Pinks

[Grandalf]

13 hours ago, marsh man said:

Just about every long term fowler I know , or to be more precise knew, all thought the same way as they were getting towards the time of hanging the gun up , when I reached my 60s I was still as leen as mustard and went most days of the season , then the early shooting started to lose it's appeal , I still went the first morning as old habits die hard and it was nice to see another season in even though I didn't have much intention on shooting a early duck , then reaching my late 60s I finally gave the first morning a miss and made a start later on that month , moving on to my early 70s I was giving the whole of September a miss and starting in October , now I am coming up to my late 70s and at the moment I haven't got much intention in making a start till either the end of October or even early November , this will depend if I have got some of my marshes with water on , or if the cattle have been taken off .

Walking down the marsh tonight before my tea was ready I noticed two tags were on the tag board to let other fowlers know many were already on the marsh , I was wearing a thin short sleeve shirt and it was hotter than any time I have been down the marsh during the wildfowl season , these two chaps were walking over the bone dry marshes with a dog  and having a herd of rowdy cattle following them , the chances of them getting anything would have made very big odds at the bookies, and they don't throw there money away easily , still I know a time when I would had been out and convincing myself it was going to be worth it , those days are long gone and is a sure sign I am no longer hungry to shoot a duck or a goose as I once was , now they have to be in full feather and the last duck of the season is more important now than the first , as one day the last one will certainly be the last one as you cannot defeat time for ever       MM   

For all the reasons that you have quoted I have been starting later and later.   Plus, last year, I never took the gun out due the bird flue problems.   Never go before November.   Usually get my RBL Remembrance Sunday duties done and dusted before I clean and oil the blunderbuss.   Seems quite early enough.   But I used never to miss the 1st.

But now I am turned 84 and still lucky enough to be able to do it so I WILL be there sometime a bit later on in the year.

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, Grandalf said:

For all the reasons that you have quoted I have been starting later and later.   Plus, last year, I never took the gun out due the bird flue problems.   Never go before November.   Usually get my RBL Remembrance Sunday duties done and dusted before I clean and oil the blunderbuss.   Seems quite early enough.   But I used never to miss the 1st.

But now I am turned 84 and still lucky enough to be able to do it so I WILL be there sometime a bit later on in the year.

You are doing very well reaching 84 and long may it continue , seeing you a few years ago at the Norwich W A meeting's I am sure you will still be chasing those Pinks when a lot of the younger members have called it a day 

Over the years I have had a lifetime of happy memories while taking part in the sport called wildfowling and I couldn't imagine what life would had been like if I wasn't born within the sights and sounds of the marshes and the estuary , now I feel I have the advantage with what little I know about marsh shooting over the early wildfowl and I would sooner see them in the flesh than hanging up in my garage , yes the time will come in a few weeks time where the urge is to go out on a cold rough night and try and get myself a nice pair of full grown duck , take last year when we had a little cold snap , on the marshes that I shoot myself I know a couple of dykes that are the last ones to freeze over , in fact I have known them to keep open when all the surrounding dykes are closed in with a covering of ice , each time I went Teal were getting up in good numbers and while I had a pair hanging up I never lifted the gun when they were jumping up , if the odd Mallard had got up then that might had been a different story .

I remember seeing the last video that Kenzie Thorpe done just before he passed away in the 70s where he was saying he would still go down the marsh to try and get just one Pinkfoot each season while he could still carry a gun , he knew then that his wildfowling days were drawing to a close and sadly he passed away not long after the video was made .

GOOD LUCK when you do go again .   All the best     John .

[Dave at kelton]

19 hours ago, marsh man said:

Just about every long term fowler I know , or to be more precise knew, all thought the same way as they were getting towards the time of hanging the gun up , when I reached my 60s I was still as leen as mustard and went most days of the season , then the early shooting started to lose it's appeal , I still went the first morning as old habits die hard and it was nice to see another season in even though I didn't have much intention on shooting a early duck , then reaching my late 60s I finally gave the first morning a miss and made a start later on that month , moving on to my early 70s I was giving the whole of September a miss and starting in October , now I am coming up to my late 70s and at the moment I haven't got much intention in making a start till either the end of October or even early November , this will depend if I have got some of my marshes with water on , or if the cattle have been taken off .

Walking down the marsh tonight before my tea was ready I noticed two tags were on the tag board to let other fowlers know many were already on the marsh , I was wearing a thin short sleeve shirt and it was hotter than any time I have been down the marsh during the wildfowl season , these two chaps were walking over the bone dry marshes with a dog  and having a herd of rowdy cattle following them , the chances of them getting anything would have made very big odds at the bookies, and they don't throw there money away easily , still I know a time when I would had been out and convincing myself it was going to be worth it , those days are long gone and is a sure sign I am no longer hungry to shoot a duck or a goose as I once was , now they have to be in full feather and the last duck of the season is more important now than the first , as one day the last one will certainly be the last one as you cannot defeat time for ever       MM   

Well said. I am mid sixties and feeling just like you. Resident Greylags got a hammering first day and not for me. Starting to think about the pinks but not seen any locally. Be at least the end of this month if not October before I am out.

