A blustery hour!

[Scully]

A mate on Saturday told me ‘crows aren’t half hammering my barley’! but was busy that day, shooting show yesterday and it was chucking it down this morning! I’d been keeping an eye on this field since it was sown last week, but hadn’t seen any sign of green a couple of days ago, but knew it would appear like magic with a day of rain and a bit of sun, but obviously missed it! 
Anyhow, had already got my gear ready the night before just in case. 
Walked the dog round the field in question this morning in the rain, and sure enough the shoots were well through, but no birds in sight. 
Keeping an eye on the weather I dropped by the field in the car after nipping to the shop and saw quite a gathering on the field. Getting out and clapping my hands scattered a group of about 50 ferals and corvids.
Nipped back home, threw all my gear in the back of my vehicle and was set up in about 15 mins, noting with annoyance that the wind AGAIN was blowing straight towards my hide! 
Within five minutes I’d shot two crows for three shots, and then the wind increased and it started raining again. As the back legs of my seat sunk further into the soft ground, and the wind blown hide started to interfere with my hat, gun and the button hooks on my boots I was getting an awful feeling of deja vu. 
Each time birds came to investigate the decoys, I found it increasingly harder to get to my feet while trying to avoid the constantly collapsing hide snagging my gun, but somehow managed a right and left . 
Breaking the gun to reload and then close again wasn’t straight forward either, so did away with the two hide poles on either side, and connected the netting to the hedge on those sides and stuck the two poles directly in front so in effect I had a straight line of four poles and the net pulled taught between each one. This gave me a tad more room but the increasing wind slowly started to lean them in towards me. I’d brought pegs and guy ropes after a similar day, but the soil was simply too soft after the tilling and recent rain.  
After an hour of muddily scrambling out of one corner of my hide literally on my hands and knees as I’d secured it to the hedge, to time and time again rearrange shot birds laying on their backs, and noticing the Fells had disappeared ( never a good sign ) I’d had enough and called it a day. 
Memorable birds were the snatched left and right, and long fast and curling feral, a couple of long range birds and a huge looking crow which appeared from nowhere to hover immediately above me at an amazingly close range, which I called myself names for for missing with both barrels! As I watched it drift away leisurely on the wind, wishing I’d had that third shot, I saw it crumple and fold and just drop from the sky over the brow of the hill. 
Not a great bag, but finished with 17 crows, 2 jackdaws and a feral for 40 cartridges. 

 

[jeffgg]

Battling the weather is always good fun and it was not for nothing cheers

[30-6]

Try putting the pegs in at 45° and lay heavish stones on them.

[Scully]

4 minutes ago, 30-6 said:

Try putting the pegs in at 45° and lay heavish stones on them.

Thanks, but it’s a tilled spring barley crop; there are no heavy stones around in this particular field. The only drystone wall at a handy distance isn’t even drystone, it’s been built with mortar.