M ROBSON

High water spring tide is about 8 o'clock on the Tay at Dundee every full and new moon. So you can work out roughly what the tides are going to be just by looking at a callander with the moons on, no need for a tide table, useful if your planning a trip the followling season,

Ducks will eat whole potatoes once they start to go soft, no need to touch them at all.

But we all know that Scotland has much more sense when making laws! Look out for a new or second hand CZ to fit your budget.

It's good stuff webber. Looks the same, smells the same and does the same as Vircon. Just not ridiculously overpriced!!

They will be fine to put out at 4 weeks if they have started to feather up nicely, keep them in too long and they feather peck their rumps and start to go backwards. It's amazing how they come on once they've got out onto the water. I put 20 out on each pond a week early to snare any foxes that might be about. By the time the main lot go on these 20 are well ahead.

Virex will do everything Vircon S does and more, and it's half the price!!!! http://www.farmchem.co.uk/virex-10-kgs-8-p.asp

Top job! 200+ days don't come around that often. ps, I love using 2 magnets on high crops too.

Well done, happy days!!

Hi John, I think it's more to do with the media player settings on this PC, it's OK with HD. My laptop is fine with them, nice videos.

Hi John, I don't know if I need to adjust my settings but lately I haven't been able to watch any of your clips, just get the youtube page with a black box?

Well done dave, I love these freak heads. It's very satisfying when it goes right and you get a buck you've been after for a while. Cheers, Mark.

Hi Dave, No it won't, simply because you have used lead. The cavity full of air will not cancel out the lead because it is so dense. Also, As I've already said, things don't weigh the same in water as they do in air, 30g of lead in air will weigh less in water. If you put 20-30 grams of water into the antler and then took it out you would have no difference at all to the volume measurement because the same cavity of air can offset the same cavity of water. Water in water has no weight but lead in water does. Air in this same cavity, when under water, will lift the trophy by the same weight as the water that has evaporated, or been removed, from this cavity. The system the CIC use is perfect for the job of measuring their "volume" because the only variables involved in a trophy head are moisture in the bone (water) and air which replaces this moisture when the bone dries out. Everything else stays the same, eg the structure of the antler. Lets just agree to disagree on this one, my good typing finger is getting worn out! We can have a beer at Scone and talk about it some more. Cheers, Mark.

Hi Dave, Let your fresh head dry out some more then check it's volume and lets see if it's changed. Mind, there will be some variation on how you set up the head in water so best let it dry out a good bit 8-10% to allow for any error. Cheers, Mark.

Lead shot is actually a safer form of lead than the raw material itself. So in effect we as hunters are improving the enviroment!

Hi Dave, Things don't weigh the same in water as they do in air, as soon as you put the coins in the water you are measuring the volume of the coils along with the antlers. Let me try again, if you have a fresh head that hasn't been dried out there will be moisture in the core of the antler. If you weigh this head it weighs 600g, after 90 days it weighs 500g, so 100g of moisture has eveporated and been replaces by air. If you dip the fresh head, lets say it has a weight of 400g giving it 200cc. The moisture in the antler doesn't weigh anything when it is being dipped because it is neutralised by the fact it is in water. If you dip the 90 day dry head, it will weigh 300g and still have a volume of 200cc. The air in the antler acts as buoyancy and reduces the weight of the head by 100g. I'm no genius by any length, but I've had this very disscussion with Alan Alison in the past and he has measured thousands of heads and if he says it's true then I believe him Cheers, Mark.

If you put the coins on the antlers and dipped them for volume then you would be working out the volume of the coins + the antlers. To do this properly you would need to dip the head with the coins out of the water, eg on the top jaw by the teeth. Try and think of it this way, a can of Coke will have the same volume regardless of wether it is full, empty or half drank.

Hi Dave, Firstly think of volume as a measurement of mass, the space that something takes up. With hard antlers this doesn't change regardless of what they weigh. We just use the weight in air and the weight in water to work out the volume, the difference between the 2. If a head drys out and looses weight in air then the weight in water will also fall by the same amount, so the difference between the 2 weights will still be the same, hense the volume doesn't change. Cheers, Mark.

Dave, Volume will never change, it's a set size and unless the antler shrinks or expands (which bone doesn't tend to do), then it will stay the same. Volume is not a measurement of weight, rather the space that something takes up. In this case we just use the weight to calculate it. eg, 600g air weight, 400g weight in water = 200cc volume. same head 90 days later, 590g air weight, 390g weight in water = 200cc volume. Simples

Dave, Volume will always be the same regardless of how much weight it looses, it's a set size and doesn't shrink when it looses weight.

Thanks guys. Just got word back from Denmark about the first 2 bucks. They have been force dried for a few days now and were given a provisional score in Denmark of 134 & 135 cic. They might loose a another 5-10 grams but not much more so shouldn't differ too much when the propper score is given. Cheers, Mark.

There certainly are some nice bucks showing, a keeper friend on a nearby estate has a client out this week and they have done very well with medal bucks. It's been strange though as I'm seeing a range of different behaviour on ground near together. Some big bucks are still in groups of 10+ along with other hard antlered bucks, yet others are on their own and chasing small bucks, haven't seen any propper fights yet though. The big buck we shot at 06:00 this morning was chasing a young Doe all up and down a field, they wre round and round for 10 minutes before he stood still for a shot! :blink: Cheers, Mark.

Thanks John It's certainly been a great start to my season, I've had 10 bucks so far and 6 have been medal class. I tend to start my season looking for the big stuff as once you've been over the ground a few times the disturbance can push the big old bucks into hiding, it's not always the case but it doesn't take too much to upset some of these secretive beasts. I then spend a few weeks shooting yearlings with less than 4 points and more importantly big old bucks that are past it or never going to make the grade. I don't shoot many bucks in the 2 - 3 year bracket, of which we have lots. However, I will shoot anything that needs shooting due to poor condition at any time. These 2 bucks this morning are old and have very dense antler, in the fur I would have said top end silver and top end Bronze but it looks like they will each be a medal class higher than I thought. Interestingly they had larder weights of 16kg and 22kg! Hope your season goes well for you. Cheers, Mark.

I didn't think this week could get any better.......until this morning! 2 very old medal class bucks with WET weights of 684g and 706g!!!!! The right hand buck was shot just 200 yards away from were we shot the 10-point silver earlier in the week. DSC_0704 by mj robson, on Flickr DSC_0703 by mj robson, on Flickr Cheers, Mark.

Thanks guys, We had 10 Roe just 50 meters out in front of us tonight, including 4 x 6 point bucks. So we took this nice beast, another good medal. IMG_0945 by mj robson, on Flickr Cheers, Mark

Thanks guys Both golds should make it by a few points but they aren't "super golds", the silver will be top end with a weight of 570g.