Uilleachan

Grouse moors in Scotland weren't run for profit until relatively recently, they were run for sport and paid for out of disposable income by people who could afford it, as a life style choice. Many's a fortune was squandered on the grouse moor. Intensive grouse moorland management is a difficult sell in this day and age. That said I thought the CF piece was quite well balanced, the presenter was a bit of an eejit but the young keeper came across well and he made some valid points.

Yeah shifting the plant likely did for it. The feed does bring on the flowering. Because of my location I wait for the sun to get above the top of the adjacent hill before I feed them, so beginning of February for a few hours sun per day, when the flowers appear I use a cotton bud to hand fertilise, which works in leu of creepy crawlies. I may order something a little more interesting for this year....

I've a few 2nd winter survivors on the kitchen sill, still producing fruits. I'll give them a wee feed in a couple of weeks and hopefully they'll produce a few more chills whilst my new seeds get going. Not planted any new seeds yet, first week of February usually for me. That way there's a bit of heat for an hour or so if the sun puts in an appearance.

Good stuff, hope you enjoy it. When I got mine I spent quite a bit of time driving it in 2wd to conserve fuel. I discovered that for me, driving winding rural roads, it was a much better ride driving it in 4x4 auto, i.e. the middle setting. That and running chunckers sees me on about 38mph, 40mph on run on decent road.

No. Less MPG

Point is, even sleeping with it, are you going to take it everywhere with you when you're not sleeping? I routinely travel with a shot gun, I don't tell people I have it with me, I keep the receiver (trigger locked) and fore end in a bag in my room, locked, and I keep the barrels and ammo in the car locked in the boot. I try to park the car in full view of reception cctv or somewhere uninviting etc. That said there are places I won't leave my gun in the car, even broken. Only yesterday I made the call to come home instead of shooting today as my job on Friday has been extended to include Saturday and as I have no control over where I'll be staying (Glasgow/Paisley) I bit the bullet and came home to park the gun, I had a good day shooting on Wednesday so can't complain. Early start tomorrow morning though

With fiocchi I find it best to look at the box label for the actual size in mm, 2.2 .23 are usually both marked as 8 on the box, I have some TT1's marked 8 that are actual UK 8's (2.2) my TT2's are also marked 8 (2.3) are actually UK 7.5 where as my FBLU marked 7.5 are nearer UK 7 (2.4), all clay rounds. It pays to check if it's a specific size you're after. Good confidence inspiring ammo for all that.

That involves blotting out the bird with the end of barrels, which isn't ideal. If I could see a little more rib I reckon I could up my average. Thinking a match width up on the comb, but I'd need to pattern it to see where it's throwing to decide. My sxs throws high and I can adjust to that easily enough so I'm thinking I can do the same with my main gun. In an ideal world I'd have a trap gun too, but to date I've done so little trap that at the moment I can't justify the expense nor, more particularly, the space.

Me too. The 525 to rule them all is the "sporter" IMO, clay game and fowl, it has it covered. I'm a fairly big guy so with the adjustable comb flat to the stock and cast a few mm to the right I'm seeing no rib and shooting flat. Fitted a butt pad shim moved the trigger forward and bingo, the gun is fitting well and I shoot it well. Next time I'm in the vicinity of a pattern plate I'll be finding the height the comb needs to be for a decent DTL trap sight picture then I'll make a gap tool so I can replicate the comb height simply and quickly. I did think about setting it up with a bit of rib showing so that I could just get used to that for all my shooting, but I like the flat shooting characteristics and I do little DTL, so having the adjustable comb is well worth it, in my opinion.

Not giving something a sporting chance doesn't detract from the enjoyment and thrill you get doing it, the enjoyment and thrill is in and of it's self actually the meaning of the word.

Yeah and, you describe the true meaning of the word wonderfully above

Over complicating the word "Sport". In this wiki link they run off with the hijacked modern usage, competitive energetic activity. But further into the page we find the true meaning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport Quote for the link: "Etymology The word "Sport" comes from the Old French desport meaning "leisure", with the oldest definition in English from around 1300 being "anything humans find amusing or entertaining".[9] Other meanings include gambling and events staged for the purpose of gambling; hunting; and games and diversions, including ones that require exercise.[10] Roget's defines the noun sport as an "activity engaged in for relaxation and amusement" with synonyms including diversion and recreation"

Then we are roughly on the same paragraph. However, I'm a sporting shot (all be it not one of the best). Lets not lose sight of the meaning of the word "sport". It's a hijacked term thats now used to describe athletics and "wholesome" activities. But it's a wider term that encompasses everything from betting on the horses to shooting for recreation, many of us remember the pre highjacked term and how it's applicable to what we do. Be that snooker darts shooting running etc. lets not forget either that the much vaunted modern wholesome idea of "athletics" is an artificial modern construct, athletics were originally a sport in the true sense of the word, it was a cash prize sport with keen betting on the side. Just as "Forest" doesn't just mean a big stand of trees, actual meaning is: uncultivated ground set aside for game hunting. "Hill" isn't a humpy bit of land it's: uncultivated land set aside for summer livestock grazing. The meaning of terms changes over time, but that doesn't mean we have to up date the descriptions of our activities to suit modern interpretations imposed by changing fashions punditry and media hype. If you like, there's a distinction in the terms Sportsman and Sports man.

