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adzyvilla

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Posts posted by adzyvilla

  1. I have a forester, the last of the manuals (2018) and I've had an xv and an older outback in the past. I don't think you can beat subaru for all round ability. As others have said, tyres make a difference but I've been places in a subaru on cheapo tyres that many other cars on expensive rubber wouldn't touch. Get an outback if you like the estate look although I'd argue a forester is slightly more practical. Nothing wrong with the cvts but autos aren't my thing. Sad that subaru won't be making a manual car in future, my current car will be my last.

  2. 6 hours ago, kitchrat said:

    Talking of squirrels.....

    I was recently going roost shooting in a 6-acre wood but the farmer advised me that a couple of chaps were going to be after squirrels. Not good but they are decent guys and we decided that they would start at one end of the wood, where I wanted to be, and then if they made a noise down the other end it could even help me. I soon found them a nice drey they could reach with their poles and 4 of the grey tree munchers were sorted. The boys moved away and from time to time I heard a few shots. I managed to fill a game carrier with pigeons and later heard that they had accounted for 13 squirrels, in the one small wood! It is quite isolated from any other wood, even well away from any decent hedge, so I was quite amazed. 

    Never underestimate the squirrel. The estate i do most of my shooting on has a full time pest controller who traps 365 days a year and took well over 200 just from tunnel traps last year. We shot 51 over two beaters days and the keeper likes to shoot them whenever he sees them. But ive still never seen as many there. I think the recent mild winters and overabundance of food have been very beneficial to the tree rats, coupled with their own ability to breed all year round and produce large litters.

  3. Cheers MM. Agreed, its been a disappointing season really. I'm mixed about next week to be honest. If the keeper says there is anyone else out I will probably go, if only to try and keep the birds moving. Plus there are a couple of sticks I'd like to cut before the sap rises too far.

  4. Time: 14:45

    Location: Mid Norfolk 

    Conditions: Mostly sunny, still, 8°c 

    Joined by father again for a grumpy cameo, I think mum forced him out of the house before the risk of serious injury became severe. He has rat issues in the sheds since the wet weather has forced them to find drier haunts and his mind was firmly on fenn traps and cat food bait. Over a quick cuppa we discussed our prospects and we both agreed they didn't look very hopeful. Still, it was nice weather to be out in, if not good weather for shooting pigeons.

    Approaching via the usual route, we drove down the track between the (still) standing maize and the shelter belt that runs at right angles from the estate road and watched as a hundred or more woodies flitted out and away above us, scattering into distance. Of interest to me was the plague of squirrels running out of maize and into the ivy clad trees that line the edge of the belt. It was then that I decided they needed my attention more than the pigeons at this point of the afternoon, so we parked up by the release pen and went our separate ways.

    With the dog pretending we were out beating, working the undergrowth while I had my eyes firmly fixed on the treetops, we worked our way back along the centre of the belt. I blasted any drey I saw, much as I had done a few weeks previously when we had taken this belt through on beaters day but much as then, nobody was home. As we neared the end the dog put two pheasants up and they made their disapproval at our disturbance well voiced as they flew off out over the park. Walking back up the side of the maize I flushed one squirrel out and bowled it over before it made the safety of the trees. It was as big as a rabbit and heavy, grown fat on the remnants of the maize cobs. Thoughts now returning to pigeons, I made my way into the carr.

    Wednesdays heavy rain had caused the river to rise right up into the carr and my usual spot was ankle deep in murky water. It had also disrupted my makeshift bridge so I spent some minutes repairing it as best I could and made my way to the northern (higher) side of the wood to find a dry place to stand. Much like JDog a few weeks ago, I found the midges had awoken from their slumber and were dancing in the shafts of sunlight that were cutting through the trees.

    At least I didn't have to wait long for my first chance and got on the scoresheet straight away as an unwary woodie flared in for a landing right above me. My second shot accounted for another as a bird startled by the bang chose the wrong flightpath and crashed down into the flood water to my right. Dog dispatched for the wet one, I picked the other and we settled in to see what the rest of the afternoon had in store.

