One from the archives!

[Scully]

No sitting at my easel as it makes my ribs ache, so have had a ratch in the gun room and found an old A4 pad which served as my game book in the days I kept a journal. 
I thought some might find it interesting. 
Our rough shoot extends over 300 acres comprising of two farms over North Western moor land ( hence Westmorland ) in what is now Cumbria.  In agricultural terms it is termed as medium to heavy land, with two railway lines running through it…..the former Warcop Ranges ‘munitions’ railway ( now abandoned ) line, and the Carlisle-Settle line, mostly surrounded by a huge curve of the river Eden. 
It is also surrounded by many other shoots of varying sizes, and because it doesn’t sit comfortable with us feeding  to attract the birds of others but not supplying, we would travel down to Hi-Fly every June to collect 125 ex-layers which initially spent time until they were fully feathered and recovered, in a big pen surrounding an orchard, which we repaired and tended, but originally erected by the farms previous owner.

Being a gun nut I always made a note of who brought what, and on this particular day there were 4 Winchester 101’s of varying grades, including a Diamond Grade of mine and a Pigeon Grade of a mates. 
Others were a Joseph Curry sxs, a Beretta Ultralight, a Browning B25, a Mossberg pump and a 16 bore live pigeon gun. 
There were six dogs, consisting of three black labs, two springers and my wonderful Border. 

