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Wildfowling season 2015-2016


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I am not sure if clays are a good thing or not to help you out when your going through a bad patch .

 

I haven't shot clays now for over 20yrs , the last time I went was with a small group from work who used to go once a week to John Bidwells ground , they kept asking me to go with them , saying how much I would enjoy it as they knew I was shooting pigeons most days of the week and thought a round at sporting clays would really sort me out .

 

The gun I was using then was a Webley and Scott ,2 3/4 , S x S , with 30" barrels , it was nearly ready for the scrap heap having fired 1000s of shells and the cost of putting it right would have been twice as high as to what the gun was worth .When we got to the first round I felt a little embarrassed getting my rough looking gun out of the sleeve compared with the shiny O / Us that my mates had , the first two clays were one going away and one crossing when the first shot was fired , I was on third so I could see how they went before I went on . Anyhow I took them where I wanted to take them , I didn't want to impress any one , all I wanted to do was hit them at the easiest point they presented themselves , this went on as the round progressed and to me they didn't represent any type of bird I go after and I could feel myself getting bored with it .

 

When we finished there was only one person who had a better score and when we were having a cup of tea in there club house they had a look at my gun as I don't think many of them had seen a s x s let alone ever fired one , I also got the feeling it was who had the best gun rather than who could use there gun the best .

 

So that was the last time I shot clays and if it was clays or packing up shooting , I am afraid it would be pack up shooting .

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I know just what you mean Marsh Man, I do enjoy shooting clays but I dont think it helps you out on live quarry, I use it to stay sharp and sort out problems with mount and swing , once on live birds I think it comes down to experience and a good slice of luck,

Beretta 28g took me out wednesday for my first visit to the marshes, we were on the acle straight near the clay ground, there were 5 guns on the river bank, the other 3 had a few shots but the ducks were few and far between , we had about 4 mallard pass out of range but that was it, still I came away a lot wiser and with a 100% record, no shots no misses and no birds, Cant wait to get out again, still looking forward to my first chance at a bird thats not a pigeon or crow, :no::no:

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I am not sure if clays are a good thing or not to help you out when your going through a bad patch .

 

I haven't shot clays now for over 20yrs , the last time I went was with a small group from work who used to go once a week to John Bidwells ground , they kept asking me to go with them , saying how much I would enjoy it as they knew I was shooting pigeons most days of the week and thought a round at sporting clays would really sort me out .

 

The gun I was using then was a Webley and Scott ,2 3/4 , S x S , with 30" barrels , it was nearly ready for the scrap heap having fired 1000s of shells and the cost of putting it right would have been twice as high as to what the gun was worth .When we got to the first round I felt a little embarrassed getting my rough looking gun out of the sleeve compared with the shiny O / Us that my mates had , the first two clays were one going away and one crossing when the first shot was fired , I was on third so I could see how they went before I went on . Anyhow I took them where I wanted to take them , I didn't want to impress any one , all I wanted to do was hit them at the easiest point they presented themselves , this went on as the round progressed and to me they didn't represent any type of bird I go after and I could feel myself getting bored with it .

 

When we finished there was only one person who had a better score and when we were having a cup of tea in there club house they had a look at my gun as I don't think many of them had seen a s x s let alone ever fired one , I also got the feeling it was who had the best gun rather than who could use there gun the best .

 

So that was the last time I shot clays and if it was clays or packing up shooting , I am afraid it would be pack up shooting .

If you can shoot pigeons you get to see a far greater variety of shots than clays can offer. Although I run the sporting clays here I cannot replicate what I see in my hide. A clay just follows it's course, doesn't duck and dive when you raise the gun or flare away on the wind in a 10th of a second.

However, I can work on snap shooting by giving narrow sight windows and true pairs in opposite directions.

i think (hope) that longer range crossing clays will help me on the pheaseants and partridge though.

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My season started with a blank.... Much like the whole of last season (13 trips, for 13 blanks - I never seemed to be under them and about 9 I never fired a shot!)

 

Not having my mate with his dog this time and having not been down since Feb I opted for Hare and Hounds. Sounded like Frampton or Kirton where the place to be, heard maybe 50 shots and could see, albeit at the limit of my binos, what looked like geese landing on fields (stubbles?). At least some people had a successful night!

 

As I walked off, following someone else, they put a mallard up. One of those easiest shots, plenty of time to think the bird dead in your mind. Wasn't high either. Bang. ***. Bang. ***. Duck climbing away. Bang. Ummm... I'd love to say I got it, but it flew off for as long as I could see it. Only excuse I can present (other than being ****!) is I had a rucksack on.

 

Still, onwards and upwards and can only get better.

 

On the bright side, watched 4 marsh harriers at range and then had a pair of tawny owl and a barn owl hunting within 20 metres of me, and they were also more succesful than me.

 

Shoot straight.

