marsh man Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 After watching the news and weather dinnertime, the forecast was strong to gale South / West winds , not exactly the perfect storm but if the geese come back from where they had been feeding during the day then there might be a chance for a shot or two during the evening flight . Having read answer2 lovely account of his dream flight on the mud flats and the thought of trying to fulfil the request from two of the guns on this Saturdays shoot who would like to try a goose it was time to make a move , this was a bit early for me as I normally leave it much later before I set off but with the marshes being so dry and devoid of duck at the present time the block of marshes where I was intending to go are getting popular during these dry conditions and with only six allowed on at any one time if you leave it till late there is a possibility it will be full up. Arriving at the gate where the tag board is there were already four fowlers who had the same idea as me , but at least there was room for me and with it being a big block it is easy to keep out of each others way , by now it was getting on for four o clock and the light was already fading , the first big lot of 3 to 400 crossed the main road towards the town several marshes away and they carried on without a shot being fired , then for the next 20 minutes there was very little sight or sound of any more geese and I began to wonder if the bulk of them had flighted back to there roost before I got there . By now the wind had got up and light was rapidly disappearing when the first volley of three shots rang out further down the marsh , I thought I could hear the geese out in front but no , it was the wind blowing in the top of my gun barrels, but then there was no mistaking the sound out in front really was geese and I could then see faint lines sig sagging across the dark sky in front of me , most of them were far to high for me and I held my fire hoping for some a bit lower , one lot looked just about on the border line when the directly above and at my one shot I saw it drifting down with the wind and I heard it hit the marsh somewhere well in front of me , on a previous thread about dogs running in , I said I didn't mind mine running in , even more so on a situation like this , as it turned out my dog sat there like a statue for the simple fact he never saw what I fired at , so I casted him out and with him being a young dog he wasn't going out far enough to pick up any sent , by now the other guns were getting a bit of shooting but I am a great believer , a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush , or marsh in this case, so I walked in the general direction while Bobbie was criss crossing the field in front , I thought I had gone a bit further than where I thought it should be and we were getting close to the dyke embankment , I then saw the dog do a sharp turn and after working along the bottom of the dyke up he came with a lively Pink . Even though he has got a lot to learn that was one of the best retrieves he had done and I was full of praise with him , by now the stars were coming out and a few geese were still moving about with the odd shot still being heard , standing there still getting over the excitement of my last shot I heard a few wink winks calling out if front and I could just make out staggered line coming to one side of me about 40 yds up , crouching down on one doggie knee I took the last one in the line as he was the nearest and this time there was no gliding down , it was straight down and back to hand within a minute to join his stable mate laying on the grass. It was now far to dark for me even though there was still the odd shot going off and I had now got all I wanted , not exactly in the same league as Boyd ( five for five ) or Robert five for six ) but two for two on the eve of my seventh birthday left me a very happy vintage fowler . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matone Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 A memorable flight if ever ! Congrats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Great stuff for an old codger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Very nice story, doesn't get much better than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 (edited) Nice little evening flight Marshman. Well done. Good to see the dog is learning too. Edited November 22, 2017 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 A great read marsh man thanks for sharing. Here's to many more similar outing in your seventies. All the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6.5x55SE Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 54 minutes ago, marsh man said: After watching the news and weather dinnertime, the forecast was strong to gale South / West winds , not exactly the perfect storm but if the geese come back from where they had been feeding during the day then there might be a chance for a shot or two during the evening flight . Having read answer2 lovely account of his dream flight on the mud flats and the thought of trying to fulfil the request from two of the guns on this Saturdays shoot who would like to try a goose it was time to make a move , this was a bit early for me as I normally leave it much later before I set off but with the marshes being so dry and devoid of duck at the present time the block of marshes where I was intending to go are getting popular during these dry conditions and with only six allowed on at any one time if you leave it till late there is a possibility it will be full up. Arriving at the gate where the tag board is there were already four fowlers who had the same idea as me , but at least there was room for me and with it being a big block it is easy to keep out of each others way , by now it was getting on for four o clock and the light was already fading , the first big lot of 3 to 400 crossed the main road towards the town several marshes away and they carried on without a shot being fired , then for the next 20 minutes there was very little sight or sound of any more geese and I began to wonder if the bulk of them had flighted back to there roost before I got there . By now the wind had got up and light was rapidly disappearing when the first volley of three shots rang out further down the marsh , I thought I could hear the geese out in front but no , it was the wind blowing in the top of my gun barrels, but then there was no mistaking the sound out in front really was geese and I could then see faint lines sig sagging across the dark sky in front