SNS

We should be ok. Though we may have to promise no 'early' pigeon

Are you sure it was the battery or was it just struggling to move with the weight of all the cartridges you had in there ?!

Has anyone heard from lloydi ? Is he still alive ? Did he empty Market Rasen of alcohol ??

Perhaps the young can't get on the ladder due to people buying multiple houses to rent out and drive up the prices as a consequence ?

Entirely my fault Mark. I had such a good chat with Mrs SABS I thought I'd said goodbye to you. Until I set off and realised I hadn't. I wanted to stop but the boys were insistent on me getting them to the bar ! It was such a great day (thank you) that I felt I ought to do it justice. And it wasn't a very exciting conference call I was in at the time anyhow

This was a great day, and a big thank you to JDog for (almost) everything. Expertly organised by our host (save for his rubbish directions to the actual meeting place). On reflection, am not so sure one of our team ought to have hydrated quite so well the evening before the shoot, but he sure looked like he was enjoying himself at the time. Having been shooting elsewhere on the Monday, I was grateful that my own consequent late arrival reduced the opportunity to drink quite as much. The atmosphere the night before was lively, helped I'm sure by the announcement of an engagement en-route (the things we do to get permission to shoot !) and aside from JDog trying to insist on some rules that were bound to spoil the fun ensure the day ran smoothly everyone was in good spirits (or cider). We even managed to toast Penelope's happy news. The estate is some 8,000 acres of lovely countryside and great drives. I can say this with some authority as I drove OJW, Lloydi and one of JDogs friends around a considerable portion of it whilst trying to find the meeting place. We arrived to admonishment and coffee whilst JDog once again went through the rules of the day, designed he said to stop the day being over by1030am as he was convinced we were all greedy shots who were going to shoot anything that flew. The first drive was a cracker. Some of the best partridge I have seen this season. Some of them were even shot (just not the ones over certain pegs). There was some outstanding shooting from some of the guns and some fairly average stuff from the rest of us. The first bird of the day to get up was shot, notwithstanding the obvious pressure on the gun concerned and we finished the drive in good spirits (mainly) and tucked into the first sloegasms of the day. Albeit one of our number was more than a little reluctant to take part for some reason. The second drive was quite different. A number of shootable pigeon presented themselves early on, and it couldn't be a PW day out without someone having a crack at them, but JDog was insistent whilst live on your peg you could not shoot until everyone else was on theirs. Which would have been fine but for JDogs again hopeless directions leading to one of the team being in the wrong place and having to traverse a ditch to get to his peg. Which didn't work well as he became stuck, and meant we couldn't let rip at the pigeon. He eventually made his peg, some absolute beauties were presented over the guns and a couple of us amused ourselves by dropping dead pheasants at the feet of the back gun whom had finally made it to his peg. We then stopped for elevenses, which could have fed most of Lincolnshire had we shared it further. It was a fine effort by all concerned, both quality and quantity. There may have been a drop more alcohol at that point too. The third drive presented some spectacular birds for those of us pegged with the wood in front. I had two fir trees blocking my view so it was snap shooting way beyond anything I've done before and I was delighted to connect with two rocketing pheasants, having seen dozens more hurtle by without me getting off a shot. There was a huge amount of whooping to my right which I had thought was in celebration of a towering bird brilliantly shot by OJW but JDog later corrected me and explained it had in fact been shot by the back gun over OJW's head. SABS' had handed over his gun to his better half and she showed him why on that drive with a cracking hen bird which I think OJW also tried to take credit for. We stopped for soup and sausages because it must have been at least 20 minutes since we had eaten last. SABS decided we all needed hedgerow royales which he generously provided and we had an interim count of the bag. Our host was very stressed that we had been shooting too many and said we could only shoot 2 birds each on the final drive. Which, to be fair, I think one gun did actually take heed of. Personally I shot 5, principally because there were so many good birds I just couldn't help myself (a line used by many of the team throughout the day in fact !). We returned for tea and cake and some wildly inaccurate guessing of the shot count and bag (led mainly by me thinking we must have fired 200 shots more than we did - I'd clearly stood to close to Warwick during the day). After which I had to head home, leaving most of the rest of the team anxious to drink the last remaining bits of alcohol in Market Rasen. Which probably explains their lack of postings since. In summary - great day. Great shoot. Great team. Rubbish directions. Average host. And we to a man (and woman) failed to shoot a single pigeon. I know the way know, so count me in for next time, but preferably with a host with less strict rules.......

Having just got back from the pub I'm rather concerned we may shoot the bag on the first drive. Or close too

My SGC renewal was posted on Monday. New cert was delivered this morning. I take my hat off to them - amazing service !

Wrong kind of snow ?

I do like the look of that hide

A polite and patient host? Hope we have one of those on tuesday...... Great photos and write ups as ever

Yep, date moved to next Tues !

My bigger concern is will they be testing enough for Lloydi ?

I have fizz. And sloe gin / Kings Ginger. And Mrs SNS is making cake to accompany the sausage rolls etc I shall be bringing.

I'm shooting - see you there !

You both really missed out - Lloydi shot brilliantly (I understand JDog believes otherwise in relation to the last drive), I witnessed JDog missing a couple (albeit he shot some crackers too) and the two novices, very well mentored, shot very well indeed

I fear they may increase their charge to us next year given they saw how smartly Lloydi was dressed.......

The increase to 20% on 4 Jan 2011 was from 17.5% not 15%. So your memory is incorrect. But the till girls explanation is even poorer !

If I understand what you have done then you owe £11 VAT (being £55 x 20%) but have £1.67 (being the VAT inclusive element of £10) to offset against that meaning you owe £9.33 to HMRC (ignoring any other transactions in the same period obviously)

I think we need a picture of the hat really

Correct- the OP was about an echo hence my post but I guess it could have been misleading given the subsequent posts Am going to order an Echo though I think having read the reviews

They are reduced by £20 today

I've got that too. A week after the vomiting bug. I better recover for Saturdays shoot !

Well, except of course you can appeal (as well as ask for a review) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-600-classifying-your-imports-or-exports/notice-600-classifying-your-imports-or-exports#appeals

Do any of you Archers know where in the Midlands I could buy some coaching for my secretary as an Xmas present ? She has won a few competitions and is quite good I believe but thought I'd try and get her some help to become even better. Might cost me a fortune if she makes the Olympics and we have to go support her though !