[Send the dog]

6 minutes ago, marsh man said:

A great report on your first days roost shooting now the game season is over, and how nice it must have been for you and your dad spending the afternoon shooting together , well done to both of you .

 

Yes, it was nice to be out. At 75 I'm never sure if he won't pack it in at the end of each game season, but he keeps on surprising me.

[Send the dog]

Now the pheasants are safe, permission to get out after the estates innumerable pigeons has been granted. With vast acres of rape and winter wheat to shoot over, the birds have been flocking in larger and larger numbers in the last few weeks, and so to a shelter belt between two 100 acre rape fields, with father at one end and me at the other.

My usual haunt down by the river had been treated to a visit from the wood processor in the autumn last year and is now an unusable new plantation, so after 12 years of fast and furious action down in 'the swamp' behind me, I bid farewell on a little detour before setting up in the shadow of the poplars on the windward side of what is known unimaginatively as hundred acre west.

With a strong south westerly gusting up to 40mph, last weeks reconoiter by the old man indicated a strong presence of between 2 and 3 hundred in the immediate area, flitting between the warm Great wood to the north and the feeding areas all over the field. Hopefully then, a fruitful afternoon was in the offing. A frantic start saw me let off 9 shots from my trusty armsan without reward, while dad was busy at the other end. A bit ring rusty perhaps, with my opportunities to shoot over the last year few and far between (although I didn't disgrace myself on beaters day earlier in the week).

I broke my duck as the cartridge count reached double figures, a bit of luck seeing my wild swing through snap shot knocking down a woodie that passed high to my left. Ones and twos followed with more misses than hits, but the flow of birds was steady and I soon reached 10 down for around 40 shots. My last shot resulted in a winged bird setting its wings and being carried down to the hedge at the bottom of the field. A long blind retrieve for the dog, who was gone for several minutes before returning with her prize and hearty congratulations from me. With the light beginning to fade and father appearing from the gloom with what appeared to be a full game bag, it was time to pack it in. Back at the car, we pooled our haul and counted up 17 total, so not a bad afternoons work. 

Weather permitting, we will try again next Saturday and I might even find some time to dust off the decoys if work is kind.

[Armsan a612 questions]

Mine was new when I bought it and has probably had 5000 carts through it and maybe acted up twice, not cycling (most likely due to me using too light a load).  As already said, keep it clean and it shouldn't give any trouble. I've not noticed the lever release button being overly stiff, but then I am a ham fisted oik.

[Roost shooting]

On 27/12/2021 at 21:19, ditchman said:

i agree with that....i believe i know of the best roost shooting wood in east anglia..........the gamekeeper has the rights to it...and takes 2 folk now and then for a shed load of money...he has been doing this for 20 odd years...never even had a sniff at it.....

Got to disagree with you ditchy. I shoot the best roost shooting wood in East anglia. The only reason the keeper can't take it off me is the big boss gave me the permission and I'm never giving it up.

[New lady in my life]

Beautiful pup. I have two labs myself and I wouldn't be without them.

[Hilux or Amarok ?]

My farmer mate loves his amarok (14 plate 2l tdi). Its light years ahead of his old 3l ranger. The auto is very smooth and pulls well good for towing and is the top spec so luxurious inside. Probably a nicer place to be than a hilux, but little to choose from in terms of reliability and ability. I have heard that the v6 amaroks are problematic. 

[Wind and cold]

I remember a registered shoot some years ago down in Hampshire on a bitterly cold blustery day just like you experienced. The conditions suited my snapshooting style and I scored unusually well,  but there were some absolute nutters wandering round in shirtsleeves like it was a summers day. I was wearing a set of agricultural thermal overalls and a fleece and I still felt cold. When it comes to clays, that was the day I became a fair weather shooter.

[The joys of buying second hand.]