Problem there is that sold or given, by the estate/farm/shoot on an official capacity, i.e. "free game birds/low cost game birds" is that we're into food hygiene regs etc... a minefield most don't want/can't get into, hence the existence of game dealers. If there's so much that supply is leaving demand in it's wake to the extent that game dealers can't cope with the sheer volume then we have an issue. Perhaps the answer is to have the guns take the birds. Thus shifting the burden of responsibility away from the shoot and placing it on the individual.

Absolutely. Knowing friends or neighbour will take game means you can take more should the opportunity arise, in that sense then bag size is relative. Fishing is the same for me, I do a lot of that and on occasion there's opportunity to exceed one's capacity to use it all. A couple of years back I caught 50+ pan sized finock, half to three quarter lb, I kept 6, a brace for me, a brace for the GF and a brace for a pal who's disability means he can't access that spot, the rest went back. My rule is that I'll only take for people who've specifically asked, with game or fowl people who've asked and I know can deal with a whole bird, although I will prep a bird for someone who can't, occasionally.

"Thing is what is a big bag" For me it's all you can use. The only time I've ever shot something I haven't planned to eat has been shot in the name of pest control, or been so shot up to be unusable. Was at an estate 40 bird sporting shoot on the 2nd, not that well attended on account of the weather but attended well enough for there to be a good spot of craic. I shot so badly last year, and on the first stand this year to not be in a place contention, but well enough this year to win my first bit of silverware on the shoots handicap system. Might not be much but I was really pleased to be able to add my name to the 47 year old trophy. Take a prize win a prize, one lad brought a brace of french partridges from a covey that had appeared on their ground. Being the handicap winner I had 4th dibs from the prize table, there were still a bottle of nice spirits but I made a point of taking the partridges, which was nice when the lad that brought them was announced as 2nd in the handicap meaning he got the bottle. Had them last night with my mother for dinner, which she enjoyed very much and, I can smell that my partridge soup stock is coming along nicely, as I type. I think if we (royal all inclusive "we") have such a surplus of driven game that it can't be used, then I thing we have a problem. IMVHO, game has to be eaten to justify taking it. But other opinions are available.

Makes sense to me. Had a post pop up on Facebook last week from the aftermath of a pheasant shoot (given the poster I suspect somewhere in East Lothian) showing a pile of birds being burnt. Perhaps posting that type of stuff on FB wasn't the wisest move, but then if that sort of thing wasn't happening there'd be no image to post.

Yes, but just a bit. Remember that for shoes it's more or less a one off treatment, with perhaps a touch up on the creases, where the shoe bends and, over the stitching, every now and again. I say one off but applied, in my case, after each resoling, with a touch up in-between. Having resealed, I just polish as normal with my usual polish

With hill boots for sure and certainly how mine were before the advent of composite hill boots and I gave up on traditionally made leather boots, on cost. On my welted brogues no. I'm heating them up then applying the sno seal, leaving it to set, tidying them up and then polishing to a mirror finish with a decent polish on top. That said I only re treat with sno seal when the shoes come back from a resole, as the wax doesn't move the brogues usually only require a touch up to keep them waterproof in-between.

Sno-Seal for waterproofing real leather. It's basically refined bees wax. http://www.atsko.com/sno-seal-wax-8-oz-jar/ For laminate or breathable barrier made uppers it's always best to use the recommended treatment, but for traditionally constructed boots and shoes there's nothing better. When the boot or shoes won't take anymore bees wax, let them stand over night in a cool place, give them a buff to remove the excess and then polish, at which point shoe polish can be used for colour. Great stuff.

Last year I was tackling sporting clays skeet and quarter, changed this year to quarter and half and noticed a marked improvement on longer birds. On the croft we can recover missed clays to use again as the ground tends to be soft as it's covered in soft rush which undoubtedly helps with landing survival. When picking thrown clays it's interesting to note that very many have been chipped but haven't broken, even found one whole with three holes in it. For christmas I've bought myself another half choke and plan to start shooting half and half. Reasoning is; I can hit everything I'm hitting with the quarter with the half. I like buze's idea of using 3/4 for practice, so once I've settled into half & half I'll make a point of trying a few practice rounds half & 3/4 and see how I get on.

When I blow a shock I can tell straight away as everything starts to knock and bang, but for the life of me I can't tell from the drivers seat which it is, only front or back as a wet finger dab. If you press down hard on each corner the corner should press back firmly, if it's soft bouncy or not quick in coming back that's a good indication that it's a shock absorber. Also you can look to see if there's any oil leaking from them, best done when the car's been dry for a day or two. With the state of the roads generally, blown shocks are quite common. Not saying it is, but it'll cost you nothing to check it out , even if it's just to eliminate the shockie angle..

Sounds like a blown shock absorbers to me. Take it to a garage if you don't know how to test them yourself. It isn't a huge job, but even if the problem is just one corner it's always best to change them in pairs.

Shot Cluny for the first time today, enjoyed it too. Great layout and some interesting (read tricky) pairs. Lads were working hard to keep everything running due to everything being frozen, despite the slightly above zero air temp, I rather fancy it was a losing battle. Still managed to have a great time and still managed to pop a slab, most definitely be back, when the weather improves. Shot Auchterhouse, in the snow, yesterday as well, which was great as always.