Tall trees and high birds

[Scully]

Was invited as a guest and mentor to a young lad on very local shoot on which I have often beat, and help top up feeders etc when I’m asked, and which I’d been eagerly looking forward to for some time. 
It is situated ( like many shoots around here ) on the lower slopes of the Fells, in the Eden Valley, given over to hardy sheep and even hardier farmers, and is just stunning countryside at any time of year. 
Rain was forecast for most of the day and it was indeed raining when we all met up at the ‘keepers house, with a bitterly cold breeze. 
It was great to meet up with familiar faces I hadn’t seen for some time, and others I knew well. One in particular was an under keeper who had left for other pastures during the summer, and it was great to catch up. He now lives and works up on the grouse moors and told me that he and his girlfriend had been without mains electric since the storm last weekend, and weren’t due to be connected up again until this coming Tuesday. 

The young lad and I were to share drives and tossed a coin to see who would shoot first, and when everyone was ready we drew pegs and sauntered off in the opposite direction to the beaters, several of whom I knew well as I beat with them on the BIG shoot. 
Our peg was at the bottom of a beech tree leaf covered banking, complete with wind blown trees looking across a small snow melt swelled beck towards another orange covered slope, where the whoops and hollers of the beaters grew steadily louder. 
The lad was shooting first, and though no stranger to shooting, ( he has shot many clays with his Dad and me ) this was a big day for him as he had limited experience of live quarry shooting. I told him to just track the bird and speed up his swing as he swung through, just like he did with clays, and  killed outright the first bird over him! He turned to me with a big smile on his face, and thereby didn’t see several others as they soared overhead! He had two or three more shots but was out of the shooting as the dogs and beaters walked on. 
We moved on to the next drive, perhaps 100 yds further along, after picking up cartridges and retrieving birds, where I stood facing a small drystone walled wood atop a steep slope where storm damage was apparent even at this distance as we could see trunks poking over walls and pointing at various angles. 
This is a very warm wood and I was expecting quite a good few birds to be in there, and there was. Most initially filtered away to either side of me for whatever reason, and the guns on either side were very busy for a spell. 
I had several birds over me which I judged to be too low, so they sailed on by, and then a very well presented hen came down to my first barrel and splashed into the beck behind me, but I missed the next bird with my second barrel. I then shot a left and right but missed another with both barrels and was aware of some very shootable birds passing overhead while I stood there trying not to fumble reloads. I do have a cartridge belt but seldom use it as the loops are tight, and I find it clumsy with cold fingers on a busy peg, although I suppose it does have the advantage of presenting cartridges the right way up, which loose in a pocket doesn’t. Anyhow, I killed another before the whistle blew, and eventually found the first hen wedged mostly under water in a tangle of roots. 
Next drive was again facing an extensive coniferous wood, but the birds which the young lad was presented with were just too good for him, and he ended the drive with nothing to show for it unfortunately, but was still upbeat as we made our way to the game cart at drives end. 
We all congregated at the game cart where one of the guns opened a hotbox of pheasant strips which had been marinated in all spice, and hot pheasant and pigeon sausages! Very very nice, and the hot chocolate laced with Baileys and topped with squirty cream went some way to warming up cold and damp beaters who were having a hard time of it through the windblown. 
Next drive we climbed a bit towards the Fells, where we were exposed even more to the weather, but by now the rain had stopped as we lined out below yet another coniferous wood. The birds from here zipped by us on wind fuelled wings, but the lad brought down two of them, which pleased him immensely, and it was good to see. 
Lunch. Pork pie. Crisps. Coffee. Glayva. Port. 
We headed further up the fells for the first drive after lunch, and the beaters even further. I’ve beat this drive twice, both times having to resort to hands and knees to prevent myself from sliding back down as I picked my way up through the bracken and conifers, and arriving at the top leaves young and old alike sweating and knackered, only the recovery times differ. It is a nightmare of a hill! 
However, the guns at the bottom have it easy, only having to negotiate a narrow stream cutting through the moss covered ground in the gulley below. The entire shoot is fabulous scenery, but this wood is staggering. There isn’t a lot of Sun makes it’s way to the ground in the gulley, which is why much of it is simply a wet and vibrant mossy green, except for the dead bracken and ferns which covered the tiny open space where my peg was located. 
It was a long time before any birds appeared ( it’s a long hard slog for a beater ) and these consisted of pigeons which looked tiny above the canopy, and I resisted the urge despite the young lad egging me on. 🙂