of me , most of them were far to high for me and I held my fire hoping for some a bit lower , one lot looked just about on the border line when the directly above and at my one shot I saw it drifting down with the wind and I heard it hit the marsh somewhere well in front of me , on a previous thread about dogs running in , I said I didn't mind mine running in , even more so on a situation like this , as it turned out my dog sat there like a statue for the simple fact he never saw what I fired at , so I casted him out and with him being a young dog he wasn't going out far enough to pick up any sent , by now the other guns were getting a bit of shooting but I am a great believer , a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush , or marsh in this case, so I walked in the general direction while Bobbie was criss crossing the field in front , I thought I had gone a bit further than where I thought it should be and we were getting close to the dyke embankment , I then saw the dog do a sharp turn and after working along the bottom of the dyke up he came with a lively Pink . Even though he has got a lot to learn that was one of the best retrieves he had done and I was full of praise with him , by now the stars were coming out and a few geese were still moving about with the odd shot still being heard , standing there still getting over the excitement of my last shot I heard a few wink winks calling out if front and I could just make out staggered line coming to one side of me about 40 yds up , crouching down on one doggie knee I took the last one in the line as he was the nearest and this time there was no gliding down , it was straight down and back to hand within a minute to join his stable mate laying on the grass. It was now far to dark for me even though there was still the odd shot going off and I had now got all I wanted , not exactly in the same league as Boyd ( five for five ) or Robert five for six ) but two for two on the eve of my seventh birthday left me a very happy vintage fowler . Happy Birthday John well done on the Pink's and may you still be dropping them for many years to come Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiler23 Posted November 22, 2017 Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 Well done, and happy birthday for tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2017 MANY THANKS to all the kind people above. Two little things niggled me a bit tonight , one was , I met one of the chaps who came back to his motor just after I got back and the first thing fowlers say to each other is , how did you get on , or did you do any good , he had a Pink and said he lost another one that hit the marsh and he couldn't find it , needless to say , he never had a dog . And the other thing was shooting was still going on in the pitch dark with the stars out , whoever was on there did have a lot of shooting during what you would term as normal flight times and he or they should have been close to there limit without firing half the night at geese that would had been nearly impossible to see without any background cover . Anyway , apart from that , it was an excellent night and tomorrow I will give the dogs a couple of retrieves and try and put a couple of photos of him now he is coming up for 2 1/2 year old . GOOD LUCK to anyone out tomorrow . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted November 23, 2017 Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 Happy Birthday, John and well done on the pinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted November 23, 2017 Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 13 hours ago, marsh man said: After watching the news and weather dinnertime, the forecast was strong to gale South / West winds , not exactly the perfect storm but if the geese come back from where they had been feeding during the day then there might be a chance for a shot or two during the evening flight . Having read answer2 lovely account of his dream flight on the mud flats and the thought of trying to fulfil the request from two of the guns on this Saturdays shoot who would like to try a goose it was time to make a move , this was a bit early for me as I normally leave it much later before I set off but with the marshes being so dry and devoid of duck at the present time the block of marshes where I was intending to go are getting popular during these dry conditions and with only six allowed on at any one time if you leave it till late there is a possibility it will be full up. Arriving at the gate where the tag board is there were already four fowlers who had the same idea as me , but at least there was room for me and with it being a big block it is easy to keep out of each others way , by now it was getting on for four o clock and the light was already fading , the first big lot of 3 to 400 crossed the main road towards the town several marshes away and they carried on without a shot being fired , then for the next 20 minutes there was very little sight or sound of any more geese and I began to wonder if the bulk of them had flighted back to there roost before I got there . By now the wind had got up and light was rapidly disappearing when the first volley of three shots rang out further down the marsh , I thought I could hear the geese out in front but no , it was the wind blowing in the top of my gun barrels, but then there was no mistaking the sound out in front really was geese and I could then see faint lines sig sagging across the dark sky in front of me , most of them were far to high for me and I held my fire hoping for some a bit lower , one lot looked just about on the border line when the directly above and at my one shot I saw it drifting down with the wind and I heard it hit the marsh somewhere well in front of me , on a previous thread about dogs running in , I said I didn't mind mine running in , even more so on a situation like this , as it turned out my dog sat there like a statue for the simple fact he never saw what I fired at , so I casted him out and with him being a young dog he wasn't going out far enough to pick up any sent , by now the other guns were getting a bit of shooting but I am a great believer , a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush , or marsh in this case, so I walked in the general direction while Bobbie was criss crossing the field in front , I thought I had gone a bit further than where I thought it should be and we were getting close to the dyke embankment , I then saw the dog do a sharp turn and after working along the bottom of the dyke up he came with a lively Pink . Even though he has got a lot to learn that was one of the best retrieves he had done and I was full of praise with him , by now the stars were coming out and a few geese were still moving about with the odd shot still being heard , standing there still getting over the excitement of my last shot I heard a few wink winks calling out if front and I could just make out staggered line coming to one side of me about 40 yds up , crouching down on one doggie knee I took the last one in the line as he was the nearest and this time there was no gliding down , it was straight down and back to hand within a minute to join his stable mate laying on the grass. It was now far to dark for me even though there was still the odd shot going off and I had now got all I wanted , not exactly in the same league as Boyd ( five for five ) or Robert five for six ) but two for two on the eve of my seventh birthday left me a very happy vintage fowler . Still a young man then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 3 hours ago, steve_b_wales said: Still a young man then. I wish , .....I will start practicing to get it right on my 80th A few photos taken in this morning windy conditions with last nights Pinks gif image hosting upload the pictures[/url Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted November 23, 2017 Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 He's looking good John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted November 23, 2017 Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 Marsh man, what I really appreciate are your countryside observations as well as your reports on your outings. Your language paints a thousand pictures. Also it cannot have been easy for you to have mastered the internet and posting on the forum and putting up pictures. Your efforts are much appreciated. Happy Birthday. How does it feel to be in your eighth decade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted November 23, 2017 Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 I can only repeat what you recently said to me, "these are the days that will stay in your memory bank, your happy the dogs happy, all is safely gathered in" happy birthday MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 2 hours ago, JDog said: Marsh man, what I really appreciate are your countryside observations as well as your reports on your outings. Your language paints a thousand pictures. Also it cannot have been easy for you to have mastered the internet and posting on the forum and putting up pictures. Your efforts are much appreciated. Happy Birthday. How does it feel to be in your eighth decade? Many thanks for your kind words , no it haven't been that easy but I am a firm believer where you learn by your mistakes , when I first came on the forum I didn't know what button to press to get a capital letter and with the help of the members , including yourself and I believe it was islandgun who told me what to do , then a major development was when I learnt to put a photo on the forum , I am not sure weather I am aloud to put them on the different threads but I haven't been told off up to now , then over the last few weeks the format has changed so it was back to the drawing board , but I now know there are plenty of genuine people out there who are always prepared to share there knowledge and help me out whenever I need it . How does it feel to be in my eighth decade ? not that much older than my seventh to tell you the truth , as I have only been in it for a day, although in the past I used to let an elderly person have my seat on the bus , now the elderly people now get up and offer me there seat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted November 23, 2017 Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 A lovely write up as usual marsh man! Pup looks like he's enjoying himself as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 26 minutes ago, Big Mat said: A lovely write up as usual marsh man! Pup looks like he's enjoying himself as well Cheers Mat ..........How is your season going up to now ? Oh , and good luck with your new addition when the time come Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flippermaj Posted November 23, 2017 Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 Marsh Man, great story and a great picture of the dog and your rewards. Lets hope we are all bagging geese into our 70's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2017 39 minutes ago, flippermaj said: Marsh Man, great story and a great picture of the dog and your rewards. Lets hope we are all bagging geese into our 70's! Thanks flippermaj ....... I was always told age is only a number , not so sure about that as most of the chaps who I first started shooting with had a number and sadly it is now up What I did notice last night was how heavy Pinks are becoming , where I could easily manage lugging back 4 or even 5 , now , even though they look the same, and the size seem the same , for some unknown reason they seem twice as heavy as they once were Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted November 24, 2017 Report Share Posted November 24, 2017 I don't know about anser2 writing a book; I think you could make a fair fist of it John. One worth reading, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted November 25, 2017 Report Share Posted November 25, 2017 Many happy returns on turning seventy and one very pleasurable read. When the older Fowler’s post flight reports like this one and anser2 has, it makes better reading than most books. They remind me of reading the likes of country gun and other writers in shooting times a decade ago. Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panoma1 Posted November 25, 2017 Report Share Posted November 25, 2017 There you go MM start jotting down your reminiscences! Soon have enough to fill a book! many happy returns! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted November 25, 2017 Report Share Posted November 25, 2017 Lovely read that mm, i don't fowl meself but as jd says your post captures the essence of your experience. Long may you tread the marshes, and i look forward to reading many more of your exploits. atb 7diaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendrix's rifle Posted November 27, 2017 Report Share Posted November 27, 2017 I don't frequent this section of the forum but will do what now on, what a cracking write up! you should write a book If thats anything to go by, happy belated birthday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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