 

Karl

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My season started with a blank.... Much like the whole of last season (13 trips, for 13 blanks - I never seemed to be under them and about 9 I never fired a shot!)

 

Not having my mate with his dog this time and having not been down since Feb I opted for Hare and Hounds. Sounded like Frampton or Kirton where the place to be, heard maybe 50 shots and could see, albeit at the limit of my binos, what looked like geese landing on fields (stubbles?). At least some people had a successful night!

 

As I walked off, following someone else, they put a mallard up. One of those easiest shots, plenty of time to think the bird dead in your mind. Wasn't high either. Bang. ***. Bang. ***. Duck climbing away. Bang. Ummm... I'd love to say I got it, but it flew off for as long as I could see it. Only excuse I can present (other than being ****!) is I had a rucksack on.

 

Still, onwards and upwards and can only get better.

 

On the bright side, watched 4 marsh harriers at range and then had a pair of tawny owl and a barn owl hunting within 20 metres of me, and they were also more succesful than me.

 

Shoot straight.

 

Karl

Keep at it :good:

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I wish I could use that as an excuse marsh man , truth is I have been really struggling with my shooting of late , I may have to go for a lesson or two and find out why the wheels have come off.

 

 

Maybe go for an eye test (not bring funny), especially if you are of a certain age like me :) My shooting improved after I did

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Maybe go for an eye test (not bring funny), especially if you are of a certain age like me :) My shooting improved after I did

Thats already been done , eyes are fine for anything other than reading .

Think I am just having an off spell , hopefully it will sort itself out sooner rather than later !

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Best of luck Fal, we will be out in the morning trying to bag the 1st goose of the season.

 

 

Good luck , I will be at work :unhappy:

 

Cheers lads!!!! It went quite well, I managed to bag my first foreshore Canada!!!!! I've had plenty inland but never on the shore. Huge retrieve from the dog, landed straight in the river, tide started taking it out, sent him, straight out and back, although he really struggled to get it back up the bank as it was so heavy! I cannot praise the Eley lightening steel 3s enough, in my opinion they are as good as a four in lead.

 

My friend had some shooting too, but was unlucky not to bag anything. Five shots, 3 birds, one happy welshman!!!!

post-51022-0-83057300-1442218136_thumb.jpg

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Brilliant, we nearly got it right! Geese were just out of range, raised the gun at 1 skein but they looked a little small down the barrel.

 

Hard luck mate!!! There's a lot of luck involved in wildfowling, 20 yards one way or the other can mean a good flight or a bad flight!!!

 

It's happened to me enough times! But when it all comes together, there is no other better shooting in my eyes! I was still buzzing at 17:00 Sat night. Some people will think what we do for three birds is mental, I would have to disagree! Three birds like I had Sat, is worth 50 driven pheasants in my opinion!!!

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First Flight of the season tonight and bagged a nice Teal Drake for two shots, missed in front with the first shot and hit it in the head with the second. Had a couple of shots at a pair of passing mallard but nearly fell over trying to stand up after kneeling down for a long while, then swing the gun up for the sling to swing over the rib as I tried to shoot.

 

At least I didn't blank my first flight like it looked like I was going to.

 

Called a nice Skein of Greylags over but my dog spooked them about eighty yards away and they went wide of me.

 

Hope everyone enjoyed their flights this week.

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Hard luck mate!!! There's a lot of luck involved in wildfowling, 20 yards one way or the other can mean a good flight or a bad flight!!!

 

It's happened to me enough times! But when it all comes together, there is no other better shooting in my eyes! I was still buzzing at 17:00 Sat night. Some people will think what we do for three birds is mental, I would have to disagree! Three birds like I had Sat, is worth 50 driven pheasants in my opinion!!!

Oh they are worth far more than that as a wildfowler is a hunter.

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Well this morning gave the first signs that winter might be on the way? It dropped to 5 degrees for a short while, and the marsh was full of thick fog. Duck could be heard but were hidden amoungst the white stuff. And the only chance that presented itself was this one, a solitary grey that must have lost it's way in the fog. They're abit of a rarity on my marsh, maybe something to do with the 10,000 Canada's?

 

 

The footage is not fantastic, as it was shot with a cheap Aldi action cam, but I think it's persuaded me to take a camera along more often :good:

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Well this morning gave the first signs that winter might be on the way? It dropped to 5 degrees for a short while, and the marsh was full of thick fog. Duck could be heard but were hidden amoungst the white stuff. And the only chance that presented itself was this one, a solitary grey that must have lost it's way in the fog. They're abit of a rarity on my marsh, maybe something to do with the 10,000 Canada's?

 

 

The footage is not fantastic, as it was shot with a cheap Aldi action cam, but I think it's persuaded me to take a camera along more often :good:

Well done , the dog did not seem keen to carry it further than needed :lol:

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