THE GRIFF

Got one mail order, I also had my doubts on Wednesday night when I was sweating after walking about 300 yards but I did have a fleece on under it. I really felt the bennifits tonight when it was cold, and at no point did I sweat but was as warm as toast. The only things apart from the zip that I have instantly noticed could be improved is the game pocket on the back needs the entrance making bigger, I struggled to get a big mallard in this morning. Also the hood could do with a strap from the back of the neck to the top of the hood to keep the hood from coming too far forward and restricting your view, it could also bennifit from a wired hood. I think this jacket will be just the job for the winter, maybe a bit too warm if you are on the move but perfect for standing/sitting about in the cold.

I have just bought the eider jacket this week in the duck blind pattern. I had it on this morning down the marsh and can say it is a very warm jacket, not too bulky and has plenty of pockets. The main zip is a bit fidley to fasten and is on the wrong side. The poachers pocket doesn't seem to be lined with a wipe clean type lining like on most good poachers pockets and the entry on the pocket should be higher to give you more room to drop stuff down the pocket. The other pockets and cartridge bag seem ok and the magnets seem to keep closed with 20 cartridges in. The hood is good but could either do with a wired peak or a strap from the back of the neck to the top of hood to keep it pulled back for a better field of view. Although the website shows the jacket with shell holders on the arms, the 2012 stock doesn't have them anymore due to a problem with the stitching leaking, I know this because rivers west phoned me back today to apologise for the misleading picture on the web and are changing the picture ASAP. I am happy with it up to now for sitting in a hide on a cold morning.

This thread is a blast from the past. I bought the investarm 20g over and under new and after sending it back for double discharging problems 4 times they eventually found the problem. The gun was alot more balanced when you put it to your shoulder than it looks but not very pointable, drainpipe on a stock springs to mind. Bearing in mind I had just got my licence 2 and a half years ago when I got it and found it very difficult to shoot anything in the air with it, I found it difficult to swing and the stock a bit too short. I could shoot rabbits fine with it, it was just swinginging up it didn't feel right. The positives are it is very quite for a 20g, especially with the hushpower cartridges and as far as I know the only fully moderated double barrel available, most moderated shotguns only have half or 3/4 of the barrel moderated. At the end of the day this is a good tool for certain situations when other louder shotguns aren't suitable and a rifle can't be used because you are shooting a moving target. I bought it originally for shooting rabbits but found the .22 rimmy could be used in most situations instead. It would be good for shooting ferrals in and around farm buildings and around livestock, in my opinion not a good choice for general pigeon shooting and other day to day shooting but more a specialist tool for occasions when other guns/rifles are not suitable. I sold mine earlier this year, if it wasn't so long and fit in my cabinet assembled I would of kept it for ferreting but it was about 3 inches too long for my cabinet and had to be stored in two pieces taking up the room of two guns so I got rid and just use my sxs shotgun along with rifles now and have found this covers most situations. This is just my opinion and although I didn't really like it other people may get on fine with it, I would say try and shoot one first before you blow over £700 on one, because for that money you could get a cheap sxs 12g, a cheap .22 rimmy and a silenced single barrel shogun and have 3 tools in your cabinet that will be better suited to a wider range of situations.

Thanks for that, sounds like what I am looking for. Is the duck blind pattern Only available in the USA?

Could you please pm me a contact number or address for future reference. Our butcher doesn't want any for a few weeks and I have had to give 30 away today.

Gone

Thanks XAV, I think this might be the one then for this winter, it was very cold this morning. I aren't sure if anywhere stocks these rivers west eider jackets anywhere local for me to look at. Would anyone be so kind as to take a photo of the back of the jacket so I can see what the game pocket looks like and the way it's positioned, some game pockets have two entry points(one at each side) and some have a more awkward opening at the top. I have searched the net and can't find a picture of the back of the jacket anywhere. Thanks

I didn't realise this jacket had a game pocket, do you mean a large game pocket on the back and how big is it, how many mallard size ducks could you get in it?

Just had a look on YouTube, there seems to be different types of honing tools, some are like a brush and some are a rod with cutting stones. I wouldn't fancy attempting the cutting stone type but may get away with the brush type with a type of polishing compound.

Thanks Ditchman Is the "honing" something I can do myself, what would I need to be able to do it?

My sxs has a bit of pitting about 1/3 of the down on the inside of both barrels. I have tried spinning a brass brush on a drill up an down the barrel slowly and it won't touch it. What else can I do to try and remove it? I like the gun as it is an ideal all rounder as it is chambered for 3 inch but doesn't wiegh a ton. Or is this a job for a gunsmith?

I have the jack pyke ones, good design for most ground but lack quality. The thumb screws are plastic and feel like they are going to snap(don't over tighten them) and the plastic hook on the top knocks out easily, this can be sorted with haroldite. I paid £35 for mine a few weeks ago, the carry bag is good quality and plenty of room for a couple of bouncer poles. As the carry bag is quite wide and camo, a couple of times I have pegged it across the top of one side of the hide between 2 poles as a sun block when the sun is in my eyes from the side.

I now understand what you are saying and when the bad weather starts I may have to think if it is appropriate to take her or not, at the moment if she sees a bird drop she will look at me first and wait until I point and say "get on" before she runs in. I have never shot at a bird where it would drop somewhere I couldn't retrieve it myself or relied on the pup (Tara) to retrieve anything that's why I said I have been choosing my shots carefully although there has been occasions when I have needed another dog to retrieve a winged bird. I know what you saying and thanks for the advise, at the moment I don't think I am doing her any harm but as the weather gets worse I may have to rethink. If nothing else it gets her used to other dogs, the gun, flushing the reeds, sitting by my side when in the hide and all of the smells and other things.

