ditchman
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Posts posted by ditchman
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I have 3 sprockers, 2 bitches, 1 dog, the dog had his nuts off and it didnt make any difference to his temperant, one thing i will say is dont train the spaniels in short grass ! they get board and start to range out too far and hunt by eye, then they get "skylark" fever, keep them in cover or long grass for retreiving training.
Spaniels were developed for putting up birds for hawking in Spain hence the name a derevation of "espaniol" so if trained in large fields with short grass they will revert to type !
I swear at them constantly but will never be without sprockers in my kennells
ditchman
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Keeping an eye on my local permissions at the moment, not a lot of action, where have the pigeons gone?
I live in central Scotland, there is a lack of oil seed rape fields around my area.
What's the next crop to look out for, seeding for barley?
Down here near Norwich, at the beginning of the week the birds were everywhere, but in the last couple of days they have all dissapeared, took a 20 mile drive out to the coast this morning to diliver something with my mate and we took the country lanes......nothing !!!!
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I'm going on one of my rape fields i think, went down last night and built my hide in the trees :yp: along the edge of the field where the little beeep's have been feeding, so fingers crossed i might bag a few.
they are still fussing about under oak trees at the moment, so im putting my hide up on the hedgeline depending what the wind is like,,,,,,,
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Play around with your patterrn and see what happens on the day, there's now right and wrong way, if pigeons are coming in then turning away try moving the pattern or taking in your decks. It's just trail and error.
Having them in a house shoe has usually worked for me, facing in to the wind.
With philmypower on this one, tweeking the deek pattern, however small has made a difference everytime, years ago i thought doing that was a waste of time, as long as they were facing the wind everything was fine....time went on and i learnt otherwise.........
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I go with Hampster he's spot on, a flapper ( a decent one ) that opens and closes its wings fully, will attract birds, and then your deeks will do the rest .........
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You could try Skeet and Quarter and if you don't think the open Skeet choke is enough move up to Quarter and Half which is probably the most popular combination.
I Always use cyl & 1/4, with a 26" barrels, providing you have the right cartridge that always works for me, everybody who has posted this query are tending to go for skeet, 1/4 and 1/2 all works, in my veiw the best is to work it out yourself, when you feel you have had a good day then stick with the choke, and cartridge.....then if you are starting to miss it is not the machine its you.......the worst thing you can do is take all your chokes with you, thats when the trouble starts !!!!!!
Thats the great thing about pigeon shooting you never know how things are going to work out !
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Hello All, I am Paul,I live just outside Norwich
I have been shooting for about three months and during that time I have had the chance to have a go at Clay, Game and Pigeon shooting and must say i have really enjoyed it.
I have been shooting Clays at High Lodge and must say what a great place and friendly welcoming staff.
You are going a long way up to High Lodge for your shooting....have you tried Belton or Billy Bells ?
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Only do it to get a bird for the flapper....after that no.
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My first was a single barrel 12g of italian origin, you broke the gun by pulling the trigger guard back, I got a whole package cleaning kit 4 boxes of cartidges, and a game bag(gas mask bag lol) for £20.00 and my then boss bought it for me, it kicked like a mule and the first thing I shot was a hare, and I still have all the old style licences issued to me somewhere in the house.
I progressed to a single barrel Baikal with an ejector I thought I was the mutts lol then numerous SxS Baikals then on to under and overs lol Ive waisted thousands on guns lol
We lived on Baikal cartridges, you could illuminate a field at night apart from deafen all the nearby villages, Red rival carts and Blue rival, Sellier and bellot and the the one that always killed me, Polish made, Powam Pionchi(I think thats right) rolled turn over and akin to black powder lol
Happy days
Alan
I remember the sellior & Belliott cartridges, used to buy them in packs of 10, they were all stuck together with wax and only half of them went off !
QUESTION !! is it true that Holland&Holland used to buy the barrell tubes from Baikle as the steel used was a superior quality, something i was told once.
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Any body point me in the right place for one of these
We're would I find one apart from eBay
Try a swimming pool company, they use then to store and supply chlorine..............
ditchman
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My first gun was a hammerless folding single barrel 12 bore bouth C.O.D. from Elderkins dastardly awkward thing to carry when broken as far as I can remember. SOld it after a year when I bought a double barrels 12 bore Army and Navy hammer shotgun from a gamekeeper friend.
Used it pretty much for most of my shooting career and am just back from our last club shoot of the season 16 pheasants and one woodcock, my contribution being two pheasants and a woodcock, all first barrel kills and a couple of clean misses. The gun is labled K quality , which I take as Keeper quality , round action and top leaver and with an immaculate wood to metal fit. A very elegant piece, and yes the smell of those paper cases- even just when you opened a box of shells never mind firing them.
Blackpowder
Do you remember the smell of eley grand prix paper cased cartridges that were varished...the smell just wafted out of the box when you opened it..Hah, we are daft as a brush.
