anser2 Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 (edited) Well now its all over for another season its all so easy for us to just chuck our gear in a cubbord or shed and forget about it until the eve of next season , by which time some gear maybe beyond repair. On Friday I cleared out the car. Its amazing how many fowling items slip behind seats during the course of a season. Odd shells , calls and so on. My first job was to hang the cheast waders or they will start to perrish before next September. Gather togeather all your shells from game bags , coat pockets , glove compartments and so on. With the cost of non toxic shells anything up to £2.20 each its well worth giving them a clean up , wire brush the brass heads to get any rust off and a wipe of gun oil before sorting them out into different loads and reboxing them ( I always save a few cartridge boxes during the season for this). If you clean off the decoys with a soft nylon brush in a bucket of warm water before hanging them up in the shed you will prolong their useful life. I do not usualy replace lines or repaint at this time of the year. Thats a job for next August. Just make sure they are clean and hung or stacked for the summer. Coats for shooting are not cheap and will be well worth a brush off . With some I give them a cold wash , but make sure you do not use any detergent ( check the lable ) or it may effect the waterproofing. The game bag will be all the better for a wash in warm soapy water to get the blood out. falure to do this will attract flies in summer and can result in a bad stink next time you use it. Remember you are going to eat the game you shoot and for the sake of good hygene its not a good idea to carry it around in a unwashed bag from the previous season full of bacteria and god knows what else. I once got mine down from the shed 6 months after its last use only to find it full of maggot pupa. Presuming you have cleaned your gun after its last flight it will be well worth taking it to your gunsmith for a clean and check up especally if its a semi auto. Nothing worse than finding it jamming on the first flight of next season. Finally it might be worth giving the car a through clean out if you are likley to be taking the wife out in it or worse dallying with a local maid! I could never understand , but women just do not like the smell of marsh mud mixed with a little blood! Edited February 24, 2013 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 I've just this minute gotten the gun slip out of the washing machine, looks as good as new now. The coat is in there now, following the washing instructions that are on the wash label! I did the cartridges last weekend, surprising how mucky they get, waders are next to be cleaned up and put away. Over the summer i need to redo the waterproofing on my lightweight jacket that i used at the start of the season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john12 Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 U say clean and hang ur waders. I have just brought my 1st set of waders this year. Had them on(been out putting up mallard nest tubes) so any advise you could give me to keep them in best condition would be great. I was just goin to give them a hose down then hang them in garage to dry. After this was goin to pack them up in a box and put away in cupboard under stairs for next year. Would this be ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reabrook Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 (edited) I wouldn't pack them away that's for sure. They tend to perish anywhere they are folded. I always clean and dry mine then hang them up out of direct sunlight and out of the way of vermin - mice love the inside of waders for some reason Edited February 24, 2013 by Reabrook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 Mine will be getting cleaned completley and then hung up in my shooting cupboard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad63 Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 No chance of our members hanging up their boots just yet. The last two weekends have been spent clearing willow scrub from our freehold land (part of our HLS agreement), sweeping the freshwater marsh for plas-wads and empty cases before the cattle go back on and in a couple of weeks time an estuary clean-up before the reeds get too thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samyw Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 Cleaned decoys done cartridges and took beretra xterma in bits for full clean and service all put away ready for next season my auto is my wildfowling gun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nic Posted February 25, 2013 Report Share Posted February 25, 2013 best way to hang them is to get a piece of wood, drill holes of suitable size and then glue in dowels. fix to shed/garage wall and waders hang from boots if you look on fleabay you will see what i mean.... really easy to make yourself item 321064480933 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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