new to the flock Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 For me it has been the other way with the weather....we had a very wet spring and then it went dry and overly hot. Now most of my shooting is on natural game and I usually have an abundance with an average of 2000 Canada Goose gosslings born and raised on my stretch...this year I have counted 40 There are also roughly 60 new Wood Duck Hatchlings and the same for Black ducks....this year I have seen 5 Black duck and 3 Wood Duck Hatchlings. Have yet to see a Grouse or Wild Turkey brood, or a pheasant brood for that matter. , and I have only seen 3 fawns this year so far. It is not just the wild populations that are down either. The farmers have all been complaining that their hatches of ducks, geese, and turkeys are low, and that the lambing have been low. At the moment it is looking that it may be a very slow fall hunting season. Some populations will still be able to handle light hunting. I will be okay for a couple of deer and there are lots of raccoons, but the ducks, geese, grouse and pheasant will be very dependend on the migratory flocks as I do not have the hatchlings this year. I have yet to hear how the Woodcock counts have gone. There seems to be lots of Cottontails around, but Hares are down. I will have to wait to see on the beaver, muskrat, and mink trapping this fall as those populations seem stable at the moment. Squirrel hunting may be very slow this fall aswell as I have seen very few young squirrels. I have a healthy population of adults, but I will not stress that population too far if I do not find young come this fall. So at the moment for me it looks as if it may be a very slow hunting season, with the possibility of a fair trapping season. Or it may just be alot of fishing What does your fall look like? NTTF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul in North Lincs. Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 on ours permissions its looking as if we're going to have a bumper year on the bunnies......................having accounted for several hundred last season....we'd got the numbers right down to an acceptable throughout our permissions... Luckily (for us) we haven't as yet been touched mixy so numbers are proliferating at a rapid rate, however the crops are high..and there's little we can do about it until the nights draw in and the crops have been harvested..... We have escaped mass evasion from the bluies..but they are there in small batches..but not hitting anywhere with any frequency to get a good bag. The reds seem to have moved off the estate with all this wet weather which has been terrible where we are..........all the earths seem washed in....with very little evidence.......Its a huge estate, and were waiting for them to re-appear once we're dried up a bit.... The farmer and sydicate have been extremely happy with us especially the ladder trap which has accounted for at least 400 rooks....(whoever says you can't catch rooks in a ladder trap!!.......we had had bewteen 10 - 20 every couple of days).....we even caught a huge dog fox in it as reported earlier on in the year.....Luckily we have been given an additonal 5,000 acres which is owned by our chap which he uses as a buffer to keep hsi birds off a bieghbouring shoot so we should have some damb good sport later on....................... Finally we have been granted a contract for an exclusive golf course which will be our first 'paying job'.....so some busy times ahead.... We have reached the limitation of what we can readily manage between the 3 of us...but I'm desperately looking forward to running the hounds on the rabbits with the rest of the A-TEAM which now comprises of Lurchers = Jess.....Lady....Stig.....Meg.....& Bella. Spaniels....Harvey.......and Henry...........and finally Polly the terrier. My son is 4 in January so I'm very much looking forward to introducing him to the hunting life next year!!!!! and to top it off......for our troubles we have been given a days shooting on the sydicate.....which is an added bonus, and something to luck forward to as I never shot on a shoot despite pest controlling for well over 20 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 Hi, There is plenty of rabbits about here now as well as reported sightings of several gingers around the chicken pen. There is also too many magpies and crows. I've been keeping on top of the squirrels the past few years and locally theor numbers appear to have dropped. :blink: FM :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancs Lad Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 Well this year I have probably already smashed my previous seasons records.............. Im going to be laid up come august after having an operation on my knee again............but as there is a crop of barley over the road...........which should be harvested by then...I might just be in luck............... Fingers crossed................ More beating in pheasant season..........if the syndicate pulls its finger out of its **** and gets one with a work party..........thats meant to have been arranged for about 3 years....... Dog training......................if I can stop it from licking my dads nostrils and chewing on his ears............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 Wild birds round us have had a dreadfull season so far. I've not seen any wild pheasant or partridge chicks so most of the birds down will be released ones which is a shame. Rabbits have had a cracking year we're up to about 500 and don't seem to have dented the numbers yet. Barley was finished harvesting yesterday and as soon as the rapes done we'll actually be able to see rabbits to lamp them for the first time in months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 I have seen a lot of mallard broods and one group of pheasant chicks and about five broods of partridge chicks. There will be more to see when the rape and cereals are cut. I have seen two families of hares, one had two leverets , the other had three. Rabbits seem to have had a very successful breeding "season", that doesn't really seem to have a start and a finish anymore. Although its been wet, there has been no flooding here and its been quite warm. In my experience its wet and cold that kills off the youngsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROBLATCH Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 there are still plenty of rabbits to keep us going for a while yet and the pheasant seem prety plentifull aswell whilst the hares are farely scarce.600 acre of oilseed rape to be swathed so pigeon should,nt be an issue along with crows on 200 acre of barley.well im hoping all will go well fingers crossed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferretboy111 Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 Ive had alot of Mallard broods on my shoot, have around 30 flying and well sized young duck on my water areas, and have seen another group of 5 today, younger ones but way past the critical stage. Saw 1 group of redleg chicks, and 1 group of pheasants of around 4 weeks old and about 8 of them, rabbits and hares seem to always be increasing on numbers. Seen a shed load of moorhens aswell, ill hit them hard when they come into season. Oh and not to forget the litters of fox's about. Things arent looking too bad, around the same as last year. But like Cranfield, we havent had really bad flooding around here. Alex :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurcherboy Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 Haven't got a bloody clue as I am working way too much :unsure: I do know that come October Sweep and me will be working very hard every Wednesday and Saturday. God I love that little black furry ****** LB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandersj89 Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Wild brid numbers are down on our shoot, not drastically but they are down a bit. Duck have done well though. Rabbits galore and still no sign of mixy. This weekend the first tranch of 1,000 poults arrive so it is a busy saterday ahead for me lugging crates around the pens! happy days! Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbob Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Its looking good ,theres loads of cover but as there cutting the fields for silage theres loads if rabbits showing ,plenty of birds seem to have got large broods off and the heavy rain doesn't seem to have done much damage to them .Just hope with the wet/close weather myxi dont rear its ugly head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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