Maddaftspaniel Posted November 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 A good read, worthy of an article in the 'Shooting Gazette'. Thanks I hope my writing is better than my shooting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 A good read, worthy of an article in the 'Shooting Gazette'. +1. One of my favourite threads on PW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoot and be safe Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 It's not always about the bag, but just being out there enjoying the countryside and fresh air. I enjoyable read of a modest day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 It's not always about the bag, but just being out there enjoying the countryside and fresh air. I enjoyable read of a modest day I agree but when you have spent all summer nurturing and caring for the birds it is a downer when you put so few of them over the guns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoot and be safe Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 I agree but when you have spent all summer nurturing and caring for the birds it is a downer when you put so few of them over the gunsI know what you are saying, however they will be there for next time and fingers crossed you have better returns, I'm sure you will. You had 135 shots, which, if every one connected you would of had a bumper bag. Don't blame yourself, blame the other guns All the birds we hatch and reared this year went into one big wood (110 acres) and after 3 shoots we have not reached double figures of birds shot in there. It is our first year of driven in the 110, so we are still working things out. Last year we ran it as a rough/semi driven (some guns walk with the beaters, they got the shooting. Some guns stood). And on another drive (Nant), we returned 24 last week. Don't know the individual shot count for this drive but it would of been high Every drive is unique and the birds behave differently each time. Don't be disappointed with low returns. If nothing else, it gives you more birds for later on in the season, possibly a extra day slotted in at some point. I am enjoying reading about your shoot and looking at the pictures. It's not to dissimilar to ours. Keep up the good work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpowder Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Really nice bit of country and a brilliant write up. Blackpowder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magman Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 How have i missed this thread Great read and as SABS as already said very close to the crown shoot thread Looking forward to your future posts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2014 Saturday was our second day at Glentarkie and it was a nice bright morning with very little wind as we gathered at the shoot cabin for coffee and bacon rolls at 8.30 am. We were 16 guns (two teams of 8) but had fewer beaters than normal and no guests shooting. The ground was very wet underfoot with the cattle yet to be taken indoors the grass was in a right mess and the forecast was for more rain in the late afternoon. It was my teams turn to beat the Car park drive and we soon set off taking in the corner of the 4x4 course, down through the wood by the roadside through the cover crop and into the car park conifers putting up about 20 birds in sporadic bursts. I left Tessa in the truck and kept Biscuit on the lead to prevent misdemeanours! By the end of the drive I had counted 27 shots including 4 at an unlucky duck that had got off the pond behind the gun line. A few birds had slipped out the back of the drive by jumping up ontop of the silage bales and launching themselves over the houses at the roadside. I counted only 3 pheasants and a mallard drake in the bag. The next drive was the low pen wood and I had drawn peg 1 which saw me stationed at the end of the line atop the bank to catch birds sliding out the side. I like a good flat footing to stand on but I was very uncomfortable standing on the slope and that is my excuse for missing the early partridge that came my way with both barrels followed by an immediate repeat at another one. I then tail ended a cock quartering to my right and then put a second shot into it so that it crashed dead into the wood over the blackthorn hedge. I missed a high crossing hen before tail ending another overhead cock and finishing it off with my second barrel so that it crashed into the bank behind me. A third cock presented itself on my left and again I just clipped it behind but didn't need a second shot as Old Davie finished it off for me! The whole line had some shooting and the birds flew better than 3 weeks ago with very few dropping back into the wood. I finished the drive with 3 cocks for 13 shots not picking the first one because we would get it when we drove the little wood later on. To be continued Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 Beaters heading out for the Car Park drive Car Park Drive (Top left of photo) My view of the Low Pen Drive Liz picking up with Sally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 (edited) Next it was our turn to beat the High Pen Drive pushing it from both sides one team up through the woods and another team coming over the top from the back game crop. The idea is to flush the brirds from around the pen at the top of the hill. This is essentially the car park drive in reverse and if it goes well the birds fly back into the car park wood over the guns in the valley below. The car park wood can be seen in the top left of the photo below This photo shows the track from which the beaters start, the guns are positioned in the valley below the track. This drive produces the most difficult birds on the shoot,real corkers. As the beating line progressed a good number of birds got up and I counted 30 shots with Norman shooting two absolute crackers which according to the other guns were two of the highest birds that they had ever seen shot. Although the birds that went over the guns provided testing shooting a large number flew over the uphill beating line swung round and landed back in the wood. Edited November 11, 2014 by Maddaftspaniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 It was back to the hut to have elevenses and plan the next drive The bag after three drives I was in favour of doing the other two drives in the middles of the shoot before lunch but was over ruled in favour of doing the Top Game Crop and adjoining wood. I didn't want to do this drive until after lunch because I knew from observation that the birds did not move into this drive until early afternoon. In the event I was proved right as it only produced one pheasant with a couple of woodcock flushing from the wood. Nothing was added to the bag These photos show the wood below the Top Game Crop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 (edited) The plan was to do The Glen Cottage Drive next and the my team set off to line out around the forest track at the back of this drive. We had just got in position when Shafter the Masterbeater phoned to say the plan had been changed and the guns had headed for the Jungle because it was reckoned there wood be good numbers of woodcock there. Sometimes organising a shoot day is like herding cats! Luckily the rearrangement just involved turning around and crossing the road into the Jungle. This is an immature Larch wood with very uneven ground (it has been replanted and the old tree roots are everywhere) but it is good for woodcock and pigeons. We would need about 30 beaters to do this drive justice but Tessa enjoys