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A day of two 1st's and a 2nd


islandgun
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A cracking day here in the Hebrides and no work commitments made my mind up for me that this was the day for a good walk on the hill, and to try my wifes 28g..🙂 properly and to see if I might bag my first woodcock. Following a stiff up hill slog and using precious oxygen, trying to control my excited springer, I found myself beside a deep gully, He had already put up plenty of snipe which i refrained from because my hopes were pinned on a woodcock. Taking one of my frequent rests I saw his tail double in speed as he pushed into a clump of heather, silently the bird rose and flew across the gully, no time to miss i raised the gun and knocked down my first woodcock, A detour back down the hill to cross the gully resulted in my dogs first woodcock retrieve. 1 for 1 result, deciding that anymore up-hill struggles might be more than my frail body could take, i followed sheep tracks across rather than up, eventually we came to a second gully with a similar result to the first, an easy retrieve saw my 2nd woodcock in the bag. The walk back was into the sun, so i decided 2 for 2 was enough and emptied the gun.. A happy couple

 

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1 hour ago, prem1234 said:

Excellent shooting 2 for 2....I don't think you ever forget your first woodcock !!

That was my thinking.. a memorable day indeed

 

37 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Well done both of you!:good:

cheers mate

 

34 minutes ago, Smokersmith said:

Yum yum

That was also my thinking, better find a recipe..😉

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Can't add anyhting to the cooking advice, other than just keep them moist ..they dry out very quickly a wrapping in smoked streaky bacon helps ..do our partridge the same way.

I sorely miss my days walked up woodcock shooting on the steep Welsh hillsides with my GSP or viszlas...... there is a word in the As in the dictionary, easy to find but some I meet in the bird shooting field, don't appreciate how significant it is to shooting fieldsports .....ANTICIPATION .... and a walk up like yours has that in spades.   I believe without the anticipation of a bird rising or coming my way, the day would be far less enjoyable. 

Please the dawg enjoyed himself as well.

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It's always nice to get a first of any species and to get two on the same day is something special , some dogs totally ignore them when it comes to retrieving and others are fine , touch wood all of my Labs have never had any trouble when it comes to picking them up , I did see one once that was still alive fan it tail feathers in a complete circle , I am not sure why , but I presume it's a defence act to try to make itself look bigger than what it is ?

When it comes to eating , I think they are a desired taste , some love them and others are not that keen , but I think you can say the same thing with most game . 

Well done to the pair of you . 

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Thanks for the replies folks

1 hour ago, Walker570 said:

Can't add anyhting to the cooking advice, other than just keep them moist ..they dry out very quickly a wrapping in smoked streaky bacon helps ..do our partridge the same way.

I sorely miss my days walked up woodcock shooting on the steep Welsh hillsides with my GSP or viszlas...... there is a word in the As in the dictionary, easy to find but some I meet in the bird shooting field, don't appreciate how significant it is to shooting fieldsports .....ANTICIPATION .... and a walk up like yours has that in spades.   I believe without the anticipation of a bird rising or coming my way, the day would be far less enjoyable. 

Please the dawg enjoyed himself as well.

 I agree that anticipation is often greater than the result, likewise a spur of the moment decision can also be rewarding

59 minutes ago, marsh man said:

It's always nice to get a first of any species and to get two on the same day is something special , some dogs totally ignore them when it comes to retrieving and others are fine , touch wood all of my Labs have never had any trouble when it comes to picking them up , I did see one once that was still alive fan it tail feathers in a complete circle , I am not sure why , but I presume it's a defence act to try to make itself look bigger than what it is ?

When it comes to eating , I think they are a desired taste , some love them and others are not that keen , but I think you can say the same thing with most game . 

Well done to the pair of you . 

The only one ive eaten before, flew into my car..It was very nice

22 minutes ago, Whitebridges said:

You'll remember the day IG. Very well done. Great photo's of the dawg and gun. The 28g is great for walked up shooting IMO.

Don't neglect the snipe. I remember using the beak to truss it up !

Snipe5.jpg    

Cant you get any newer wine in Norfolk mate..😉 I hope to be trying snipe soon also golden plover given the opportunity

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6 hours ago, islandgun said:

Thanks for the replies gents...... lloyd I rolled them this morning 20 grains of blue dot and 25g of 6's RTO

25g 6’s ... I’m hoping to use something similar for the 20 Bore :) although was given a box of Eley Hi- Flyer 28g 6’s ... not sure why you’d use 28g in a 20 Bore thought your suppose to use nice light ones 🤣

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11 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

25g 6’s ... I’m hoping to use something similar for the 20 Bore :) although was given a box of Eley Hi- Flyer 28g 6’s ... not sure why you’d use 28g in a 20 Bore thought your suppose to use nice light ones 🤣

The 25gram was the only recipe i had to suit my components, likewise 6 shot, I cant detect any sort of recoil with the 28g,  It does have a removable butt pad as the stock is short so that might help, We dont have pigeons or pheasants so my shooting is restricted to rabbits or wildfowl,  and then that is usually with a 12g, and 36g of steel [ not the rabbits] . Ive only patterned the 28g up until yesterday and im very impressed with the patterns.. 

I suppose the 20g will be fine with 28gram given you have some weight in the gun. I have a single C&H 20g, very light which flips open with anything over 24g.. 

Good luck with your ESS

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6 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

Looks good  PS what do you use to reload your shotgun shells? 

Most of my cases come ready primed, although its not difficult to knock old primers out and re-seat new, a good set of scales, powders, wads, [fibre and plastic] over shot card and a Roll turn over. I bought the main body from Siarm Italy along with interchangeable RTO heads 20.28.410 these are very basic but do work,   I have old hand loading tools for the 12 and 10 g [Lee loaders] ... if you dont already re-load be aware that it is very interesting..:good:

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2 hours ago, islandgun said:

Most of my cases come ready primed, although its not difficult to knock old primers out and re-seat new, a good set of scales, powders, wads, [fibre and plastic] over shot card and a Roll turn over. I bought the main body from Siarm Italy along with interchangeable RTO heads 20.28.410 these are very basic but do work,   I have old hand loading tools for the 12 and 10 g [Lee loaders] ... if you dont already re-load be aware that it is very interesting..:good:

I reload 243 but not shotgun, was looking at components last night and considering getting a press for the 20 Bore 👍🏻 

Maybe a Lee Loader 

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2 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

I reload 243 but not shotgun, was looking at components last night and considering getting a press for the 20 Bore 👍🏻 

Maybe a Lee Loader 

great stuff . you would probably need a Loadall the Lee loaders are basic hand tools [none the worse for that] the The 12 g Loadall can also be adapted to 20 g i believe, henry krank [amongst others] does them about £50, you could get all your components and the loadall sent in one package.. 20 g is much easier to load for as you wont need a RTO...... the loadall doesnt come in 28g flavour

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