    From the sound of it, the few of my comrades that were out were having a busy time. Jonsey (aka the one Saturday wonder) was missing again so dad and I had this end of the estate to ourselves. Although a fair few pigeons were flitting about, they weren't following the usual flightlines choosing instead to appear at random all around me, seemingly teleporting into the sky and disappearing again whenever they chose, making the shooting tough and sporadic. I focused on picking off (or at least trying to) any birds that came to rest in the pine trees in front of me and had a little success but none of the shots were clear. Two more in the bag for half a dozen shots.

    The shooting seemed to have fizzled out for everyone as the number of shots echoing around me died away until there was almost silence. The birds were there, but no longer wanting to commit, and the latter part of the afternoon became a frustrating waiting game. Dad joined me as the sun dipped below the horizon and I could see he was itching to return home. His measly 4 shots, with his more familiar miroku 20b had returned nothing but more grumpiness, but at least he can no longer blame his new gun for this misses. We wrapped up after I had loosed a final few shots at some of the cloud bothering birds that flew over me, more out of boredom than anything but I needn't have bothered. The option is there to go next week, but unless the weather is more favourable I don't think I'll bother.

     

  5. Maybe purely coincidence or a clue to their rarity (or commonality), but my non shooting mate at work handed me a bag of a dozen or so mixed cartridges earlier this week as he is settling his fathers estate and found them in a draw. There were two of these same purdey cartridges in there.

  6. 3 minutes ago, marsh man said:

    A very detailed write up as we have come to expect and we were not disappointed , I take it your dad live in a bungalow and not one of these high rise houses if he was indulging in cleaning out his gutters , I do mine and can easily reach with the aid of a pair of steps .

    Our part of the county was very slow on what was the third week , half the woods seemed empty today with very little shooting going on , next week is the last week and apart from it being very mild I cannot see this years roost shooting breaking any records , still , as I keep saying it's the taking part that count  

    Yes, last bungalow on the way out of the village. Having lived on farms his entire life he couldn't bear living amongst other houses.

    To be fair, we had a good crowd out today. Only jonesy wasn't out so pretty much all 17 big woods covered except 1. This was easily the best roost shoot so far this year, and I've heard from a couple of the other lads who had good afternoons. There was easily twice the amount of shots ringing out today. I can only hope next week is as good.

  7. I had a picture book when I was younger that told the story of an oak tree from when it was planted in pre Norman times by a forgetful jay all the way through to the second world war. It was wonderfully illustrated and I dearly wish I still had it. I'm sure this tree could tell some similar tales.

  8. Time: 14:30

    Location: Mid Norfolk 

    Conditions: Overcast and mild, light SSW winds with occasional gusts, intermittent drizzle.

    What can I say? The omens looked pretty good today following an early morning phone call. In a recovery of Lazurus like proportions, the prodigal father announced that he was to rise from his fireside armchair, don his boots and venture forth into the wilds of Norfolk in search of pigeons. The slightly later start accounted for by the fact that when I pulled into the driveway at my parents home, he was busy cleaning out the guttering and had to finish his task before we could go. From whence this burst of youthful exuberance? No idea, but long may it continue.

    On approach we took the long way round in an attempt to suss out what might lay in store for us, and this last minute reconnaissance yielded some promising intel. We could see stacks of birds flitting from wood to wood, seemingly at random but it must have made some sense to them. We also noted that none of the maize strips or bird mixes had been flailed yet, with the farm foreman busy flailing hedges all across the estate instead. Parking at the opposite (dry) end of the wood meant a long walk for me and leaving dad in his favourite hidey hole, I made my way along what I could see of the riverbank.

    The carr was, if anything more flooded than last week. I situated myself and the dog in the driest patches I could find and was immediately in amongst the birds. In a brief purple patch I had 3 for my first 4 shots, including my first 2 dead in the air at the same time, a feat I hadn't previously accomplished roost shooting. They were really motoring in an unusual south-north trajectory and shot driven style, their momentum carried them the 40 or so yards to the edge of the trees and clear of the wood to land out on the waterlogged drilling. The third bird came in low and flared, startled by the movement of me reloading but I had the presence of mind to get 2 shots off and luck was with the second one. Dog dispatched for collection duty while I caught my breath.