it because she is let loose to run amok among the undergrowth. Old Davie after emerging from the Jungle where it is rumoured there are still Japanese soldiers hiding since WW2 The drive produced 3 pigeons and one woodcock which was not picked. Several pheasants were flushed backwards over the beating line Edited November 11, 2014 by Maddaftspaniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 Then it was back to the Glen Cottage drive where it was our turn to shoot Waiting between drives My view of the Glen Cottage Drive Two hens flew over the gun to my left Old Davie ( a safe option) and four cocks curled back over the wood. Charlie shot a woodcock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 Next we decided to do the 4x4 course on the way back to the hut before lunch. I jumped in my truck and nipped down the end of the drive to stop birds running up the hill. This drive produced about a dozen shots and added 4 birds to the bag. After lunch it was my teams turn to shoot the drive above the bottom pen where a lot of birds had flown after the second rive of the day. I had drawn peg 1 initially and was now no 7 which promised to be the hot spot and I was not to be disappointed! My view on this drive Old Davie was out of sight on my left and the whole line was out to my right as a silver cock pheasant appeared as a speck in the sky and crumpled to my first shot to much cheering from the other guns. ( I later found out the cheering was not due to my exceptional shooting but because the blind ******** in the line thought it was a white pheasant). The beaters did an exceptional job putting the birds over the line in small controlled flushes. I was really in the hotspot picking my birds carefully and shooting well (although I felt obliged to shoot a white pheasant which was one of the easier ones) I fired 24 shots for 6 birds hitting some crackers but missing many because of rushing too much when my blood was up. I caught a hen bird late and saw it glide down into the wood behind me so I sent Biscuit back into the wood picking up the birds around my peg myself He was gone for an age and I was just beginning to think he had done a bunk when he emerged carrying the bird shown below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 (edited) The next drive was the Middle Wood which I missed because I was trawling the pen wood for missing birds picking up a dead hen in the whins. A good show of birds were produced and about a dozen were added to the bag. Next was Grossarts which we drove in reverse order guns around both ends. I accounted for two cocks and was pleased when Tessa my spaniel retrieved them both crossing a fence a burn and a bank of whins to get the second. I have had difficulty up till now to get her to retrieve anything bigger than a pigeon but have found that if I let her run in she will retrieve a pheasant. Now I just need to steady her down without curbing her enthusiasm for retrieveing. The last drive was the Bottom Wood and it produced a good long flush of birds but many were too low to shoot, nevertheless they will be better another day. By now it had begun to rain heavily and there was much amusement in the gallery as two trucks and Amarock and a Mitsubishi got stuck at the bottom of the Coo field and had to be rescued by Billy in the Kubota. It was dark and wet by the time we had a headcount and we had accounted for: 3 Woodcock 4 Pigeons 5 Partridges 76 Pheasants and an unlucky Duck for 372 shots Edited November 11, 2014 by Maddaftspaniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoot and be safe Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Once again, a great read and a fair size bag I liked the line "Sometimes organising a shoot day is like herding cats!" Sounds very familiar Well done. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magman Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Thanks for the time and effort you have put in the post makes good reading and familiar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 A very good day and good bag. Love the photos, really show off some of the drives and shooting positions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 I know it is early in the season but our bags are down on last year and we are seeing fewer birds about. We really need some hard weather! What are other people finding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Our small syndicate is nothing on the scale of yours, but our birds seem to have held ok. However, the cover is still quite high, we could do with some frost to thin the cover out as it is tough going on the dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Our small syndicate is nothing on the scale of yours, but our birds seem to have held ok. However, the cover is still quite high, we could do with some frost to thin the cover out as it is tough going on the dogs. Our birds are really spread out this year..............they're not hitting the feeders hard at all.........................they seem to be living on beech mast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 We don't have much Beech on our shoot, but I know what you mean; there is so much natural food still about with the mild weather. Looking forward to your report from the weekend!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Well last Saturday we were back at Woodmill for the second time (our 6th shoot of the season). The weather was fine with a slightly hazy sky and only a very light breeze. The plan for the day was to do just the 5 main drives starting at the Cash Loch. I asked everyone to be quiet because the ducks were a bit lively and I did not want them doing a bunk before we got lined out. All 16 guns surrounded the wood and the beaters went in quietly at first. A few ducks got up early and provided some sporting shots along with a teal and a few pigeons. Then the main body of ducks started to rise. They were not flying as well as the last time out which I put down to it not being as windy (also I had been feeding them heavily all week as I was concerned about losing them) but they made difficult targets if you let them get up and shot them as they circled back over the wood. A few of the less experienced guns shot their quota (2 each) by shooting easy birds but it made their day. We all need to learn. I shot two good high birds for 5 shots and then the horn was blown quite quickly as there had been plenty shooting and I did not want a repeat of the first shoot when all the birds disappeared over the horizon. Exactly 32 ducks were shot so everyone stuck to their limit. Happy guns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoot and be safe Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Ours have hit the feeders hard and emptied them by last week there have been a couple of us out hand feeding all last week but this weekend the feeders have had fresh supplies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddaftspaniel Posted November 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 The next drive was the Pen Wood and it was my teams turn to shoot. My view of the Pen Wood Despite seeing plenty of birds there during the week when I had been topping up feeders this drive only produced two birds one a fine cock which got up in front of me and then swung away over the other end of the line and succumbed to a volley of shots and the other a decidedly moderate hen which came in my direction and I dropped behind and then felt guilty about shooting because it was so ordinary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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