I was wondering just how high these birds were going to be, as the tree tops seemed a long way up, and then I could hear the beaters as they grew closer and a cock dropped out of the canopy at about two o’clock. I had just raised my gun when it was gilded up by the gun to my right, and then it all went a little crazy. 
A hen appeared directly in front but what seemed like way above the tree tops, and while I have always practiced transferring my weight to my rear leg when shooting high driven clays, you can only hope you actually do it in the field. Anyhow, it must have come from a long way back as it was gliding by the time it appeared in front, and I leaned way back as I swung through and it disappeared as I whipped the barrels in front and pulled the trigger, only to see it fold up and sail out of view overhead. I heard another gun compliment me on the shot, and the young lad swore then burst out laughing as he watched it crash into the undergrowth behind us. Then another from the right before I had time to reload, which folded up to my second barrel after the gun in my right missed it. The birds just kept coming and I just kept shooting. The lad was keeping count and kept up a running tally as down they came, the most memorable being a repeat of the first, ( me being very aware of maybe not being able to carry it off again! ) and another cock which seemed to be way out there but folded up. These SIPE are simply an awesome load! 
I was aware of a lot of shooting and no gun was out of the shooting. Huge smiles all round when the whistle blew, and the personal tally for me was 12 birds for 21 shots. My shooting was congratulated by a fellow gun and the young lad was beside himself. My only regret was my young dog is not quite ready as yet, and I became so involved with the buzz and searching for one bird ( the one which landed in Yorkshire! 😀) that by the time I’d finished looking for it, others had not only picked my birds but carried them out, along with their own! Quite shameful. 
Anyhow, there was another two drives to go, and I left the young lad to shoot both of them as I’d had my fill. I’d shot enough and was perfectly happy to watch the rest of the days proceedings. 
By now the day was getting on, it was drizzly and the temperature was dropping, and as young skinny lads do, he was feeling the cold, so much so that I had to slip off the auto safety of his gun after each time he closed it, and insert his ear plugs on each drive, and the buckle on his cartridge bag was beyond him also. 
He clipped the tail feathers of a couple of birds, brought down one on each drive, narrowly missed a rocketing partridge ( the only one I saw all day ) and was growing tired and very cold, and unsurprisingly, losing a bit of interest due to being so cold. 
It was nice for beaters and guns to get back to the gun room, where the log burner was lit, and it wasn’t long before guns, beaters and dogs were gently steaming in its heat. More beer, food, a bit more port, reliving the day and some great craic. 
Total bag was 102 pheasant, one teal, one mallard and a woodcock. A grand larl day! 🙂

That F3 SuperSport really is a nice gun though! 🙂
 

[WalkedUp]

Excellent, good on you to let him shoot the last two. Surprised he froze with all the excitement and port, but probably needs a few more pheasant strips and pork pies to fully insulate him for winter. 👍

[Centrepin]

Nice write up, made me feel like I was there. Good on you for letting him shoot.

I agree with the Sipe having bought a couple of slabs cheaply, I'll miss them when they're used up all too soon on corvids. Can't stand baileys though😁

[JDog]

Thanks Scully. Read in front of a warm fire I could still feel the cold of your day.

Great post. 

[mossy835]

well done scully another good day for you well done.

[London Best]

Thanks, Scully. A very well written and descriptive write up. 
No wonder the lad was struggling a bit if he was that cold.

