Going Soft With Old Age Creeping On

[Aled]

Great thread and some really nice replies. All sorts of thigs change as you get older, one of my friends was a very keen shot when younger.....he hasn't held a gun for 10 years, but ....he has 5 Labradors and picks up on shoots twice a week. 

[Poor Shot]

I often shoot clays with an older gentleman (early 70's) who having shot game, deer and vermin for most of his life is now a vegetarian.

Sees no point in shooting anything living anymore and must really like vegetables. I assume he has an allotment or something as most older folk do.

[Houseplant]

I think about this kind of stuff quite a lot. I don't enjoy killing anything, this has become more pronounced as I get older. However, I do enjoy hunting and eating the meat I have harvested. I don't shoot anything I'm not going to eat. If someone is looking for a pest controller, they can ask someone else. It's got to the point where I don't even want to take part in catch and release fishing. It just seems cruel and unnecessary to me now, but I don't judge others for what they do.

[Wilts#Dave]

Very good topic Marshman. I’ve been shooting since I was 10 years old and just shy of 40 now I’m still as keen as ever, on pigeon shooting in particular. Being self employed with my own business I do tend to work around it through spring/summer particularly and just can’t resist taking afternoons off when I spot a good opportunity (often tailor my route around fields I’m watching too)!
I’ve never shot a deer and wouldn’t want to, but all us ‘shooting folk’ enjoy different challenges which I understand. 
I only started shooting as the old man was always out shooting pigeons with a shotgun or rabbits with an air rifle and wanted to join in, but it stuck and became an obsession that’s never wained. 
What I have noticed is as you describe, my Dad’s slow down in the want to shoot himself now he’s in his mid 70’s. We still go together and I very very rarely shoot alone so to speak as he’s always with me, but I’ve done 99% of the actual shooting for years now…..he’s just not got that desire any more I don’t think but still enjoys everything that goes with it / looking for them etc and the day itself. 
20 years ago he used to be out on his own in between work whether I could make it or not, but now he’ll tell me what he’s found and wait until I want to or can go……if I can’t he’ll very rarely shoot them himself.

I do think it’s an age thing, his grandad who he shot with did the same apparently when he reached a certain age. 
 

[Humblepie]

Really good post this.

Been involved in shooting Woodies for over 50 years, first going with my Dad as a 5 year old, eventually getting into it seriously myself in my late teens. I am now 60 and throughout that time, I have never been bothered about numbers and have always had respect for the prey itself. For me it’s more about being out and field craft than the actual shooting. Of course when I get birds to come into the decoys in the way that you want, I am annoyed if I miss them.

I once went on an organised roost shoot and thought to myself this doesn’t seem right, they should be left alone. The club I was part of had been out all day across the County and here we were, still hitting the pigeons in the evening. Spoke to my Dad about it later in life and while he didn’t necessarily agree with me, he understood how I felt.

A good days shooting for me can involve bringing home 60+ birds (the most I have ever shot) or none. Many a time I have sat in the hide with my dog and either had one shot or none. It’s the being out and seeing things that other people don’t. One of the best days on Maize stubble, wet underfoot, and a really strong wind, I think I shot 3 woodies in 5 hours. The 2 reasons it was so good, apart from being out in the fresh air and feeling wonderful was at one point, 5 Roe Deer came within 25 yards of the hide. A bit later, with the shooting being extremely slow, we walked along a water filled ditch and saw a Kingfisher darting up and down…had never seen one up close before.

These days, like MM, I don’t lug my gear anywhere. If I can’t drive close to where I am setting up, I tend not to bother. That is down to age rather than a lack of desire to get in the best possible spot. I am the same as Wilts#Dave, never shot a Deer and would never want to. I totally understand why they need to be shot and respect those who do it.
 