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, Dave at kelton said:

Well said. I am mid sixties and feeling just like you. Resident Greylags got a hammering first day and not for me. Starting to think about the pinks but not seen any locally. Be at least the end of this month if not October before I am out.

Don't get me wrong Dave I still enjoy my shooting , or being part of it as I haven't missed a game shoot for years and have committed myself for all the dates this coming season , if any of the guns or there children want to go down to one of our flight ponds after the days shoot I am always the first one to offer to take them . being part of it don't always mean you get full enjoyment if you take your gun , I can take it if I want down to the ponds but I would sooner leave it at home and spend the time making sure whoever is shooting is safe and to mark any duck that are shot , also if a youngster get his or her first duck then I am over the moon and more than glad that they shot it and not me .

The marshes and the estuary still hold a massive attraction to me and I never tire in spending most of my time either on the marsh or around them , by spending that much time you more or less know what is going on with the animal and bird life , the dykes are kept high so the livestock can drink water without going into the dyke although they do cut some 45 degree angles to the dykes if they have got steep banks , with leaving some fields un grazed so they can cut the grass for hay I do get a chance to walk around the outsides and to see what duck broods are about , I know, or knew where there were 3 or 4 good broods of Mallard in the mid Summer and in the past these would had produced a shot or two by walking up the dykes in September , now I wouldn't dream of walking the dykes up for early duck and I believe some of the local clubs have stopped it as well till a time later on in the month , I now think if the quanity is left then that quanity will end up being better quality and I vowed a few years back that I wouldn't shoot a duck that wasn't in full plumage , maybe you get a early Wigeon that have still got some of his juvernile feathers but from mid October the duck are in pretty good nick by then .

So while I can I will still shoot a few duck and possibly the odd goose , these will only be for my own use , or anyone who I know want one or two rather than keep shooting them and let the gamedealer have any surplus at the end of the season , all part of the winding down process , GOOD LUCK when you do make a start .    MM

[Grandalf]

8 hours ago, marsh man said:

You are doing very well reaching 84 and long may it continue , seeing you a few years ago at the Norwich W A meeting's I am sure you will still be chasing those Pinks when a lot of the younger members have called it a day 

Over the years I have had a lifetime of happy memories while taking part in the sport called wildfowling and I couldn't imagine what life would had been like if I wasn't born within the sights and sounds of the marshes and the estuary , now I feel I have the advantage with what little I know about marsh shooting over the early wildfowl and I would sooner see them in the flesh than hanging up in my garage , yes the time will come in a few weeks time where the urge is to go out on a cold rough night and try and get myself a nice pair of full grown duck , take last year when we had a little cold snap , on the marshes that I shoot myself I know a couple of dykes that are the last ones to freeze over , in fact I have known them to keep open when all the surrounding dykes are closed in with a covering of ice , each time I went Teal were getting up in good numbers and while I had a pair hanging up I never lifted the gun when they were jumping up , if the odd Mallard had got up then that might had been a different story .

I remember seeing the last video that Kenzie Thorpe done just before he passed away in the 70s where he was saying he would still go down the marsh to try and get just one Pinkfoot each season while he could still carry a gun , he knew then that his wildfowling days were drawing to a close and sadly he passed away not long after the video was made .

GOOD LUCK when you do go again .   All the best     John .

Thanks John.   I'll let you know how I get on.   It's all deer stalking at the moment.   (Plus a bit of foxing so I'm not being idle).

[marsh man]

50 minutes ago, Grandalf said:

Thanks John.   I'll let you know how I get on.   It's all deer stalking at the moment.   (Plus a bit of foxing so I'm not being idle).

I could never imagine you being idle so it don't come as a surprise that you are still getting up early for the deer stalking and a chance at a Fox .

Are you still involved in your game shoot ? as I keep hearing that some of the small ones have packed it in , we now only shoot Pheasants on our's and no longer have the early Partridge shoots , last year we did have some bird flu but strangely enough it was only found on one small part of the estate and DEFRA gave us the go ahead to carry on and we ended up having a good season .

All the best    John .

[Scruffydog]

Marsh man,

I can only hope to be as active as you in another 10 years.  As it stands, all of my shooting gear seems to shrink in the wardrobe every year, so I'll probably be waddling like a duck out of water by then.

