Jim Neal

Ferals are ridiculously persistent. They learn how to keep just out of harm's way whilst still hanging around. I used to shoot them around a very big grain store, until I gave it up as a bad job. For the first few years they would perch on the gable end of the roof which is about 25 yards up at the apex. They'd swirl around then set their wings to land and all you had to do was stand with your back to the building and pop them off as they came to land. Then they got crafty. They'd overfly the gable end and go sit on a tower a bit further in along the roof so you couldn't shoot at them from the ground. If you let a shot off they'd get up and swirl round, you'd maybe get a shot or two and then they'd all be back safe again. After that they moved their perching area to the gantries connecting the massive grain silos, which are even higher than the flat store roof and you just can't shoot there. It's interesting. Even though nobody really bothers trying to shoot at them any more their behaviour is now ingrained, and no doubt taught to the younger ones so it becomes the norm for the flock to do that. Maybe in another 5 years they'll be venturing back into shooting range again?!

In the first lockdown, a large part of the reason behind the "guidance" or however they want to call it regarding not travelling and staying at home was not to reduce infection but supposedly to reduce the burden on the NHS. The logic was if people were doing less they'd be having accidents less and therefore needing to go to hospital less. I've always questioned that. Nobody considered the wisdom of RoSPA who state that "53.6 percent of all injury-involved accidents occur at home" so my logic says you should go out, it's safer! I'd like to bet there were many numpties during lockdown 1 who fancied becoming an avid DIYer and ended up in casualty with bits missing.

I clicked on this expecting to see a neatly arranged display of clay fragments in rows of 10 😃

I think involving the police is a very bad idea. It will only ever serve to have a negative impact on shooting and gun ownership, and you've got to think of the guy himself - it must be a pretty stressful experience having plod knock on your door investigating your alleged wrong-doing involving a firearm. If you feel especially compelled to take action, maybe Pete's advice above is probably the best solution? Carefully worded without being preachy. He'll probably read it, swear, tear the note up and carry on regardless! However at least you'll have obeyed your conscience and taken some sort of action. Let us know how it goes if you decide to knock on his door!

I've got a very similar model to yours by the looks of it. Sometimes it plays up like that, you have to give the crown a bit of a twist/jiggle, also make sure the cap is on plumb central..... but it sounds like you've got past that stage, I'm sure you'd have figured it out by now if it was that easy. The biggest problem I have with mine is the main oven has a tendency to go out - usually shortly after lighting it but sometimes even when warmed up. It's a real pain if you stick it on to warm up and then come back 20 minutes later to a cold oven! It's been responsible for the death of a few Yorkshire puddings too, having gone out when I've shut the over door after putting the tray of batter in. I'd write it off and get something better, Zanussi used to be a quality brand but I fear that's not the case any more.

What sort of vehicle are you talking about? The answer would be a lot different for a sports car compared to a pickup truck! My logic works thus: standard all-season tyres are perfectly adequate on the road unless you drive like an utter loon! For most of us there's only really two likely scenarios where your standard all-season road tyre will let you down, and they are are mud or snow. If you don't drive your vehicle off-road, that leaves the once every two blue moons that we get any sort of snow to worry about, in which case keep things simple: keep your all-seasons on and get some snow chains!

So have you tried it out yet?!

I'm more of a hunter than a gatherer, must have picked the wrong ones

Some people are so polite, it could be a possibility

Set a reminder on your phone for 18 months' time to go and look at it again. It would make a very interesting comparison. I have never seen elm hedges round here, I see a lot of beech hedges, particularly copper beech, and they look splendid when well managed.

"Killings in the city of Nice, France" would have been a less alarming title, but hey, but it made me wonder what the... ! The cycle will go around and around unfortunately.

I used to live literally just along the road from where this video was filmed! I've spent quite some time in that very shed, and its neighbouring sheds, with the featured gentleman "Yonny" making and chatting endlessly about beer He's a legend, you couldn't meet a nicer bloke. He helped set me up brewing properly. It's a shame he packed up his home brew shop "Copper Kettle" but he's now making some excellent beer with Boot Town Brewery https://www.facebook.com/BootTownBrewery/ I think the "Roobard & Custard" is one of the brewery's most popular lines!

