flycoy

A very good friend of mine runs the ground now and he is a very experienced and competent BASC coach, as is his wife, knowing him the ground will now move on with success after success! worked on a lot of events with them both and they don't do anything substandard Been to see him a couple of times and there has always been food available, you may have to wait while its cooked. don't know what happened when you went guys must have been a miss understanding Kevin is very approachable and will bend over backwards to lay on what you need so just ask him for his help! I wish him all the best for the club and have no doubt that area will soon benefit from a top class ground. flycoy

Good start all! well done, lets hope we can get some more interested Flycoy

if we can get enough people interested say 12, then we will look at a venue and get something sorted with the regional office( basc) but we need a definite number. Bakerboy and myself don't do these days for the money, but to help fellow shooters with their development. however we do need to cover our expenses and the venue hirer so need a certain number to be able to do the day Flycoy

Eye Dominance!! this changes an individuals perception of lead, if you have an eye dominance issue you may see the gun to clay relationship as dead on, but you could be giving actual lead you don't see! get a lesson...where are you from? Flycoy

well done, good report, just shows you can make a great day by chance. I remember goin out one Sunday and finding shooters already on the chosen field so I moved to a flight line under the edge of a wood and got 60 odd. that's what keeps you interested! Flycoy

I still use 4 standard and 2 long Apple hide poles I brought from Tony at the Midland, I think must be 25 years ago. still working fine. Had a set of Flycoys too, wish I still had them they worked well as I remember. Give them a try, seem to remember you flick them low to the ground forehand and they will lift as they turn. "Flycoy"

Had a very Busy Midland on the coaching line, spoke to ARP and Postie nice guys. thanks for calling in Guys sorry if I missed anybody else. Flycoy

come over and introduce yourself ask for Russ or Terry

Well! doesn't look like many on PW are going, if you do ,come and say hello to me and old man Bakerboy on the Basc coaching line and Experience. Flycoy

Good point, we usually have about 12 on the courses locally so around 15 would be a good number with the travelling involved. thanks all Flycoy

Wilksy, yeah we were disappointed we couldn't run the day, but only 6 people booked in, hopefully more will book on the next one. Flycoy

Squinting shot and Lurchers, We had to cancel the north west course at Marford Mill, on the 5th Sept because of low numbers . We will of course run one in the North east, if we can get enough interest as the course is only 45 quid for the day we need a good number to cover expenses. let us know if you are interested Flycoy

Squirrel101 As previously said its gunfit, if the comb( the top of the stock where you cheek rests) is too low you will lift your face to see over the rib of the gun, and the comb will hit you as you pull the trigger. its like someone putting their fist on your cheek and pushing it moves you head but doesn't hurt, if they start with the fist an inch away and push it becomes a punch and hurts!! the 30 inch you refer to is the barrel length not the stock. Get a gun fit from a local coach, Bakerboy isn't too far away I think, he will sort it . If you happen to be goin to the Midland call down to BASC coaching and we will take a look Flycoy

Tell me about it, mind you with all the net curtain sewing, don't suppose you get time!! Flycoy

Farma Geddon .........Don't know if the misses would go out with me after that,............................. got any left??!

Managed to get out yesterday afternoon onto some wheat stubble, nowadays I never seem to catch the right time for bales to still be on the field especially on this perm as the farmer rears beef so the straw is his winter bedding and he tends to get them in sharpish. but with the rain he has been too busy trying to get the other fields cut and baled so this one field still has the bales out. Looked promising. Got there around 2.00 and pulled into the gateway to see around 100 birds on the ground and maybe 50 leaving the trees, only had 3 hours as I had to me back for family stuff so didn't hang about to watch the proceedings. When we run the courses I would tell people to sit, wait and watch for 20 mins to see where they are entering the filed and where to set up! with knowing this field well, I only had 2 choices of where to set up, either one end or the other. one side of the field has farm workshops and a bed and breakfast, the other a well used foot path for the castle so like the M6 on a sunny Saturday afternoon! When bales are available I will always go for the middle of the field, but this would of put me too close to everything so I chose to the middle of the width but down towards one end, if that makes sense. the only problem was a power line that they don't seem to like flying too close to. Got to work on trying to get the bales together, they were the big round ones, they never seem very close together when you trying to move them and up hill as well. got to make sure you keep the dogs away from the intended path and take care when moving them safety wise and money wise if you break them open! Finally got them into position like a u shape, one at the back, one either side all on edge, left me with a back rest and around 6 ft deep hide. I then put a few poles along the front with a desert sand camo net over the front, chucked the gear and some water for the 2 dogs in and set out 24 flock coated decoys in a tick shape towards the wind which was from my left shoulder in the hide. I put a floater on the right side end and a couple on top of a bale or 2. by the time I had moved the pickup out of site the birds had started flighting from the direction the wind was coming and the game keeper had turned up to help me set up, too late again must have watched me move the bales on my own from his truck!. "I fetch my gun if that's ok, be back asap" so I put 2 seats up and started with out him, at first the birds wouldn't decoy as the first few shots were getting them up from cut fields across the farm so they were a bit all over, easy to panic and reset everything but give it sometime to see what develops. by the time the GK got back with the tea and gun I had 4 in the bag and the birds were starting to decoy, the odd one not too sure of the power lines. thing to do in a bale hide is try and keep an all round look at whats coming as they can easily catch you out coming low over the bales from behind. They decoyed ok, but a lot were going else where onto a field the farmer was turning cut straw on trying to dry it, we couldn't shoot it obviously but a lot of birds where going in and out as he moved up and down the field. I put the flapper out and this made a difference the birds came in and flew around the back of the hide and into the pattern from the right, nice! had a couple of Rooks and Crows and put them out too, so they made the pattern more realistic, a few birds could see us so will be buying another sand camo net for a roof at the Midland GF. We finished the short session with 22 pigeon 7 corvids, not a massive bag but a great afternoon in a very rarely available bale hide, the shot birds were all good decoyed birds, really enjoy seeing them turning, setting and committing to the decoys and learning from the effects of moving decoys around. means more to me than a big bag everytime. Fair bit of p.... taking when either of us missed!! Flycoy Will be doing my best to get out in the week before its all ploughed over.