Last year I joined a Wildfowling club and was really keen to get out just to witness the numbers take off and the noise, rather than a desire to shoot them, although if an opportunity came up, I guess I would have pulled the trigger. By the time it got to the season, that desire had gone and the thought of getting up early morning, driving an hour to the shore or being out late in cold and wet weather…filled me with a great desire to either stay in a lovely warm bed, or sit by the fire and drink a decent single malt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[marsh man]

Many THANKS again for the replies , the trend seems roughly the same , we all start off keen when we are younger and as we get older we start to slow down and  look at things differently  , everyone's path in life varies , you have those care free days in the teens and then you start to settle down , you get married , mortgage , children and so on , any one of these events can put a hold on your field sports , or at worse stop it all together , location also play a part , if your grounds are on your door step then you are likely to go more than if you have to plan for an hours drive to get to where you intend to shoot .Cost also comes into it when you are trying to run a home and a young family .

If you can get through that stage of life without to many mishaps then you are doing well and are now heading towards middle age , by now you start to look forward to the odd days out either alone or with one or two of your shooting buddies , the bag is still important but only a part of the day out.

We then move on to a time where we start to question our selves as to weather we still enjoy shooting certain species , this is when the softness have started , with some it might be Woodcock , Teal , large numbers of Pigeons , or anything you can't eat or give away , or like one of the members mentioned where a keeper he knew packed up shooting all together and now get his enjoyment using his dogs to pick up on a shoot day

Now I am the stage where I find it much more relaxing in just doing the amount you enjoy most , a few hours pigeon and duck shooting , a few days out just looking around or helping out on a shoot day.

Above all I am grateful I am still around to talk about it and to take part even if it is on a much lesser scale . GOOD LUCK

[Krico woodcock]

I'm 42 and still as keen as I was when I was only knee high to a grasshopper! Shooting and working my dogs is my passion. It really is addictive.  I have a full time job that is hard work plus a  wife( very understanding 😇) and two girls 6 and 10. So I have alot of juggling to do to get out as often as I can.  In winter I take plenty of days off during the week with holidays built up.. my father of 82 who sadly passed away earlier this year was a country man/ sports man through and through. Between shooting and trout and salmon angling , one season rolled into another for him.  His drive for woodcock and duck shooting became less in his late 50's early 60's, but still went out but only a few outings ,I was flat out then in my 20's so it was like he enjoyed me coming home with the bag of ducks, game  and listening how the day played out, how dogs worked etc. He enjoyed this and needed to know how every day went until his passing. He still shot an odd deer up until he was 78. And only went out a couple of times a year for a woodcock till mid 70's. I think he shot his Last woodcock at 74/75. But was still a avid angler until a couple of years ago. He treated everything he shot and caught with respect and everything was eaten in our house or given to only a few that would appreciate it.  All our shooting is rough shooting,  and is physically demanding,  so that left it harder for him as he got older, but he was a strong man,  and soldiered on till it got too tough.  He was my mentor  and my best friend and there is a big void in my life since he left this world.  But his two grand daughters will do him proud as they are fanatical about horses,  have no problem helping  me pluck, clean game and fowl.  And enjoy eating it as much as I do.  My 10 year old has shot Clay's already this summer,  so hopefully they will follow in their grandad footsteps. 

[Westley]

2 hours ago, Krico woodcock said:

I'm 42 and still as keen as I was when I was only knee high to a grasshopper! Shooting and working my dogs is my passion. It really is addictive.  I have a full time job that is hard work plus a  wife( very understanding 😇) and two girls 6 and 10. So I have alot of juggling to do to get out as often as I can.  In winter I take plenty of days off during the week with holidays built up.. my father of 82 who sadly passed away earlier this year was a country man/ sports man through and through. Between shooting and trout and salmon angling , one season rolled into another for him.  His drive for woodcock and duck shooting became less in his late 50's early 60's, but still went out but only a few outings ,I was flat out then in my 20's so it was like he enjoyed me coming home with the bag of ducks, game  and listening how the day played out, how dogs worked etc. He enjoyed this and needed to know how every day went until his passing. He still shot an odd deer up until he was 78. And only went out a couple of times a year for a woodcock till mid 70's. I think he shot his Last woodcock at 74/75. But was still a avid angler until a couple of years ago. He treated everything he shot and caught with respect and everything was eaten in our house or given to only a few that would appreciate it.  All our shooting is rough shooting,  and is physically demanding,  so that left it harder for him as he got older, but he was a strong man,  and soldiered on till it got too tough.  He was my mentor  and my best friend and there is a big void in my life since he left this world.  But his two grand daughters will do him proud as they are fanatical about horses,  have no problem helping  me pluck, clean game and fowl.  And enjoy eating it as much as I do.  My 10 year old has shot Clay's already this summer,  so hopefully they will follow in their grandad footsteps. 