Apologies for the interlude Firstly I have to say, whether deliberately or not, you're mixing up two completely different worlds within game shooting. I'm talking from the perspective of rough/walked up/syndicate shoots where the people involved are all equally responsible for dividing up the bag and putting it to good use. It's an interesting point you raise regarding the numbers shot. The day in question when I took home a car full was by far the most productive day our syndicate has ever had, or probably will ever have as long as we operate in the same way. We simply had a bumper bag. I've never said we are only taking birds to satisfy a pre-determined culinary requirement. Do you do that? Do you go out with your syndicate and say to yourself "Right, we've got pheasant stew tomorrow and duck fritters on Thursday, therefore I'm going to take home a brace of pheasant and a brace of duck and I'll be damned if I'll fire another shot after that!" ?? Of course not. You get what you get on the day and deal with it accordingly. Sometimes on leaner days it means you go home empty handed, having graciously stepped aside and offered someone else the game instead. We shoot for sport, and the pre-requisite of participating is that we all do the right thing. On a working man's shoot it is a given that everyone shares the bag no matter what the size and that it doesn't get left to the same few people every time if a good day is had. We're 20 guns plus usually 15-20 additional helpers beating, flagging, picking up, stops, game cart etc... 73 brace divided by that many people shouldn't be a problem if everyone plays the game. Obviously we don't put any obligation upon those who volunteer to help us to take birds away but, on top of the customary brace offered to our helpers, plenty will gladly accept additional birds. On the day I referred to above, it would have been down to each gun to take 2 or 3 brace away with them to evenly distribute the bag. However, predictably the usual shirkers drive away waving their hands saying "No thanks!" and this is what I take issue with. It's well within the capacity of each gun to take and either use or gift 2 or 3 brace of pheasants. But they don't, because they are lazy and selfish. I harbour no resentment for anyone who has the money to pay for expensive driven shooting, but I do have a dislike for those who take from the sport without giving back. I have a loathing for those who feel that money immunises them from the need to respect the activity they are taking part in. You've either not read my previous post correctly, or have deliberately misquoted me; I most certainly did not say that memberships had been rescinded because they didn't take a share of the bag. I said it was part of the reason, the other reasons being related to their general lack of willingness to get involved with the syndicate in the spirit of what it should be: a group of like-minded people working together towards common goals to run a shoot. Everyone pays their money to shoot, be it a couple of hundred quid to go on a farm shoot a few times a season or an eye-wateringly expensive bought day. The magnitude of money changing hands in no way buys anyone out of the underlying traditions and obligations of the sport. THAT is arrogance and ignorance, and to excuse it based on money paid is completely nonsensical. You have said several times that as long as the shot game gets used you couldn't care less who takes it home or not. Let's transpose that to another situation: Say, for example, I live next door to you and instead of putting my rubbish my bin I just dump it on your front lawn. Naturally, you'd kick off about the rubbish all over your front lawn that someone else put there, but then imagine how you'd feel if I popped my head over the garden fence and said "well, as long as it all gets picked up and put in the bin, I couldn't care less!" Do you see the problem there? I'm offloading my responsibility onto you. Is that fair? This is what it's like when you share a syndicate with people who don't feel like they have to complete the circle and deal with the shot game accordingly.

You can assume correctly on both of the above points I'm not the shoot captain so the major ranting comes from him because I would be a little bit above my station to take the lead on that matter - but I'm not shy about reminding people. The shoot captain, along with several others of us who are heavily involved in the running of the shoot, all unanimously share the same opinion on the matter. Guns are told "You shot it, you take it away and deal with it" on every day. We have rescinded the membership of a few guns for various reasons in recent years, part of which is the refusal to take birds away at the end of the day. I find it a bit puzzling how you seem to think that the rich boys paying stupid money are less obliged than anyone else to take a share of the bag. Yes it's a choice but it's also a tradition of the sport, and to refuse the offer of sharing the bag is a snub to all those involved not only in that particular day but the sport in general. Just because they've parted with more money than I bought my last car for doesn't mean they're exempt. This breed of shooter has been moulded by the increasing commercialisation of game shooting and I fear it's going to be the death of the sport.