As for starting the season later and later, I don't think that's necessarily an age thing.  I think we've all noticed that the seasons seem to be getting later every year now, anyway.  I remember a time (less than 10 years ago) when a hot, sunny September was something to remark on.  Now it seems to be the norm.

It just doesn't feel right to go for a flight on the foreshore when it's sunny enough to get a tan!

 

[Grandalf]

14 hours ago, marsh man said:

I could never imagine you being idle so it don't come as a surprise that you are still getting up early for the deer stalking and a chance at a Fox .

Are you still involved in your game shoot ? as I keep hearing that some of the small ones have packed it in , we now only shoot Pheasants on our's and no longer have the early Partridge shoots , last year we did have some bird flu but strangely enough it was only found on one small part of the estate and DEFRA gave us the go ahead to carry on and we ended up having a good season .

All the best    John .

The shoot is still going along fine.   I shoot occasionally when someone drops out at the last minute and I do a bit of foxing and stalking, mainly for munties that screw up the drives of the game strips.   We are a pheasant only shoot.   Tried partridges a few times over the thirty years  but just couldn't hold the *******.   Got a new keeper this year but as he has been beating and picking up with us for years so he should do ok.   He certainly knows the land well and is a local guy.   Ex army too so he knows what he is about.   My wife went into a care home six months ago so I have got back some of the time that I had lost caring for her. (Ten+ years).   Got to keep on doing things.   Not going to live for ever and I still have lots of things that I want to have a crack at before the grim reaper comes along.  Happy fowling.

[Salmo]

Pinks moving through fife right now 

[Diabolo]

Started my fowling career down south many moons ago, Canada and greylag were on the menu of course, but never saw a pink. Then my wife's parents moved to Spalding, I read a certain book you may have heard of called "Kenzie the Wild Goose Man(!)" and I went to look for the pinks. Fell in love with The Fens and The Wash, and caught a bad dose of goose fever. Joined local clubs and would make a round trip of 250 miles to get out on the Wash saltings. Fowling has led me to where I live now, which is on the edge of The Wash, just under a mile and a half from the sea wall on the Lincs. side. 

And the funny thing is I keep thinking on a quote from (I believe) Thoreau, and it is this: "Some men go fishing all their lives, without ever realising it isn't fish they are after."

And I think I have at last realised it wasn't geese I was after. Not in the sense of trying to fill the freezer, numbers were never important to me. I never particularly liked the act of killing birds anyway, and tried going out without a gun for the morning flight, sometimes a camera , but it wasn't the same. Didn't get the feelings of elation yet remorse after taking down a bird. What Peter Scott called the ultimate sanction. Might as well have bought a scope and stayed up on the sea wall with the birders.

So what was it then that made me direct my life towards my current position? Reading some of the above posts sum up my feelings also. I'm in my late sixties now, lame with arthritis, but still hopefully get out over the sea wall when I can, just to be close to the wildest of nature, which is the reason I do it.

And when I cant - I can sit in my back garden in my dressing gown and slippers with a mug of tea while the skeins fly overhead!

Steve

 

 

[marsh man]

7 hours ago, Diabolo said:

Started my fowling career down south many moons ago, Canada and greylag were on the menu of course, but never saw a pink. Then my wife's parents moved to Spalding, I read a certain book you may have heard of called "Kenzie the Wild Goose Man(!)" and I went to look for the pinks. Fell in love with The Fens and The Wash, and caught a bad dose of goose fever. Joined local clubs and would make a round trip of 250 miles to get out on the Wash saltings. Fowling has led me to where I live now, which is on the edge of The Wash, just under a mile and a half from the sea wall on the Lincs. side. 

And the funny thing is I keep thinking on a quote from (I believe) Thoreau, and it is this: "Some men go fishing all their lives, without ever realising it isn't fish they are after."

And I think I have at last realised it wasn't geese I was after. Not in the sense of trying to fill the freezer, numbers were never important to me. I never particularly liked the act of killing birds anyway, and tried going out without a gun for the morning flight, sometimes a camera , but it wasn't the same. Didn't get the feelings of elation yet remorse after taking down a bird. What Peter Scott called the ultimate sanction. Might as well have bought a scope and stayed up on the sea wall with the birders.

So what was it then that made me direct my life towards my current position? Reading some of the above posts sum up my feelings also. I'm in my late sixties now, lame with arthritis, but still hopefully get out over the sea wall when I can, just to be close to the wildest of nature, which is the reason I do it.

And when I cant - I can sit in my back garden in my dressing gown and slippers with a mug of tea while the skeins fly overhead!

