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Wild fowling on the wash


Old farrier
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Old farrier just take your usual wet and cold weather gear with you a good comfy back pack flask of hot beverage and pray the the going is easy.

 

We do about a half mile walking round our marsh and the going is tough with the cattle on it, it's chewed up to bits and your thigh deep in the mud with water waist high crossing the creeks and stells very hard work getting your feet out the gloop. Sweating your balls of is the norm, wader chafe ain't fun. Let the younger ones take the long walk.

 

Hope you have a great time.

 

 

Figgy

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Hi OF. My advice would go with a open mind and enjoy the experience of being on the marsh watching the sun rise and tide creep in.

Last year I was one of the lucky chaps that picked up the day wildfowling with ayano3. Graham is a great chap and explained what the marsh is all about. Sadly I didn't pull the trigger on my visit but the whole experience made the trip worthwhile.

The breakfast is great and after the evening flight Graham and his wife Carol took us out for a meal and then into town for some drinking.

 

I'm sure you will have a great time and make a good friend in Graham and his family as the good lady and I have

 

All the best

Mark.

 

P.s. With the mud I brought back with me, I grew half a sack of spuds :lol:

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  • 1 month later...

Well as arranged we dragged OF and his mate (John) out onto the marsh Saturday morning.

 

Met up as arranged in the car park at 04:45, made our introductions before kitting up and heading for the marsh. After walking some distance along the sea wall we split into 2 groups John accompanied by Tony G and my brother carrying on with OF and myself heading for one of the closer creeks.

 

OF and myself did not have a very productive flight as nothing came our way whatsoever, we did hear numerous shots from further along the marsh as the Geese came in. On the bright side we were treated to a display of Pink Feet as several hundred flew high and/or wide of us during the morning.

 

OF enjoyed the sights and sounds of the marsh with the movement of the bird and seal populations as the tide changed. The big sky and openness of the Wash as the light grew was an something he had never previously experienced.

 

 

Unfortunately time passed all too quickly and soon it was time to return to the sea wall and meet up with the other half of the party. Smiles all around from John who was carrying a Pink that he had brought down during the early morning (as Tony G was with John he will have to report on what happened).

 

As is the tradition now we all retired to the local cafe and enjoyed a well earned "Full English".

 

It was nice to meet up with OF and John and I trust they will enjoy the rest of their weekend in the company of AYANO3 and BIG MAT.

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Well as arranged we dragged OF and his mate (John) out onto the marsh Saturday morning.

 

Met up as arranged in the car park at 04:45, made our introductions before kitting up and heading for the marsh. After walking some distance along the sea wall we split into 2 groups John accompanied by Tony G and my brother carrying on with OF and myself heading for one of the closer creeks.

 

OF and myself did not have a very productive flight as nothing came our way whatsoever, we did hear numerous shots from further along the marsh as the Geese came in. On the bright side we were treated to a display of Pink Feet as several hundred flew high and/or wide of us during the morning.

 

OF enjoyed the sights and sounds of the marsh with the movement of the bird and seal populations as the tide changed. The big sky and openness of the Wash as the light grew was an something he had never previously experienced.

 

 

Unfortunately time passed all too quickly and soon it was time to return to the sea wall and meet up with the other half of the party. Smiles all around from John who was carrying a Pink that he had brought down during the early morning (as Tony G was with John he will have to report on what happened).

 

As is the tradition now we all retired to the local cafe and enjoyed a well earned "Full English".

 

It was nice to meet up with OF and John and I trust they will enjoy the rest of their weekend in the company of AYANO3 and BIG MAT.

 

Had him at the crown shoot a few weeks back , hell of a nice bloke that enjoys his surroundings as much as he does his shooting :yes::good:

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Well it was my turn to take out OF and his friend John today. This all started back in the summer when he was one of the winners in the Charity Raffle. I contacted OF regarding the trip and he was quite flexible with dates and left it to me to choose when I thought would be a good time to come. He also asked if it would be at all possible if his long time friend John could join his as he had always wanted to shoot The Wash.