I have been out alot and a few times had 4 or 5 birds, so that boosted up the totals, there has been alot of times I have blanked and not even seen a duck in range but I suppose that's shooting for you. Most ducks have been shot from a hide on a inland marsh or from near a couple of flight ponds.

Like I said, I am new to all of this wildfowling and only really being shooting a shotgun regular for the last 12 months so any advise would be appreciated, I was just trying to stress how I feel I haven't pushed her into anything. I have no previous experience with training a gun dog and reading things on the Internet you get 1000 different answers on how to do things. I have been lucky that she wanted to retrieve from an early age and like other pups off the same bitch is doing really well in my opinion. My cousin has a bitch from a previous litter and so do a couple of other people we know and they have all turned out to be excellent workers, all taken out from being young. Her mother is a black lab and dad a fox red lab. The mother of the bitch (my dogs grandmother) was a well bread pedigree and the fox red lab (my dogs father) is also a well bread pedigree although my dogs mother has no papers I know they are very good working lines and am not really bothered about having papers anyway.

I would disagree, she has come out with me sitting in a hide since the season started watching what the other dogs are doing and occasionally retrieving a bird if she sees it drop. Only on Sunday did she retrieve her first 2 birds in water and she did it because she wanted to, I have never pushed her or made her do anything she doesn't want to do. She was as pleased as I was when she retrieved the first one and ran straight back out for the other one. Whenever I pick my gun up she is at the door exited, I would have to take her for a walk if she didn't come shooting anyway so it makes sense to just take her shooting, if she wants to retrieve and it's all fun and games to her then I don't see a problem.

Most ducks have been retrieved by her mother which belongs to someone else that I often shoot with, only on occasion have I had to rely on my pup but the last couple of weeks she has started to retrieve in the reeds and deeper bits in the marsh, when I say deep, I mean 2-3 foot, it's deep for her though as she cant touch the bottom. Not long distances upto about 10-15 yard in water and only if she sees them drop. Most ducks have been retrieved by her mother which belongs to someone else that I often shoot with, only on occasion have I had to rely on my pup but the last couple of weeks she has started to retrieve in the reeds and deeper bits in the marsh, when I say deep, I mean 2-3 foot, it's deep for her though as she cant touch the bottom. Not long distances upto about 10-15 yard in water and only if she sees them drop.

This is my first season wildfowling and am really enjoying it so far. I have been reading other posts in this section for the last few weeks but not really posted myself and just wondered how many ducks and geese people on here are shooting and wether the numbers will drop as the season goes on. My total for September is listed below and I have been out for an hour on a morning and an hour on a night 3 times a week. Gadwall 5 Shoveler 6 Mallard 17 Tufted 1 Pintail 1 Canada 1 Pink 1 As my pup is still very young I have also had to pick my shots to make sure the birds can be retrieved, on Sunday night she retrieved her first 2 mallard in deeper water where she had to swim to get them, she did well considering she is only 6 months old.

35g victory in no 6, they are actually a English 5.5 in shot size, they are a cracking cartridge.

I looked at the pro hunter jacket last year at York guns and was really impressed with it. I have the pro hunter trousers and am also pleased with those but was wanting a jacket with a wildfowling pattern on it. Harkila only do one camo jacket as far as I know and it is only showerproof not waterproof and it's more of a summer jacket.

Does it have a game pocket?

As the colder weather is starting to draw in I am looking for a new jacket and am having a nightmare finding one. Ideally in a wildfowling pattern/colours, waterproof, an adjustable hood preferably wired, a couple of cartridge pockets and the main thing I am struggling to find is a large game pocket on the back suitable to hold at least 3 or 4 mallard. Lately I have just been wearing a fleece or light jacket with my shooting waistcoat over the top that has the cartridge pockets and a large game pocket on the back. Last week I had a fleece on then my waistcoat and then a waterproof jacket over that and found it too bulky. Idealy i am wanting a waterproof jacket with the same pockets as my waistcoat so I don't have to carry a game bag when on the marsh. I do have a game carrier for the geese but don't shoot them often. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have even thought of buying a jacket and putting a game pocket on the back myself but have been told if I stitch through any waterproof materials it will loose its waterproof.

I've just got a slab of 35g no 6(English 5.5) victory in plastic wad, these are also a hard hitting cartridge. A bit overkill for decoying but will be good for higher flighting pigeons and roost shooting.

Quick update Ordered a remote from a1 decoys, paid the £6 postage for next day delivery and received it 2 days later to find out when it arrived it was faulty. They are sending me a new one out on Monday so should get it next week. I also looked at getting one from maplins but the kit is £35 so it was cheaper to get the one from a1 decoys. I used it today with just the random timer and found the ferral's landing next to it and not bothered at all but a few wood pigeons seemed to turn when it flapped but I suppose it could of been many things that turned them.

I have 2 bouncer poles, one from a1 decoys only used about 6 times and a jack pyke one that I've had for a while. Today both poles kept slipping round so I had to put tape on them. The thread on the tightening nut on the a1 decoys one has gone already and the jack pyke one just won't tight up enough. Surely other people must have experienced this, is there a DIY conversion I can do to stop this happening. Thanks in advance for any replies.