Until I earned enough money to afford a decent car, I practiced bangernomics for years. Its amazing what you used to be able to get hold of for under 1k (with a full MOT). I had several that didn't pass a test after 12 months, but one 20 year old VW golf bought for £750 passed every year for 5 years and only cost me a few hundred in servicing costs. I will keep my now 7 year old subaru until it dies having owned it for 3 trouble free years. I'm with Walker570, I'll never buy a new car.

[a new patio laid]

Great job, worthy of a professional, certainly better than some of the landscapers I've worked with.

[Accidents On Farms]

I was talking to my old man today and asked him if he could remember anything else that happened. Not to him this time, but the neighbours farm had a pig man fall in the slurry pit and drown, must have been 40 or more years ago now but still fresh in the memory for dad. What an awful way to go.

[Accidents On Farms]

Dads worked and lived on farms his entire life.  In the 80s he was crushed by a cow once before milking, broke four ribs and his left wrist. Just tiredness resulted in a lapse of concentration and the resulting mistake which to be fair could have been a lot worse.

Also way before I was born, so probably late 60s he had a narrow escape when the front wheel on his massey 135 came off when he was carting straw on the main road pulling the tractor into the ditch and turning it over. He managed to fall clear but will never understand how.

He also doesn't wear a wedding ring any more after having the finger ripped off at the knuckle by a piece of machinery he was working on.

So many ag accidents happen because people are tired or have lost concentration, or are just too pressed for time to be careful.

[Armsan a612 black, do they rust?]

Had mine for 6 years. Not done loads out on the salt marsh, but plenty of inland wildfowling, pigeons etc. Barrel coating holding up well, receiver starting to get a bit beaten up but I can't complain as its a working tool and is probably my most used gun.

[Near Misses In The Field]

Bit of a different one here.

I was beating on a large shoot about 10 years ago, acting as stop at the corner of a wood. There was another beater about 50 yards further down the way, and another at the far corner. It was blowing an absolute howler tha day, and I was glad to be partially out of the worst of it while the main bulk of the beaters were bringing the cover down either side in the full force of the gale. Idly looking about, i noticed the next stop along from me kept waving at me and pointing, so at first I just waved back, but his gesticulating got more and more exaggerated and I thought I heard him shouting something but I couldn't make it out.

Next thing I know, I was knocked flat by a large branch falling and whacking me a glancing blow on my head and back. Picking myself up, I did a quick check and amazingly felt fine, if a little shaken. Matey came running up to me asking if I was OK and how he had tried to warn me and why did I ignore him. He could see this branch getting pummelled and must have had some premonition it was going to hit me. Funny thing is that it didn't make a sound as it broke off, so I had no idea what the guy was trying to tell me.

[Thoughts On Why Members Don't Post As Often ?]

1 hour ago, pigeon controller said:

The forum requires feedback to survive, we are practical/ physical people due to the sport we pursue. I would not want ( Text speak ) to become the norm. Due to my age I tend to use Old Speak and have to struggle to spell correctly because of word blindness, in other words I can speak the words but struggle to spell them.

We have had a number of enthusiastic young shooters who have posted there results and the spelling and word usage has incorrect but you knew what they meant, these made me smile but I would never criticise. 
I would challenge all members to write a post during November on any subject around shooting, current, historic or mythical.

Perhaps the Moderators will give Ditchman free rein for one day??????

Challenge accepted

[From little acorns...]

1 hour ago, marsh man said:

Good to see a youngster taking an interest into the basics of a days pigeon shooting by mainly watching pigeons in the first place , you can learn a hell of a lot without taking the gun out and the more you learn about the pigeons way of life the better the results will be when the big day arrive and you put your plan into action . 

By the way , where about in the county are you ?

At work, wymondham

[From little acorns...]

5 minutes ago, JDog said:

Great post. I hope you take him out. I will if you don’t.

Just try and stop me! I'll make sure I write up the report.

[From little acorns...]

