SABS's Shooting Tales 15/16

[OJW]

Brilliant report SABS and a good reflection of the day. You shot very well and I enjoyed being you and TGL's peg neighbour. What a great day.

 

P.s, would it be possible to email me the picture of the team? Thanks.

Edited January 10, 2016 by OJW

[shoot and be safe]

Brilliant report SABS and a good reflection of the day. You shot very well and I enjoyed being you and TGL's peg neighbour. What a great day.

 

P.s, would it be possible to email me the picture of the team? Thanks.

Thanks Ollie and your video was great

I'll email you the pictures now.

[OJW]

Thanks Ollie and your video was great

I'll email you the pictures now.

 

Thanks for the pictures pal.

[Fuddster]

cheers fella's one and all..the read ups

are great and do feel that the PW's were out on the day with you.

 

minus the hangovers of course

 

well done chaps and chapess's.

 

f.

[maxwell]

A cracking read, thank you.

[The Good Lady]

What a fantastic day with excellent sport, hospitality and banter. I was in awe at the quality of the birds presented and equally over some of the shots, especially JDog's on the last drive.

 

I must admit, when we were told at the briefing that we would start with the less challenging drive and we were faced with some extremely high birds (such as those over Lloydi), I was slightly worried at what we would be facing on the following drives.

 

Thank you to everyone involved for providing such great memories and being a pleasure to shoot with. Great banter and absolute gentlemen. Thank you also to SNS' wife for the delicious meal afterwards. The hospitality was superb throughout the day.

 

Please count us in for next January!

[The Good Lady]

Your little 20b is serving both Amy and I well

 

It certainly is OF. My lovely 20b connected with another couple of nice high birds for 6 shots. It has been part of great memories this season and am very proud of my "girly gun" as you call it 😂😂😂.

 

Mark also shot well with it on the same drive as me. You should have heard him, when he connected with one of the highest birds I think he has shot. He was like a school kid. I got a tad over excited too 😄.

 

It would be great if you could join the team next season. Another legend to show us how it's done 😀.

 

Thanks again,

TGL.

Edited January 17, 2016 by The Good Lady

[Old farrier]

 

Your little 20b is serving both Amy and I well

 

It certainly is OF. My lovely 20b connected with another couple of nice high birds for 6 shots. It has been part of great memories this season and am very proud of my "girly gun" as you call it 😂😂😂.

 

Mark also shot well with it on the same drive as me. You should have heard him, when he connected with one of the highest birds I think he has shot. He was like a school kid. I got a tad over excited too 😄.

 

It would be great if you could join the team next season. Another legend to show us how it's done 😀.

 

Thanks again,

TGL.

Glad your having a great season and pleased the girly gun has a good home

As said it'll kill more than most

Better not tell SABS I found its big brother yesterday 😋

I'm old and slow now so I get more from helping someone to do what I used to 25 years ago

glad it's all going well

And many thanks for your posts through the season

All the best

Of

[shoot and be safe]

The Crown

16^th January 2016.

It was a pleasure to host pw member Mentalmac (Chris) on this, his first day's driven shooting.

It was a very quiet day all round, with only 13 guns in attendance along with little Caitlin, the young lady beater.

We waited around in the hope that a few others may turn up late, but sadly 13 remained the number.
With one team of 6 and one of 7, Chris was given the opportunity to shoot for both teams which evened things up with 2 teams of 7.

Pegs picked, safety brief given, we were off to the 110 for the first drive.

Chris picked peg 2 for this drive and was over on the far side of the line.


library picture as I didn't have my camera with me

We saw a couple of birds lift but they were over on the far side from where we were stood.

The second drive was the Nant and I was also shooting this one. With there only being 7 in the teams, everyone moved up a peg and spread out a little bit more than usual. Chris had a few birds over him (peg 3) at the beginning of the drive and managed a shot or two to salute them as they curled back in to the wood.
As the drive continued and a single hen lifted from behind the pen, heading in my direction.



