Accuspell

Thanks Dan - jacket and trousers are both SOLD and handed over. Nice to meet you Dan and thank you for the tips on trying to catch my first barbel. Hopoefully it won't be 5 blank years!

Incredible build quality. Not mine, selling for a friend who is no longer with us and I have a load of his stuff to sell for his widow. Sadly it is too big for me. I would tthink 6' 2" and 16 stone plus sort of size, otherwise I would have it for myself, it is fantastically made. The features are shown in the pictures. Heavy patches on the wear areas, double cuffs etc. £125 the set. More pics to come.... note the padded seat that drops down out of the jacket, removable quilted liner with fleece collar. If you sit carp fishing in the cold this would be ideal for that as well as high seat sitting. Cheers, Simon. More pictures. This is as new as I am not sure if he ever wore it. I can't see any signs.

Could it have decided to duck the incoming bad weather? Is there bird flu break out in that area? What other possibilities that I can't think of off the top of my head?

Many readers on here will have seen Tigs, and his mother Fly, in publications over the years, and in reports on here (The Countryman's Weekly many times, Airgun Shooter, Sporting Shooter, Rifle Shooter and Fieldsports magazine for just a few off the top of my head). Well, we lost our boy this evening. A car swerved, I tried to pull him out of the way but the car hit him and just caught me. The driver did not stop. I was beside our car at the time. I took him straight to the vet, they sedated him immediately and the x rays showed he had a broken neck and back half way down, plus ribs and internal injuries. The family got to the vet before I did and kept them open - we were with him to the end. But we are in bits. Anna helped Fly to whelp him and he has never known a different house to this one. He was an incredible hunting companion, he could turn his hand to any situation, stalking on the hill, squirrel shooting in the woods whether still hunting from tree to tree, sitting calling, patiently waiting beside me shooting over the feeder. Roosting pigeons, duck flighting and retrieving from the water, he even did several long river retrieves on the Trent for me, three in succession once, they were committed swims in fast water too. He could hunt himself when allowed and knew what the game was depending on what I wore or which gun I carried. He liked it when we went fishing too. A truly remarkable dog that has left a massive hole and an empty feeling in my stomach. What a privilidge it was to share the woods, rivers, fields and moors with him. His Mum, Fly, was good, but he eclipsed her. Unfortunately, despite several attempts, God broke the mould with him. He was the end of that line. I shall never see his like again, he was magnificent. Run wild, run free our beautiful boy. You're with your mum now, give her our love when you see her. Together again, Tigs and Fly. Forever in our hearts. We will never forget you. Run wild, run free.

That would still be legal. The law is for the use of MORE THAN 2 dogs. So a brace of dogs is still going to be allowed, your lurcher and ferret man is fine, as is the man with a lurcher and terrier, or the man with a spaniel and a lab..

Unfortunately you are correct - and to think that this was one of the most important nucleus red squirrel populations in the country. It was from around here that the squirrels to form the Brownsea Island reserve were provided, likewise the Isle of Wight and augmentation of the Cardinham Woods. 25 sq miles of Cannock Chase has been lost to red squirrels since the last sighting in 1988 - what a crime, nature vandalism even, by not protecting such an important, central population.

