the hitman

When George started out you could buy his cartridges from Bywell shooting ground at a very reasonable price. He made a cartridge called proper pigeon in a dark blue case, and was loaded in 30g of 5.5 shot. First pigeon I shot with them was very dead at 30yards - I soon decided that these cartridges would be better on high pheasant. Some time later that year I was on a beating day, and one of the guns had forgotten to pack his cartridges - on hearing this I offered the 100 of George’s cartridges that I had in the car. The gun accepted and paid me twice what I had paid. At the end of the day the gun - who was an experienced shooter said that he was going to detour to Bywell on his way home and clear the shelf as he could not believe how well they patterned at range. I did buy other cartridges from George over the years but not in recent times. Sorry to hear that he is no longer in the business.

MM - hope you have a speedy recovery, and that you are back in a hide somewhere soon. Hitman

Happy birthday Marsh Man - hope next year is a better one for you 👍 Hitman

Good effort Mossy Always a challenge at this time of year- many of my permissions are off limits because of game shooting. 38 is a great result- good effort. Hitman

Hi Lever 357 I live 20 minutes from Bamburgh and often go there just to walk the beach. Which car park do they set up in ? Is it just out Bamburgh on the way to Seahouses?

MM Mrs H is still working for the NHS as a bank nurse- so picks up shifts as and when she chooses, so she works the days when I am at work. We are both several years short of state pension age, however I still have a work pension to take - so the plan is that we will both be completely finished work July 2026- so not too long to go.

Hi MM Its a junction where the river whiteadder meets the Tweed- good fishing spot too. Only the second time I seen an otter- always larger than I imagined. We still many fields to harvest locally and I am eagerly waiting for one in particular which I have had success from in the past. New granddaughter, helping family etc - and Mrs H has taken her NHS pension so she has more time to spend with me on my days off- if only I could get her to pick up pigeons to the whistle- what days in the hide we could have together.

Hi everyone My pigeon shooting sortie’s are becoming increasing fewer- however I managed to few hours this afternoon. I spotted a line yesterday heading off somewhere I had no permission, but it did follow a line of willow’s where I could shoot. Out today at 1pm and yes the line had disappeared- so I drove over the nearest stubble just to get to higher ground for a recce, and in doing so I put up 15-20 pigeons with more leaving nearby trees. After 10 minutes the first 3 returned- so that will do me I thought. Hide up sillo’s bellowing in a strong westerly by 1.30ish. The first one just came straight in and was dispatched followed by 3 more without a miss. The wind was bringing them in low and I was shooting ok . There was some spells of inactivity but mostly there were birds about- not all coming to me unfortunately. The more dead birds I added the less interested they became, so I brought the sillo’s in and kept about 20 dead birds out - no magnet today as it was just too windy. This worked and for the last hour they decoyed well. I picked 41 - lost 2 in the whiteadder river and one to a sparrow hawk- which feasted on a winged pigeon which went down 100 yards from the hide. During a period of inactivity I watched an otter swimming in the water 50 yards downstream from me - that made my day.

MM Well done getting yourself and Bobbie out for an afternoon shooting. Thank you for posting- you are always first to reply to everyone else’s days out - so I was delighted to read your report. We have had some harvest activity locally which began only yesterday, which is very encouraging- and as you mentioned getting the vehicle to the hide is always a bonus for us shooters who can only reminisce about walking miles without breaking sweat. Tomorrow I am off to S/West Scotland (non- shooting holiday) for a week, then I will have a crack at stubble- hopefully. Keep posting- always a good read.

MM The pea consortium begin drilling in March up here - they drill in stages so they can harvest in stages. We had 6 weeks of rain where peas could not be drilled and add the ground drying time then it was late May when they got around to drilling on this farm which is one of my permissions. This company drill all over southern Scotland and north Northumberland and do have many fields of peas in flower.

Peas are going back in - it will be autumn before they flower.

Hi MM The farmer has just messaged to say one of the two pea fields if going to be re- drilled this week- which is fortunate for me. I have seen pigeons on laid corn locally, however I am always reluctant to shoot on this as you tend to lose so many in standing crop. I think they only take fresh shot birds as they process the birds on site then freeze.

Hi folks This is my first shooting report since my last outing in February. One of my permissions had held back drilling peas as it had been so wet in April & early May and these 2 pea fields were drilled the last week in May. The farmer messaged me to say the pigeons had arrived if I was available- today was my first chance. I hadn’t done any proper recce but pigeons were on the field when I arrived at 9am- I was set up by 9.30 with the sillo’s bellowing in the wind. Bit of a slow start with pigeons landing at the other end of the field- but I was plugging away and had about 10 down in the first hour. Due to my lack of reconnoissance I had to regularly walk out and scare birds off the field, which worked well as with nothing else to draw them they decoying well. My hide location was perfect for the shooter- sun at my back, and a good S/W wind blowing over my left shoulder. Pairs & singles kept me busy and I also added a couple of carrions to the bag. Once I had about 30 down the pigeons decoyed really well- to the point where I was just shooting easy hovering birds. I had a rough count at 1.30pm and thought 2.30pm would be a good time to stop I wanted to get the shot birds away and the game dealer which was 20 miles away. I picked 71 pigeons- lost 4 in tall grass ( I miss not having a dog) and 2 crows. It was just nice to be back in the hide after such a long break.

Hi Al Welcome back- hope everything is ok with you.

I recently bought a pair of Harkila wellies- I have only worn them a couple of times but so far so good. Good fitting and comfortable to walk in.