I had to wait until it lifted high enough for it to have sky behind and be a safe shot. This is did but only pricked it so a second shot was required. The bird landed at the entrance to a cave and had enough kick left in it to venture in. A dog did venture in but came out empty handed. There are a lot of old lead mines I the area with interconnecting tunnels. It was not worth losing a dog for a bird.

The drive continued and few birds curled back over the guns and Chris managed to connect with a hen which glided back into the wood. This was duly picked by one of dogs at the end of the drive. Well done on your first driven pheasant

Tiffin was next and served up in the pub car park.



Mk38mags providing a pheasant stew along with a few other nibbles, Gordon with the sloegasms and myself with a few nibbles and Port. The Good Lady also joined us at this point, having spent the morning with Indy (who's just come into season) and stayed with us for the rest of the day helping out in the beating line as we were low on numbers.

Aled's was next but sadly the cover crop has taken a bashing from the recent weather and only a few birds broke over the line from the lane running parallel to the cover crop.



It was a shame that the birds were not on show as Chris was pegged in the bomb hole on this drive.



The fish farm was next and I was on peg 1.
This peg has been moved recently and involves walking 200 yards back up the lane, into the field and back to the peg at the bottom of the field. Or, a 30 yard walk which involves crossing the river. With all the recent rain, I may have been better taking the long walk but the river wasn't that high - was it

Anyway,back to the drive. Chris was over on peg 5 and had a bit of shooting.



He accounted for 2 hens off this drive and was over the moon.



I had a few opportunities over on peg 1 and managed to bag a few. 2 of these sadly dropped into the river despite me taking them well out in front. I went off in search at the usual snag points but sadly couldn't find them.

The final drive was the gully and again this was a quiet one.



Spanj up in the bomb hole on peg one managed to salute a cock as it broke out in front of him and Gordon bagged the last bird of the day, although magman did fire at the same time and also claimed the bird, personally I think it was Gordon

We reconvened back at the Crown for the formalities and final counts.

16 birds for 70 shots iirc. There were a couple of birds lost in the river and two left unpicked for safety concerns. So we were nearer the 20 bird mark.

That concluded the day's shooting and Chris, Catlin, TGL and I headed out for an evening meal to continue the day's entertainment.

I believe that Chris had a great day (albeit very quiet) and was over the moon to have shot his first driven day, plus bag a few birds for himself.

I would like to thank all involved in the day and for making Chris feel very welcome on his first ever driven shoot

Thanks for reading.
All the best
SABS Edited January 18, 2016 by shoot and be safe

[Penelope]

Well done Chris.

[dougall]

it was pleasing to read for the PW shoot that a little bit of shooting got in between the eating drinking and banter!sounds a cracking day

[Mentalmac]

Thanks Mark for the write up, it is exactly as it happened there and I felt very privileged to have been invited up there, let alone to get to shoot on both teams

 

It was a perfect day for someone like me I feel, a friendly bunch, some testing shots, and lots of experienced people on hand to guide me through.

 

The bits that stood out for me were:

 

- On the second drive when I saluted a bird, I felt it was much closer and slower than it actually was (I seemingly went into pigeon shooting mindset), however knowing how far behind I must have been I then felt really annoyed at myself for the miss as I didn't want to let the team down. However, on my second shot which was a bird that caught us with surprise (came from behind another gun, who unfortunately had missed the bird) then came high and fast right to left infont of me... I saw my shot connect, and a plume of feathers come out - however I had seen the bird carry on and then glide down out of view over the top of the hill, so hearing that the bird had in fact been picked by the dogs on the way out was great, so a big thumbs up there and a nice surprise to know that the bird wasn't left behind.

