Another game season almost over

[Bear68]

Well, I've got soaked several days this season (my Barbour waxed jacket is now replaced with a Deerhunter Pro Gamekeeper which is more weather proof). I shot some fantastic wind-driven birds during the various storms, and missed plenty of easier ones in normal weather, I've  used a side-by-side exclusively for the first time in 20 years, and enjoyed watching my little lab bitch doing a couple of great retrieves. Above all, the craic with old friends has been a real delight. I feel I've done enough days now, but will miss it all by the end of February. Apologies if this post is a bit over-sentimental but I've been involved in game shooting for over 40 seasons now, and I still love being out with a dog, gun (or a stick) and like-minded people. 

Edited January 28 by Bear68

[London Best]

15 minutes ago, Bear68 said:

Well, I've got soaked several days this season (my Barbour waxed jacket is now replaced with a Deerhunter Pro Gamekeeper which is more weather proof). I shot some fantastic wind-driven birds during the various storms, and missed plenty of easier ones in normal weather, I've  used a side-by-side exclusively for the first time in 20 years, and enjoyed watch my little lab bitch doing a couple of great retrieves. Above all, the craic with old friends has been a real delight. I feel I've done enough days now, but will miss it all by the end of February. Apologies if this post is a bit over-sentimental but I've been involved in game shooting for over 40 seasons now, and I still love being out with a dog, gun (or a stick) and like-minded people. 

I could almost have written that post myself, with a couple of differences. 
I have been lucky to manage to stay dry on every outing this season. 
I’ve used a side-by-side exclusively for over sixty seasons now. 
And, having not been out since the 18th. January, I am missing it already! 
But, this morning a miracle happened when a friend phoned and asked if I was up for a rough kick-about on Saturday? …..Let me think about that!

[udderlyoffroad]

28 minutes ago, Bear68 said:

I feel I've done enough days now, but will miss it all by the end of February.

This. Every season.

Also waxed jackets are great for beating, if you’re pushing your way through thick briars…but are in 2025 frankly the worst choice for anything else.

[Scully]

Not over sentimental by any means. 
September/October comes round and I’m chomping at the bit to get going. No sooner the first day comes around than it’s all over ! Where did that go? 
Have enjoyed some good days this season in our syndicate, roughshoot and as a guest, although I’ve also turned down four days as I’m not too keen on some of the other guns, but that’s another story. 
Had a horrid day on the first day as for whatever reason ( I’m pretty sure I know ) I just couldn’t get to grips with some very good birds, to the extent it was embarrassing, but soon ironed out the issue and last Saturday shot some excellent high driven birds. On one peg I had six birds for seven shots, including a left and right ( first of the season ) and shared another bird. 
Ran out of my favourite cartridge early in the season ( SIPE 30/32 grm 5’s ) but couldn’t be bothered to travel for them so bought a couple of slabs of Hull High Pheasant 30 grm 5’s and am very very impressed. Some really nice birds curled up dead in the air through 3/8ths and 1/2 in my CD 101 trap gun, so I seriously doubt I’ll be travelling for SIPE when I can get these locally. 
Our syndicate is just a small very informal ( you can use any legit shotgun you like….its not unknown to see a pump or a self loader ) get together, and  last day of the season can almost turn into just a dog walk with a gun, but the people are fabulous, the craic is brilliant, nobody minds if your dog runs in ( the dogs even share the bothy and food at lunchtime ) and the food at our usual venue for the shoot dinner following the last day is top notch. 
It’s not all over yet however, as we intend to have a wander around our rough shoot on Saturday. 👍

[marsh man]

We are also drawing to a close , unlike the op we have missed the worst of the weather on every shoot I have been on , done them all bar one when we had two days back to back and two days on the trot would had been to much for my dog and possibly for me as well .

Been a well above average season and the highlight was the amount of wild duck we have got , our boss is not over keen in shooting to many so we have only been gentle with them , we finish on Friday and in the woods the following day for a spot of roost shooting .  MM

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Yes, it's been a good season, plenty of well presented birds, only one day of foul weather and great company from the regulars.

We, my eldest Son and I have shot and given away quite a lot of game this year, all gratefully received.

Looking forward to the next one already.

[Rim Fire]

Its beaters day for my boys on Saturday we got lucky with the weather only caught one of the storms which brought down some big Cedar  trees  which was planted in 1830 but two of them flattened one of the pens so it will be a few weeks off then rebuilding and cutting new rides in the summer 

[London Best]

Well, that’s it all over now then. 
No driven days since my last one on the 18th, but finished with a successful duck/goose flight on the evening of the 31st and a lovely rough shoot on the 1st which produced a dozen pheasants between the four of us. 
A great finish to what has been a great season.

[Bear68]

I thought my season had finished a fortnight ago, but I had an unexpected invite for an afternoon walkabout yesterday. Two of us shot 8 pheasants between us, which was a good way to end it.

[Agriv8]

We have had an odd one.

i predominantly beat but take the gun and stand as back gun for anything heading off our land at the beginning of the drives. Which was odd as the shoots to two sides have folded. One because the hall has been sold and the rewilding terrorists have taken over. One the land had been split and sold to different owners. The poults were delivered and a high percentage of cocks made up the numbers.