This extract is from Saturday 19th January 2013. 
There had been a hard overnight frost and the Lakes Fells in the distant west were completely white, as was Wild Boar Fell further South West, and the Pennines to the east of us. The ground sparkled and the dogs were hyper as they sniffed the icy air, and plumes of steamy breath chuffed from dogs and humans alike as we gathered in the yard. This is the time of anticipation, not knowing how the day will pan out but excited at the prospect. 
C, C and M dropped down to beat a mass of gorse and reeds on the far side of the beck, while the rest of us walked the abandoned railway towards a small but impressive viaduct straddling one of the many becks trundling from the Fells towards the Eden.
( It was in this very beck, and many like it, where I and many others in our youth, would gaff salmon as they made their way back to their place of spawn. Another story perhaps.) 
A solitary hen was spooked from the reeds, and missed, and a woodcock from the railway banking, also missed. 
At a tumbledown barn K and M passed through an ancient gate onto the railway, C and C walked on its right, and my Border and the remainder walked the fields on the high side of the railway as it cut through the banking. Those on the railway soon disappeared from view in the cutting, as they fight their way through the Common Alder and Crab Apple trees which have grown over and amongst the abandoned line and the even in summer, sodden sleepers. 
Three birds flushed but were too far ahead, then my Border flushed a hen which was missed by the three guns it flew along! A low sun was blamed! 🙂Much sarcasm and extraction of urine ensued as we made our way to a marsh ( a favourite haunt of many a Roe ) surrounded by more Common Alder, where the bouncing dogs flushed a solitary hen ( possibly the same lucky bird ) which was missed by K and then in turn me! 
From here we walk back through boot sucking marsh where Reedmace and orchids abound at the relevant time of year, and Meadow Sweet ( my favourite wild flower ) clutters the gullies and margins, and is a chance for everyone to miss the many Snipe we disturb. K killed one however, and I killed the only pheasant to take flight as it tried to make a break for it behind us. K killed another with a second barrel just as we made it back to the railway, an impressive shot which folded and crashed onto the tracks. 
We gathered on the track and crunched our way through icy puddles back to the yard, where we had a short brew and the craic before heading up to the other farm, which can actually be walked to, but would mean walking back for vehicles, so we drive instead. 
We parked at the top of a hill which gives fabulous almost 360 degree panoramic views of all the Fells I mentioned earlier, and the rumble of A66 traffic running east to west from Middlesbrough ( I think ) via Scotch Corner to Workington. 
J and me beat the hedges towards the others once they had lined out on a boundary heading down hill towards the river, and killed two hens which tried to turn back over our heads, then two hens and a cock clattered into the air which we left as they were headed for the guns. They grew to be outstanding birds and we watched with eagerness as they rose and rose but then unfortunately veered away and made for the only place no guns were placed! Lesson learned. 
Then a hen flushed and headed for K, and missed as it climbed to a fabulous height. It was a great bird and perhaps understandably missed, but that didn’t stop him getting the full treatment from us of course. A cock rose in front of C as we made our way to the farm for lunch, but was left as it would have landed on a public footpath on the far side of the river. 
Lunch was a full tray of minced beef pie provided by one of the local butchers in town, which one of us would travel down for, complete with a pan of mushy peas, shared out between each of us. We would take down pans we bought especially for the job, which the butcher would then bake our food in. We just sit in one of the many sheds on the farm, amongst the dogs and the apples, stored by the farmers Mother, which she mostly turns into cider vinegar or chutney. 
We don’t have many proper drives as such, but the Oaks is one of them; about an acre in size with a very small but out of the wind pond in its midst. 
Because of its small size, only two of us with dogs beat the wood while the others surround it. We flushed a cock, breaking back and left which I accounted for, a hen which was killed by K, and another above the oaks impressively killed by J with a borrowed gun. Then several hens made a break for it, one each missed by C and me while K killed another. 
We trundled on to the Ghyll where four disappointingly low birds flushed, then another two much more presentable birds, B successfully shooting a left and right. The hedgerows yielded a low uphill bird which went unshot, then three further hens left as they flew over the farmhouse, then K shot a left and right, one of which was lost. Square wood was disappointing with a solitary Woodcock impressively shot by C as it jinked about through the Ash trees. 
M walked the upper edge of a steep banking which is always set aside as it is too steep and rough to use. It is home to a couple of sets in fox breeding season, where we have had some impressive numbers of cubs, and where many a Roe has met it’s end  while passing through the gorse, hawthorn and brier entangled slope, often emptying one of our feeders as it does so.  It is hard going to beat for dog and human alike, but often holds an impressive amount of birds, which if headed in the right direction can be again, impressive. C and J walked the banking itself, leaving the rest of us to walk the field, from where the birds can be majestic as they head for the safety of the wood across the river. M’s dog put up a few out of range birds, then mine did the same. I killed a hen then C killed another. C hit hard another but it was lost in the wood across the river, M then killed one and hit hard a second which was recovered near the pond. J missed a nice cock due to the auto safety on an unfamiliar gun and B shot a left and right, nicely dropping both before they made it to the river and out of bounds. 
I shot a cock as we beat the rivers edge walking through the wood towards the main line viaduct, but it was lost in the fast current as I wouldn’t allow my dog in to retrieve it. 
Passing between the huge sandstone  pillars supporting equally huge arches of the towering viaduct, a Roe Buck in full velvet bolted through us, my Border as always giving chase! 
B killed another cock with his second barrel as it clattered from beneath the viaduct, but this one too was lost as it splashed down and swept away in the current. 
We waited for a Leeds bound train to pass before crossing the railway and then making our way back to the yard after passing under the viaduct.
It is often at this point we see several partridge running along in front of us. We aren’t allowed to shoot these. We bought a little Brinsea incubator for the the landowners Mum, with the intention she could breed more pheasant from the many eggs the ex-layers dessert, which was very successful, but she wanted partridge, so we got her some eggs and she hatched those also. The thing was she grew attached to them, and we often saw them lined up atop the garden wall of a morning, waiting for her to feed them! Hence out of bounds! 🙂
K killed another pheasant which erupted from the long yellow grass on the banking, put up by a dog, and B killed one of two which erupted from a small coppice covered in yellow lichen, and I killed a rabbit which bolted from the same cover. Always immensely satisfying. 
The days light was beginning to fade by the time we trundled back into the yard, where we had another brew, emptied game bags and dried wet and dirty dogs while we relived the day and made plans with the benefit of hindsight for next time. 
The bag consisted of 17 pheasant, 2 woodcock, 1 pigeon, 1 rabbit and 1 snipe. 
 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Scully

[JDog]

Your misfortune in breaking your ribs has resulted in an excellent account of your day.

I have had similar days in the same County at Newbiggin and Crackenthorpe. My game book entries are not as detailed as yours though.

[Walker570]

Superb.  It is great to look back occasionally and enjoy what we enjoyed on the day. 

[Scully]

1 hour ago, JDog said:

Your misfortune in breaking your ribs has resulted in an excellent account of your day.

I have had similar days in the same County at Newbiggin and Crackenthorpe. My game book entries are not as detailed as yours though.

🙂 Thanks JDog.
My nephew is in a syndicate which includes Newbiggin TS, around Black Planting. 
As I lived at the time, less than a mile away, I often shot on both sides of the river around Crackenthorpe, and was once given exclusive permission to roam ( and shoot ) there as a deterrent to poachers from the West coast. Happy days! 