My 2 girls both came out with me, either in a pigeon hide or beating on the driven days I organised. Eldest is 56 now, younger one is 50, but the Grandkids enjoy clay shooting, so it keeps me busy and my pockets lighter  !    😉 

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, Krico woodcock said:

I'm 42 and still as keen as I was when I was only knee high to a grasshopper! Shooting and working my dogs is my passion. It really is addictive.  I have a full time job that is hard work plus a  wife( very understanding 😇) and two girls 6 and 10. So I have alot of juggling to do to get out as often as I can.  In winter I take plenty of days off during the week with holidays built up.. my father of 82 who sadly passed away earlier this year was a country man/ sports man through and through. Between shooting and trout and salmon angling , one season rolled into another for him.  His drive for woodcock and duck shooting became less in his late 50's early 60's, but still went out but only a few outings ,I was flat out then in my 20's so it was like he enjoyed me coming home with the bag of ducks, game  and listening how the day played out, how dogs worked etc. He enjoyed this and needed to know how every day went until his passing. He still shot an odd deer up until he was 78. And only went out a couple of times a year for a woodcock till mid 70's. I think he shot his Last woodcock at 74/75. But was still a avid angler until a couple of years ago. He treated everything he shot and caught with respect and everything was eaten in our house or given to only a few that would appreciate it.  All our shooting is rough shooting,  and is physically demanding,  so that left it harder for him as he got older, but he was a strong man,  and soldiered on till it got too tough.  He was my mentor  and my best friend and there is a big void in my life since he left this world.  But his two grand daughters will do him proud as they are fanatical about horses,  have no problem helping  me pluck, clean game and fowl.  And enjoy eating it as much as I do.  My 10 year old has shot Clay's already this summer,  so hopefully they will follow in their grandad footsteps. 

Hi Krico    ... It sounded like your dad had a very sporting life and only slowed down when his body was beginning to feel it , he no doubt still enjoyed you telling him how the day went from start to finish and know exactly what you were talking about .

My dad would never have hurt a fly and most of his family were into trawler or drifter fishing , he would eat the fish but didn't like to see it gutted.

So where did I find my love for the great outdoors ? , well I was born and lived on a island and both our infants and junior school were only a very short way from the estuary and we often heard the boom from the odd punt gun being fired , when we graduated to the junior school our playground was about 150 yards from the boat sheds where the gun punts were kept and very often in the Winter time we would see the ole boys either walking or riding there bikes with the dead ducks hanging from the handle bars , we would whip across the play ground and ask them if they got many , we got the same answer every time , yea we got a few , and we got to know the answer before we even asked the question  , the next thing was to explore where they done there duck shooting , the first thing we came across was a line of about a dozen boat sheds that looked a bit run down , all of them had a staging at the back and rollers so they could winch the punts up if the tide was low , I was about eight at the time and little did I know then that in another eight years me and my older brother would have our own gun punt .

The estuary became our playground and we go up there day after day in all weathers , the South wall was nearly five miles long with the North wall being just over five miles , so we had plenty to explore , the shooting on the estuary was free at the time to go where you like and at 14 I bought my first gun after working along the sea front all that summer and joined the local wild fowling club ( which I am still a member ) in 1964 , in 1968 it became a nature reserve with punt gunning banned as part of the agreement so although I bought a permit to carry on shooting on the estuary for the next 17 years we couldn't use any thing bigger than a eight bore , life moved on and I started to rent my own marshes and got into Pigeon shooting which I still enjoy , like you I had to combine running a family and working to pay the bills , somehow I still done a lot of shooting with it being on my doorstep , in fact my best ever morning flight was 17 duck before I had to be at work at eight o clock and at one building firm I worked at I used to drive the lorry to clear the jobs up , as luck would have it, the farm where we done a lot of duck shooting had all our brick rubble and I would have lost count of the times I would pick my gun and dog up in work time before I dumped the rubble , it was timed so I could have a quick flight before I took the lorry back up the yard and no one was ever the wiser .

