Nicky T Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) Was very fortunate to have a days driven Woodcock Shooting yesterday at the Okehampton Woodcock Club with Dale (truckboy1), Ivor, Winston, Barry, Stuart, Dave, Adam (adamf), Ben (bunny_blaster), Tom and the rest of the gang As it was a bit of a trek, we decided to head down the night before and took advantage of the Travelodges £19/night offer Ben wasn't so lucky as he played it all a bit lastminute.com and ended up forking out £50 on the day Anyway after leaving Manchester at 4pm, stopping off en-route to pick up Ben at 6ish we managed to get to Okehampton for little after 9'o'clock. The day started off on the right foot as we met up at Okehampton Golf Club for an all you can eat feast of a breakfast and thw chance for some early heckling and banter once we'd met everyone. Dale, Ivor and Stuart instantly made us feel very welcome and once breakfast had been wolfed down we began to talk about what the day would entail and how it would be run. With thirteen of us in total, we split into two groups; Dale captaining ours and Stuart taking the others. The brief was walk one, shoot one so Ivor and Dale decided that we should walk the first drive and off into the undergrowth we headed! To say that it was thick going in places would be an undertstatement as the picture below shows: At times there were fears as to whether or not Winston would make it out alive, but thanks to him we saw three beautiful reds come bounding out as we were waiting to start the second part of the first drive Our first turn to shoot afforded the other team the luxury of trapsing through the undergrowth as we lined one of the many inter-connecting path ways waiting to see what would be flushed out. The picture below is the view from my "peg": Edited January 12, 2012 by Nicky T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicky T Posted January 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 It wasn't until our second drive that I saw a woodcock, let alone get a shot at one and was chuffed to catch a glimpse of this fella as he tried to get past me. Thankfully instinct kicked in (and the sun blinded Winston) and I managed to get a shot off. At that time i was 50/50 as to wther i'd got him or not as he was going so fast i hadn't seen him fly on nor drop, but thankfully Stu's chocolate Springer went bounding in and pulled him out at the end of the drive: Our next "walk" involved some more heavy woodland that at times looked more like the Enchanted Forest than anything else: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicky T Posted January 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 As the day went on plenty of Woodcock were flushed out and it was decided to try a couple of areas out to see if any Snipe were about. We walked a very open patch of land full of the reminants of some recent logging and managed to flush three or four out for the waiting guns. Lunch followed and after the break the compliment was returned on the following drive and we were rewarded with opportunites at both Woodcock and Snipe; below is a picture of my first Woodcock and Snipe: With seven drives down it was time for our final shoot and we relocated to a completely different part of the shoot in readyness for some flighting in an hour or so's time. This was my view for our final daylight shoot: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicky T Posted January 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) The flighting was a none-starter for me, with only the briefest glimpse of one woodcock, but both Ben and Tom has a lot of opportunities The final bag for the day was: 15 Woodcock, 6 Snipe and 4 Woodpigeon All in all a fantastic day's shooting was had by all three of us - cannot thank Dale and the guys enough for the opportunity and look forward to returning Edited January 12, 2012 by Nicky T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam f Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Nice to meet you Nicky and the rest of your group. It was a cracking day and it's not always as good as that! :-) I myself managed a pigeon, a snipe and a woodcock, Mike my guest had 2 pigeon, a snipe and 2 woodcock. I simply love the eve flight but my god does it make them hard to hit! I had my first chance at a left and right on eve flight and dropped the first bird with the bottom barrel and missed the second!!! Arrgghh! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon123 Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Well done, Good pics :good: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Congratulations, sounds like a great day out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodcock1 Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Sounds like an ideal day to me. Plenty of good company birds and grub. What more could you ask for. Well done everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicky T Posted January 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Nice to meet you Nicky and the rest of your group. It was a cracking day and it's not always as good as that! :-) I myself managed a pigeon, a snipe and a woodcock, Mike my guest had 2 pigeon, a snipe and 2 woodcock. I simply love the eve flight but my god does it make them hard to hit! I had my first chance at a left and right on eve flight and dropped the first bird with the bottom barrel and missed the second!!! Arrgghh! :-) Great to meet you too Adam and many thanks for your help with the pin feathers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciaran Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Good shooting!... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildfowler12 Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Cracking write up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunny_blaster Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 It was a fantastic day and what a great bunch of guys. Got to thank Adam for putting me in his "hotspot" on the last drive before the evening flight. I couldnt recommend it enough and was certainly worth the travelling. I think we will be back next season without a doubt. Cheers Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truckboy1 Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Evening Nick, Well i think you have done us proud with that write up!!! glad to hear you had a cracking day and was really pleased to get you boys some woodcock as adam has said its not always like that!!! it was a great day with great company, your very welcome to come again if you can put up with the journey Thanks again for your company All the best Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azzurri Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Sounds like a top day out Great write up and pics Nick,enjoyed that :good: Azzurri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Excellent write up...like the cheesecutter, the tattersal shirt, shooting jacket, moleskins and the wellies....but lose the bloody earrings :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pykie Posted January 12, 2012 Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Glad you boys had a good time and that the woodcock are about in good numbers despite the mild weather. My dad is Stuart who retrieved your woodcock, he said you had a good time. Well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aled Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Cracking write up there. I Love days like that Tight Lines Aled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicky T Posted January 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Glad you boys had a good time and that the woodcock are about in good numbers despite the mild weather. My dad is Stuart who retrieved your woodcock, he said you had a good time. Well done Thanks - your Dad looked after us and those dogs of his are awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodcock1 Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 I just googled your location to okehampton and its at least 250 miles. If Im correct thats some drive for a days woodcocking. Real dedication, my hats off to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Nice pics, well done :good: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicky T Posted January 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 I just googled your location to okehampton and its at least 250 miles. If Im correct thats some drive for a days woodcocking. Real dedication, my hats off to you. It's fair to say that we did a bit of driving All well worth it though - especially after the three of us (me, the missus and the little'un) all devoured the woodcock and snipe i brought home for dinner tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Good pictures and a good day had by all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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