Not so many but just as enjoyable, if not more so.

[Old Boggy]

This weeks little trip out was to the same field as last (Wheat stubble) but the field had been disced and the pigeon numbers had reduced slightly. This was of no concern whatsoever as this time my pal Stour Boy was to accompany me with his dog Decker which made for a bit of a catch up and scrap of lunch and a good deal of banter. I always look forward to our banter and the food goes down well too.

Invariably on such occasions I try to get there early to start setting up and last Wednesday was no exception. I was in the final stages of setting up the whirly, 2 floaters and a dozen flocked shells when my pal turned up. The wind had changed round to Northerly so I chose the opposite side of the field with a field of tall maize to the rear which hopefully would give shelter from the wind. As these fields are out on the marshes, it`s surprising how the chilly the wind can be on occasions. Being on the North Kent coast, there is no land mass between this area and the North Pole so a Northerly can be quite uncomfortable at times. However, today the forecast was for just a breeze but even this proved uncomfortable despite the maize as a buffer so I put an extra net at our backs as a shield, or at least a filter. 

The first bird in took us by surprise and came right in low in front unseen and flared away without a shot being taken. We try to take it in turns to shoot but obviously any birds approaching from left or right and offering one of us the best opportunity is taken accordingly. We were getting a few shots, connecting with some and missing others. One or two were coming from behind with the wind and giving very little chance to get the gun to the shoulder let alone get a shot off before they were well out of range with apparently no intention of turning into the wind and into the decoys. However, the odd one did overfly and then spotted the whirly and come back in for another look. These were the ones that we connected with on occasions as they gave us more time to prepare for the shot, although Stour Boy pulled off a cracking snap shot at one hell bent for other pastures. On this occasion he used his 16 bore Darne side by side to good effect.

As always, as soon as the food comes out, a pigeon appears over the decoys so this time we took it in turns to have our bit of tucker. This weeks `feast` consisted of sausage pie (courtesy of Mrs Stour Boy), cheese scones (courtesy of my daughter- my wife doesn`t do puddings- or much else if I`m honest) and a couple of chocolate bars. The pork and pickle pies that I brought were left uneaten. Knowing my wife`s lack of pie making, Mrs Stour Boy had made me a lovely apple and blackberry crumble to take home. So thank you Sue for that, it was delicious.

We were getting the occasional bird come in but not as frequently as I encountered last week so the bag was smaller but totally irrelevant as the company and seeing the dog working was the highlight of this short trip. We did drop a couple in the dyke behind but agreed not to send the dog as a very dyke-smelling dog in our hide was not conducive to the enjoyment of our food, so retrieval of these was attempted when packing up. Unfortunately even an extended hide pole wouldn`t reach and Stour Boy very unsportingly didn`t wish to send the dog and have his car smell of dyke on the way home. I just couldn`t understand his logic.

During our session we had been watching a tractor and trailer two fields away bringing in the final loads of onions. I made a visual note of where the onion field was, mainly tucked out of sight behind a large block of maize. I have therefore just returned today from a drive out on the marsh to locate the field and have returned with two large bags of white onions. I also spotted a field of reds just being finished, so that will get a visit tomorrow. On the way home today I also had chat with another farmer friend who had just started getting his spuds in, both reds and whites. Like the farmer with the onions, I always get offered bag or two, but I get more pleasure from `gleaning` direct from the field. I have now got sufficient spuds and white onions with some to be given to my daughter. Just the reds, my personal favourites to get.

Back to our day on the pigeons, we ended our short session with just 14 pigeons with 4 lost (2 in the dyke and two in the maize behind) but more importantly had a thoroughly enjoyable few hours out, a good bit of banter and of course put the world to rights. I was asked on a few occasions whether my cartridges had any lead in them. That was after Stour Boy`s cracking snap shot and immediately after my two easy misses. My reply as always is "It`s not the winning, it`s the taking part that counts". Heaven forbid that either of us should take up clay shooting. I would add that we do hit our fair share as well, it`s just that my form recently is a little below par. Does that worry me? Not one iota. The next time could be completely different and hopefully will be.

Many thanks for enduring my latest report of our day.

OB

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well I don't know why you don't just go out on a longer picnic and save a lot of the hard work?  

[JDog]

A fine report.

I have relayed to Mrs Old Boggy exactly what you said about her.

[marsh man]

4 hours ago, JDog said:

A fine report.

I have relayed to Mrs Old Boggy exactly what you said about her.

I have had the good fortune in meeting both Chris and his good lady , and both look a picture of health, we will put it down to either the fresh sea air or the healthy eating , or possibly both , whatever it is they both look well on it .

Another first class account of an enjoyable day spent in good company and some sport thrown in for good measure .

[Old Boggy]

20 hours ago, JDog said:

A fine report.

I have relayed to Mrs Old Boggy exactly what you said about her.

I`m sure that she would take it in good heart, whatever`s said. She knows that I only joke about such matters.

 

16 hours ago, marsh man said:

I have had the good fortune in meeting both Chris and his good lady , and both look a picture of health, we will put it down to either the fresh sea air or the healthy eating , or possibly both , whatever it is they both look well on it .

Another first class account of an enjoyable day spent in good company and some sport thrown in for good measure .

Thank you John. It was an absolute pleasure to meet you and yours and to enjoy your company and hospitality. 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Old Boggy

[dead eye alan]

Another exhalant detailed report I enjoyed reading that.