As you can tell by now it was in my blood and when a job came up on the estate where I went beating and done a lot of Pigeon shooting I applied for it and luckily enough I got the job where I stayed for nearly 30 years until I retired nearly 15 years ago , and even now I do most of my Pigeon shooting on the place and help out on all the shoots by picking up .

Today I went to our local sporting auction to try and buy some cheap cartridges  , the cartridges were far to expensive but i did buy a nice gun which I couldn't resist , nothing special , a T Wild of Birmingham 2 3/4 in top class condition for it's age , so hopefully I will get a few more seasons with my ( new ) gun before the good lord give me a shout and say , come on in boy , as your time is up 

[bruno22rf]

I dont believe that I ever had the "desire to kill", I find the death of any quarry the worst part of my chosen sport/hobby. I dont ,these days, shoot Foxes (a few when asked in my younger days) Game Birds  nor Wilfowl, I only shoot vermin and even then no more than I need to protect crops or woodland. I'm certainly not claimning to be "holier than thou", these are my choices and have been my preference for many years. 

[WalkedUp]

I went lamping with my dad some 25 years ago and spine shot a rabbit. Next morning he said to me ashen faced “did you sleep at all last night?” I replied I slept well, he said he hadn’t been able to sleep as he could still hear the rabbit’s screams. Never came lamping with me again. It didn’t fuss me but I guess as you get older your testosterone decreases, your prey drive diminishes and you are more prone to being put off the sport. My three boys are voracious, wanting to capture kill and cook anything that moves. I’m much less driven than they are, I can see the next wave coming and knocking me from my perch in 15 years’ time. 

[Krico woodcock]

59 minutes ago, Westley said:

My 2 girls both came out with me, either in a pigeon hide or beating on the driven days I organised. Eldest is 56 now, younger one is 50, but the Grandkids enjoy clay shooting, so it keeps me busy and my pockets lighter  !    😉 

Your a lucky man so westley 👍

 

36 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Hi Krico    ... It sounded like your dad had a very sporting life and only slowed down when his body was beginning to feel it , he no doubt still enjoyed you telling him how the day went from start to finish and know exactly what you were talking about .

My dad would never have hurt a fly and most of his family were into trawler or drifter fishing , he would eat the fish but didn't like to see it gutted.

So where did I find my love for the great outdoors ? , well I was born and lived on a island and both our infants and junior school were only a very short way from the estuary and we often heard the boom from the odd punt gun being fired , when we graduated to the junior school our playground was about 150 yards from the boat sheds where the gun punts were kept and very often in the Winter time we would see the ole boys either walking or riding there bikes with the dead ducks hanging from the handle bars , we would whip across the play ground and ask them if they got many , we got the same answer every time , yea we got a few , and we got to know the answer before we even asked the question  , the next thing was to explore where they done there duck shooting , the first thing we came across was a line of about a dozen boat sheds that looked a bit run down , all of them had a staging at the back and rollers so they could winch the punts up if the tide was low , I was about eight at the time and little did I know then that in another eight years me and my older brother would have our own gun punt .

The estuary became our playground and we go up there day after day in all weathers , the South wall was nearly five miles long with the North wall being just over five miles , so we had plenty to explore , the shooting on the estuary was free at the time to go where you like and at 14 I bought my first gun after working along the sea front all that summer and joined the local wild fowling club ( which I am still a member ) in 1964 , in 1968 it became a nature reserve with punt gunning banned as part of the agreement so although I bought a permit to carry on shooting on the estuary for the next 17 years we couldn't use any thing bigger than a eight bore , life moved on and I started to rent my own marshes and got into Pigeon shooting which I still enjoy , like you I had to combine running a family and working to pay the bills , somehow I still done a lot of shooting with it being on my doorstep , in fact my best ever morning flight was 17 duck before I had to be at work at eight o clock and at one building firm I worked at I used to drive the lorry to clear the jobs up , as luck would have it, the farm where we done a lot of duck shooting had all our brick rubble and I would have lost count of the times I would pick my gun and dog up in work time before I dumped the rubble , it was timed so I could have a quick flight before I took the lorry back up the yard and no one was ever the wiser .