Have you ever taken home 26 pheasants after a shoot, crowned them out, pared off the breasts, washed them, packaged them up and stored them? Do you know how long that takes, and how creative you have to become in order to use the meat without wasting it? It is indeed a pleasure to take home and use, or share with someone who gratefully receives it, your fair share of the bag. What isn't a pleasure is to be obliged after every shoot day to take home a massively disproportionate amount of the shot game and personally ensure that it doesn't go to waste because some lazy ******** can't be bothered to do the right thing! It becomes rather a chore. I think I must have processed well over 100 birds last season. If people don't think they've got any responsibility for putting the game they've shot into use correctly, they shouldn't be entitled to participate in shooting it! It's not OK to be so apathetic and utterly dismissive of the issue of doing the correct thing. Tradition is the foundation of the sport, and the traditions are upheld for a very good reason. These aren't opinions of my own making - although I wholeheartedly support them - they are the traditions and standards which have been the fabric of game shooting for as long as it has been a sport. As always, it will be the minority of lazy and selfish people who end up being the death of the sport.

Mate, although I think we are very similar kind of blokes and I agree with almost all of your posts I've read on this forum... sadly that's not the case in this instance. The fact that "it all gets eaten" is because there are a minority of people who care too much to let shot game go to waste. It is they who are shouldering the burden created by apathetic people who leave the hard work for the few to take care of! It is the DUTY of everyone who goes shooting to make sure their quarry ends up in the right place. Not a valid argument, sorry. Everyone who participates in game shooting, be they a Lord or a plumber, is obliged to do the right thing for the good of the sport. It doesn't matter whether you eat pheasant for breakfast or can't stand the taste of it, the right thing is to make sure the shot game ends up in the right place. If that means seeking out people you know who would appreciate the offer of free wild meat then that's the effort you need to make. I take the label of "you traditionalists" to infer that somehow you think there is a valid, justified alternative mindset to dealing with shot game ethically... which there is not. If you shoot it, you are responsible for dealing with it, end of story.

You might be able to rescue the situation with a very reasonably priced additional gadget. If you look on ebay for something called stc-1000 it can very accurately control temperature. However it works by switching the appliance on and off via its mains electrical connection, so if the incubator is digital and resets every time it is switched off it would be no good. Otherwise might be worth a punt for around £12

Badgers have 5 toes, easy to spot on a soft bit of mud

When you shoot regularly with the same people, as with the syndicate I'm in, you quickly realise who the usual shirkers are when it comes to dividing up the bag after a shoot. It really grinds my gears! Game shooting can currently justify itself because it is the act of harvesting wild food, so to shoot it and not want to even make an attempt to put it into use as food is a bit of a mickey-take. It puts the whole sport in jeopardy and is a real insult to the others who try to do the right thing. I'm one of the few who end up taking what's left after everyone else has skedaddled leaving loads of brace hanging on the fence. Last year, late summer, we were made an extremely tempting offer of a large amount of extra birds at a stupidly cheap price - and that was added to an already increased number compared to what we usually stock. Naturally we shot some huge bags (for us). In the first half of the season if you averaged it out each person in attendance - not just guns but beaters, pickers up and everyone who tags along - could take 2 or 3 brace EACH to share the bag out equally. Of course not. My record was 13 brace one time, and I never took less than 6 brace each day. My family ate a lot of pheasant last winter, and so did my dogs! I even started making food from the birds to bring on the next shoot day and share around, trying to encourage people to take the birds home and put them to use. I did pheasant sausage rolls, crispy pheasant dippers, some little pies... everyone loved them but nobody else could be bothered to do the same. It just all boils down to laziness.

Sorry for your loss. It's weird being without a dog when you're so used to having one. I had to retire one of my 2 springers due to arthritis a couple of years back so I was down to one. Then I had to leave her at home due to an injury one day last year and I felt lost all day... I kept looking down to the left almost giving commands to the dog that wasn't there! I didn't shoot well, wasn't in the groove at all! So glad to have her back the next time, horrible when you've lost your dog to think there won't be a next time. Keep your chin up mate. Get that pup trained up, the circle will continue

