Sabs's Adventures 16/17

[shoot and be safe]

I'm a bit late on parade this season with my thread dew to one reason or another. I am happy to report that I have been out in the field and under the birds in a attempt to bag a few.

So in the spirit of things, here's a few pictures of what we have been up to so far.

All the best

SABS

Edited January 4, 2017 by shoot and be safe

[shoot and be safe]

The Red Lion Rover's.

 

The day was organised by my good friend Mr Brown way back in the back end of last season. A team was made up and a date was set.

We all met up early on the morning of the shoot, at the local pub for bacon sandwiches and coffee, ahead of our long drive to the shoot.

 

Soon enough it was time to pick our pegs and we were off to the first drive.

 

From the off, this day was going to be one of those special days with plenty of banter throughout the day, all helped along with a slight libation between drives.

 

And there was plenty delights on offer.

 

The second drive could only be described as the fog drive, the beaters did well to send the birds over the guns,and they were very challenging to get on to.

 

There was only one thing to improve the vision and that was the passing of the port before we sat down to lunch.

 

Following the delights of the lunch, we were back out in the fresh October air and lining out for the park drive.

During this drive, Mr Brown reaped his revenge on me, from the time I poached one or two of his birds the previous season, shooting some of the best birds flying towards my peg. In all fairness to him,he did not apologise in any way shape or form and it made my day to witness such great shooting.

The park drive.

 

 

 

Soon enough, we were on the final drive and under some large flushes.

This was a great finish to the day before we retired back to the pub for the evening's entertainments.

 

With all the drink on offer during the day, it's surprising we managed 148 in the bag.

 

Thanks for reading.

All the best

Sabs

[pigeon controller]

Well done, looks like a brilliant day was had by all . Thanks for posting. Looking forward to the others.

[Westley]

It looks a really nice shoot, well done.

[butchdickason]

Very nice. SBS are you at Leigh Manor this month ?, we will be there on the 30th.

 

Happy New Year

[shoot and be safe]

Very nice. SBS are you at Leigh Manor this month ?, we will be there on the 30th.

 

Happy New Year

I did see it advertised, but i don't know if I can get the time off work for that one as yet, I have asked.

[mel b3]

it looks like a fine time was had by all

[shoot and be safe]

Syndicate day 1

I joined for my first day, on the mid November shoot.
I was made to feel very welcome by the other guns and enjoyed catching up with the old boys I shot with here last season.

Following the morning coffee and picking of pegs, we jumped in to the vehicles and headed off to the first drive.





Having successfully connected with 2 testing pheasants, in full view of the other guns (no pressure there then ) the drive was over and we directed the pickers up towards our fallen quarry. I didn't have little Indy with me this day as she was in season.

The next drive was a duck drive. As I have said before, ducks are not really my bag, but this pond is mainly wild ducks, once they have passed over the guns, they are off.



They lift off, climb up and over the guns (between 40 and 50 yards) and they have to be the highest driven ducks I have seen. This drive lasted all of 2 minutes, but I did manage to add one to the bag.

Following elevenses, it was one of the big drives. Both the good lady and I added to the bag on this drive and what a cracking peg we had.









We finished the day on a smaller drive, which concluded the days sport before we reconvened back at the shoot lodge for a bite to eat.

A good day's sport, with plenty of quality birds to test the guns and new friendships made. Thanks to all involved for making The Good Lady and I feel welcome and presenting quality birds over the line.

 

Total bag 112

Thanks for reading
Sabs

[sako751sg]

Good reading and sounds a top couple of days shooting fella.

[Fuddster]

excellent write ups and photo's.

 

thanks for sharing them-looks like some lovely ground to shoot over.

 

cheers

 

f.

[Nmb]

Was delighted to see you had done some write ups and yet again an interesting read and great pictures!

[shoot and be safe]

Syndicate day 2

 

This day was one of those damp and cold days that cut right through you as the day went on.

 

As per the previous shoot, we met up for morning coffee and picked our pegs. Shortly after, we set off to the first drive at the far end of the shoot.

 

I picked peg 5 and the 20b was the gun of choice for the day. In fact, it is now my first go to gun for a shoot day (sorry Fuddster, the Ford is always out with me as a reserve ).

 

 

I didn't shoot too well on this drive, using half a box of cartridges before I started connecting with the birds. I shot 3 for the full box. I blamed this bad form on the free bar at the Christmas party the night before.