[jeffgg]

What a fantastic report of a day on the hills. Memories to be passed down to the next generation 

[Scully]

19 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Superb.  It is great to look back occasionally and enjoy what we enjoyed on the day. 

Thankyou. Pleased you enjoyed it. 
My Border is a bit of a legend amongst friends I shot with at the time, and I came across an entry I’d made in another day when we tried to get her to pull off a blind retrieve of a dead pheasant wedged in the banking on the far side of the river. 
I threw a stick which landed in the water right in front of the wedged bird,  and off she swam….and retrieved the stick! 
We were killing ourselves laughing! 
She had, and continued to, pull off some fabulous retrieves for a terrier, one of which got her a mention in the ST, but this wasn’t one of them. 😀

18 minutes ago, jeffgg said:

What a fantastic report of a day on the hills. Memories to be passed down to the next generation 

Thankyou. Glad you enjoyed it. 👍

[Walker570]

Our keeper down in Wales had a Jack Russel which could retrieve as well as any lab, it had a nack of grasping the wing joint but knew the ground so well could find it's way back even if the wing was across it's eyes.   l

[wisdom]

What a cracking account of what seems to be the perfect type of day.

Thank you for sharing it with us.I could picture it perfectly as I read it.It was so well written.

[London Best]

Scully, WRITE A BOOK!

[marsh man]

That was some rare account of a day rough shooting in the Fells 10 / 10 , if your extract from your diary is at the top of the league, then mine would surely be at the bottom , the bag , a brief description of the morning , day or night and that is more or less it  you have certainly got a way with words  Scully.

THANKS for sharing .

[Scully]

1 hour ago, Walker570 said:

Our keeper down in Wales had a Jack Russel which could retrieve as well as any lab, it had a nack of grasping the wing joint but knew the ground so well could find it's way back even if the wing was across it's eyes.   l

I think terriers are much under-rated for this type of work really. A young lass brings her Jack Russel on BIG shoot. My Border simply picked up everything she learned from watching other dogs when I took her beating. Admittedly she would have ‘run in’ as she was quite wilful at times, and that killer instinct would undoubtedly get the better of her, but as for retrieving, well, she had to be seen to be believed. 
No good in a hide however; she never got the knack of going round the net, but rather through it, so shooting was often brought to a halt while I untangled her! It was much kinder on both of us if I left her at home when decoying. 🙂

 

1 hour ago, wisdom said:

What a cracking account of what seems to be the perfect type of day.

Thank you for sharing it with us.I could picture it perfectly as I read it.It was so well written.

Thankyou. 

34 minutes ago, London Best said:

Scully, WRITE A BOOK!

Very kind, but I’ll leave it to the experts I think. 

25 minutes ago, marsh man said:

That was some rare account of a day rough shooting in the Fells 10 / 10 , if your extract from your diary is at the top of the league, then mine would surely be at the bottom , the bag , a brief description of the morning , day or night and that is more or less it  you have certainly got a way with words  Scully.

THANKS for sharing .

And Thankyou too. 

[islandgun]

Great descriptive account, long may it continue

[Scully]

4 minutes ago, islandgun said:

Great descriptive account, long may it continue

Thankyou. 👍

[Gerry78]

18 hours ago, London Best said:

Scully, WRITE A BOOK!

Agree👍

21 hours ago, Scully said:

No sitting at my easel as it makes my ribs ache, so have had a ratch in the gun room and found an old A4 pad which served as my game book in the days I kept a journal. 
I thought some might find it interesting. 
Our rough shoot extends over 300 acres comprising of two farms over North Western moor land ( hence Westmorland ) in what is now Cumbria.  In agricultural terms it is termed as medium to heavy land, with two railway lines running through it…..the former Warcop Ranges ‘munitions’ railway ( now abandoned ) line, and the Carlisle-Settle line, mostly surrounded by a huge curve of the river Eden. 
It is also surrounded by many other shoots of varying sizes, and because it doesn’t sit comfortable with us feeding  to attract the birds of others but not supplying, we would travel down to Hi-Fly every June to collect 125 ex-layers which initially spent time until they were fully feathered and recovered, in a big pen surrounding an orchard, which we repaired and tended, but originally erected by the farms previous owner.

Being a gun nut I always made a note of who brought what, and on this particular day there were 4 Winchester 101’s of varying grades, including a Diamond Grade of mine and a Pigeon Grade of a mates. 
Others were a Joseph Curry sxs, a Beretta Ultralight, a Browning B25, a Mossberg pump and a 16 bore live pigeon gun. 
There were six dogs, consisting of three black labs, two springers and my wonderful Border. 