    After the hectic start had tapered off, the pigeons started playing their favourite game. One would flit past, tantalisingly just out of reach whilst a second and third would slip by in shootable range whilst the hapless shooter was distracted. This set the scene for the majority of the afternoon which saw me restricted to sporadic shots garnering a further four birds for a handful of cartridges. They all seemed to be following the odd South-north path and carried by the strengthening wind were flying high and fast, requiring some significant lead. I had my eye in enough I guess, but more got through than I would have liked.

    Later on as the sun went down and the sky darkened I was joined by the old man who had a sour expression on his face. A pocketful of empties had resulted in a big fat zero. He blamed his gun, a new (to him) parker hale 804. So I took it off him and promptly shot the next two pigeons I saw, albeit slower ones coming in to perch in the big conifers. "Well, it must be these cartridges then". Hull superfast? Give me a couple I said. Took the next one that came in to land as well. I chucked him a pair of my fiocchis and he let them off just as the last light was being chased from the drizzly sky. Finally, he got on the scores sheet and with that, we headed for home. Total bag 11 between us, for a box of cartridges from me and an undisclosed amount from father. Welcome back old man.

  9. Thanks for all the replies! Roll on Saturday, work is quite stressful at the moment.

    On the subject of the pigeon/stock dove, I've found the humble woodie is becoming quite diverse in its appearance and size. Perhaps the influence of outbreeding with ferals etc?

  10. Thanks MM, I often wonder if roost shooting is becoming a dying art and the changing habits of pigeons means that it will soon become a thing of the past. None of the maize strips got flailed this week so no chance at decoying today as I'd hoped. Maybe I can persuade him out again at some point, I think he is a bit down like I am after the end of the game season and just needs a kick up the ****, mind that probably won't do his sciatica any good...

    29 minutes ago, mossy835 said:

    thats a very good right up.not to many round hear not coming like they used to,i did get 6 and a rook,

    Will we see the likes of the roost shoots of old? Ever since I've been doing them its been on a downhill trajectory. I remember as a 15/16 year old getting bags of 30 or more im a couple of hours. Perhaps they are getting too crafty?

  11. Time: 14:00 till dusk

    Location: Mid Norfolk 

    Conditions: Very mild, overcast and light, almost imperceptible easterly winds.

    I think dad has officially retired from roost shooting. I got a phone call from him this morning to say he wasn't feeling up to it and this is the second week in a row hes swerved it. Mother reckons he has had enough but doesn't want to tell me, so we will have it out tomorrow. It has been nice to share these afternoons with him, but at 76 I fully understand that it may be time to stop hanging around in damp cold woods and sit in by the fire instead.

    There wasn't quite the turn out this week in other woods, and Jonesy was missing as well so I was pretty much on my own at the Eastern end of the estate. Having donned my Temu ghillie suit (jokey Christmas present from my other half) I made my way to my normal haunt in the far end of the carr to find it under about a foot of water where the river had burst its banks. I managed to find a high spot for me and one for the dog and settled in for an afternoon of contrasts. 

    The current era of roost shooting seems to be epitomised by long boring periods of inactivity punctuated by ever decreasing windows of time where a few pigeons might pass fleetingly into view. Much like last week, the birds were high, wide and lacking commitment, offering scant opportunities for a shot. The first hour saw me having a string of single shots at birds that stretched my abilities to the limit. Half a dozen empty shells for a single solitary pigeon set the scene for the rest of my afternoon. I decided a little break after all that frenzied activity was needed, so I set to work cutting up some of the smaller windfall trees to construct a makeshift bridge over the deep and forbidding ditch that splits my end of the carr in two.

    Back in position after my 'rest' for more of the same. The birds simply weren't around in any numbers and the lack of shots in the distance suggested the same was true for the rest of us. If I fired my trusty armsan 5 times over the next hour I'd be surprised, and my total bag didn't increase. Standing there with time to spare, I listened to the sounds of the woodland to pass the time. A green woodpecker here, a jay or two there. A party of finches working their way along the outer edge of the wood and on to the tall double hedge that divided the twin 40 acre east and west 'high' fields. I was struck by the amount of stock doves I could hear calling around me. If my small corner of Norfolk is typical, their numbers are looking healthy again. 