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My first was also the Webley & Scott Webley 410 but the deluxe model. It cost £10 from a friend at school.
I too can still remember the smell of the Eley fourlong paper cartridges as they ejected out of the chamber. I used to take them out and smell the smoke. “beautiful”. Like TVO a vivid mental sensation.
The first memory of shooting the gun was on a rabbit, down in the wood behind the house.
How times have changed. Went into plod shop filled in shotgun licence form, paid the five bob(I think) they stamped the licence card and I went up to the ironmongers (like the two Ronnies fork handles /four candles sketch)and asked for a box of fourten cartridges. When then guy brought them to the counter I said they’re not big enough and he said “what you want is FOURLONG”.
A few months later I bought my second shotgun from the same friend at school (we were both progresing through guns at this time), which was a BSA Snipe single barrel ejector. The power of the Snipe soon relegated the 410 and although I shot well with the Snipe I soon wanted a double.
A year or so later I traded everything in on a new Laurona sxs and a year later I traded that in on a sidelock ejector which I still have >> with one or two others.
Happy memories from the same era.
The ironmongers i got my cartridges from smelt of parafeen and had wooden boxes full of oily nails and screws !
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First one I shot was in about 1969-70, my mate's cousin had a farm not too far away and we used to go out with him for a little vermin shooting. He gave me a beautiful single barrel Martini-action WW Greener 12-bore to use, great fun! Step forward nearly forty years, got back into shooting, clays this time, got a Browning 525 o/u 12g as MY first owned gun.
Didn't realise how much guns had improved till I saw a Greener like the old gun I used and bought it on impulse last year, by 'eck, doesn't the old gun kick like a mule compared with the Browning! I have had fun playing with the old Greener and have got some pics for old times sake, but I think I am gonna sell it on soon - bless!
Those Greeners were built to last, in the late 70's a well known norfolk gunmaker went on a buying spree to buy up all the greeners service them and sell them to the police force in India where they are still being used to this day im told !
ditchman
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Mine is a Webley & Scott 410, i bought it from the proceeds of apple picking every day one autumn, it cost £12-13s-9d (inc purchase tax) the delux model was 17 guinea's but i didnt have enough money, 2 years ago i sent it to Birmingham to have the metal re-blacked for £ 90 quid, it came back looking like new and i was chuffed to hell.
My favorite day out was sitting under and old oak tree next to a muck heap, it was on a flightline, with my bottle of warm tea in a sock and corned beef sarnies, used to shoot 1/2 doz take then back and mum would cut the breast meat off and make a pie.
I can still remember the smell of the Eley furlong paper cartridges as i jacked the case out of the chamber, folowed by a suck on a Weights fag....
Whats your first memory of pigeon shooting with your own gun, and have you still got it ?
Ditchman
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Pigeon flappers and all rotarys and other decoy machines (manual and electric) are all dependent on how you use them and where you are in the country, it is something you need to experiment with, keep an eye on PW and see what other members are using in your neck of the woods, in norfolk where i shoot, the areas that i go to a rotary is out of the question, i have had very little sucess, yet other areas they are the dogs nuts, my preferance is well placed decoys with a simple flapper.....but dont forget...you can only pull pigeons if they are in the area...if they arnt there you aint going to attract them......so fieldwork and spying out the land days before you shoot is very important
ditchman
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GO try a few and shoot some clays I know a few people who are good shots and cant hit a barn door with a SxS. Also decide what you want Single double trigger etc older gun or newer? 12/16/20 bore? do you need MC or steel proof? or happy to use it with lighter loads on game and not bother about steel big loads etc.
I inherited my Grandfatehrs SxS its a BSA/SKB 200E you can get them for £500 ish Japanese made, single none selective trigger ejector. Simple easy to use and good fun to shoot. One here http://www.guntrader.co.uk/GunsForSale/111004123405001 there are lots of more interesting guns about including some english no names, and AYA #3/#4 and other continentals
http://www.guntrader.co.uk/GunsForSale/111128143444001 But i wouldn't suggest buying something like this unless you know what to look for or know someone who does! Not without shooting it first...
Can I ask Why?
it is important that the butt slips into your shoulder in the same place everytime, most rubber or neoprene butt plates tend to drag on your clothes as you bring the butt up, and this differs with the clothing you wear thus resulting in the butt not going into the same place everytime, you will never seen a quality s/s new with a butt plate fitted, i use my mates o/u sometimes and it really annoys me how it catches my jacket as it comes up, when he uses it he pushes the gun out and then back into his shoulder...the different styles of shooting i guess !!
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This is purely my view, if you want to learn to shoot quickly, and become a proficient shot in a short while go for an over and under, then again if you are prepared to go with the ups and down and lessons from a teacher who uses a side by side you will if you stick with it become a good shot if you have the mentality to cope with a side by side.