This extract is from Saturday 19th January 2013. 
There had been a hard overnight frost and the Lakes Fells in the distant west were completely white, as was Wild Boar Fell further South West, and the Pennines to the east of us. The ground sparkled and the dogs were hyper as they sniffed the icy air, and plumes of steamy breath chuffed from dogs and humans alike as we gathered in the yard. This is the time of anticipation, not knowing how the day will pan out but excited at the prospect. 
C, C and M dropped down to beat a mass of gorse and reeds on the far side of the beck, while the rest of us walked the abandoned railway towards a small but impressive viaduct straddling one of the many becks trundling from the Fells towards the Eden.
( It was in this very beck, and many like it, where I and many others in our youth, would gaff salmon as they made their way back to their place of spawn. Another story perhaps.) 
A solitary hen was spooked from the reeds, and missed, and a woodcock from the railway banking, also missed. 
At a tumbledown barn K and M passed through an ancient gate onto the railway, C and C walked on its right, and my Border and the remainder walked the fields on the high side of the railway as it cut through the banking. Those on the railway soon disappeared from view in the cutting, as they fight their way through the Common Alder and Crab Apple trees which have grown over and amongst the abandoned line and the even in summer, sodden sleepers. 
Three birds flushed but were too far ahead, then my Border flushed a hen which was missed by the three guns it flew along! A low sun was blamed! 🙂Much sarcasm and extraction of urine ensued as we made our way to a marsh ( a favourite haunt of many a Roe ) surrounded by more Common Alder, where the bouncing dogs flushed a solitary hen ( possibly the same lucky bird ) which was missed by K and then in turn me! 
From here we walk back through boot sucking marsh where Reedmace and orchids abound at the relevant time of year, and Meadow Sweet ( my favourite wild flower ) clutters the gullies and margins, and is a chance for everyone to miss the many Snipe we disturb. K killed one however, and I killed the only pheasant to take flight as it tried to make a break for it behind us. K killed another with a second barrel just as we made it back to the railway, an impressive shot which folded and crashed onto the tracks. 
We gathered on the track and crunched our way through icy puddles back to the yard, where we had a short brew and the craic before heading up to the other farm, which can actually be walked to, but would mean walking back for vehicles, so we drive instead. 
We parked at the top of a hill which gives fabulous almost 360 degree panoramic views of all the Fells I mentioned earlier, and the rumble of A66 traffic running east to west from Middlesbrough ( I think ) via Scotch Corner to Workington. 
J and me beat the hedges towards the others once they had lined out on a boundary heading down hill towards the river, and killed two hens which tried to turn back over our heads, then two hens and a cock clattered into the air which we left as they were headed for the guns. They grew to be outstanding birds and we watched with eagerness as they rose and rose but then unfortunately veered away and made for the only place no guns were placed! Lesson learned. 
Then a hen flushed and headed for K, and missed as it climbed to a fabulous height. It was a great bird and perhaps understandably missed, but that didn’t stop him getting the full treatment from us of course. A cock rose in front of C as we made our way to the farm for lunch, but was left as it would have landed on a public footpath on the far side of the river. 
Lunch was a full tray of minced beef pie provided by one of the local butchers in town, which one of us would travel down for, complete with a pan of mushy peas, shared out between each of us. We would take down pans we bought especially for the job, which the butcher would then bake our food in. We just sit in one of the many sheds on the farm, amongst the dogs and the apples, stored by the farmers Mother, which she mostly turns into cider vinegar or chutney. 
We don’t have many proper drives as such, but the Oaks is one of them; about an acre in size with a very small but out of the wind pond in its midst. 
Because of its small size, only two of us with dogs beat the wood while the others surround it. We flushed a cock, breaking back and left which I accounted for, a hen which was killed by K, and another above the oaks impressively killed by J with a borrowed gun. Then several hens made a break for it, one each missed by C and me while K killed another. 
We trundled on to the Ghyll where four disappointingly low birds flushed, then another two much more presentable birds, B successfully shooting a left and right. The hedgerows yielded a low uphill bird which went unshot, then three further hens left as they flew over the farmhouse, then K shot a left and right, one of which was lost. Square wood was disappointing with a solitary Woodcock impressively shot by C as it jinked about through the Ash trees. 
M walked the upper edge of a steep banking which is always set aside as it is too steep and rough to use. It is home to a couple of sets in fox breeding season, where we have had some impressive numbers of cubs, and where many a Roe has met it’s end  while passing through the gorse, hawthorn and brier entangled slope, often emptying one of our feeders as it does so.  It is hard going to beat for dog and human alike, but often holds an impressive amount of birds, which if headed in the right direction can be again, impressive. C and J walked the banking itself, leaving the rest of us to walk the field, from where the birds can be majestic as they head for the safety of the wood across the river. M’s dog put up a few out of range birds, then mine did the same. I killed a hen then C killed another. C hit hard another but it was lost in the wood across the river, M then killed one and hit hard a second which was recovered near the pond. J missed a nice cock due to the auto safety on an unfamiliar gun and B shot a left and right, nicely dropping both before they made it to the river and out of bounds. 
I shot a cock as we beat the rivers edge walking through the wood towards the main line viaduct, but it was lost in the fast current as I wouldn’t allow my dog in to retrieve it. 
Passing between the huge sandstone  pillars supporting equally huge arches of the towering viaduct, a Roe Buck in full velvet bolted through us, my Border as always giving chase! 
B killed another cock with his second barrel as it clattered from beneath the viaduct, but this one too was lost as it splashed down and swept away in the current. 
We waited for a Leeds bound train to pass before crossing the railway and then making our way back to the yard after passing under the viaduct.
It is often at this point we see several partridge running along in front of us. We aren’t allowed to shoot these. We bought a little Brinsea incubator for the the landowners Mum, with the intention she could breed more pheasant from the many eggs the ex-layers dessert, which was very successful, but she wanted partridge, so we got her some eggs and she hatched those also. The thing was she grew attached to them, and we often saw them lined up atop the garden wall of a morning, waiting for her to feed them! Hence out of bounds! 🙂
K killed another pheasant which erupted from the long yellow grass on the banking, put up by a dog, and B killed one of two which erupted from a small coppice covered in yellow lichen, and I killed a rabbit which bolted from the same cover. Always immensely satisfying. 
The days light was beginning to fade by the time we trundled back into the yard, where we had another brew, emptied game bags and dried wet and dirty dogs while we relived the day and made plans with the benefit of hindsight for next time. 
The bag consisted of 17 pheasant, 2 woodcock, 1 pigeon, 1 rabbit and 1 snipe. 
 