As you can tell by now it was in my blood and when a job came up on the estate where I went beating and done a lot of Pigeon shooting I applied for it and luckily enough I got the job where I stayed for nearly 30 years until I retired nearly 15 years ago , and even now I do most of my Pigeon shooting on the place and help out on all the shoots by picking up .

Today I went to our local sporting auction to try and buy some cheap cartridges  , the cartridges were far to expensive but i did buy a nice gun which I couldn't resist , nothing special , a T Wild of Birmingham 2 3/4 in top class condition for it's age , so hopefully I will get a few more seasons with my ( new ) gun before the good lord give me a shout and say , come on in boy , as your time is up 

It definitely is in your blood marsh man,  and there is one thing for certain you made the most of every opportunity going,  and you were full time plotting and mapping your next outing in your head and can rest easyon that you gave it your all at  every opportunity fair play to you marshman and good luck with your new gun, it won't be long till you draw blood with it, you still have the spark 👍..I don't think young lads, men, today are as fiercely driven to get out,  to get up 5 in morning,  drive 1 and half hours or longer,  for hard days work,  same drive home,  then head out in rain for maybe a duck or two or maybe none! But that's what you do when you have it in your blood.  A old man told me years ago " when the wind had the trees bent over and Swinging all over the place, all you want to do do is get out for a flight, when any normal person wants to sit tight beside the fire, this shooting is a DISEASE.. my father always told me, keep going as strong and hard at it when you can,  young and able,  that's exactly what I intend doing,  although I'm not exactly young but still well able.  

 

44 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

I dont believe that I ever had the "desire to kill", I find the death of any quarry the worst part of my chosen sport/hobby. I dont ,these days, shoot Foxes (a few when asked in my younger days) Game Birds  nor Wilfowl, I only shoot vermin and even then no more than I need to protect crops or woodland. I'm certainly not claimning to be "holier than thou", these are my choices and have been my preference for many years. 

I was the complete opposite bruno22rf, I always admired, respected all my game,  fowl shoot. But when that silhouette of a duck comes into sight,  or a woodcock flitters up from the cover away from a Springer,  I still grit my teeth mounting my gun to kill that bird, like I did when I started.  The day that drive goes in me, is the day I'll quit. 

[bruno22rf]

When that silhouette of a Duck comes into sight, or a Woodcock flitters up from the cover away from my Springer, I smile to myself and enjoy the experience, killing either would not bring me any more pleasure. Not sure how that means that I dont respect these amazing creatures. I have also been up at 4 in the morning after the Pigeons, I have been out in weather so cold that I actually cried, I have been sheltering under a tree when a storm has been so powerfull that I didn't know my partner was standing the other side. If the desire to kill ever exceeds my love of carrying a gun and pleasure of being out enjoying Nature, I'll quit.

[Ricko]

The last foxes that I shot had mange and were quite sick, bit of a blessing really.

 

[marsh man]

27 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

When that silhouette of a Duck comes into sight, or a Woodcock flitters up from the cover away from my Springer, I smile to myself and enjoy the experience, killing either would not bring me any more pleasure. Not sure how that means that I dont respect these amazing creatures. I have also been up at 4 in the morning after the Pigeons, I have been out in weather so cold that I actually cried, I have been sheltering under a tree when a storm has been so powerfull that I didn't know my partner was standing the other side. If the desire to kill ever exceeds my love of carrying a gun and pleasure of being out enjoying Nature, I'll quit.

I know where your coming from bruno , I didn't have to rely on shooting birds and animals as an income but we were brought up in a household where we tried not to waste anything and money was tight and I mean tight , as I mentioned earlier we were born on a island and in 1953 we got flooded in our little terrace house to a depth of five foot , my mother was expecting my younger sister and already had five children all living in this small terrace house , my dad was in the navy at the time and was in South Africa when the water came in , we were all upstairs when the rowing boat rowed over our fence and put the ladder up for us to climb down , we were then taken to a coach that was on higher ground to a near by holiday camp until the water went back down, and in the meantime my dad was flown home on compassionate leave.