 

- When I shot the two hens on the Fishfarm drive, I had never felt pressure like it before as I felt I couldn't miss the first one considering Magman (who had placed me on my peg and told me how the drive should pan out) was beating over a section and saw the bird curl and then head in my direction and shouted to me it was going to be my bird - however, then the other guns had eyes on me so I took a shot, and wobbled it but wasn't sure so gave a second shot which then saw it fold mid air and land behind me (with a shower of feathers coming down all around me like confetti for the next 10 minutes). That was a proud moment for me as the other guns had called to me it was a good shot and that made me feel much better.

- The tiffin was blooming brilliant, and Mag's stew was simply amazing - well done again on that. SABS's choice of pies was spectacular and I had ate so much food in that short a time that my jaw actually ached. Washed down with a sloegasm and I was ready to rock and roll.

 

- I loved watching the dogs working and that was a real highlight to me - it makes me all the more excited about the future with my Lab (currently 7 months)

- albeit a small day for those involved and not many people there, It was a brilliant day for me, great company and great sport for me and it will be forever etched into my memory as my first game shoot and first driven pheasants. Thanks again to you all on the Crown shoot, and a massive thank you to my host Mark, you did a great job of giving me plenty of advice and help and made me feel right at home. (And nice to meet The Good Lady too, thanks again for taking the pictures).

[shoot and be safe]

Great reflection of your day

 

I'm made up you got a few shots off and even better that you connect with some

 

Thanks for your kind words, hopefully we will shoot together again soon.

 

All the best.

SABS

[Old farrier]

Hi

Brilliant glad you had a great day out and to be honest you can't fail at the crown it's just a brilliant shoot

 

Memories made and give 😋 What more is there

 

All the best

Of

 

Oh nice dog glad she's coming on ok 😋

[magman]

to be fair the first bird in the F/Farm wash a good bird and you took it well mate , fair do you should be proud

Glad to hear the Crown shoot made you feel at home ,Paul223 has made something special about it and often not given the respect he deserves as he is busy running the day

[reggiegun]

to be fair the first bird in the F/Farm wash a good bird and you took it well mate , fair do you should be proud

Glad to hear the Crown shoot made you feel at home ,Paul223 has made something special about it and often not given the respect he deserves as he is busy running the day

 

That's the sad thing about being shoot captain, great days,guns remember the birds, bad days guns point fingers. I think a lot of shoots have suffered this year, mine for one.

 

Paul

[shoot and be safe]

to be fair the first bird in the F/Farm wash a good bird and you took it well mate , fair do you should be proud

Glad to hear the Crown shoot made you feel at home ,Paul223 has made something special about it and often not given the respect he deserves as he is busy running the day

 

Have to agree with that, although I think some just take it for granted the amount of work Paul puts in over everyone else. It's a shame that he is stepping down, but completely understand why.

[Guest]

Hi Mark

I hope that's not true.

Coz he is a top bloke he helped me the other night with my Landy,also the crown shoot is a cracking shoot .

 

 

Youngie

[shoot and be safe]

I agree that Paul is a top bloke and he has made the Crown what it is, a well respected shoot by many from all over the country.

I have learned a great deal from all involved with the Crown, especially Paul, who drove over to Hull with me to view a gun which I bought

[shoot and be safe]

The Final Driven Day

On The Crown

30^th January 2016.

With the birds being low on numbers and the shoot the previous week being cancelled, we were a little low on numbers of guns this week. With 8+ guns missing, we had a few guests in attendance to fill in along the line of guns, those that did brave the last driven day on the Crown, did so with enthusiasm and expectation of a good day's sport.


The safety brief was given by Mags with a few extra words by JC and then we were in the vehicles and off to the first drive in the 110.

With only 7 guns in the line, number 7 was offered to be a walking gun if he so wished, he took up the offer and had a few shots at early birds breaking in front of the beaters.
I placed the remaining 6 guns on their stretched out pegs.
There were a few birds flushed over the guns, especially over pegs 1 2 and 3.
I was over on the far side, on peg 6. I had a couple of snap shots at a pigeon and a woodcock, but connected with my first pheasant of the day, as it appeared out of the sun.