Scully that’s a better description of a time out than most hunting books ive read Great description I always record in my game book my days out in the fields or marsh thou A lot of them days are describing the weather because of drawing a blank on game 😊😊😊

[Scully]

2 hours ago, Gerry78 said:

Agree👍

Scully that’s a better description of a time out than most hunting books ive read Great description I always record in my game book my days out in the fields or marsh thou A lot of them days are describing the weather because of drawing a blank on game 😊😊😊

Thankyou. Very kind. 👍

[Walker570]

Great!!     I am certain if we all got together we could produce something akin to the Encyclopedias usually on offer around Christmas time.  It is great to read these experiences and long may they continue.

[7daysinaweek]

Scully

That was a superb read. I will be travelling through Scotch corner this coming week, lovely area.

Hope the ribs are improving.

atb

7diaw

[Scully]

56 minutes ago, 7daysinaweek said:

Scully

That was a superb read. I will be travelling through Scotch corner this coming week, lovely area.

Hope the ribs are improving.

atb

7diaw

Thankyou, am very pleased you enjoyed it! 
Check the weather before setting off if travelling the A66, they seem to close Stainmore at the drop of a hat nowadays, as they did just the other day. 
Ribs are much better thankyou, still can’t lay on that side, but can cough, belch, sneeze and all other bodily functions involving wind without screaming! 😀👍

[7daysinaweek]

2 minutes ago, Scully said:

Thankyou, am very pleased you enjoyed it! 
Check the weather before setting off if travelling the A66, they seem to close Stainmore at the drop of a hat nowadays, as they did just the other day. 
Ribs are much better thankyou, still can’t lay on that side, but can cough, belch, sneeze and all other bodily functions involving wind without screaming! 😀👍

Many thanks for the heads up, travelling up to relatives in Newcastle on Thursday and will double check the A66 before we set off.

Only caught you injury post very recently, appears that your ribs are improving from your reply. Flaming painful rib injuries and costochondral pain.

Glad you on the mend.

atb

7diaw