243deer

6 adult females yesterday on a walk around which I will add to the total 2 were very pregnant so another 6 - 8 that I will not have to deal with in the future 961

When I get called out early on a Monday morning (the most common time the police are short on resources) it is usually to a mangled car and to dispatch an injured animal. This morning the call was to a deer trapped in a gate, screaming its head off with half the road watching and the house owner wanting the deer released. Can I sedate her? Was the first question Not in the way you mean. Was the reply, the humour somewhat lost. A blanket over the munty doe calmed her and everyone else down and stopped the noise. Then the house owner agreed that cutting the gate was the only real option so lent me a hacksaw and a simple cut, bend and rear feet lifted through and she was off. Sometimes Chinese honeycomb steel is an advantage as bending the bar back was not difficult. Anyone that thinks that the usually quoted 5 foot fencing for muntjac is adequate should note that she popped over a 6 foot panel with no bother. Chances of sleep tonight are slim, going to be a long day tomorrow.

good job, after all the rain we had the fields are looking dry now, who would be a farmer?

They might not be the cheapest initially but per year I seriously rate Hoggs, I have several pairs that are 20 years old, I purchased from John Forsey's

Have fished Black Dyke a couple of times. The usual flies are working including dries, location is the key.

I have a 612 sitting in the cabinet. I use it for the occasional wilfowling invite as I simply do not want to put steel through my sbs. If you fancy having a go with it you are welcome, my nearest clay ground is Chalk Farm.

With the weather turning decidly chilly I decided to go and drop some venison off to one of my land owners and have a look around at the same time. At around midday I spotted 6 roe deer at the far side of a field I know to be 380 yards accross. I spent a very enjoyable 10 minutes observing. I never tire of this, watching them behaving naturally. 4 does and 2 young bucks in velvet made up the pod. The damage that they are doing to a relatively new hedgerow, now 10 years old, made up of blackthorn and hawthorn, is becoming more significant every year with a very apparent browse line now appearing. The 2 bucks are not particularly good quality so there is no reason not to harvest them for meat. The only cover that would get me anywahere near is a netting and two strands of barb fence that has some patches of bramble growing up to post height. With some stretches of 40 yards without bramble this was going to take a while. Fortunately the deer are moving to the corner of the field meaning that the effective length of the gaps is lessened. With 6 pairs of eyes on the lookout it will just need patience. The wind is steady, about 20mph and coming from my 8 o'clock so I judged that I should avoid being winded if I took a shot from around 100 yards. A little further than I usually like but still a challenge to get that close all the same. Over the next 20 minutes I did a hands and knees stalk simply keeping each movement slow and easy as it was impossible not to be seen at times. Stopping each time a head was lifted from feeding. A dry, grassy field that will be cropped for hay this year makes this type of stalk a lot more pleasant than it might otherwise be. For once everything went according to plan and the selected buck dropped cleanly. The 2nd one can wait for another time. To get the chance for this type of traditional stalk was a real privilage and it made a change from the more opportunistic stalks that are the norm.

You might find your poi is not that far off when you test your copper rounds, my .243 was less than 1/2 inch off which was pleasantly surprising, used 100gr lead and 85gr copper, both Federal. To the op, if you are losing zero it could be scope as already stated and it could also be mounts. What scope / mount combination are you using?

Forestry England have been using non-toxic for at least 5 years to my knowledge. I specifically asked a ranger in private if he had experiended any issues with copper and he said no problems at all. Bear in mind that anyone shooting 200+ deer per year will not want runners and the grief of retrieval far away from where they shoot. The rangers usually use .308s. FE do not currently control grey squirrels at all, a disgrace really, so that ammunition question does not arise. There are, however, very many syndicate game shoots on Forestry England controlled land. The question of whether steel would be damaging for their machines is an interesting one as a lot of wood now goes for pulp and use in power generation If I have to pay say £2.50 a shot to shoot a deer with copper rather than £1.25 with lead, that is still really cheap meat. I normally use around 100 lead rounds and 20 copper a year practising. Currently I shoot all meat for my consumption with lead, as I butcher away from bruised meat I really do not see that as a problem for game dealers, supermarkets or the general public as it does not affect them in any way. Happy to use a copper bullet if shooting larger deer that go into the public food chain. Absolutely no reason in my view why lead needs to be banned for any form of practice or target shooting, that includes clays, plinking with air rifles or any other form of target shooting. I also cannot see our armed forces wanting ammunition at twice the price.

Have carried letters of authority from land owners / managers with me since January to carry out essential deer management. This was authorised by Natural England. I think this sets a precedent that would at the very least be a very strong defence for immediate essential pest control activities when you have a direct request.