    As the dusk approached and the clouds darkened with the promise of rain, I finally started to see some activity as birds came in to look for places to roost in the conifers behind me. A purple patch yielded 3 birds for 4 shots, before another lapse as the birds became wary. I shifted position to the edge of the wood, masked by a fallen ivy clad tree and I sacrificed a clear view of the sky for being 20 yards closer to the intermittent flight line that follows the path of the river. I need not have bothered as the birds had clearly dried up, preferring to hole up in one of the many empty woods around. As I made my way back to the car, a flock(?) of jackdaws chatted and chocked their way overhead on their way to roost, sounding like mocking laughter at my achievements of the afternoon, or lack thereof. Even the dog wasn't happy. Better luck next week eh?

  12. Time: 14:00 onwards

    Location: Mid Norfolk

    Conditions: Mild, mostly cloudy with light showers, moderate westerly winds with some gusts.

    Yes, its the first Saturday of February and it was time to head down to the carr and lie in wait for some pigeons. Not all was right with the world however, as father was otherwise engaged on grandchildren duties, leaving me to tackle the 60 acre wood on my own. 

    By the sounds of it, a good crowd was out on the estate, including new recruit Jonesy who was to be stationed in the neighbouring and usually empty belt to my immediate east across a still unharvested sugar beet field. I positioned myself and my trusty older dog in the release pen, slap bang in the middle of the carr for two reasons. Firstly I wanted to keep an eye on my car which contained my sleeping younger dog who I intended to do a bit of training with later, and secondly to make up for the lack of fathers presence on the far side of the wood. The most recent Intel on the movement and numbers of woodies suggested the half decent flocks of a few weeks ago had moved on or dispersed altogether, so I wasn't hopeful of a big bag, but on the beaters day a few days before I'd seen a few here and there so I wasn't totally distraught. 

    My unusual position had me standing a good 20 feet lower down than normal in a dip, and the poplars and fir trees that surrounded the pheasant pen felt like they were towering over me in an attempt to intimidate. Undaunted, I raised my new winchester to salute the first pigeon I saw, a fast flying bird on a mission, and was delighted to see it flare and flinch as it ran into the edge of my shot pattern. It swirled around a bit before dipping out of sight behind me to fall on the parkland. Dog dispatched for a testing blind retrieve, and after a good few minutes she returned empty mouthed. One for later, I returned to scanning the skies, the horizon threatening heavy rain with its slate grey wall of cloud while above the sun was breaking through in places.

    Many birds passed at what seemed like unreachable heights way above the tree tops, reluctant to commit to the sitty poplars on the riverside of the carr, but I stretched my barrels at a few that I felt might be in range. No luck there, but it sounded like Jonesy was enjoying himself as regular and frequent pops could be heard emanating from his wood. It seemed at least that the pigeon numbers were making this a worthwhile afternoon for some. 

    Finally, they began to come in to land in ones and twos, high up in the tall poplars, and often out of reach, but I bagged a couple more that fell outside the pen wire, awaiting collection at the end. I moved further down to the Western edge of the pen in an attempt to take advantage of a stuttering and intermittent south-north flight line I had been observing and got some luck once more, but at the very limits of my ability on these high and fast birds being buffeted by the breeze.

    With the light beginning to fade, I decided to pack up and get the young dog out for a training sweep of the area to retrieve the handful of birds still lying out in the wood. But first I took a look out on the park with the older dog, and had to admit defeat in looking for my early bird. It must have gone much further than I thought. Youthful exuberance unleashed from the boot of my car, not an inch of that wood was left untrod as she smashed and splashed her way through the undergrowth bringing forth four dead birds (only one slightly mouthed). I picked a fifth before taking her down to the river to practice water retrieves and crossing water courses until the light was almost gone. Steady rain began to fall as I made my way back to the road, so at least I dodged the weather. 