[Gerry78]

17 hours ago, Scully said:

Was invited as a guest and mentor to a young lad on very local shoot on which I have often beat, and help top up feeders etc when I’m asked, and which I’d been eagerly looking forward to for some time. 
It is situated ( like many shoots around here ) on the lower slopes of the Fells, in the Eden Valley, given over to hardy sheep and even hardier farmers, and is just stunning countryside at any time of year. 
Rain was forecast for most of the day and it was indeed raining when we all met up at the ‘keepers house, with a bitterly cold breeze. 
It was great to meet up with familiar faces I hadn’t seen for some time, and others I knew well. One in particular was an under keeper who had left for other pastures during the summer, and it was great to catch up. He now lives and works up on the grouse moors and told me that he and his girlfriend had been without mains electric since the storm last weekend, and weren’t due to be connected up again until this coming Tuesday. 

The young lad and I were to share drives and tossed a coin to see who would shoot first, and when everyone was ready we drew pegs and sauntered off in the opposite direction to the beaters, several of whom I knew well as I beat with them on the BIG shoot. 
Our peg was at the bottom of a beech tree leaf covered banking, complete with wind blown trees looking across a small snow melt swelled beck towards another orange covered slope, where the whoops and hollers of the beaters grew steadily louder. 
The lad was shooting first, and though no stranger to shooting, ( he has shot many clays with his Dad and me ) this was a big day for him as he had limited experience of live quarry shooting. I told him to just track the bird and speed up his swing as he swung through, just like he did with clays, and  killed outright the first bird over him! He turned to me with a big smile on his face, and thereby didn’t see several others as they soared overhead! He had two or three more shots but was out of the shooting as the dogs and beaters walked on. 
We moved on to the next drive, perhaps 100 yds further along, after picking up cartridges and retrieving birds, where I stood facing a small drystone walled wood atop a steep slope where storm damage was apparent even at this distance as we could see trunks poking over walls and pointing at various angles. 
This is a very warm wood and I was expecting quite a good few birds to be in there, and there was. Most initially filtered away to either side of me for whatever reason, and the guns on either side were very busy for a spell. 
I had several birds over me which I judged to be too low, so they sailed on by, and then a very well presented hen came down to my first barrel and splashed into the beck behind me, but I missed the next bird with my second barrel. I then shot a left and right but missed another with both barrels and was aware of some very shootable birds passing overhead while I stood there trying not to fumble reloads. I do have a cartridge belt but seldom use it as the loops are tight, and I find it clumsy with cold fingers on a busy peg, although I suppose it does have the advantage of presenting cartridges the right way up, which loose in a pocket doesn’t. Anyhow, I killed another before the whistle blew, and eventually found the first hen wedged mostly under water in a tangle of roots. 
Next drive was again facing an extensive coniferous wood, but the birds which the young lad was presented with were just too good for him, and he ended the drive with nothing to show for it unfortunately, but was still upbeat as we made our way to the game cart at drives end. 
We all congregated at the game cart where one of the guns opened a hotbox of pheasant strips which had been marinated in all spice, and hot pheasant and pigeon sausages! Very very nice, and the hot chocolate laced with Baileys and topped with squirty cream went some way to warming up cold and damp beaters who were having a hard time of it through the windblown. 
Next drive we climbed a bit towards the Fells, where we were exposed even more to the weather, but by now the rain had stopped as we lined out below yet another coniferous wood. The birds from here zipped by us on wind fuelled wings, but the lad brought down two of them, which pleased him immensely, and it was good to see. 
Lunch. Pork pie. Crisps. Coffee. Glayva. Port. 
We headed further up the fells for the first drive after lunch, and the beaters even further. I’ve beat this drive twice, both times having to resort to hands and knees to prevent myself from sliding back down as I picked my way up through the bracken and conifers, and arriving at the top leaves young and old alike sweating and knackered, only the recovery times differ. It is a nightmare of a hill! 
However, the guns at the bottom have it easy, only having to negotiate a narrow stream cutting through the moss covered ground in the gulley below. The entire shoot is fabulous scenery, but this wood is staggering. There isn’t a lot of Sun makes it’s way to the ground in the gulley, which is why much of it is simply a wet and vibrant mossy green, except for the dead bracken and ferns which covered the tiny open space where my peg was located. 
It was a long time before any birds appeared ( it’s a long hard slog for a beater ) and these consisted of pigeons which looked tiny above the canopy, and I resisted the urge despite the young lad egging me on. 🙂