Steve

 

 

Brilliant post Steve .... You never know when you are young that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence , in my early teens in the 60s I was already becoming a junkie wildfowler and the mecca of wildfowling was in and around the Wash , some of the boys who were a bit older used to get together and go up there for a flight with either Kenzie Thorpe , Frank Harrison or Sid Write , when they got back they would sometimes say they had seen the geese but very rarely if ever they got one , we didn't know then that 10s if not 100s went up there to shoot and as we well know now that the wildfowl are not stupid and would not stick that sort of disturbance , whereas down our way we didn't have the numbers of Pinks but we did have good numbers of White Fronts that used to come on the marshes and the estuary around the 1st week in December , like all sorts of geese shooting you had to be in the right place at the right time , some years you were not and another year you hit the jackpot and the Holy Grail was put in the bag , word soon got about if someone got one and it was a time to rejoice , then s big block of marshes were bought by the R S P B and reclaimed to encourage wildfowl , within a year or two the Pinks started to come down in good numbers and very soon they were in the 1000s , It then got to the stage that if you were local and had the time to go it wasn't about weather you would get the odd one ,it was more of a case of how many you would get and slowly but surely it was no big thing in shooting a Pink foot .

We are nowhere near the mecca the Wash was in the 1960s and 70s but we now get a lot of the Wash boys come down here for a few days and the geese will start arriving in big numbers in a couple of weeks time , like you I love watching and hearing them as much without a gun under my arm as I do when I have the desire to get one , but the feeling of joy we had when fewer numbers were about and the odd one went in the bag will never come back now the end of the road is in sight .   MM

[Salmo]

Loads moving again tonight

[worthy130]

Couple of big skeins moving over Frodsham on the evening flight.

[marsh man]

40 minutes ago, worthy130 said:

Couple of big skeins moving over Frodsham on the evening flight.

Pretty well bang on time now we have entered the third week in September , it will be interesting to see if the bird flu have had any impact on the numbers when they fully arrive over the coming weeks .    MM

[Westley]

I saw the first pinks, for me, last week near Perth. Then the first I had seen in West Lancs, on Saturday .

[edenman]

I have not seen any since the 5th of September. Normally there is a day or two when the skies in my part of fife are full of skeins heading towards the big loch on the usual migration flight lines. That hasn’t happened yet but when it does it’s game on!

Edited September 19, 2023 by edenman

[Salmo]

We saw thousands this morning , we were decoying on one of our permissions near Montrose 

[guy baxendale]

Two single pinks calling at each other while I was painting windows on Saturday near Swaffham.....very odd indeed to get them this early. A reminder to pull my finger out and get my (many) jobs done before the proper fowling starts

[Penelope]

On 26/09/2023 at 10:07, guy baxendale said:

Two single pinks calling at each other while I was painting windows on Saturday near Swaffham.....very odd indeed to get them this early. A reminder to pull my finger out and get my (many) jobs done before the proper fowling starts

Have you still not finished those windows?? 😄

[Salmo]

Pinks 

[SuperGoose75]

On 12/09/2023 at 12:36, Diabolo said:

Started my fowling career down south many moons ago, Canada and greylag were on the menu of course, but never saw a pink. Then my wife's parents moved to Spalding, I read a certain book you may have heard of called "Kenzie the Wild Goose Man(!)" and I went to look for the pinks. Fell in love with The Fens and The Wash, and caught a bad dose of goose fever. Joined local clubs and would make a round trip of 250 miles to get out on the Wash saltings. Fowling has led me to where I live now, which is on the edge of The Wash, just under a mile and a half from the sea wall on the Lincs. side. 

And the funny thing is I keep thinking on a quote from (I believe) Thoreau, and it is this: "Some men go fishing all their lives, without ever realising it isn't fish they are after."

And I think I have at last realised it wasn't geese I was after. Not in the sense of trying to fill the freezer, numbers were never important to me. I never particularly liked the act of killing birds anyway, and tried going out without a gun for the morning flight, sometimes a camera , but it wasn't the same. Didn't get the feelings of elation yet remorse after taking down a bird. What Peter Scott called the ultimate sanction. Might as well have bought a scope and stayed up on the sea wall with the birders.

So what was it then that made me direct my life towards my current position? Reading some of the above posts sum up my feelings also. I'm in my late sixties now, lame with arthritis, but still hopefully get out over the sea wall when I can, just to be close to the wildest of nature, which is the reason I do it.

And when I cant - I can sit in my back garden in my dressing gown and slippers with a mug of tea while the skeins fly overhead!

Steve

 

 

Super post👍 I can safely say without hesitation, that I am of the same breed of fowler. 

Edited to say, enjoy your current location where Wildfowling has taken you. I would happily spend the rest of my life where you are located. I have a deep love of the place.

Edited October 3, 2023 by SuperGoose75

[scolopax]

They were flying south over the the North Yorkshire moors this morning in good numbers, a bit cooler and a good northerly will be pushing them down.