Once the drive was over, one of the chaps with a dog and myself headed over to where the hen landed and duly picked it up. Thanks for your help Matt

The next drive was the Nant and this time I was on the beating team. This is probably only the 2nd time I have been through the middle all season and boy is it hard going, especially when the beaters consist of 6 blokes and 3 dogs. It certainly got us sweating.
As the drive continued and the chaps beat up to the top cover, I dropped down to push behind the pen. Once one man without a dog (me) had pushed the back bank as best he can, I then clambered up to become a stop on the top fence.
The drive continued and I believe 3 birds were accounted for. One of which was shot by our guest Peter, who said it was his shot of the season. Well shot Sir

Tiffin was next.
This week spanj rose to the challenge and provide a good spread of food with an abundance of liquid refreshment to help oil the day along.
During tiffin, I raised a glass to the chaps in attendance on the day, to the season we were coming to the end of, to all the seasons we have had on the Crown and finally to Paul223 for all the work he has put in for us over the years.

Sadly two of the guns had to leave soon after tiffin for one reason or another, so we headed off to the next drives slightly down on numbers.

Aled's was next with our team shooting again. With our original team of 7 now down to 5, a gun was offered to Andrew (a beater who couldn't join us earlier in the day) to shoot the next drive. He politely declined and offered the peg to one of the others.
The peg numbers went a little askew on this drive and we ended up in completely different peg positions than we should have been (JCs pegging out).
This worked out in my favour as I had a snap shot at a early bird as it crossed from the pines over the line of guns and duly dropped it with the first barrel.


The guns over to my left also had a few birds over them and were putting lead in the air in an attempt to fill the bag.


The penultimate drive was the Fish Farm and I had acquired a dog for this one.
The guns made their way to their pegs and we the beaters headed off to our positions.
With the help of Aled and The Good Lady we pushed Richard's Gully, flushing a few birds as we went.


Spanj waiting patiently.

Once finished in RG, we headed over to line the fence as JC push the FF wood and pen. There were a few birds flushed and a fair few cartridges fired.


The final drive was the gully.
There are not many beaters required for this drive so all the guns for the day were to have their guns with them, some walking and some standing behind the line of guns as back guns.
There were a few birds pushed over the guns, with both JC and myself missing a late flushed cock

Again our guest, Peter, bagged the last bird of the day, well done Peter

We regrouped back at the vehicles for the final bag count and team photo.

6 birds
110 cartridge

This day brought to a close (for me) my time on the Crown Shoot this season.
I have enjoyed my time this season and had some great birds over me.
Thanks to all involved with the running of the shoot for their hard work and efforts, much appreciated

Thanks for reading.
All the best,
SABS

[Old farrier]

Hi

Great thread all the way through enjoyed your year immensely thanks for taking the time and trouble to share it with us all

 

All the best

Of

[shoot and be safe]

Hi

Great thread all the way through enjoyed your year immensely thanks for taking the time and trouble to share it with us all

 

All the best

Of

Thanks for your kind words OF

I have one last day to report on yet from the 1st of February. Hopefully I'll get chance tonight to upload the photos.

[Wildfowler12]

Hi

Great thread all the way through enjoyed your year immensely thanks for taking the time and trouble to share it with us all

 

All the best

Of

+1

 

Here's hoping you continue the write-ups next season. Thanks for the good reads

[shoot and be safe]

The last day of the season @

Leigh Manor

Shropshire

1^st February 2016.

I have always booked time off work for the last day of the pheasants and this year I opted for a larger day than usual.
Following a regular search of guns on pegs, this day became available in December, enquiries were made and I was booked on.

With a 2hr drive and arranged meeting time of 09:00hrs, it meant an early start to pack the car in the morning.
We arrived in good time and were shown in to the gun room where bacon rolls and coffee were offered.
Soon enough the rest of the guns joined us and introductions were made.

The safety briefing was given out in the car park and pegs were picked. We suited and booted, then headed off to the first drive.




