A long walk with friends.

[Clodhopper]

Last Saturday was one of those special days where you get to go out with the gun, the dog and a group of mates to enjoy the type of  sport we are privileged to have in this country.

The five of us met up at 07.45 to start the day with sausage and bacon rolls. The most organised member of the group had printed out a series of google earth snap shots to formulate a plan of attack for each of the days drives (I use that term loosely). Most of the group payed little attention to this as the frying porcine snacks were far more interesting.

 

Our party consisted of 5 guns, 1 Labrador and a cocker spaniel.

The first drive was a couple of duck ponds in the paddock of the breakfast house. 3 guns stood whilst the other 2 pushed the ditch and the ponds. 4 mallard broke from the second pond but I had got in the wrong position and they escaped behind with no shots being fired. It was also raining hard enough to soaks us all, not the best start to the day.

 

The second drive saw us at an abandoned fishing complex with some nice young woodland totalling about six acres. This was squeezed from each end with the cunning plan being to force any birds to the middle and hopefully offer a shot. And cunning it was, with a pheasant being dropped, however it fell onto an extremely overgrown island. Dogs were coaxed over but the thick brambles prevented entry to the island. A canoe is as found and attempts made to gain access but this too proved unsuccessful. The gun who shot the bird was told to strip off, swim out and fetch the bird himself but surprisingly he seemed less than keen!

On the way back to the vehicle, a squirrel drey was spotted, resulting in the first quarry being added to the bag.

 

Next up was another farm with a couple of mature woods and thick hedges. Again the group split, the dogs pushing the wood towards 2 standing guns and 1 strategic flanker ( we called him something like that) on the edge. This resulted in a hare and a pheasant. That was 3 of us off the mark. 
 

Heading off to the next wood, some partridge were spotted, que another cunning plan, 2 of us headed off to get around them and push them over the other guns. It worked a treat and we saw the birds heading straight over a distant Ash tree where a gun should have been lurking. Unfortunately no shots were fired as although he was under an Ash tree, he was in the wrong field! We pressed on and pushed the wood through adding another pheasant to the bag. 4 out of the 5 guns off the mark.

Time now for a bite to eat which was a spread capable of feeding a full 9 gun party, beaters, pickers up, drivers and significant others. We ate as much as we could, the dogs helped to and washed it all down with a little drop of Port.

 

Location 4 was a couple of fields of sugar beet  which we hoped may hold a bird or two.  Lined out we marched into the wind to allow the dogs to scent any game. There wasn’t anything in the first field but the second produced another hare and a rabbit. Gun 5 was now off the mark, perfect.

 

 An ex free range chicken site which was planted up with a wonderful selection of native trees provide the background for the next drive. Some birds where seen but eluded the team of armed ramblers, until a pigeon came into range of the end gun who dropped the bird with a single shot.

 

Onto the final piece of ground, we surrounded a lake and pushed some duck off to give two of the guns a chance which they took, adding a couple of mallard to the bag. Pheasants were seen lurking  the edge of the next wood. Another cunning plan was devised and we managed to squeeze some into the wood, adding another couple to the growing bag along with another pigeon.

 

Finally we all sat around the lake as the light began to fade in the hope that a goose may make an appearance in the gathering gloom. Distant calls of geese got everyone sinking further into the cover on lakes edge but these geese wisely passed by in favour of another lake further down the valley.

 

Now came the best part of the day as we got the camp fire lit, skinned and butchered most of the bag, added a few home grown veg, put the whole lot in a cast iron pot on the fire and sat back with a beer in hand to relive the day. The stars came out and tall stories were told, growing taller with each beer. The chat and the leg pulling went on long into the night ending a perfect( in my opinion) day in the field.

 

 

 

 

[bruno22rf]

Does life get any better than this?

Edited November 5, 2022 by bruno22rf

[Clodhopper]

5 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

Does life get any better than this?

It was only improved on in the morning when the glowing embers were brought back to life and bacon thrown in a skillet. 

[marsh man]

Sound to me like a day most people could only dream of , the icing on the cake was all gathering around a camp fire and eating the days bag , the bag itself was enough to feed all involved with the extra veg and a few cans thrown in for good measure , many days with bigger bags will fade from the memory bank in time, but the day above will stay there for ever .

THANKS for sharing

[Spr1985]

A fantastic account of what sounds like a fantastic day enjoyed in good company! Thanks for posting 👌🏻