Crow decoying.

[manxman2]

hi folks.

 

I no longer shoot, but ive loved it since as long as i can remember, from bunking school to sneak off with my uncles old bsa .22 single shot bolt action rifle from under his bed at me nans, after constantly going thru his hunting jacket pockets to biuld up 4 or 5 bullets, {and i later found out he knew}, to an all expenses sponsored by government near fulltime decoyer of the corvid.

 

I would like to chat to you fellas about cheap and cheerful shooting, old fashioned field craft that got me 15/20,000 rook jackdore greyback magpie feral pigeon and a few woodies along the way per season.

Edited September 25, 2010 by manxman2

[Essex Keeper]

Edited September 25, 2010 by m2tyj

[manxman2]

 

Thanks m2tyj.

 

You live in pigeon country dont you essex.

[codling99]

hi folks.

 

I no longer shoot, but ive loved it since as long as i can remember, from bunking school to sneak off with my uncles old bsa .22 single shot bolt action rifle from under his bed at me nans, after constantly going thru his hunting jacket pockets to biuld up 4 or 5 bullets, {and i later found out he knew}, to an all expenses sponsored by government near fulltime decoyer of the corvid.

 

I would like to chat to you fellas about cheap and cheerful shooting, old fashioned field craft that got me 15/20,000 rook jackdore greyback magpie feral pigeon and a few woodies along the way per season.

 

 

welcome to the watch mate,thats some shooting 15/20 000 birds a season,be lucky to get that in my life time .

[bignoel]

christ that is a lot of shooting i managed 4000 rooks/jackdaws last year and that was a lot of shooting you must of been at it 3/4 days aweek

[swiss.tony]

hi folks.

 

I no longer shoot, but ive loved it since as long as i can remember, from bunking school to sneak off with my uncles old bsa .22 single shot bolt action rifle from under his bed at me nans, after constantly going thru his hunting jacket pockets to biuld up 4 or 5 bullets, {and i later found out he knew}, to an all expenses sponsored by government near fulltime decoyer of the corvid.

 

I would like to chat to you fellas about cheap and cheerful shooting, old fashioned field craft that got me 15/20,000 rook jackdore greyback magpie feral pigeon and a few woodies along the way per season.

welcome to pw fella wat they pay you that then ? if it s government im sure it will cost us tax payers a fortune? if you dont mind me askin

[jonesbach]

hi folks.

 

I no longer shoot, but ive loved it since as long as i can remember, from bunking school to sneak off with my uncles old bsa .22 single shot bolt action rifle from under his bed at me nans, after constantly going thru his hunting jacket pockets to biuld up 4 or 5 bullets, {and i later found out he knew}, to an all expenses sponsored by government near fulltime decoyer of the corvid.

 

I would like to chat to you fellas about cheap and cheerful shooting, old fashioned field craft that got me 15/20,000 rook jackdore greyback magpie feral pigeon and a few woodies along the way per season.

 

 

welcome along!

 

im sure you have many a story and wise words to offer the majority of us on here with experience like that..not an easy day out after the old crow!!!

 

look forward to reading about your days out!

[manxman2]

OK guys happy days {and looking back they were aswell}.

 

 

Kit.

 

Over-sized bush hat.

Balaclava

Barbour coat

Green quilted waistcoat.

Barbour leggings.

Lightweight wellies.

{wellies go inside leggings and your bug and corn ear/spike clear, no itching and scratching, means no movement in the hide.}

 

Guns.

 

Browning auto multichoke {5 shot in my day, 6 using eley inpax 7}

Browning A1 o/u 28in barreled trap gun, bored out to skeet, full and improved cylinder.

Nikko 5000 26in barreled skeet gun.

A side by side double half choke barreled little beast i used for duck whose make escapes me, it was english tho.

 

Cartridges.

 

All eley for my decoying{purely because they patterned best for me}.

 

olympic trap 7.5

grand prix 6 and 7

impax 6 and 7

 

Many and varied makes and types for game shooting.

 

 

Ive read quite alot of the postings on the board so far, but ive yet to see this little but important tip for improved kill rates over the period you own a particular gun, and it goes for all your guns.

 

My tip is this, and it will cost a few bob, nowhere near as much as it would to get the gun plated mind, but worth every penny long term.

Pattern your gun, test several boxes of different cartridges both makes and shot size, put a box thru the barrels to get a good sample, eliminate holes in the shot pattern, well worth it.

 

And so theres no confusion i am in the Isle of man, not england.

 

And always remember, its true size does matter.

Its nice to get a few, but its great to get 2 sackfuls tho.

Edited September 26, 2010 by manxman2

[manxman2]

Basic back of car kit.

 

 

Binoculars.

Fence posts 4.

Mallet

Saw

Heavy duty flat headed chopper on long handle.

Roll of plastic garden fence dark green with very small holes.

5 gallon drum and cushion.

Bottles of water for the dog.

Roll of bailer twine.

Assorted deeks.

4 or 6 cartons {250} plus assorted part used cartons of cartridges.

 

{over here i got 2 cartridges a head for rooks/jacks and cashed them in twice a week, so i really only took cartridges into the house when there were too many in the car, if i had a 100 heads in a bag they would be on top of 7 or 8 bodies, and i would book 150 and get 300 cartridges x by several bags, some times john would just say to me throw them on the midden on the way out will you, i would say aye righto, then drive into town and cash them in again at another dealers, happy days, the catridges i made profit, and there were alot, i used from november thru march on the clays and sold the rest.}

 

Rope, for lashing big branches to roof rack.

Assorted Canes and dowling.

 

I shot alot of bare stone walled postage stamped size fields, mainly from bale hides, with branched roofs.

 

I had no reservations about using tame calling birds pegged down with the decoys for movement and noise, one rook and a jackdore worked fine, but were supplemented a good few time with young rooks that had eaten too much barley, and could only jump high hoping to catch a wind, dog got them most of the time, so i would peg them down aswell and bring the occasional one back for my m8.

[they were not my birds, but a friends who lived only 100 yards away, he had several including a raven, and the dog never mouthed them once by mistake best i can remember.}

Edited September 26, 2010 by manxman2

[manxman2]

Re-reading that last post has made me think a little about how times have changed even over here.

 

I think i owe you current and future crop of shooters an apology of a kind aswell for my small part in the way i and others of my generation took things for granted, and in doing so in a cumulative way have cost you young fellows a few freedoms we took for granted.

 

I always left my gear in the car cartridges and guns were always hidden away and the car locked when unattended and on my drive over-night.

 

There were many times tho when i was slack, a copper comes into my shop one day and asks if that was my car out front, i says yes i will be gone in 2 mins i am just checking everythings ok, he says theres shotgun cartridges on view in the back of my car, this is in the days when you just went to the post office and bought a vermin or game license for £4 or £8 and there was no trace to guns and cartridges etc, you just had as many as you had and that was it, it didnt matter if you had enough guns and cartridges to invade IRAQ.

 

Anyway he says anyone could just reach in and take them you know, i said aye have you tried, no he says, the dog might bite me.

The point was why would anyone chance getting biten for a box of cartridges they could buy at the time for a couple of quid at any garden centre or gun shop over the counter as easy as buying a newspaper.

But all those lapses around the country all with many other trangressions that would simply not be tolerated today, mounted up in a small way, and the mass murders just put a top hat on it.

 

I am really just said on another thread that finding this place has opened up a pandoras box for me, its just good to read and talk to like minded folk as most dont know what makes us country folk tick.

Edited October 1, 2010 by manxman2