 

We then shot a couple of quieter drives before I found my form after elevenses.

Indy on hunt for my fallen quarry.

 

The next drive was the aptly named "Woodcock Wood".

My first shot on this drive was at a woodcock to which was added to the bag

I also had another woodcock fly past my peg, but a safe shot didn't present itself.

The drive produced some good birds, some of which, were added to the bag by all in the line.

Once the drive was over, I joined in the search for the woodcock. There were 2 dogs on the hunt for it and after 5 minutes of searching, we had all but given up on finding it. Then I looked down at the ground as we were about to depart, and sure enough it was there less than 6 inches from my toes.

 

 

The final drive was a pleasure to watch, as the other guns took some splendid shots.

 

We retired back to the shoot room for a late lunch, cheeky glass of wine and some gentle banter following the day's sport .

 

Bag for the day, 120 ish

[Fuddster]

I forgive you mate-I saw it was having an airing on day one report.

 

looks like another good out.

 

keep em coming.

 

cheers

 

fudds

[shoot and be safe]

The Ford was out in its full glory today as the good lady was stood on her own peg and wanted her gun back.

That report will follow in dew corse

[shoot and be safe]

Syndicate day 3

The previous shoot was a damp cold day that left us all cold to the bone.
This day was a crisp frosty morning that surprisingly felt a lot warmer than the previous shoot. When we arrived at the shoot lodge, the kettle was whistling away on the stove and the coffee was served as we chatted.

Soon enough pegs were picked and the sun lit up the misty air as we drove down the valley for the first drive.




The ducks seemed to like the frosty morning and flew well over the full line of guns.
I added a couple to the bag and both were retrieved by young Indy



The next drive was only a short walk away and the guns were lined up around the flushing point.
I had one of my shots of the season so far on this drive, as the birds flushed in steady numbers, out from the trees in front. I was lucky to add 3 superb birds to the bag of this drive, as did the other guns.



Following elevenses, we made our way up to the middle parts of the shoot.
Firstly, through the woods to one of the pen drives, where there were plenty of testing birds along the line, some of which were added to the game cart.





We then pegged out for the middle wood drive.


During this drive, I had my second shot of the season. A crossing pheasant that passed to my left some 45-50 yards away. This shot was made all the better as it was witnessed by the old boys of the syndicate and retrieved by young Indy

Little Indy had her work cut out throughout the day retrieving the birds that fell. Some were simple ones out in the fields...


...and others were full of obstacles, like this hen she found, after a short search at the end of the final drive.


My memory escapes me on the final bag of the day, but somewhere in the region of 100 between the 8 guns springs to mind.

All the best
Sabs

[Wildfowler12]

Brilliant. More please

[figgy]

Nice pics and a good account of your day. Enjoyed reading it.

[shoot and be safe]

Hanmer ​- The return.

 

I received an email from the keeper asking if I was interested in taking a peg on an additional shoot they were putting together. Having shot here last season, I knew we would be in for a good day, so replied straight away with a yes.

 

We arrived at the shoot room and were greeted by the keeper along with our host for the day, followed by introductions to the other guns who were all gentlemen. The team just clicked, everyone was friendly, welcoming and enjoyed a bit of banter throughout the day.

 

Once the briefing was given and pegs picked, we hopped onto the gun trailer and headed to the first drive.

 

It was a cold start to the day,with the frosty grass crunching under our feet as we walked to our pegs.

I didn't see much action from my peg and missed the only pheasant that presented itself.

The second drive consisted of the guns lining out in a field below the wood.

I was a back gun on this drive and had a good few birds over me, some flew on and others were added to the game cart.

 

 

The whole line of guns had a generous amount of shooting at the mix of partridge and pheasants, which kept us all on out toes as they presented themselves.

 

We had a break for elevenses back at the shoot room, which was a nice offering of hot sausages washed down with a glass of Champagne.

 

The next drive saw us stood in a field with a wood in front.

An early woodcock flushed in between my neighbouring gun and myself. Unfortunately a safe shot didn't present itself and the woodcock flew on. Infect there were a couple of woodcock flushed during the drive, they all flew on.

A number of pheasants were added to the cart including a couple from myself, which were retrieved by young Indy.

 

The final drive saw me in the hot seat, with both pheasants and partridges being flushed.

 

 

I asked The Good Lady if she would like to have a shot, well I was shooting her little 20b after all, so it only seemed fair.