The squirrels are still not using the feeder, they will when these temperatures drop and the forest food has dwindled. At the moment they are fixated on the oaks and some are on the sweet chestnuts, so instead of sitting watching the feeder I am still hunting further away from it. The squirrels that live in and around the feeder I shall leave alone for now, I need them to set the scent trails to the feeder for the new intake that will move in to the vacuum I create once they start using it. I have a couple more to put up, but I am waiting to find suitable spots, not so much for the feeder, that can be almst anywhere, it is where I can create a suitable, easy to get to, shooting position that dictates my feeder positions. I don't want to have to go past the feeder to get to my hide. The sunny afternoons has seen the squirrels very active and therefor easy to spot. If you are quiet and patient you can find an active squirrel and get it. I find my ears are as useful as my eyes. When there is little wind you can hear their claws on the bark, the sound of them dropping tree fruit, acorns, chestnuts, even pine nut kernels, or the sound of branches thrashing. When a grey squirrel moves along a fruit carrying branch they invariably bend it and the sound is quite distinctive, that will give a direction, your eyes will pick up any movement to hone in on. I just stand tucked in tight to a tree, in the shadow, pay attention to the direction the light is coming from and try to stay out of the bright patches at ground level and watch where you are putting your feet, place your feet between sticks, don't crack them and avoid brushing low hanging branches - you spot the little squirrels by the movement and sound of them moving branches, don't let them find you through the same means! Then it is just a case of waiting for a shot to present. Between 15.30 and 17.30 I shot 10 in my wood, nearly all on the acorns. A couple were on the ground, but following up the acorns they had dropped. I managed to collect 7 of them, I didn't have the dog with me but even so I think the brambles where they fell were so thick I gave up trying to get through and I doubt Tigs would have either. I could have stayed until dimpsy, but I had a new rabbit permission to go and show my face at. A large house with a fancy garden. I got there for 18.30 and sat in the summer house overlooking the hedge the rabbits had been emerging from and shot 3. It was too dark to shoot by 19.30 but I could still see to watch and there were no more showing at all so I left quietly and will go back again, they also have squirrels. All in all, a decent afternoon.

Sorry for delay. Brinkworth is the one, if he is too busy with Forestry Commission (like Ceylon, Rhodesia, Burma - it will always be the Forestry Commission for me!) orders there is another very similar maker in Wallsall/Burntwood. Keith's Highseats, he makes all sorts of stuff. Link to his feeder page: https://keithshighseats.co.uk/products/deergame-pan-feeders/

With the natural food taking their attention I am getting good results from sitting in the hide before dawn and watching for activity in the area around. I have sited a new feeder and left the hopper lid tied open and scattered some cracked maize around the ground and on some stumps and fallen trees to get plenty of scent out there - I don't touch the bait with my hands and use a small scoop to avoid leaving scent, or at least to the minimum. They seem to know when bad weather is coming because they were out everywhere. I managed three in a couple of hours and saw plenty more out of range and further up in the wood. Hopefully they will travel to the feeder later on in the winter.

Napier Deluxe cleaning kit 12 bore. Unused. Box of cleaning patches extras. £40 posted

Winchester / Browning Invector chokes by Classic Doubles. 4 chokes with key: 0 notch 1 notch 2 notches and 3 notches. That is Xtra Full, Full, Modified (3/4) and Imp Mod (1/2) with a key. These will fit either Winchester or Borwning barrels for Invector chokes (not Invector plus - they are longer). These are £25 - £30 each used so all and the key for £100 posted. Redding star crimp tool 12g For those of you who reload your own cartridges. £10 posted. Pair of Napier aluminium snap caps (there are a pair, I just photographed the one because they are the same) £5.

A couple of fleecy / woolly lined gun slips. See pictures for detail. Sizes are on the pictures too. First one is a leather type, full length. I think it is synthetic leather but I could be wrong. £30 Next one is a Leg o Mutton, canvass and fleece / woolly lining that extends to a full length slip for an assembled gun. External zipped pocket for accessories. £35 External pocket and full length.

I had to vacate the release pen and take my feeder and chair out. The old wooden feeder was looking a bit worse for wear so I took the opportunity to buy two of the robust metal ones from Brinkworth Pest Control, I weighed it up and to be honest the materials and time consumed to make one made these a very good buy, they are reinforced for 50ft-lb air, so will withstand nrmal airguns no problem. I got mine set up in a new area and made a hide at the same time, if you are going to cause disturbance, cause it all at once! I am going to have to get back over in the morning having left it a fortnight to settle in and be found. The build quality, industrial paint finish and design have been proven over time. I expect decades from these, so the price will average out to negligible over time.

Despite the volume of naturl food about, hazels and pine kernels in my woods... the feeder is still getting visited enough to make it worth sitting for a few hours.

It is learning when to use it that is the trick. Whenever you are out and about, even just taking the dogs for a walk, listen to how squirrels talk. You don't want to be giving out an alarm call, what you actually want is a conversational call - it is worth listening to how other squirrels react to a call from one. When they answer each other, that is the call to mimick I tend to use the 3 bark followed by a long braaaap one. Bap, bap, bap - braaaap. leave it 10 or 15 seconds and listen for a reply, then repeat.