Rather than trying to lug hide poles around you might be better off just carrying some spring clamps and a pruning saw, then obtaining some ash or hazel sticks on site, depending on what's available at/near your shooting location. Push them into the ground and use the spring clamps to fix the net to them. If you're going to be shooting in near enough the same location all the time you can stash the sticks somewhere for future use. Likewise, a 25L plastic jerry can or similar size bucket you could stash for a seat and if necessary it could be filled with any shot birds you want to extract from the location, even your decoys if you think the place is devoid enough from humans to risk leaving paid for kit somewhere out in the field. I think a lot of people might say you need to think a bit bigger - many would consider a properly off-road capable 4x4 to be as standard a piece of equipment as a gun or decoys. To be really honest I think you're very optimistic trying to make this work based around using a motorbike as transport, but it doesn't mean it can't be done... you may be starting a new trend! Good luck

OK glad you got it sorted one way or another 👍

Did you get sorted? I recently got hold of a diff from https://www.1stchoice.co.uk/ that I struggled to find elsewhere

Apologies for the delayed reply, Dave. There are many folks on here much more experienced than me when it comes to decoying crows, as I just don't get the time for it in recent years. You've already had some very good advice on that. As already stated, when they're setting out to feed from the roost is when they'll usually be most determined to get to where they want to be, otherwise later in the day you might be more of a scarecrow just moving them off the field as they browse around on their way home. Regarding the afternoon: One observation I've made is that crows very much stick to the habit of roosting in the same woods. Maybe not the exact spot all the time but they might alternate between several. Observation will tell you where, because they will come in on the same lines all the time and let's be honest they make a bloody racket so you know which wood is a crow roost! If you're fortunate enough to have permission to shoot around the roosting woods you can have a go at flighting them in. You don't have to be in the wood or right next to it, the line will be evident a fair way away but the further you are the wider the line tends to be. You can only really expect to bag a handful but it does give you a sense of challenge and satisfaction when you manage to outwit a few. The flight in usually starts in dribs and drabs around 30-45 minutes before sunset and usually builds to its peak just after sunset. You'll still get a few coming in when it's got quite dark. One thing about crow flightlines - they tend to be quite wide so you can find yourself out of range of most birds with only a few coming within sensible range to shoot at. I bought myself a crow caller a couple of years ago (the type you blow through!) and have found once you get the technique right with it the caller can certainly help get them over you a bit better. You need to be super crafty though! I try to use my hushpower in order not to spook off the incoming birds, but it's not a very nice gun to shoot and I don't get a great shot/kill ratio from it. Its other advantage is, if you're far enough out from the roost, you won't put off the birds already up in the trees, so they'll be doing the job of calling for you. The rule I try to follow is not to be too ambitious and shoot at them at any great range - just wait for the right opportunity to come along. If they're just cruising in without the help of any strong wind you literally just aim at the beak. It's sometimes difficult to transfer from flighting pigeons where you give them a bit of lead because you end up missing the crows in front all the time! Find a nice bit of cover, or make yourself a blind to stand behind, and practice mounting your gun as slowly as possible. Any sudden movements and they'll turn away well out of range. I've found when roost shooting pigeons that passing crows will turn and come for a look at a shot pigeon laying on the ground so I've often adopted that as a deliberate technique! Coupled with the crow caller you can often catch them out. Just trying to think of any other tips I could share... if you happen to wing one and it's still got plenty of life in it when you go to pick it up... you'll find out just what a weapon that beak is! You soon learn they have a very agile neck and can turn their head round to nip you! What an amazing amount of power they have in that beak - when running my Larsen traps I pick birds out using a thick gardening gauntlet and when a crow gets hold of your little finger you certainly feel glad you've got that cow hide in the way. Faced with the situation of dispatching a live one while shooting I'll find a suitable stick for a priest, pin the bird down across its neck with the stick and pick it up as usual over the wings/back. I've found if you keep the stick in front of the crow's face it will concentrate on having a go at that rather than the hand you're holding it with! Don't leave it too long before you put the stick into operation, and give it a few good raps in quick succession as they've got skulls like concrete. Best of luck whatever plan of attack you decide on

I'm a bit of a Led Zep purist so it was a difficult listen/watch at first, especially because the composition rushed through and omitted some of the transitions and fills - like when you hear someone sing a song to themselves and they don't leave enough beats between bars but rush on to the next line... However the talent involved can't be called in to question! A very emotional performance and, as a piece in its own right, excellent. The orchestra and choir certainly added a new dimension. When the crescendo of the lead guitar part kicked in I could see Jimmy Page wishing he was down there on stage to boot that guy out of the way and light the amps up!!