    All the maize strips will be flailed during the week, so the chance of a bit of decoying next Saturday if time allows. Will continue bringing the young dog on in this manner, I may even have her with me while I shoot next time, loaning my old dog out to father once he is back. Total bag 6 (one not retrieved) for an embarrassing number of shots. Must do better. 

  13. I have tried to get the wife, previous girlfriends and female friends into shooting for over 25 years, at considerable personal expense and nearly all of them have given it a go at least, some have taken it further than others but none that I know of have taken it up as a hobby. Perhaps they just don't want to do it? Are we going to force them into it to meet some quotas?

  14. Out beating today on my patch. First drive was a wood that was bordered on two sides by the remnants of a harvested potato field that was hosting a flock of at least 250 pigeons, which scattered to neighbouring woods as we approached. Next drive on the other side of the estate and blanking in pushed up another large flock that swirled around for a bit before settling in a big conifer wood that isn't shot. Woodies numbers looking good in mid norfolk, at least at the moment. Hope they are still there come the end of the month...

  15. 35 minutes ago, marsh man said:

    Talking to a ex P W member ( answer 2 )  down the marsh this afternoon there was a constant stream of Pigeons going into the wood a good 100 yds behind us , he had a little go yesterday afternoon in that strong wind and the bulk of the Pigeons were going over my field and he was on land the G Y W A rent , even so he had a nice lot of shooting and just got in double figures .

    Around here the o s r fields are the last resort for Pigeons and the main diet are the fresh lifted Sugar Beet fields , trouble is a lot of the fields are connected with game shooting and they are happy to leave them alone on beet tops rather than put them on to the o s r fields , but as for numbers , not sure with the rest of Norfolk but in my little neck of the woods we are seeing very good numbers and I might have a little go myself if the weather stay dry and above mild as Pigeon shooting in the cold is no longer my favorite past time .    MM 

    Thanks MM. Not a massive amount of harvested beet round here yet, and it all seems to be in the wrong place (if you are a gamekeeper anyway). I do know of one field harvested a while back that is really wet and rutted that has been hosting huge numbers of geese.

  16. Yes the wet conditions won't have helped, anything that wasn't drilled early seems to be mud and standing water. Saying that, I'm currently sitting in my parents front room looking out of the window to the west looking over a big rape field in the distance and seeing a fair bit of blue-grey toing and froing in the dying daylight. I can hear a gas gun going in that direction so the wind and noise are probably keeping them moving about.

  17. Currently I'm only dreaming of some roost shooting and decoying the remnants of maize strips, but I'll have to wait as my two farms are strictly off limits until the end of the pheasant season.

    Not to say that I haven't been doing a bit of impromptu recon in the local area. Mid and central south Norfolk so far seems to be enjoying slightly increased numbers of pigeon making the most of the abundant ivy berries and other natural food sources in the woods and hedgerows, but mostly steering clear of the very average rape fields that dot the landscape here abouts. This last week I have seen separate flocks of 60-70 in two different areas (one North and one south of dereham), and my favourite roost wood hosting well over 50. 

    Hopefully this is of some interest to local PW members. Would be keen to find out if the woodies are bothering with rape yet in other localities.

  18. 55 minutes ago, Stonepark said:

    Things that shouldn't exist? Don't follow the high school level of physics dumbed down so it can be "understood"?

    The problem is that like other things.... people are locked into a narrative or paradigm and fail to look, much less understand, and those who do are often excommucated because they don't agree with the "concensus".

     

    Well Galileo was right, the earth is a ball and orbits the sun

    Einstein was correct E=mc2

    Robitaillie is correct... the sun is a liquid/semi-sold

    Vogt was right... the sun micro-novas on a 12,000 yearly basis

    Davidson is right... the universe is Electro-magnetic and dark matter doesn't exist

     

    Bought and paid for follow the narritive/consensus scientists are wrong about other things as well such as :-

    Climate change & global warming & CO2

    COVID virus

    Fusion on earth

    mRNA vaccines

    to name a few

     

    Yes, the ion drive already exists but as noted is simple well understood physics.

    A fellow Ben Davidson fan? I thought I was th only one....

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