I was wondering just how high these birds were going to be, as the tree tops seemed a long way up, and then I could hear the beaters as they grew closer and a cock dropped out of the canopy at about two o’clock. I had just raised my gun when it was gilded up by the gun to my right, and then it all went a little crazy. 
A hen appeared directly in front but what seemed like way above the tree tops, and while I have always practiced transferring my weight to my rear leg when shooting high driven clays, you can only hope you actually do it in the field. Anyhow, it must have come from a long way back as it was gliding by the time it appeared in front, and I leaned way back as I swung through and it disappeared as I whipped the barrels in front and pulled the trigger, only to see it fold up and sail out of view overhead. I heard another gun compliment me on the shot, and the young lad swore then burst out laughing as he watched it crash into the undergrowth behind us. Then another from the right before I had time to reload, which folded up to my second barrel after the gun in my right missed it. The birds just kept coming and I just kept shooting. The lad was keeping count and kept up a running tally as down they came, the most memorable being a repeat of the first, ( me being very aware of maybe not being able to carry it off again! ) and another cock which seemed to be way out there but folded up. These SIPE are simply an awesome load! 
I was aware of a lot of shooting and no gun was out of the shooting. Huge smiles all round when the whistle blew, and the personal tally for me was 12 birds for 21 shots. My shooting was congratulated by a fellow gun and the young lad was beside himself. My only regret was my young dog is not quite ready as yet, and I became so involved with the buzz and searching for one bird ( the one which landed in Yorkshire! 😀) that by the time I’d finished looking for it, others had not only picked my birds but carried them out, along with their own! Quite shameful. 
Anyhow, there was another two drives to go, and I left the young lad to shoot both of them as I’d had my fill. I’d shot enough and was perfectly happy to watch the rest of the days proceedings. 
By now the day was getting on, it was drizzly and the temperature was dropping, and as young skinny lads do, he was feeling the cold, so much so that I had to slip off the auto safety of his gun after each time he closed it, and insert his ear plugs on each drive, and the buckle on his cartridge bag was beyond him also. 
He clipped the tail feathers of a couple of birds, brought down one on each drive, narrowly missed a rocketing partridge ( the only one I saw all day ) and was growing tired and very cold, and unsurprisingly, losing a bit of interest due to being so cold. 
It was nice for beaters and guns to get back to the gun room, where the log burner was lit, and it wasn’t long before guns, beaters and dogs were gently steaming in its heat. More beer, food, a bit more port, reliving the day and some great craic. 
Total bag was 102 pheasant, one teal, one mallard and a woodcock. A grand larl day! 🙂

That F3 SuperSport really is a nice gun though! 🙂
 

Yet again Scully another fantastic write up 👍👍

[Scully]

On 06/12/2021 at 13:27, Gerry78 said:

Yet again Scully another fantastic write up 👍👍

Thankyou. 👍

Thanks again all. Pleased you enjoyed the write up. 👍

[Jim Neal]

I enjoyed reading that, thanks for the report 👍

It sounds a bit more hostile up there than the wilds of Northamptonshire!!

[Scully]

27 minutes ago, Jim Neal said:

I enjoyed reading that, thanks for the report 👍

It sounds a bit more hostile up there than the wilds of Northamptonshire!!

Good. You’re welcome. Yeah, I think hostile is a good description at times. 🙂

[marsh man]

Excellent report on what sound like a day to remember , some reports have minor details and are short and sweet but still very much welcome , others give more details of the days event and are a pleasure to read , and then you get a few that are out of the top drawer , these ones you let your mind wander to the place the poster is describing and can almost see the birds coming towards you whilst hearing gunfire in the background , you just know this is going to be a class day , you then slip your gun and start making your way towards the next drive or to to have refreshments , these reports are like most days that you remember , the saddest part is when the day is finished .