I chose the dates but unfortunately I had no idea I was going to be asked to run the beating team on a shoot I had beat and picked up on, so I had a word with Oxfordfowler and Big Matt if they would step in and cover for me. See above. Thanks for helping me out guys.

 

Well back to today. The alarm didn't go off, I was already up at 04:00am before it woke the whole house. I had arranged to meet the guys at the hotel they were staying in at 4;45am for to 20 minute trip to the marsh. I looked out of the window and it was /////////// it down. The wind had got up a bit and gone into the north. I met my shooting buddy Jim who had planned to meet us for the morning flight. All the introductions were done and off we went. The hardest part of the trip was surely ascending the wet slippery slope to get on the sea wall. We had a good chat as we walked along the sea wall to Lawyers Creek, there is another story to tell here but I wont on here as it could come under the category of old wildfowling values and not having any consideration for others!

 

On that note we decided to walk a bit further along and I took OF with me to the chosen spot and the two J's picked a spot a bit further away. The tide had already made more than its predicted height by now and was still flowing, I estimate it made an extra 0.8m. We was not sat long before the first Pinks were heard out on the water, soon to be followed by the first shot, unfortunately not by any of my party. After OF had drank half of my coffee the first geese come near where we were but not in range. I must say OF is quite good at judging range but he did ask for confirmation on my thoughts. We let the skein pass by as the were not really in range. The next skein come off closer and OF took his first shot of the day but missed. He opened the debate about size and speed etc. The conclusion was he missed behind. That turned out to be the only shot fired by us on the morning flight (OF, I would have had it :yahoo: ).

 

The next bit is the most important bit...BREAKFAST. :good:

 

We regrouped this afternoon for what would be OF's last chance of a Wash Pink on this trip. Three flights and not a thing, even thought that is nothing new with wildfowling. OF was there mainly for the whole experience and I am sure he had enjoyed it so far. Again I adopted OF for the evening flight as my mission was to get the guy under some geese. I thought about his trade as a farrier so we went to the first horseshoe. It turned out to be a lucky horseshoe, I was successful again. This time the first skein come off quite high and wide of us and made the sand banks to safety. But soon after I spotted another skein that was heading our way. It was a while before OF see them as he is used to looking for is quarry at shorter distances than me but he found them. I alerted him to pick up his gun and I give the skein a call of two to try to pull them our way a bit, not sure if it worked but they were heading towards us. I watched them and though the chance was lost as they were heading slightly one side of us as they got closer. But as they got closer I could see one Pink had come off the skein and thought here is his chance. I made OF aware of the lone one in range and as it gave OF his possible one chance he pulled onto the majestic bird and down it came. The bird was not just dead it was dead dead.

 

This is where I may have been hasty but instead of allowing OF to untether his young cocker I directed my fox red lab Rhia to get over the creek and go back to where the bird had dropped. Soon she was on her way back with a Pink that was a bit muddy as it had fallen in one of the small muddy creeks. I possibly should have waited for OF to sort his dog out but I didn't want to lose his first bird in the darkness.

 

The shot was a good one. If my friend Barrold from PW was to describe it, the goose would have been 102 yards up and would have dropped 250 yards away across 5 creeks all full of seals and he would have beat the dog to pick it. But before the forum snipers remind me its wrong to knock them down at that height, it was a very good 35 yard shot that killed instantly. Now this is when OF realised he had shot his first goose on the marsh. The look on his face said it all. He wasn't long before he let every contact on his phone know he had shot his first goose.

 

I am sure OF will give you his version so I wont bore you with anything else, I will just add that it was a pleasure to meet both OF and John and if asked to take them again I definitely would. To see and to be with OF when he got his goose was almost like shooting my first Pink many years ago.

 

OF and John. Have a safe journey home and if you ever get dried out and want to come again you are more than welcome.

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A good read Graham , and great that both OF and John went home with a pink each .

Just one question , how come you never ******** put me on them :lol:

 

OF was telling Carl the reason tonight, you don't pay him enough :yahoo:

 

I am no writer mate but I just strung a few bits together as it was...well I could have added a few bits but there is enough there to read without falling asleep.

Edited by ayano3
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