We didn't know at the time that people up and down the country collected for people like us who were in the same situation with clothing and food , we even got lorries load of coal from the coal mining areas, when the houses dried out with the help from the R A F blowing hot air in the homes we finally went back home , we got through those years by eating plenty of fish or anything else that came our way , I left school in 1962 at Christmas and one of the worst Winters on record started on Boxing day , two days later I started work at a local builders , then two weeks later I got laid off for six weeks as the weather was so bad , in those days there was no hard weather ban and we shot plenty of duck that to be honest wasn't worth shooting but everyone was either eaten or taking to a local game dealer who would buy anything as part of there livelyhood was using the feathers for feather craft ,  this was the start of my long love of shooting , we would eat whatever we wanted and any surplus would be sold to buy more food , in fact when I was single I would keep the small cheque's until Christmas and then cash them in to buy all the Christmas meat.

Although I have matured quite a bit now I still make sure that everything I shoot find a home , so the desire to kill have long gone it don't alter the fact that when I do raise my gun at any bird my intention is kill it , 

[oldypigeonpopper]

On 07/10/2022 at 15:48, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, I was out last night on the rats,  there was a few rabbits about as well but they seemed happy running about through the night vision so I left the CZ 22 in its case, 🤔😁, 10 rats even with a bright moon, 👍

Hello, not forgetting the cost of cartridges  I think the change in farming practices has limited the opportunity to shoot pigeon not forgetting the GL scheme, for many like me it's just nice to be out in the fields or countryside, 

[ditchman]

59 minutes ago, marsh man said:

I know where your coming from bruno , I didn't have to rely on shooting birds and animals as an income but we were brought up in a household where we tried not to waste anything and money was tight and I mean tight , as I mentioned earlier we were born on a island and in 1953 we got flooded in our little terrace house to a depth of five foot , my mother was expecting my younger sister and already had five children all living in this small terrace house , my dad was in the navy at the time and was in South Africa when the water came in , we were all upstairs when the rowing boat rowed over our fence and put the ladder up for us to climb down , we were then taken to a coach that was on higher ground to a near by holiday camp until the water went back down, and in the meantime my dad was flown home on compassionate leave.

We didn't know at the time that people up and down the country collected for people like us who were in the same situation with clothing and food , we even got lorries load of coal from the coal mining areas, when the houses dried out with the help from the R A F blowing hot air in the homes we finally went back home , we got through those years by eating plenty of fish or anything else that came our way , I left school in 1962 at Christmas and one of the worst Winters on record started on Boxing day , two days later I started work at a local builders , then two weeks later I got laid off for six weeks as the weather was so bad , in those days there was no hard weather ban and we shot plenty of duck that to be honest wasn't worth shooting but everyone was either eaten or taking to a local game dealer who would buy anything as part of there livelyhood was using the feathers for feather craft ,  this was the start of my long love of shooting , we would eat whatever we wanted and any surplus would be sold to buy more food , in fact when I was single I would keep the small cheque's until Christmas and then cash them in to buy all the Christmas meat.

Although I have matured quite a bit now I still make sure that everything I shoot find a home , so the desire to kill have long gone it don't alter the fact that when I do raise my gun at any bird my intention is kill it , 

did you used to live on Cobholm island (GY)

[marsh man]

7 minutes ago, ditchman said:

did you used to live on Cobholm island (GY)

Certainly did , 60 years in total , the early residents were a rough ole lot but having said that were the salt of the earth , no one had more than anyone else and we all lived in the same boat so to speak , believe it or not , our ole milkman who delivered our milk on a four wheeled barrow liked Starlings , so there was the odd time where half a carrier bag of Starlings were exchanged for a pint of milk , his name was Mr Monday and at Christmas time very few people had enough money to give the ole boy a tip but they seemed to have enough money to buy the Christmas booze , so on Christmas eve he start his round delivering the milk when the first person would come out and give Mr Monday a glass of Port and a mince pie , he would then move on and another one would come out and give him a glass of Sherry and maybe a sausage roll , this carried on for one or two roads until the ole boy have had enough and someone had to end up taking him home with him being legless , and very often some of us had to go to house and collect our own milk , as I said those sort of people were the salt of the earth and we will never see the like again .