Well done Scully , and THANKS for sharing 

[JDog]

Marshman waxing lyrical.

[marsh man]

10 hours ago, JDog said:

Marshman waxing lyrical.

Well you must admit Mr JDog , just like most memorial days shooting either big or small a lot of work and thought have gone in it to produce the day .

Same with reports , some people can express themselves better than others , it is fairly easy to write down a few lines to say how the day went because if I can do it then so can most others , it's the odd few who can keep you interested from start to finish and you are looking forward to the next one knowing although you are not standing on the peg yourself you will know exactly how the day will pan out . Scully have got it down to a fine art and is one of a few who can feed us the drugs 

[Scully]

20 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Well you must admit Mr JDog , just like most memorial days shooting either big or small a lot of work and thought have gone in it to produce the day .

Same with reports , some people can express themselves better than others , it is fairly easy to write down a few lines to say how the day went because if I can do it then so can most others , it's the odd few who can keep you interested from start to finish and you are looking forward to the next one knowing although you are not standing on the peg yourself you will know exactly how the day will pan out . Scully have got it down to a fine art and is one of a few who can feed us the drugs 

Thats very kind MM. Thankyou. I will endeavour to write up more reports of days outings if folk find them enjoyable. 

[Walker570]

Nice write up Scully. 

Yesterday was perhaps the total opposite but still a great day.  In very high winds we took a day at Oteley near Ellesmere which is a mixed shoot probably 50/50 partridge and pheasant but the partridge are awesome particularly yesterday where I have no hesitation in saying some going with the wind must have been close to 100mph.  I know I folded one bird up around the 35 yard mark and it dropped 150yrds behind me.  A collegue shooting with me called this morning and said I had totally folded a number of birds on one drive which I thought I had missed but they didn't actually fold intil some 20yrds behind, they were travelling so fast.  By the way I was shooting my Yildiz  410, 30 inch barrels half choke both barrels and the new Lylavale 3 inch magnum #7s  19grms.    We finished what should have been a 130 bird day on 152. The owner having thrown in a fourth drive at no overage as we had 134 after the third drive.  If you get a chance to shot at Oteley then take it. They look after you very well.

We had the hunting and weather gods with us because it stayed dry all morning but the drive after lunch the wind was so strong it made just standing difficult and the rain was horizontal. I was a back gun about 125 yrds behind the line and saw birds folded infron of the main line which actually hit the ground alongside and behind me.

Memorable for certain.

[Scully]

10 hours ago, Walker570 said:

Nice write up Scully. 

Yesterday was perhaps the total opposite but still a great day.  In very high winds we took a day at Oteley near Ellesmere which is a mixed shoot probably 50/50 partridge and pheasant but the partridge are awesome particularly yesterday where I have no hesitation in saying some going with the wind must have been close to 100mph.  I know I folded one bird up around the 35 yard mark and it dropped 150yrds behind me.  A collegue shooting with me called this morning and said I had totally folded a number of birds on one drive which I thought I had missed but they didn't actually fold intil some 20yrds behind, they were travelling so fast.  By the way I was shooting my Yildiz  410, 30 inch barrels half choke both barrels and the new Lylavale 3 inch magnum #7s  19grms.    We finished what should have been a 130 bird day on 152. The owner having thrown in a fourth drive at no overage as we had 134 after the third drive.  If you get a chance to shot at Oteley then take it. They look after you very well.

We had the hunting and weather gods with us because it stayed dry all morning but the drive after lunch the wind was so strong it made just standing difficult and the rain was horizontal. I was a back gun about 125 yrds behind the line and saw birds folded infron of the main line which actually hit the ground alongside and behind me.

Memorable for certain.

Thankyou. 
Zippy wind chased birds make for really challenging and adrenalin filled shooting. Some people don’t realise just how fast you need to whip those barrels through, until they actually shoot one, especially on partridge. It’s a bit if a revelation first time. Good shooting. 👍