As Conor well knows I am totally against a complete lead ban as it is simply not necessary. This has been shown in deer world where the vast majority of stalkers will comply voluntarily with using non-toxic when needed. This probably has a lot to do with having to put a traceable ticket on a carcass so anyone not complying will soon be found out. Absolutely no reason why birds could not be tagged with the registered number of a shoot, in fact for food traceability this would be another positive. Tags are cheap enough for even small shoots to comply. With this in place the change would come from within the shooting community. Just because I choose to eat game and venison shot with lead I would not wish to impose this on anyone not comfortable with it. Indeed if more folk were to eat game and venison because it was known not to contain lead that would be a huge positive. I will fight for my right to choose what I shoot with for my own personal consumption, I am extremely disappointed that BASC et al will not do this on my behalf. I am quite happy to use alternatives to lead when meat is going in to the food chain and there is a disconnect between shooter and consumer. Why BASC et al could not have produced a statement along these lines rather than their ill thought through, crass, catch all statement effectively stating that all lead should be banned and attempting to impose this on their own community is beyond me. Alienating everyone not a 12g or 20g game shooter was not smart. It highlighted that BASC's main agenda is for game shooting, they seem to have forgotten their roots.

You keep them down your end of the county, no need to send them over this way

They put on memorable driven game shoots so I am sure that their woodland setup will also be innovative and interesting.

It does not matter how tricky, or how many hoops, it is up to anyone moving overseas to comply with the local rules and move there legally. It is entirely their responsibility to ensure they have done their research, if they do not feel able to do this on their own then the simple answer is to hire a solicitor. I have no problem with Spain kicking out illegal immigrants, we should be doing the same.

Can I just say that Norfolk is complete rubbish. Nothing to do, nothing to see, %^&* beaches. Just do not come here, it is a waste of time and effort.

I think his name starts with Han, you all know what it ends as. He used to be my MP but his responses to my concerns regarding the countryside were effete. I very much doubt he even knew where in his constituency my village was.

Looks lovely, gonna have to give those a go

Accountants certainly have a role in any business but the cartridge market is highly competitive and if a company produces absolute rubbish due to cost savings it will not last long. A poor cartridge will also affect the reputation of all the other cartridges in their range so it is not in a company's interest to produce the sort of cartridge you are alluding to. I well remember various French and Russian cartridges from the 70's that had some interesting features, including so much confetti that seeing a second bird could be challenging, they all killed pigeons though. Over the years we have seen a steady increase in the cost of cartridges, if the price had remained stable then, for sure, cost corners would have been cut. With many folk now owning a chrono with which they can check for themselves that the speed claimed is in the ball park, then going on to check the pattern I cannot see a compelling argument that a poor cartridge would not be quickly found out and the news splashed over social media with glee.

I get that, I did not realise that this was not a contracted job. Maybe ask him if any of his farmer mates have one you could borrow?

If you have a tractor why not a pto hole borer? Even if you buy new and sell 2nd hand after a few jobs it will pay for itself in saved time and energy.

I rely on the cartridge manufacturers for selecting something capable, they helpfully call suitable cartridges names such as 'clear pigeon' or 'pigeon special', I reckon they know a lot more about cartridges than I do. I am a simpleton when it comes to cartridges, I use 7 1/2 24g for clays and anything from 28 - 30g 6's for pigeon and game I think the rest is up to me.

There will be a few folk on here that are good enough shots to notice a difference in cartridges (which they are probably capable of adapting to very quickly) but for most of us mere mortals which pigeon cartridge or choke for that matter is a mute point. If you are an average shot gun shot, as I am, then letting cartridge type or choke get in your head is counter productive. Your energy would be far better focussed on gun mount and swing through.

What a ludicrous chicken and egg situation your feo has put you in. He gets a feather in his cap for keeping gun numbers down which is not his job. As soon as restrictions allow take advantage of the offers, you could also come over to Norfolk if you like for an intensive weekend of firing several firearms calibres and talking safety on an area that will look as flat as a billiard table compared to your area. Once you have the knowledge regarding safe shots/backstops, hazard awareness and be able to mention in the right place the use of high seats there is absolutely no reason why you should not apply for all the calibres you want. I would start with .22, .17hmr and your .243 as there is not much you cannot do with those 3. If you have reds to shoot then swap the 243 for a 308. I know there are lots of other lovely calibres but it sounds like you have the sort of feo that you need to stick with what he might understand. You can add in fac air as Stu suggested if you have some rats to take care of. With 2 permissions you have perfectly good reason to have firearms. Calibre is completely irrelevant to whether you are a safe shot or not hence do not be afraid to apply for all that you need. Your already good safety record with your shotguns has shown you to be a responsible person so in terms of experience even a day out with someone experienced will teach you what is safe and what is not. Any reticence on the part of the feo then challenge them to come out on site with you so that you can explain face to face what you need to do, where, with which calibre, pointing out safe backstops, public footpaths, dead ground etc. He has to have good cause to refuse you which he will not have after a day or two out with the lads.

Always the fault of the gun and not the person, on the basis of 'preventable' deaths caused annually we should ban cars or at the very least have far stronger checks on the mentality of the folk driving them. Both ideas equally illogical.

I would put 2 12v batteries in series and add a controller capable of taking the higher voltage then wind up as required. 24v should give you twice the speed, not sure how long the motor will last but I presume all motors are made with some over voltage capability. possibly worth getting a scrappy windscreen wiper motor first and testing 24v with it for a day or two rather than testing with your magnet, if it fails then your magnet will for definite as the magnet motor is under greater strain. multi voltage rheostat here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Controller-Adjustable-Stepless-Governor-Regulator/dp/B078TC3DTX/ref=asc_df_B078TC3DTX/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310883071142&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9636222332841082082&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9044891&hvtargid=pla-452985164615&psc=1