Amy took up the challenge and as the next bird lifted out of the cover in front of us, she lifted the gun and not taking her eye off the bird, squeezed the trigger, dropping the hen behind which once again young Indy brought back.

 

 

Once back on the gun trailer, we all congratulated each other on the memorable shots of the day as we meandered along the lanes back to the shoot room where we sat down to a lovely meal as the bag was counted.

We finished with a mix of 125 pheasants and partridge on the game cart

We were presented with a brace of birds each and the formalities completed.

 

I would like to thank all involved in the running of the day, especially Arthur our host who was very polite and patient throughout the day.

 

Thanks for reading.

All the best

Sabs

[Cranfield]

What a good read with some great photos, I look forward to the future instalments.

[SNS]

A polite and patient host? Hope we have one of those on tuesday......

 

Great photos and write ups as ever

[shoot and be safe]

A polite and patient host? Hope we have one of those on tuesday......

 

Great photos and write ups as ever

I'm sure we will. I'm just thinking about the pigeon being shot before the first shot at a game bird has been fired

[shoot and be safe]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far and I'm glad you are enjoying our days away together.

[shoot and be safe]

Syndicate day 4

New year's eve.

 

From the off, this day was going to be good as The Good Lady had offered to drive. With this in mind I packed a few extra bottles of liquid refreshment for the day

 

 

When we had the safety briefing, over the morning coffee, we were told to enjoy ourselves and that there is no bag limit today. This was partly because as the season draws to a close, there may be a chance that we wouldn't hit the 100 for the bag on the later days, so in the spirit of fairness, we were to go for it.

 

The first drive was the Hall ducks, which as I said in my earlier post, these are mainly wild and once they fly over the guns, they are gone.

A couple were added to the bag and once received we made our way up to the next drive.

 

The Hall drive.

This is one of the main drives on the shoot and holds the record of 190+ birds shot during one drive in times gone by.

This day we were nowhere near that amount, but we did manage a fair few.

 

 

I was out on the far side of the line stood on peg 8.

 

 

Both my neighbouring gun and I had a fair few opportunities and we both added to the bag.

 

 

Little Indy had a good few birds to pick at the end of this drive, 4 of mine and a couple of my neighbour's that landed on my side of the garden wall.

 

 

We then moved on to the next drive which is on the far side of the village.

Once parked up, it was a reasonable stroll down to our pegs.

 

 

Once on our pegs, we waited with anticipation as the beaters made their way through the woods.

 

 

I witnessed some fantastic shooting by the guns further down the line, dropping some long distance pheasants.

 

 

I, along with all the line had plenty of birds over me and added a fair amount to the bag.

Of this drive alone we bagged over 45 birds between us all. A fantastic drive with plenty to choose from.

 

Elevenses was next and the hedgerow royale was introduced to the guns. A glass of champagne with cherry brandy, sloe gin and a sprig of rosemary. Delightful.

 

I was a walking gun on the next drive, walking out in the field, parallel with the beaters, until I reached peg one.

I had plenty of pheasants breaking from the wood and added a couple to the bag as we walked along.

 

 

As with the previous drives, a good number birds were added to the bag.

 

The final drive was a short drive across the shoot. Again we had a walk to our pegs which was well worth it.

 

 

I had the pleasure of the shoot captain standing alongside myself on this drive and we enjoyed a good chat about shooting.

Soon shots started ringing along the line as the birds flushed. Dave the captain and I continued to talk, only pausing when a bird presented itself to me (no pressure to connect with the birds there then). I wasn't put off too much, firing 11 cartridges for 6 pheasants.

Indy was busy at the end of the drive, picking 4 of my 6 and then helping to look for a missing hen shot by my neighbour.

 

 

Once all the fallen were picked, we walked back to the vehicles and headed off to the shoot room for a late lunch and a new year drink.

 

The final bag for the day was 138.

 

We wished all the best for the new year to everyone and made our way home with smiles on our faces following a good day's sport.

 

Happy new year to you all

All the best

Sabs

[Fuddster]

outstanding report-really makes you feel you were on a peg next to you.

 

Indy looks well and certainly 'match fit'.

 

well done mate

 

fudds

[shoot and be safe]

Thanks fudds, glad you enjoyed it.

You will be pleased to hear that the Ford was the gun of choice on my last two outings

 

I've been having a bit of trouble with photobucket over the last day or two, so my next reports will follow in dew course, but not until I've been out with the "PW Rover's" on Tuesday.