The Manor Drive.

I picked peg 2 and over towards the far right of the line.


We were pegged out by Steve the shoot captain and waited for the whistle to blow, indicating the start of the drive.
A steady number of birds flushed out of the woods and curled over the guns in the stiff 30mph breeze.


The guns struggled to stay standing in the wind and the birds were motoring at astounding speeds 30+ yards above.


It took me a few cartridges to judge the lead required to drop a bird.


Once the drive was over,we were offered a glass of mulled wine and complimented each other on our shooting.




Crabtree Dingle.

Moving up 3, I was now on peg 5.
The sun was very unforgiving on this drive making it very difficult to see the birds, let alone judge their speeds and distance.


I had a few shots, mostly missing, at the screamers going to my left but connecting with a cock as it passed high and to my right.


Again after the drive was over, a sloegasm was offered with hot maple glazed sausages to compliment.





High Coppice into Bluebarn Wood.

These were 2 separate drives pushed to make one.
The first part saw the guns lined up alongside the wood.


With the second part lined up alongside another wood 90° opposite.


There were a couple of early pheasants and partridge flushed from the first part and some were added to the bag. The main shooting didn't come until the second part when steady flushes were driven over the full line of guns.
I decided that the 20b deserved an airing and The Good Lady could have a bash if she wished.
There were birds flying over the guns at various heights and speeds. I had many shots and connected with a couple,


One of which was a hen that came out of the sun at 40 yards up passing to my left. It was a cracking bird to finish the drive before lunch.




Lunch.

This was saved back at the shoot room.



It consisted of a roast pork dinner server with all the trimmings washed down with wine.



A cheese board followed with the port decanter passed around to compliment the cheese.



During lunch we all chatted about the day so far and a sweepstake was opened for "cartridges, plus legs, times species",this was going to be fun.




Woodpecker's.

We left the shoot room and meandered along the lanes to the next pegs.
I was a walking gun on this drive, well I walked with the beaters to my peg 100 yards up the lane.


During the walk up, I had one of my best shots of the season at a hen that screamed over the tops of the trees and landed with a thump 100 yards behind.



I'm really impressed with the little 20b and the bird was duly picked at the end of the drive.




Lower Luckley.

The drive up to the parking area was enough to get your heart racing in anticipation of the birds that would be presented over the guns.


Once on our pegs and the birds started to fly over the guns, the anticipation was superseded with the height and quality of the birds (I could have done with some of those "Cheddite 100 metre" cartridges ).



The guns were pegged along and either side of the valley bottom, I was at the back of the guns and the birds coming over my peg were dots in the sky. I did manage a couple on this drive but the guns higher up the valley enjoyed most of the sport.



We were originally shooting 6 drives on the day, but after the quality of the birds and numbers shot on this drive, the decision was made to call it a day. Sadly this meant that The Good Lady didn't have a shot, as she waited until what we thought would be the final drive.

We retired back to the shoot room where afternoon tea was on offer. The bag was counted and numbers announced for the sweepstake, to which The Good Lady came a close 2nd with her guess, but lost out to "PJ", who won with the closest guess to 2534 (cartridges + legs × species), he then donated his winnings into the pub fund for the beaters

The totals for the day were:
153 Pheasants
25 Partridge
911 shots

I would like to thank:
Steve, the shoot captain, for keeping us all entertained throughout the day with his eccentricities
The keeper and his team of beaters/picker ups, for presenting quality birds over the line of guns all day and for making the last day of the season very memorable
The ladies who provided their time and skills with the lunch, delicious
The chaps shooting alongside me on the day
And The Good Lady for being by my side and taking the photos

Both The Good Lady and I thoroughly enjoyed our day, we were made to feel very welcome by all involved and this is one shoot we will definitely be returning to again in the future.

Thanks for reading.

All the best
Sabs

[JDog]

I have greatly enjoyed reading about your adventures this season and appreciate the time and effort you put into your reports.