I was sitting in the canteen at work looking out of the window today, watching a flightline of pigeons coming from the direction of the local park, crossing the main road and heading off to wherever they were going to feed for the day. I was so entranced by this that I completely forgot my coffee and it was quite cold when I got round to drinking it. In my reverie, I failed to notice one of the apprentices also watching the spectacle, but a bit later when I was back at my bench, he came over to me and asked me if I was watching the pigeons like he had been.

What followed was one of the best conversations I have had for years. I explained my interest (I am known as that guy who shoots things at work), what the pigeons were doing and why, and he was so interested, really keen to learn and asked me all sorts of questions about it. I haven't had someone with no real shooting background ever talk to me about the subject before, it really warmed my heart. I've taken quite a few of my workmates clay shooting, and one even joined me brushing once too, but none have ever expressed an interest in pigeon shooting... until now.

I did explain that opportunities will be few and far between for a few months, but he's welcome to join me roost shooting (provided the farmer doesn't mind) in the new year. He's not a complete shooting novice which is a plus, and I'm really looking forward to giving him his first taste of the sport. Really made a crappy day at work that much better.

[Thoughts On Why Members Don't Post As Often ?]

I might be a bit of an oddity in so far as most of my pigeon shooting is roost/flightline so I only really get the chance in the winter months. Add into that the fact that I have so little time outside of work and family concerns, that my opportunity to go decoying are few and far between and consist mainly of my farmer mate phoning me up and saying "I had 200 on my peas etc today, can you come and have a go", and I might get a chance a few days later and all the birds have ******** off or my available day the weather is ****.

I don't do as much as I did, and it does upset me because some of my best times have been in a hide on my own or with my dog or my old man just shooting pigeons and passing the time in wonderful surroundings. As others have said, there have been lots of things to put people off, be it out in the real world or simply talking about it online. 

I'll still post my occasional roost shooting reports and the one or two times I get out in a hide in a year I will share my experiences if they are worth talking about. I like this forum, but its for far more than pigeon shooting now.

[Geolander - A/T or SUV]

I've a subaru xv and swapped the worn out geolanders for Michelin latitude Cross which are slightly more off road biased than the standard suv yokohamas, but give good on road performance and economy. The standard geos are a good all purpose tyre, but I have found them to be prone to punctures so the a/t ones may be a better bet in that regard. They are both supposed to be m+s tyres, but I didn't rate the geos in the snow, against the Michelin I now have which are a proper all weather tyre.

[Fox hounds and the Anti footage]

Anyone believing anti fieldsports propaganda needs their head examined. Are you sure you are on the right forum?

[Going it alone]

Good for you. I wish I had the motivation to do it. I grew up on a farm and went straight into grounds maintenance and tree work when I left college. I worked for the council and a few private companies, but after 10 years or so I got fed up with the poor money, so I took a much better paid manufacturing job. Now I've done that for 11 years I often think about going back to working outdoors. My advice would be to try and pick up some regular contracts, looking after the greenery on industrial estates and so on. Hope you make a go of it, and as you are in Norfolk too, maybe I'll try and put some business your way.

[Jimmy Greaves]

He was an absolute goal machine, scoring for fun most seasons in an era when strikers were afforded little protection from professional hackers on pitches that made the somme look like a billiard table. A phenomenal record as a pro, before the era of the megastar footballer. We won't see the likes of him again.

[Are we going backwards...????]

I ditched the smart phone for the first time in 15 years last year and just have one that just does calls and texts. I'm fed up with the constant intrusions that technology makes into our lives. I'm really enjoying it so far, and the battery lasts 7 days between charges.

[Football pitches ???.]

They had a groundsman with a flat cap, a bucket of sand and a fork. He worked his magic.

[Three Events That You Will Remember For The Rest Of Your Life .]

Tearing my cruciate ligament in a county Cup semifinal at the age of 15, watched by scouts from several professional teams. My team went on to win in the final but I never played at that level again.

Witnessing the immediate aftermath of my teenage sisters unsuccessful suicide attempt when I was 7 but not understanding what had happened.

Seeing the damage inflicted on the ancient woodland surrounding our farm after the storm of 87.