It is essential that the s/s you buy is fitted for you..you need to be at a stage in shooting where you know what feels right in your shoulder, fitting is not expensive, it involves casting the stock, lenghtening or shortening, and drilling out the butt and balancing (adding or takeing away weight),
Do not be temtped to add a rubber butt plate, have the but finished off in the plain wood.
For more years than i can remember i have owned and used an AYA no 2 26" 1/4 and cyl choke, match the cartridge to the gun,
there is something about using a s/s that i cant put down into words, for me its the difference between using a kitchen knife and surgical tool,
learing to use a s/s can be a depressing game, that is why many people give up shooting
anyway as i said this is my view,
ditchman
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Go expecting nothing, except the joy of being alone with your dog, a good flask of coffee and chocolate snacks, and just suck in plenty of fresh air, and if the birds come it is a bonus
ditchman
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Spend a bit of time watching the wood see which way they come in, wind direction will alter the point of entry...a really good point is what KES posted and that is getting some lofters up in a completly bare tree, that can work a treat, there is a tree that i use it is a tall ash, i get the deeks up 3 or 4 using 25lb fishing line with an 2oz lead fired up with a catapult, it takes some practice and you need to uncoil the line on the leaves before yo fire it up..best to do that sort of thing when there are 2 of you, do it in the midday get it right then when you shoot at the end of the day, just quickly hoist them up and tie them off, also what i have done is to drill a hole in a tree that has ivy on it, choose a tree that is on the edge of the wood and mount a flapper in the hole, it looks like the pigs are attacking the berries
ditchman
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I'm starting to think the heater might be an idea again.... The problem with hessian is I would probably find ripped/chewed bits of it everywhere and the sawmill shavings would be quite messy I'd imagine, I don't like the sound of mites with the straw either, when will someone develop a Labrador proof bed!
Regards,
Gixer
my dogs love to chew...tried blankets from the charity shop....sheds in 2 days....they do eat the shavings, you can see it when you hose down the yard !....when the shavings get dusty after 2-3 weeks i empty it out and use it on the log burner.............
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i have spaniels and labs in the kennels, i have tried hay, barley straw and wheat straw, barley straw is not a good idea as it has the spiky stuff in it ..wheat straw can be a problem due to the type of dust it contains, and hay is so variable, i also found that when i changed the bedding the bottom layer was damp and musty.
what i use now which works very well for the dogs, is dust extracted sawmill shavings, it is cheap £ 5.75 a big compressed bale, the resin that is left in the shavings works as an anteseptic, it cleans the coats nicely, and gives superb insulation and it dosnt compress and hold the mosture like straw, when it is really cold i have a 60 watt infa red bulb which goes on, when the dogs are damp i overide the thermostat and the heat goes right into the bones, the 150 watt lamp is to hot and expensive to run, and thus i have lowered the roof of the dog box so it contains the heat better...
this works for me
ditchman
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If you have a multimeter set it to DC volts and connect it between the stop solenoid wire which is usually white
or white with black stripe and a good earth such as the engine block,with the ignition switched on you should read
12 volts and with the ignition off should be zero,if you don't have a meter use a 12v bulb,with the ignition on
and connected between the solenoid feed wire and earth the bulb should light,with the switch off the bulb should
also be off. Possible causes of a feed to the solenoid when the switch is off are a faulty ignition switch or an
ignition wire has chafed against a positive feed terminal,if this has happened though you would expect other
switch fed items like the charge warning light to stay on when the key is off, atb handy
cheers andy, my mate is dropping off a multi meter, and i intend to do exactly that, if it was a chafing wire i would expect the problem to be intermitant...im hoping it isnt the barrel on the ignition, as that was new 2years ago,thye weird thing is when i switch off the enjine still runs and the charge light comes on which is what it should do, i dissconnet the white wire the enjine stops and reconnect and the white wire is no longer live........the vagories of landrover ugh....watch this space.....i think i will go and get ****** and all will become clear ... :blink:
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i did some wiring in my house, all looked great turned the lights on then there wouldnt turn off
you must have been using a landrover wiring loom.....
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sounds like uve got a crossed wire, chase the wire backwards and see if its crossed or fused any where
thats what i will do tomorrow, when it stops raining...cant understand what has happened, as it went back together alright....whip the old one out , pop new one in , put wire back on.....start up , fine stop no !!!!!
Lab wont return dummy
in Dogs and Dog Training
Posted
Just a thought, have you anybody else in the house ? children wife etc, are they playing with the dog whilst you are out, they can give attention to the dog but you must lay down the ground rules, everybody must give the same commands....good sense from the other guys, but if you have a trainer near you as someone suggests get down and see him, they do it for a living, getting a gundog book is a nightmare, they all say slightly different things.....my greatest help was a book by P.R.A. Moxton, i think that was the name....just good commonsense all round.