Catamong

I run a leased car funded by a Car Allowance, and also have an All Star fuel card, which covers all fuel purchased in the UK. The monthly Car Allowance is taxed in full. My total mileage is pretty similar to yours, (18k PA), and my total fuel bill is around £3k PA, (which is what you are taxed on as a "Benefit in Kind"). Any business mileage is claimed on a monthly basis and my Car Allowance is adjusted accordingly each month, (not sure how exactly the calculation works, but my business mileage is low so it's not a big issue to me). I can't see why anybody would turn down the offer of a fuel card, OK, you pay some extra tax, but you're still getting all of your fuel paid for..? Cat.

Nice footage Motty, not much about these parts at the moment, but I'm sure things will pick up later in the year once the beans & peas are cut, make sure you have a day free late August time, and bring the video camera..! Cat.

Well, they are certainly better organised, far fewer trap breakdowns, dead batteries and the like, also the refs are qualified FFBT guys who really know their stuff. Also, the payouts are significantly better, at the last Compak shoot at Arras, they had a full entry, 120 shooters paying about £58 each for a 100 bird shoot over 4 layouts, High Gun was a Beretta Semi, others received a total of 18,000 Viri cartridges, not bad eh..? Cat.

Sadly, I won't be doing the FITASC in Italy, I've even pulled out of the World FITASC at St Lambert in France, purely because the French have laid on another FITASC Grand Prix at La Cerisaille, just south of Paris the weekend before, and there's only so many shoots you can do..? Not only that, St Lambert is a lovely ground, but I've shot there every year for the last 5 years, and I like to do different grounds. Good luck to all that are going..! Cat.

Yes, that's true, although there is no guarantee that the targets you shoot in practice will be the exact targets that are thrown in the competition, I would say typically that around 90% will be the same, but the organisers frequently alter the odd target to catch people out, and will usually always alter the sequence, so it's debatable whether too much practice before the event is of any real benefit..? Cat.

I'm sure Mr P will be on top form, with him jetting all around Europe to various competitions, he's certainly getting the practice in..! Cat.

I fished Grafham the first week it opened in May 1970, throughout the '70's it was incredibly popular, you had to book boats exactly 30 days in advance by phoning the Anglian Water Board offices, if you were 15 minutes late in phoning, you would not get a boat at weekends. Day tickets were then £1 for an 8 fish limit, I think rowing boats were £3 extra, with motorboats at a fiver..? When Rutland opened in the mid 70's it took the pressure off Grafham a little bit, but the sport was still incredibly popular, on most summer evenings bank fisherman would be shoulder to shoulder around the popular spots. I gave up regular fly fishing in the early 80's to concentrate on shooting, but have been back to both Grafham & Rutland on cycling trips, was amazed at how many boats were apparently available, even at weekends, the sport is definitely in decline..? Cat.

I'll be using Gamebore Black Gold 28g 7.5's, I have used them in the past for pigeons as all of my birds go to Falcon breeders, but I now buy steel loads in France, where I can get them for around £165/1000. Just look at the extra pellet count for the Steel load on the right v the equivalent lead load on the left..? Cat.

As this years Charity shoot has been postponed by Teal, (for quite understandable reasons), both Captains of the North and South teams have decided to go "head to head" in a truly international style, over the weekend of 12th - 13th May, at a very nice ground in the Netherlands, (Weert), just over the border from Belgium, (so I'm told)..! This is a 200 bird Compak Sporting event, shot over 8 x 25 bird layouts, we will actually be travelling over together in the same motor, for what I am sure will be a fabulous weekend of shooting. Lead shot has now been banned in Holland, so this event will be labelled the "Classic Steel Challenge", it also celebrates the 10th anniversary of the opening of the ground, and I hope to be able to post a full report of the event, (with comments from Mr Potter), after the event. This will be a truly international event, with a good few of the top shots from Europe taking part, so if anybody wants to join us for a fun weekend, see details below: https://www.schietbaandewildenberg.nl/en/matches/calender/news/News/detail/classic-steel-challenge-compak/ Cat.

No such luck, Bryan Summerhayes shot the 178. https://www.cpsa.co.uk/scores/member/bryan-summerhayes/34476 Cat.

Thanks matey, I've shot better, but, in fairness I've not done that much over the Winter as I've been chasing the (very elusive) pigeons, it's not been a good season on them this Winter..! All the best, Cat.

