Ferret Master Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Hi, I was awoken at stupid o'clock this morning by my Mum saying 'You have to be there at 10am so get up.' I came to the conclusion that the message I had given my younger brother the night before 'Tell Mum I don't have to be there until 11am now.' was not passed on. Anyway at 11am we rolled into Stillsy's drive and I unloaded my gear. We took the dogs out for a quick walk while discussing the tactics for the day. After Stillsy's Grandad arrived to look after his younger brother for the day we set off to check a few fields. It soon became apparent that these fields were not holding many birds at all so we tried another farm which held lots of rabbits in an old railway embankment and also had a large field of rape stubble. Upon arriving at the rape field we put up a few pigeon and hundreds of rooks which were mostly at the edge of a field of uncut maize. We decided to set our hide up against an old air raid shelter that had a few weeds growing up infront of it. As we approached the area we flushed a pheasant, which startled a small covey of partridge out of the grass and over the hedge followed by a barn owl which glided down the hedgerow! We then had a check in the shelter that it wasn't a nest site before setting up our hide. I put the decoys out while Stillsy set up the netting. We used a large horseshoe shape roughly facing the wind then had some birds on springy pegs at the edges leaving a large killing area. Shooting commenced at about 2pm and it took about 10 minutes for the first bird to come in... we missed it. This pattern resumed for far longer than either of us dare admit until I managed to kill a bird shortly followed by Stillsy bagging one and we had enough for the magnet. We then got another and put it on the bouncer. After that we enjoyed a slow but steady stream of pigeon all afternoon as well as plenty of stock doves that buzzed the pattern or landed in it. We also had a few corvids come in for a closer look which were dealt with. I unfortunately shot like a complete and utter NUMPTY and I know only a bad workman blames his tools but I am going to pattern my new semi very soon as I have a sneaking suspicion that it is not hitting where I point it. This was confirmed when I missed a sitting bird. I connected with more birds later on when I mean a concerted effort to point below them so this could possibly be the problem. However all was not lost as Stillsy pulled off some cracking shots and left and rights. :blink: The barn owl also glided along the hedgerow during early evening. At around 6:30pm the sky was empty and there were no birds coming into our pattern so we decided to have a mooch over towards Watership Down. Just as we were creeping under the old railway tunnel to ambush some bunnies you could have been forgiven for thinking that the hunt were out as 'gone away' echoed through the tunnel. It was of course my ringtone so while I scrambled into the depths of my pocket to turn it off Stillsy let a shot off into watership down at the now fleeing bunnies. This accounted for a nice half grown bunny which is now in my ferret cage after being skinned due to the vast numbers of ticks present on it. We then headed back over to the stubble to pack up our hide and decoys and take and EOD shot. The final bag was 27 woodpigeon picked, 2 rooks, 1 jackdaw and a rabbit. We had another 3 birds crash down in standing wheat behind us which we were unable to retrieve. The view from our hide. You can see the magnet to the left and the floater out to the right of the picture. The Barn Owl flying down the hedgerow. Me (left) and Stillsy (right) with the final bag. I am now thoroughly shattered but have had a great day so would like to thank Stillsy for the invite and great sport. As for the kill to cartridge ratio... we won't go there. FM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loopy bunny blaster Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 well shot lads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastSussexLad Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Nice one lads ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillsy Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Good write up ollie! A very enjoyable day, i just hope we can improve on shot ratio! ha, we might get some big numbers then! ha! Thankyou! Stillsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniel Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 well done guys, the important thing is that you both enjoyed yourselves Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
young airgunner Posted August 20, 2008 Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 nice one ollie. what semi is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted August 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Thanks for the comments. It is a Beretta A303 12 bore. FM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillsy Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Ollie here at Stillsy's house. We have been out all day today and bagged 31 woodies and 5 ferals... pics will follow later when I get home. :o FM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2-dead-in-the-air Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 Well done guys. keep it up the ratio`s will get better. Were you sharing the same hide ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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