scolopax

Shot my first duck, a mallard, on a stubble just over thirty years ago. And thinking about not shot another duck on stubble since! They just do not seem to do it like they used to, or at least we do not have the numbers of wild mallard like we used to.

The wealthy can shoot TSS and kill much better and much further than they ever would with lead.

We have ten or fifteen million too many people in this country, we live way beyond our means and throw most of the nations wealth at the financial black hole that is the NHS and /also at the many millions of OAP’s in way of pensions and NHS / care costs. I have no answers, who does? Maybe State Pension age needs to be 70 soon if not more and there needs to be a flat fee for GP’s visits, A&E visits and hospital stays, nothing like cost but something similar to prescription charges? Cannot ever see this happening of course, political suicide, the electorate generally react badly to being told the truth and fully expect the government to shove any of these type of problems into long grass to be dealt with by generations to come.

Happy Birthday! Looks a lovely place to celebrate.

There is almost zero food for grey partridge chicks in the average field of wheat, barley or rape. That is why numbers have crashed. Lack of insects for chick food due to sterile arable mono cultures. But also remember grey partridge have evolved to withstand high predation rates, that is why they have such large broods, you can have six pairs on a farm and lose five pairs to foxes and sparrow hawks, but if the sixth pair brings off a decent lot then you will still have a stable population. Conversely remove predators and provide the right habitat numbers can build up very quickly over a few years if the weather is kind.

1.25% on National Insurance increase it is then. Total life cap of £ 86,000.

Managed to get the last few firsts in, including a sneaky flight whilst away on a family holiday a year ago today. But this year I will have to wait a week due to work before I can get out on t(e marsh.

I have never released ducks, plenty of pheasants and partridge yes, but I have heard that occasionally mallard growers can just up and walk off en masse, to be found on a drain or lake sometimes a good distance away. Normally a predator leaves behind some evidence of its visits

And? He left political office as a relatively young man, our politicians are paid pitifully, he should be free to earn a living to the best of his abilities so long as it is legal, or should there be some form of salary cap just because he was a politician?

I am thinking of travelling down to the Sandringham Game Fair next month. Is it one of the better ones?

Nice garden tick. And I was pleased with a red legged partridge last year lol

not too sure about that? Farm tenancies are normally very secure and some tenants take great pleasure in figuratively sticking two fingers up to the actual landowner at each and every opportunity. very difficult to run a successful shoot without the buy in of whoever is farming the land. A hostile / awkward farmer can make a shoot unviable.

Great post, really interesting picture. I tend to with Pine marten, it is very mink like but the hind legs look too long. But we all know how misleading a snap image can be. it’s a Buzzard! For those with long memories.

most memorable was quiate a few years ago, roost shooting and I was in a big wood with several other guns. It was windy and there were lots of pigeon moving. I had a dozen or so down when I shot a crosser going right to left. I also killed with the same shot another pigeon 30 yards behind that, but going left to right. As for doubles, several times with various wildfowl species on the foreshore, everything from teal to greylags. Happened a few times on partridge, especially with wild greys when we had them in decent numbers, cannot recall ever doing it on pheasants though

Not rewilding though is it?