Weather I managed to stay dry . The heavy snow and ice was a hard one and made a mess of the bogs toes .
 

Shooting I took out what ever was at the front of the cab but predominantly my 535 sport/trap gun as I have been clay shooting with it an 24g carts due to some old age aches and pains in my shoulder. The 16 bore did some miles on grey squirrel control plus pigeons, magpies etc ( protected ground nesting birds are in the area ).

i shot at 3 pheasants all year a mixture of unlucky stand or choosing to walk instead of standing. But I take solace in the birds that we ( the mad spaniel and I ) did put up were the sort that challenged even the best guns and this lead on to some heated debate in the pub of who slowed it down for who.

i was asked to work the dog more this year the woods had heavy cover due to the mild weather and a lot of the older beaters have lost dogs and are of that age where they have decided they have not got the Energy or health to train a new one and certainly not fight their way through brambles. The other reason was the cocks and the heavy cover meant they were sitting tight certainly on the first 3 shoots of the season . The duck pond at the back of the hall has been drained so there was also no duck drive this year something I would always stand and seemed to pick something off.

I was invited out on the last walk round day on Friday the 31st again more the dog than my shooting prowess but again she put a good few birds over the other two guns.

i have been invited to pay in and join the syndicate my father still beats with us  ( taps in ) and has whispered in a few ears that he want to buy me a peg while he is still able to witness my lack of shooting prowess. My youngest did not manage to come beating with me due to school and football commitments but the days he did he helped his grandad and other so fingers crossed will want to spend more time with us next year.

But in complete honesty I have enjoyed the season more than most the dog has worked really well she’s had her moments but with each season it’s more about the crack because people like my dad and his beating friends probably only have a few seasons left .

Would I have changed my decision to walk knowing that we would be thin on birds by the time I was invited to stand again possibly. 
 

looking forward to next year and back down my mates farm pitting my whits against a few magpies before laming / nesting season . Quite a few greys as well that need reducing before the leaf cover returns.

As for over sentimental I think we all are . as the reality of the 5:30 am  alarm clock on Saturday morning was a both unwelcome but meant a day of indulgence 

Agriv8

The old man and his beating freind of 60 years who I have grown up with beating alongside 

 

Edited Thursday at 08:13 by Agriv8

[Poor Shot]

A so-so season for me on a syndicate and club shoot. No 'bought' days this year, I simply couldn't spare the expense and would rather put the £400+ to a few of this summers open clay target comps rather than a day on another shoot which is no better than the syndicate or club shoots. 

Between beating, shooting and walked up days on the club ground I probably got around 25 days in over the season. 

This years syndicate shoot was particularly disappointing. Not the fault of the keeper or members as we suspect that one of the two pens on the land had been emptied by night time poachers with NV and air rifles. The pen runs adjacent to a side road off of a through route, the shoot is also criss crossed with public footpaths so it's not surprising that some scummer has found the pen and came back at a later date to poach the birds. Around 400 birds released in that pen in the summer which was then almost empty by the first shoot day. That pen usually holds the birds really well and the shoot is full time keepered by the famer so no reason to believe that the birds simply wandered due to lack of food or predation. Ideally the pen needs relocating for the next years shoot but I have no say in the matter. 

This made the shoot days particularly frustrating having to cover miles and miles of ground to get anywhere near the bag when previous years shoot days had been a breeze in comparison. This boiled over on one particular day which will always stick in my mind for all of the wrong reasons. Bad weather, guns not showing up, low beater turnout and a general hard few weeks in work got to me at a point where the dog decided that she didn't want to listen to the whistle anymore and ran up a hedgeline without stopping. When she did finally return, I'm incredibly ashamed to say I gave her a little kick. Nothing serious but enough to raise a quiet yelp from her. That was completely out of character for me and not in any way representative of how I treat my dogs. One of the beaters even approached me after the shoot to have a word and make sure that I was ok. As soon as I'd done it, I took the cartridges out of the gun, laid it down on the floor, caller her in and got down level with the her and sat with her for a minute or so. I felt awful. In the hours after I ran through it all in my head. I'd decided that perhaps game shooting wasn't for me, the dog would be much happier living as a pet in our home and that the game gun and other kit would be up for sale on Pigeonwatch that same evening. The wife gave me a talking to afterwards when I explained why I was being so quiet that evening and the feeling of overwhelming guilt subsided over the next day or so. A bit of an over reaction? Maybe but Jesus I felt truly awful after it. Next time it'll just be a deep breath, remember that it's just an informal syndicate shoot and that everyone's dogs slip up every now and then. 

