people than them selves , we often pull each others leg but no offence is meant, and I am sure we all get enjoyment reading about other peoples areas and the times they spend fowling. Some of the old boys who I knew in the 60s were less willing to pass on what they knew about wild fowling until you proved you had what it takes to become a fowler and then once you had pierced there armour they were the nicest people you could wish to meet and hearing about some of there tales over a few pints of beer were nights to be savoured . So I would like to wish you all a safe and the sort of season you dream of .
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Will be my pleasure Marsh Man just put on here you have sent me a PM and I'll give you contact details. As a distant 11 year old my Father and Kenzie started my obsession for Geese especially chasing them under the moon

And yes most Old Timers when I started gave away NOTHING I learnt by skipping school then work and getting out there

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I had my first moon flight about four years ago and to be honest will never forget it

For the guys who know me it was north Frampton Marsh at the lodge

Tucked into a bramble bush with plenty of water about I had wigeon pintail and greylags all flying around with the moon reflecting brightly across the splash

With the roar of the Severn as it came rushing in behind me .....yep a lovely experience and I even managed to bag a couple of wigeon

That's what I love about wildfowling every trip out is a memory which you just don't forget

Can't wait to get the 2014 season kicked off

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The first time I ever went real wildfowling was under the moon, shooting pinks as a guest on wells marsh. It was unreal, I had 5, eventually, after missing the 1st 10! Could hear them lift off from the front, but never saw them until straight over head, we then did a mad dash up the coast and had a morning flight at Gedney.

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That's some induction.

 

The first time I ever went real wildfowling was under the moon, shooting pinks as a guest on wells marsh. It was unreal, I had 5, eventually, after missing the 1st 10! Could hear them lift off from the front, but never saw them until straight over head, we then did a mad dash up the coast and had a morning flight at Gedney.

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