Having shot it today in pretty good weather, all things considered, probably a slightly "softer" layout than previous years, but still plenty of tricky targets to catch people out. Some very unusual targets, including 2 skimmed across the surface of the lake on the final stand of the Red layout, never seen that done before..??..(I did hit both of them..!) Well shot to fellow PW member derek720, who was going seriously well and finished on a very respectable 179.. I struggled a bit over both layouts and missed some very simple targets, mostly in front, with an 88 on both Red & Black, to finish on a 176.. Still, it was nice to meet up with other fellow shooters that I hadn't seen for some time, there is a massive entry this year, around 2,500 shooters, good luck to those who are still to shoot, the only advice I can give is to take nothing for granted, and, for Gods sake, bring your wellies, 'cos it's seriously wet underfoot..! Cat.

These phones have a very small memory capacity, you can increase the memory significantly by getting a 32g SanDisk micro memory card, will cost you about a tenner, but most of your apps will still run off the base memory within the phone. It's worked OK for me, but it depends what you want to run on it..? Cat.

Yes, this was evident to me when I shot the very first Beretta World Sporting shoot in San Antonio, Texas, in 1992, I was so impressed by the way all of the Yanks handled semi autos on Sporting clays, it made me give one a serious go when I got back here in the UK. But, they do handle so differently from an O/U, I now only use one on pigeons, (a Benelli Black Action Supersport, arguably the ultimate pigeon gun..?). What is also interesting is those Yanks who were shooting Semis so well at Sporting back in the 90's have now almost all switched over to O/U's, and in my opinion those few top Sporting shots here in the UK who use semis have generally made the move as a result of recoil issues that have impaired their performance with an O/U..? I can't speak for the Skeet or Tarp brigade, as I shoot neither seriously. Cat.

That may be the case, but, as others have pointed out, it shouldn't happen at Registered shoots, but which ground owner is going to turn away a shooter offering to pay for a card, which the ground owner can easily treat as a "ghost entry", i.e. no record of it being passed on to the CPSA, or indeed the Taxman..?? More cash in the back pocket, nobody's any the wiser...Kerching..!! Cat.

Great result PC, (as ever)..! Am out tomorrow on some rape, will see how things go..? Cat.

Yes motty, I believe you're dead right, but we get a lot of pigeon shooting experts on here who reckon that they're likely to get bigger bags in sub zero conditions,....."all we need is a cold snap"..?? Well, dream on guys, that's not how I see it, most of my 100 plus days on Winter Rape have been on overcast days with a moderate prevailing South Westerly wind, with temperatures in the range 8 to 12 degrees. Cat.

Well done PC, looks pretty clear of the white stuff where you are, we're having a blizzard here right now..! Cat.

I have a friend in France who is after a Miroku shooting cap as a birthday present for a loved one. If you have one in good condition and are willing to sell it on, please let me know..? Cat.

You've struck lucky, they're arguably the best pigeon decoy ever made, I'm sure a lot of "old timers" on this forum will agree..? They are a very lifelike decoy, I've recently re-painted mine as they've suffered a lot of abuse over time, I actually filled them with bubble wrap, others on this forum have used expanding foam instead of the original balloon idea..? Having said that, I don't think you'll be able to retire on the proceeds if you sell them, you may get about a tenner each..? If you are still into pigeon shooting, I would keep 'em and use 'em..! Cat.

Interesting to note that A1 Decoy no longer advertise Pigeon days on their website..? Plenty of Wild Boar shooting, but no Pigeon shooting, perhaps you're not the first shooter that's been shafted..? Anyway, if you've been shooting as long as you say you have, then you'll be sensible enough to take your own gear and wait for a few minutes before setting up to see if there are indeed birds flighting into the field..? "Once bitten" comes to mind..? Cat.

Yes, the biggest surprise is how they've managed to continue in business for so long, as their prices were pretty extortionate generally. Cat.

Zut alors...! The Hunting & Fishing Hypermarket chain in France, (Terre et Eaux), are currently selling a very nice 28g steel load in No 7 shot for 184.40 Euros per 1000, (about £167.00 Sterling). These are an excellent load for pigeons over decoys at sensible ranges, but obviously not long range wildfowl. I will be buying a few when I'm next over there in a couple of weeks. I've tried heavier steel loads in bigger shot sizes for pigeons, but they don't kill birds over decoys as well as the smaller sized pellets. Cat.

I remember one Guy posting on here that he used to carry 100 birds in a black plastic bin bag..!!. I must admit I'm amazed at PC's talent when it comes to pigeon shooting, if I'd had a 200 bird day I couldn't be bothered to set them all out for a photo session with an arctic gale blowing and the light fading, my primary concern would be getting back to the motor..! There are a fair number of birds in my area, (South Herts), but it simply would not be possible at this time of year to set up at 11.30 and finish up with over 200 birds, even if you were double gunned, there must be phenomenal numbers of birds on PC's patch..? Cat.

I'm doing it on the Wednesday, always a good shoot, some people find it mentally tough to shoot 200 in one day, you have to really concentrate hard over the last 50 or so birds. No other tips, apart from you'll need at least 200 shells. Cat.