I used exclusively steel shot this year on the syndicate shoots being a mixture of Gamebore Dark Storm steel 32g 4's, Bio Ammo 34g 4's, Fiocchi Wetlands steel 3" 35g 3's and Lyalvale High Performance Ultimate Steel 3" 36g 1's. It was a chance to experiment with some new and some older steel loads and break a few myths amongst the older shots in the syndicate. The 3" cartridges were meant for use on the marsh on ducks and geese but I didn't really get the chance to try them so driven pheasant and duck had to make do. The 3" cartridges are obviously really good out to some good ranges but are a bit overkill, cost a lot (£560 a thou for the Lyalvale) and I imagine will start to wear a shooter down after a few drives on a big bird day. I'm not particularly recoil sensitive but I wouldn't want to be shooting 250 of these in a day. The Gamebore were ok, a bit punchy but I've never shot a cartridge so dirty. We're talking barrels lined with thick black wad residue after only a box or two across a days shooting. The Bio Ammo 34g 4's were stand out amongst them all. Felt no different to the 32g 5 lead shot cartridges I would normally use, really good hits out to some good ranges, cleaner kills than even the Fiocchi 3's and afterwards, barrels so shiny you could see your reflection in them. I'm not sure of the cost as I was gifted a few boxes of them before the season but they won't be as expensive as the Lyalvale that's for sure. 

Shot my first (and only) shoveler duck. It was small, tasted of mud and would be much better if just left to fly on in future. 

The stand out day of the season (for two reasons) was a walked up shoot with just me and the dog on NYE. I'm relatively new to the game so I'd say this was probably the first time in the 3 years I've been doing this that I set out just me and the dog. No particular plans just a walk around the boarders of the club ground to push any birds back in and maybe take a shot or two if they presented themselves. We must have walked a 5 mile loop around some very hilly Welsh mountain terrain (bordering the Sennybridge army range which any ex or current squaddies will know all too well) with only a missed woodcock to show for it. On the last 500m stretch back to the car the dog put up two excellent birds, one from a patch of reeds heading for the boundary and another from a small brook doing the same. Fortunately I was on the ball that day and got them both first barrel. Two excellent retrieves from the dog (she's always been reluctant to pick up pheasants for some reason, tending to pick and drop, pick and drop all way back to my feet) and I was over the moon. One of the cocks had some nasty spurs and gave her a right kicking as well but she soldiered on got the bird to my feet, sat up and presented it to me without any fuss. The dog didn't put a foot wrong the entire day, was tight on the whistle and worked her socks off. A complete contrast to the day which led to the incident in the last paragraph. 

 

The other reason that this day stood out is that she has a nasty habit of jumping barbed wire fences while I'm trying to climb them myself. I normally lift her over and sit her up while I climb over, which she then sometimes jumps back over the fence to get back to the heel position, or I sit her up, climb over and then lift her over. She also tends to jump over while I'm mid climb. I can't predict when she's going to do it and she doesn't do every time. She just wants be on the same side of the fence as me at all times. Unfortunately, one of these jumps was on a new, quite high fence line with some bright and sharp barbed wire. She caught her back end on the way over and cut open her rear right arm/ leg pit which exposed the pocket between the leg muscle and abdominal lining. Very lucky and a few mm either way would have resulted in a much nastier injury. Being a spaniel, she carried on as normal. I did lift her up and check her underside afterwards but I couldn't see anything as the wound was tucked into the armpit and there was little to no blood. She did this around 2/3rds of the way through the day and carried on as if nothing had happened. It wasn't until we got home and she refused to eat a treat, move from one spot and became quite lethargic that I realised something was up and gave her a thorough check over and discovered the open wound. We had plans to go out for NYE but these were immediately abandoned and the dog rushed into the emergency vet. The open wound itself wasn't too concerning but the lethargy and refusal to eat or drink was. Considering it was 16:00 on NYE at this point, the emergency vets were brilliant. The dog was in, put under, stitched up and back with us by 21:00 with a bag of antibiotics and pain relief. She was looking very sorry for herself afterwards. Agria working dog insurance via BASC covered all but the £170 excess so well worth the £18 a month I pay for it.

The wildfowling has been incredibly disappointing this year. I managed two trips out early season which resulted in not even seeing a duck, never mind getting a shot at one. I did one trip down to scout out the place on Aug 31st and it awash with mallard with around 20-30 flying over in the time I was there.

Since then, the weather, work, beating, shooting and tides have been completely against one and other. 

I'm planning to get out once or twice before the 20th but it looks like it's going to be an empty bag return for me this year. The marsh is not the productive of marshes but it is easy access and about as safe as it comes for new shooters. There is a much more productive and larger marsh down the coast, I may enquire about a membership this year and focus more on the wildfowling next year and take a half gun on the syndicate instead. 

At least the dog enjoyed herself. There's a rotten, dirty **** hole of a dyke boarding the path off of the marsh and some cattle sheds which is half tidal mud and other half cow slurry. If I'm not careful she'll be right in there rolling about in it. Here she is waiting for the sun to set on the first day of the season. She was likely anticipating some of the 20 or so mallard we had seen the evening before and excited to get into the mud for some retrieves.

 

Edited Thursday at 10:44 by Poor Shot

[Agriv8]

Got as far as the dog going self employed - yes I got to this low point as well but a hand a crossed her bum after running in after seeing the bird she put up shot!

not hard but there was a slight yelp more shock as the angry voice usually more than adequate.

post more later