Seen a couple of comments about flies on the dead birds, although it looks like summer has left us faster than Bakerboy at the bar!! Any hot days will see loads of flies finding your hide so best way to keep them free of flies is to buy some hessian sand bags from your local builders merchants about a quid each. dampen the whole bag and put the dead birds straight in and fold over the top, the flies will land on the outside and sometimes lay eggs on the blood but they cant get through the material and the moisture keeps them cooler. If you washing them after a few uses best do it in a bucket in the garden not in the washing machine!!!!!!!! Flycoy

I looked at last nights posts and ended up a bit "fed up" with the attitude that appeared to be developing on this thread, but have changed my opinion of you guys and what you are saying. the problem with this type of communication is you cant see faces and pick up on sense of humour and sarcasm.! I have ran these days since they were first set up and only 4 guys ran them North, South ,East and West. we now have more trainers like Bakerboy, who not only pass their experience on but cover a set criteria of law, quarry ID, general licence, location safety, pattern plating discussions, gaining permission, decoying, hide building, shooting technique and we squeeze gun fit and master eye checks in as well. We supply refreshments, clays and even cartridges if the guys haven't got any with them, its a full day and the feed back we receive from these events is outstanding, Bakerboy, me and all the BASC coaches that work at the game fair clinics , young shot, improve your shooting and ladies days do it for the sport and to pass what we know onto people with a need and willingness to learn. I am sure we would of had a good day, with some banter, good shooting and the candidates would have learnt some bits and taught us a few things too. you would of, as members had a chance to see "The Mill", and get face to face with Bakerboy and a more handsome and younger Flycoy . considering we have had nearly 12 pages of comments you would have thought we could of got 12 willing people to come along, I echo Bakerboys offer for Scully to come along and take a look at what we do, especially if he brings a pint of beer with him like his profile picture for after the course!. I am sure Bakerboy will agree, we will do future courses in the more northern areas if enough people want us to run them, its just a real shame this one has not met the numbers to cover the basic expenses. Flycoy

It is a shame! I have just monitored the post really, Bakerboy has done all the work, got the sponsorship etc. Hope you all understand that we would of given our time for free but need to cover the cost of the outlay. When we got the original interest I thought we would have to turn people away with the rush! Thanks to those who have booked a place and your support I know bakerboy is very diappointed as am I Flycoy

Hi George, Welcome to PW have you seen the post for the intro day at BASC hq which is on your doorstep, 5th Sept, on Events Topic. take a look ATB Flycoy

Marki Good idea, but Bakerboy has arrange so many deals for the day I don't think we could of done more than we have to try to make it work. I thought we would have some more newbies on the day. cancelling it is the last thing we want to do. Flycoy

No prob keep at it Flycoy

Hi old boy!, no its not looking good. think we should give it till the end of the weekend then I think we will have to pull it and except defeat. what do you think? Flycoy

Bakerboy, anymore booked in only a few days left? can you check with the office tomorrow? as your a pensioner you have more time than us younger, better looking blokes!

Marki Thanks for the kind words, hope your keeping well and enjoying the shooting, am at Weston park at the Midland GF. if you go come and see us and will see if we can hit a few more . ATB Flycoy