marsh man Posted January 31, 2022 Report Share Posted January 31, 2022 They say as you get older the time go's a lot quicker , and I for one can certainly vouch for that , last year the season never really took off due to the pandemic , this year was looking like touch and go and thankfully we swung clear of the virus and only had to cancel one day due to some of the guns either laid low with the covid or self isolating , so all in all we have had a very good season with the required bag for every day achieved . So with having our last full day last Friday we moved this years date from Saturday to today and what a wild day we picked . We met at the farm at 8.30 am so we could sort out two teams and do a sweep , we all had a good ole natter and drank the first cups of coffee , the wind was already strong to gale and very cold as well , I was picking up and shooting any cock birds that came my way so I wasn't put down in either team , the strong wind certainly sorted out the men from the boys when the birds broke cover and used the strong wind to there advantage , having said that some of the boys knew exactly where to put the shot . We done two drives before we stopped for a warm up , drink and a bite to eat , the keepers wife provided the mouth watering sausage rolls and some of the guns brought various bottles of home made fire water , I was happy with my coffee as I don't drink but for those who did had a nice warm glow on there face when they turned out . After we were fed and watered it was time to move off once again, and on top of the strong wind we had the odd wintery shower just for good measure , some of the birds were something else and far to good for me and several others, but a lot were not so good and several of these paid the price , then before you knew the fourth drive was over and now it was time for dinner , after getting warm in the lunch hut and exchanging who had shot what and who missed those old cock birds that had seen nearly as many seasons as we had it was now time to move on and complete the two drives that were marked down on the list , by now the wind had eased just a little and the boys had by now got there eye in with the bag mounting up , I was letting the odd screamer going pass unsalted as I knew it was far to good for my aging body and just stuck with the odd ones I was happy with my best being four cock birds on one drive . Then before we knew it the sun was getting lower and the eight guns were lined up for the final drive of the season , shots were soon going off and one wide cock came to the side of me that I dropped in the grave yard that was next door to the church , this have got a sheep fence all the way around so I had to walk round to the gate to let my dog in , once in I stayed there and shot another cock bird which ended the last one of my season , the sun had now gone down leaving a bright Red sky , the beaters had now come out of the wood and the standing guns were picking up the few birds that were laying about , as far as the beaters day , this was it for the 2021 / 2022 season . All what was left was to head back to the farm and count the bag out for the sweep winner , take a brace of birds and to THANK the keeper for the brilliant day him and his boy had laid on . Final bag was exactly 120 head , in that wind it was a very good bag and if by magic the keeper won the sweep THANKS for reading about our day and I hope you also had a good one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted January 31, 2022 Report Share Posted January 31, 2022 Cracker! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted January 31, 2022 Report Share Posted January 31, 2022 Good read MM. Sounds like a good day out and a decent bag. Our beaters day tomorrow for which I have ordered a cold but dry and windy day. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted January 31, 2022 Report Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) nice one glad you had a good day. Edited January 31, 2022 by mossy835 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2022 25 minutes ago, Scully said: Good read MM. Sounds like a good day out and a decent bag. Our beaters day tomorrow for which I have ordered a cold but dry and windy day. 🙂 Cheers Scully and weather wise your day tomorrow look a bit calmer than ours was today and could be perfect for a walk and stand . As a sign of the times , on the pep talk it was no hens , no ground game , no Woodcock ( except one for the keepers grandson who had never shot one ) and a new one for us was no Jays , this was purely to keep on the right side of the confusing law , on top of that we have got very few to course any problems . I wonder if this time next year we are adding anything else to list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted January 31, 2022 Report Share Posted January 31, 2022 Great report and I also was fortunate to see that unbelievable sun set which last just a few minutes and was gone. I did mange to get a photo but the brightness had gone out of it. I was standing in that wind and thought if anyone is lucky enough to be shooting in this they are going to have some sport. AND I do agree I am sure the seasons get shorter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2022 1 hour ago, Walker570 said: Great report and I also was fortunate to see that unbelievable sun set which last just a few minutes and was gone. I did mange to get a photo but the brightness had gone out of it. I was standing in that wind and thought if anyone is lucky enough to be shooting in this they are going to have some sport. AND I do agree I am sure the seasons get shorter. Lovely photo Walker , ours wasn't as Red as that but with the Yellow mixed in it was still worth seeing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mice! Posted February 1, 2022 Report Share Posted February 1, 2022 Sounds like everyone had a great day's shooting, food and company, what more could you ask for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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