I have only just dried out, thank the lord for my mits'y pinin

[lakeside1000]

I got out of the house around 10 and headed out some distance to pea fields I thought would have been cut, disappointment followed when field after field still stood high and full of pods ( no shooting )

Looked at several other options on the way back towards home but nothing doing, last resort, 2 pea field cut Friday and now beginning to smell really strong, drove down the longest one to a tree line with power cables running alongside, disturbing around 2 to 3 hundred rooks and around 50 pigeons. it was now 12.00 and losing shooting time I thought why not, even if the pigeons dont come back a few rooks will give me some much needed practice.

The sky was blue with light cloud and a light north westerly blowing, perfect, set out a good pattern with shells and dead birds, 2 floaters and a magnet, plus a few full bodied rooks.

They came almost immediately, rooks and pigeons, within 2 hours I had 15 pigeons and 6 crows, 3 rooks and 3 carrion crows,

I felt the first few spots of rain and quickly put my waterproofs on but the black clouds got darker and darker,

lightening flashing around above me I was getting very nervous sitting under the power cables, so grabbed the gun and cartridge bag and headed for the car, just in time, the heavens opened and it poured, not just for a few minutes, by 2.30 it was stair rods you could barely see in front of you, I sat in the car with the heater on just watching it get worse and worse, by 3.30 it was not letting up so I began to panick, the field sloped up to the road about 400 yards away, water was cascading down the field and the surface resembled wet cement, I engaged 4 wheel drive diff lock low ratio, and prayed, progress was slow but I made it back to the hide about 100 yards away and parked, I checked my phone for a signal to let the wife know my situation but no battery, damn.If I cant get out of this field I have a long walk for help.

It took me 30 minutes to slither through the mud picking up decoys and packing the hide away, all the dead birds looked like drowned rats covered in mud,

My waterproofs had failed the test completely and the water was running down my back, chest legs and into my boots, I began to shiver with cold, it was still coming down so hard there was a haze lifting from the ground about 12 inches into the air as water and mud splashed up, I finally got the car packed , water running out of everything all over the load space and back seats, I stripped off my waterproof jacket now wetter on the inside, took off my camo shirt and quickly slipped on my big winter coat, always in the car for emergencies, which was warm and dry.

So now all I needed to do was get out of the field, Once again in crawler gear I slipped her into gear and let the clutch out, the first 10 yards was almost sideways, trying to get the front facing towards the road, then I felt the tyres bite into some slightly harder ground so gently opened up the throttle and we were away, sliding around like an ice skater first left then right but still going forwards, Out of the corner of my eye I saw a pair of tram lines full of water, I pulled the wheel over and dropped into them, under the water the compressed soil had remained hard(ish) and the tyres found some traction , I breather a sigh of relief and headed for the road, the last 10 yards was a complete swamp but I hit it at about 15 mph, hung on for dear life and bounced through some enormous ruts ending up in the middle of the road,

I pulled into the side and pushed all the gear into the back as the last leap had sent most of it into the front seat or over my shoulders,

It was now 4.30 , still raining and flashes of lightning still bright in the dark sky , it took just 10 minutes to get home through flooded roads , even my front yard was under 3 inches of water , another 15 minutes in a hot shower to thaw out, and a nice hot cup of tea.

According to the weather report that evening we had 2 months rain in two hours , most of it on my head.

I can only say the hero of the hour was my old 2001 Mitsubishi pinin, bought just six months ago to get me on and off the farms where normal cars cannot go, I didnt realise it is also a pretty good boat.

Its now 24 hours later , all my gear is washed and dry and ready for the next trip out, now where are those pesky pigeons ?

 

 

[ips]

Enjoyed the read 👍

[Me matt]

An outting of epic proportions for sure.

We had a Pinin about 6 years ago, great drive train but awful tappy engine, think it was a 1.8 gdi petrol, had it a couple of years then it needed the head reconditioning so I outed it. Was the best thing ever in the snow we use to get back then.

[JDog]

I greatly enjoyed your tale of considerable discomfort. We have all been there.

[7daysinaweek]

Sounded more akin to a drive across the tibetan mountains, that vehicle certainly got you out of a pickle. Enjoyed the read.

 

atb

7diaw

[7daysinaweek]

I greatly enjoyed your tale of considerable discomfort. We have all been there.

 

[matone]

That`ll be an unforgettable day !

[Wilksy II]

Great write up lakeside! Captured the drama beautifully!

[Dave-G]

Sounds a satisfying report. I must concede the shamefully rotten non undersealed rustbuckets are very capable.

[lakeside1000]

An outting of epic proportions for sure.

We had a Pinin about 6 years ago, great drive train but awful tappy engine, think it was a 1.8 gdi petrol, had it a couple of years then it needed the head reconditioning so I outed it. Was the best thing ever in the snow we use to get back then.

 

 

Sounds a satisfying report. I must concede the shamefully rotten non undersealed rustbuckets are very capable.

 

In its defence it is 80.000 miles with only minor rust on the wing edges, but I am a little worried about the rear door hinge mountings,there is rust showing and the large heavy single door has dropped so that it is hard to close, as for the tapping engine, mine has one sticking cam follower which stops clicking within a few seconds of starting up from cold and only sounds off again if the engine gets really cold, its my first venture into 4 x 4's and we are now looking at trading it for a 2005 or 6 which is the last model of the Pinin they made, just cannot find one near enough to Norfolk to go see and check out.

Thanks for the kind comment's , I enjoyed telling the tale even though the actual day was something else entirely.