Old Tom at it again.

[dead eye alan]

  Met up with Tom at the farm at about 10.15 the birds were already on the beans, a good flight line running along the far edge but unable to get him round to it. We decided on a spot close to a large ash tree that is a sitty tree, to get to this we had to cross a stile bridge now that was fun he couldn't get his leg up far enough to get over it so i was lifting his legs one at a time to get over. Then all the kit and drive 2 motors under the shade of some willows, walk back twice set up hide and a rotary and flapper 11 on sticks and cradles. All set at last at 11.35 left the shooting to Tom as this was his first outing this year, he missed the first 7 before connecting with a high crosser that burst into a cloud of feathers and dropped like a stone, wish i had a camera as is face lit up with joy and said how's that!  He had 2 more that came straight to the decoys but the majority of the birds were ignoring the decoys and going straight up the adjacent hedge, and landing in a small copes before going down to feed. I decided I would go to the copse with a pocket full of cartridges to try and stir things up a bit and hope a few more would come Toms way. I was in the copse for about an hour and half picked up six lost three in thick undergrowth and ran out of cartridges, walked back to hide Tom had been shooting regularly for the time I was away and accounted for only five more birds. I think his age is finally slowing him down as his body is slow to swing with the birds and shoots behind most of the time. It dry up at 16.15 and we decided to call it a day, after packing up the gear collecting the motors and getting Tom back over the stile bridge and on his way home I was absolutely whaked. We ended the day with twenty six picked several lost in thick hedge and one very happy old man. 

[JDog]

Well done both of you.

[mossy835]

its nice you take him out, good for him getting there,and a good bag of pigeons.

[Old Boggy]

I wonder whether any of us will have such a good and helpful younger friend like you to help us out into the field in our dotage.

Good on you and well done to Tom.

OB

[matone]

How good that must be for Tom !! Excellent .

[GingerCat]

What a good thing to do. Well done. 

[HIDENSEEK]

Well done! I hope someone helps me get my leg over when I'm past it!  

 

[marsh man]

What an excellent post , when you are younger you never consider that one day you are going to have to call it a day , sad I know but you cant defeat time forever and with kind hearted people like yourself you can at least postpone that day for a bit longer .

Well done to you Alan for giving Tom an enjoyable day out , and hope Tom have got a few more coming his way before to long .

[motty]

Great stuff! Glad you got some sport after all the effort you put in.

[lakeside1000]

I hope someone offers to take me out when I can no longer manage on my own, I would really miss the sport, I am very lucky so far as the farmer allows me to drive anywhere on the farm as long as I dont go through crops, very handy when carting a ton of gear with a very bad back, so well done Motty, keep it up, How can you put a value on a good friend, 

[dead eye alan]

 

 Thanks to you all for your kind words, Tom and I go back a long way and it's always a joy to be in a hide with him even if it is hard work to get him there.