[ditchman]

44 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Certainly did , 60 years in total , the early residents were a rough ole lot but having said that were the salt of the earth , no one had more than anyone else and we all lived in the same boat so to speak , believe it or not , our ole milkman who delivered our milk on a four wheeled barrow liked Starlings , so there was the odd time where half a carrier bag of Starlings were exchanged for a pint of milk , his name was Mr Monday and at Christmas time very few people had enough money to give the ole boy a tip but they seemed to have enough money to buy the Christmas booze , so on Christmas eve he start his round delivering the milk when the first person would come out and give Mr Monday a glass of Port and a mince pie , he would then move on and another one would come out and give him a glass of Sherry and maybe a sausage roll , this carried on for one or two roads until the ole boy have had enough and someone had to end up taking him home with him being legless , and very often some of us had to go to house and collect our own milk , as I said those sort of people were the salt of the earth and we will never see the like again .

i used to live 25 yds down the road from the chapel on Mill road............................im sure you know or used to know Billy Frosdick...who i didnt care for...always used to take the wee out of my spaniels when i was on the flashes and Breydon water

and old Fred Goose on the alotments with a few pigs ?

Edited October 9, 2022 by ditchman

[gmm243]

I am lucky that I had great shooting growing up with loads of land to shoot over.We have no pheasants so used to shoot ducks from start of the season then woodcock and snipe from mid Nov onwards. I remember being off college one Christmas for 5 weeks and being out everyday for that 5 weeks bar the Sundays. I used to only occasionally shoot deer then. If I had an hour free at any time I was away fighting or fishing.

Nowadays I shoot for more deer than I used to and really enjoy stalking more and more.I haven't shot duck until Nov in the past 5 years or more and tbh the birds are far better by then. I am happy stalking on my own but would never consider going out shooting woodcock on my own for some reason. I now only shoot woodcock about 3 days a year and once we get to a few brace each we stop.

My two sons love shooting with me,I am more than happy to see them shooting than me do the shooting.Both of them shot woodcock,ducks and deer before their 10th birthday and continue to want to come out with me so I will keep them at it while I can.

I have lost land due to houses being built over the last years but still have plenty of places to go to.As many others have said I have nothing against the guys who go at it like I used to but my preferences have changed over time and I can't see me ever doing the type of days that I used to.

[Bigbob]

When i was younger i worked as a stalker and later in life whe would go out lamping 5 nights a week and shooting every weekend and often i would orginise a couple of mates to make up a team of four for a ferreting job two weeks in advance , My son and myself covered miles lamping shooting and ferreting all the time . the wife used to say it was great we were never in ,now ive slowed down only take a deer or two a year for myself and a odd day here or theres shooting or ferretings  plenty  i dont think you loose the instinct as i fully expect to be out a lot with my grandson but you wise up and notice the aches and pains are your bodies way telling you to slow down  

[Jaymo]

Ok, call me childish but…….

With the thread title as it is, has no one come up with the reply ‘there are tablets for that sort of thing’? 

[harrycatcat1]

33 minutes ago, Jaymo said:

Ok, call me childish but…….

With the thread title as it is, has no one come up with the reply ‘there are tablets for that sort of thing’? 

They interfere with my angina medication 💊 😤 😉😉

[Walker570]

I'm on them🤣

3 hours ago, Bigbob said:

When i was younger i worked as a stalker and later in life whe would go out lamping 5 nights a week and shooting every weekend and often i would orginise a couple of mates to make up a team of four for a ferreting job two weeks in advance , My son and myself covered miles lamping shooting and ferreting all the time . the wife used to say it was great we were never in ,now ive slowed down only take a deer or two a year for myself and a odd day here or theres shooting or ferretings  plenty  i dont think you loose the instinct as i fully expect to be out a lot with my grandson but you wise up and notice the aches and pains are your bodies way telling you to slow down  

Did I write that?  Spot on.

[ditchman]

22 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

I'm on them🤣

Did I write that?  Spot on.

i use them to keep my lettuces nice and crisp