Gareth

General shooting matters... General computing matters... It's all the same Do you have the latest version of firefox installed? If not that would be my first port of call. It's up to v5 now.

Thanks for all of your opinions Seems like some people like them and others only bother in the winter. I agree with the no movement until needed, but at the same time wearing a camo veil on our heads has made a noticeable difference. I'll take a look at your suggestions and see if I can pick up a cheap pair from somewhere. If not then it's probably not worth it until winter kicks in again! Cheers, Gareth

Hi all, I'm looking for some lightweight camo gloves to wear during the summer when pigeon shooting. My hands are now the only part of my body not covered up. All of my camo gear so far is English Woodland. I think I would like an open-able trigger finger and I'm a lefty if it makes any difference. Do you cover your hands when pigeon shooting? If so, what do you use? Do you think it will/does it make much difference? Can you recommend any products? Thanks, Gareth

Spent a couple of hours roost shooting, got 4 a few nights ago and 1 last night. Total: 5649

Only 5 on Saturday, decoying on rape. Total 4884

Hey everyone, Just to let you all know, Jack has now been re-homed and last I heard was doing really well. He went to a member of these forums, but I will let them announce who they are if they want people to know. It was really hard to let him go, but I know he has gone to a good home so I can take comfort in that. Apologies to anyone that had shown interest but did not get to come and see him. Regards, Gareth

Hi all, Decided to go out for a quick bash last night, at a small area where only a few birds roost (there are a couple of barns and some old abandoned houses). It's nice because it's so close to me, but not a great spot otherwise. After walking up the long dirt track and seeing practically nothing my hopes were not high. I walked past the barn and to my surprise a pigeon shot off. It was a really hard shot (for me, I'm new to this game) and was the first bird I had seen, so I decided to leave it in the hopes that there would be more in the buildings. I didn't want to scare those off with a shot to nothing. As I walked up to the buildings I regretted not taking my shot as it seemed dead. As I was thinking that, a bird dropped from the rafters and scared the **** out of me, it was pretty much on my head and then shot away. I swung round and shot it with the first barrel, a pretty rare feat for me. Those two birds were the only ones I saw that night, so headed off soon after that. I was just happy to be out for a 30 minute walk and to bag a bird too

Wow, thanks for all of the responses. I also think it would be a good idea to sticky a post with those sites listing the coaches. The searches I was doing didn't bring up any of them. Maybe I was looking for the wrong things though... When I pick who to go with I'll let you know, and tell you how I got on Thanks again, Gareth

Hi all, I've been looking on Google for a while now, but can't seem to find any nearby shooting coaches. I want someone to show me the correct stance, how to judge lead and so on. I have been shooting a few times now (very much a beginner though) but my accuracy is not good, so I thought it would be best to get some professional help. Do you have anyone that you would recommend in the area? I can travel, but was hoping not to go too far afield. Many thanks, Gareth

Hi all, As per previous post, here are the pictures I said I would take. Sorry for poor quality, they were taken on my phone. I think they are good enough to get a nice look at him though! Click on the pics to make them bigger if you need to. Jack means a lot to me, and naturally I really care about where he goes next. I have contacted a few of the people who have asked about him, but not everybody yet. I'm struggling to handle this a bit as I don't want to get peoples hopes up simultaneously and then can only give him to one person obviously. I will get round to everybody at some point, whether it's about Jack maybe going to them, or just to say that he has found a great new home. Regards, Gareth

Hi everyone, First of all, thanks for all of the replies. I can't believe the response this has had, and so quickly as well. Secondly, I'm sorry for being so slow with any sort of response. I've had a lot going on this last week. I will do my best to get back to anyone that has sent me a message as soon as I can. I will only be able to do any photo's later tonight though. Gareth

Hi all, Jack is 5 1/2 months old now. He is an excellent dog and I cannot stress enough that he needs a new home because of personal reasons, it has absolutely nothing to do with him. He has lived in the house since he was ~7 weeks old, and is excellent with adults, children and other dogs. He is fully house trained, and normally lasts the night if you lift his water a couple of hours before bed. His parents (both pedigrees) were specifically mated so that the breeder could have his pick of the litter for a gun dog. It was also my intention to use him for this purpose, but as stated he was also a house dog. As he has grown older, it seems that he has a lot more Lab in him than Springer. His training has come on well, he is a fast learner and I am sure he will make a great gun dog as well as a pet. He seems very motivated and eager to please. Most of the time now he will bring the retrieving dummy and put it in my hand. He has a very soft mouth from what I have seen there. He also loves water, and will go in it to fetch the dummy, or just for fun. I have not spent too much time on retrieving with him, I have tried to keep it fun as he is still young. He sits and drops fairly reliably on command, and will stay in either position when told to. He is good with the recall as well, but distractions (other dogs, sometimes people) will stop him coming in. As expected, these commands still need a bit of reinforcing, but he is doing very well as far as I'm concerned. He will come with everything that I have bought for him. There are still 2 large, unopened bags of dog food, a mass of toys, a retrieving dummy, his lead and food/water bowls. When he was younger he chewed the bottom of his bed away from the sides, but it's still perfectly good for now. I must also stress that he seems to be passed the chewing phase, he has not caused the slightest problem in that respect for quite a while now. He has been crate trained, but that was only borrowed so unfortunately can't go with him. He is used to being at home alone for a full, normal working day. We close him in the kitchen instead of his cage so that he has a bit of room. He is fully vaccinated and is about due for his next round of de-worming. I am absolutely gutted that he has to be re-homed, but I have put it up on here because I care so much about where he goes next. I live 20 minutes South of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in a town called Sleaford. He has been a great dog, and friend to me and I will be so sad to see him go.

If you look through a few of my posts I was asking almost the exact same question. He was a nightmare to start with, but he has got so much better it's unreal (he is 4 months now). One thing I learned from here, there is pretty much no need to hit them at all, and his behaviour was to be expected. Every time he bit me, I shouted ouch and stopped playing/moved away from him instantly. Sometimes I would exclude myself from him, but never punished him by putting him in his crate as that's his space. He soon grasped that every time he hurt me his world got a whole lot more boring.

PM sent. I live in Sleaford, about 20 mins down the road too! Cheers, Gareth