Beaters Days 2008

[scolopax]

Found this when sorting through some old files. Normally I keep a hand written diary but on this occasion I made a few notes electronically, it was a busy week!

 

-Well the first day of 'big week' has come and gone. The usual stand and walk affair, all the 20 guns were beaters, the 'keepers' day is later on in the week. This year was cocks only and as to expected most drives were stuffed with hens whilst the cocks made themselves comparatively scarce. The drives were the main pheasant drives so any partridge were incidental. Woodcock were very few and far between. We were going to finish with the ducks but by the time we had picked up from the last official drive it was too late.

Anyway I had a great day and must admit I shot well, bagging 18 cocks and a woodpigeon. The total was 145 Pheasants, 22 Redlegs and 3 woodpigeon. 170 head in total. The bag would have been at least double if hens were on the menu, some years they are, some they are'nt.

Day 2. Different estate. 18 guns stand and walk beaters day. Did mainly outside drives and left the main pheasant coverts. Except for on one drive the majority of the game was shot by the walking guns. Those cock pheasants which had eluded the guns all season by going back got a serious shock today. The bag was 77 pheasants, 25 redlegs, 11 woodcock, 5 hares, 1 woodpigeon and 1 rabbit. I had 11 head of mixed game, missed a couple of storming pheasants but did get one memorable high, wide and fast redleg.

Day 3. 16 guns divided into two teams of eight plus the gamekeeper who always joined the walking guns. Another great day, did a few of the main drives and the rest were outsides. Shot cocks and hens on some drives, cocks only on the remainder. Started off with some fantastic high partridge coming off a dale top, managed to scramble down three for a dozen or more shots. I finished the day 12 pheasants, 3 redlegs , 2 woodcock and a hare. Total bag 178 head, comprising 139 pheasants, 19 redlegs, 10 woodcock, 3 pigeon, 6 hares and a rabbit.

Oh and i missed a left and right at woodcock. Saw a bird get up to my right in some small trees, thought it was a partridge at first and noticed another behind it. As the bird came out of the cover saw it was a woodcock, it dipped low over the field and as I was end gun it was a safe shot which I missed!! The second bird was immediatley behind and followed the same line and I dropped it with the other barrel. All over in a few seconds and it was only later when I realised what I had done (or not done).

Day 4. principally hares. 16 guns again. Very strong wind and some ferocious hail storms. Had 59 hares by lunch. On one drive my brother and myself were pegged next to each other, he had 7 hares and I had 3 plus a brace of partridge. The hares were coming forward like flocks of sheep. The biggest group I saw had nine in it but there were lots of two's and three's. Stacks of hares escaped by going out the flanks or back through the very well spaced walking gun line. Finished the day with two woodland drives for a few cocks, during my stand I shot a stoat in ermine and a cock pheasant. Toatal bag 99, breaking down as 61 hares, 20 pheasants, 8 redlegs, 2 english partridge (oops), 2 woodcock, 2 rabbit, 3 squirrels and a stoat. My contribution was 10 hares, the brace of english (oops again), 2 cock pheasants and a stoat.

Day 5. A bit of a walk round my little shoot, 4 guns, walking and standing. Very windy with heavy wet snow in the afternoon. Very pleased with today, more pheasants around than I expected but then again something had been eating all of the wheat. My guests all had a bit of shooting at some very testing birds. Plenty of breeding stock left!! Two of us finished off with a bit of pigeon roost shooting.

The bag for the day was 13 pheasants, 1 woodpigeon, 3 hares and a rabbit. I contributed a brace of pheasants plus a hare. finished off with 10 woodies and a rook in a blizzard and my mate had another three woodies.

On our final beaters day the gamekeeper asked us to a full hare day the following week as there were so many about and the farmers were complaining.

Again it was a small team for a hare day, 8 standing guns, 8 walking guns and 3 beaters who came along for some fresh air. I had to travel up to work later that day so had to leave at lunchtime but had an excellent morning. We did four drives, I stood the first and shot one hare and missed another. There were alot of hares on the second drive and I shot three going back through the walking gun line. The third drive was stuffed with hares with groups of five and six moving forwards to the standers. This drive put about fifty in the bag, I had three stood as a flank gun, one stander had ten! As many got away as the guns were well spread. The final drive of the morning was quieter as it was a couple of large fields adjacent to the previous drive and alot of animals had moved off due to the disturbance. Still about a dozen more were bagged.

Total bag for the morning was 96 Hares and two Rabbits.

 

 

[strangford wildfowler]

That some shooting