Cranfield

Greengrass, you are the man, all your pics are awesome.

I am not aware of the "situation", but I have certainly missed your informative and enjoyable reports, plus the pics . Hopefully things will resolve themselves and "normal service will resume as soon as possible" .

Could make sucking your thumb a problem. Decent sanitiser shouldn't make your hands red raw, it may sting an open wound, but not good skin.

Well done, another happy Farmer. Pigs do love some meat in their diet.🙂

You are getting really good at this, well done.👍 Some excellent shooting in an unusual location, some of my best corvid bags have been around the farm building on dairy (and pig) farms. The natural hide opportunities certainly make the birds less cautious. I bet you are becoming that Farmer's best friend.🙂

Another good video. In the replay of the second fox in slow motion, it looks impossible to miss, but in real time it looks very possible. If it hadn't seen the dead one, I think it would have run straight up the wire and given you a better shot. You need the foxes running in slow motion.🙂

A nice video to watch, good shooting in a pretty spot. I assume its Australia , is it your place, or a commercial shoot ? Lets see some more, please. Tell me the dog (female) isn't called Charlie .🙂

The Civil service remains one of the few "jobs for life" employment sectors. Their employee benefits are above the norm, its almost impossible to sack anyone and the compensation levels are mind blowing. Most of them would be unemployable in similar commercial/industrial environments and this is true of every level. The impact of this lack of quality and commitment becomes a major problem in top and middle lines of management. I think Governments should man these areas with elected (at the top) and nominated (in the middle) personnel. They would then have more chance of their policies being progressed efficiently. Anyone who has run a company knows that without support from these levels, the job is much more difficult and in some cases impossible. I have never met a civil servant at any level that I would employ.

Excellent video, great to watch, thanks for posting. Good for you to go looking and door knocking, its surprising how often it works. Its always best when there are birds on the field and the farmer knows they are there. The old adage "reconnaissance is never wasted" , has been proved to all of us at some time. Even when I shot familiar ground, it was always worth spending at least 15 - 30 minutes looking at the field. Once you have "learned" your new land, it will become easier. If the farmer isn't "obliging" enough to leave some clear ground for the birds, they will just land on the standing crop and eventually flatten large areas, so they can get at the ears.

Another great video, it reminded me of the times I regretted leaving the semi auto at home .🙂 There appeared to be a fair wind there, the way the birds flared , that doesn't make things easy. I often wonder why it is we sometimes miss the easy ones, but then take miraculous long range shots. My friend use to reckon its because "we ain't wired right".

That was a nice spot , against the hedge with the wind behind you, those birds appeared to be presenting nicely. Well done, good shooting and thanks for posting. One criticism.............not long enough.🙂

I have a number of friends in the US , mostly hunting and fishing folks, a couple of them have birddogs called Boomer. Its not occurred to me to ask where the name came from, now I know. I have never heard of a dog called Boomer in the UK , although that may change.🙂

Interesting video, the appearance of the aircraft was an exciting bonus. I have never really understood the battue target in sporting clays and tend to save cartridges and not shoot at them, I have also noticed that they usually break when they hit the ground, so they "die" anyway.🙂 Not sure what "sporting" creature they are meant to replicate, someone once told me it was woodcock, but I have never seen a woodcock drop like that and wouldn't shoot one when it was landing anyway.

An excellent advert for moderated shotguns, I have long been an advocate of the Hushpower O/U in 20bore. Some really nice birds shot and you had no problems swinging through, some people think the moderated guns are front heavy, which makes the swing difficult, but a good shot can overcome that. 🙂 You did well with the pump action .410, I have never been able to master the pump action on a shotgun, going back 50 odd years , the early ones needed muscles of steel to operate them quickly, not for me. Is your dog's name Boomer , looks a very good dog by the way, especially for wildfowling ?

The best advice is get it checked out by your Doctor and suggest a scan. It could be any number of things, but having had both knees replaced, it does sound like loose cartilage. This discomfort comes and goes, but just gets worse and lasts longer.