48 hours of fun

[AndyCM]

I at last had the chance to arrange a long wished for event....making maximum shooting use of the longest days of the year. Past summers have included permissions on arable land (with crops & cover waist high) and offering limited shooting opportunities at this time of year.

 

However, this year I got to shoot a sheep farm with plenty of fields with short grass and lots of areas open for vermin control.

 

So a little planning and an extensive kit list and sort a couple of free days (around 21 June) and away we go.

 

Kit included:

.223 – two scopes needing zeroing

Ammo – a few flavours to allow testing if time allowed

Semi auto 12 bore & fibre cartridges / crow decoys

Bench, chair & target boards – dropped at the permission the day before for use zeroing / testing

High seat – mobile version for quick change of position

Torches – various x 4

Lamp – nightforce 140

Frisky Ferret – home made predator attractor

Rope, strapping, saw, tape, pipe insulation to allow high seat maintenance if time allowed (there are 5 permanent seats on site)

Jackets, fleeces, T-shirts, gloves (camo & work), hats, veils

Phone solar charger

Window shooting bag

Calls, baits, bipods, slings, shooting sticks

Gas stove, flask, pans, tins of food, water, paper plates, other food bits & bobs (not forgetting matches!)

A few knives

Camera

Blanket

Binoculars – I got a mile up the road and had to turn around to get these (Leica 8x42’s...need them!)

FAC & SGC

Probably a few other bits too!

 

I have shot this place for a year, so had a good idea of activity levels at various points around the farm and good places to shoot from with regards to backstops etc. Then the farmer a week a few days before says he wants a few foxes nobbled at another site, so some reccy time to build in for there!

 

Some kit about to be loaded up

 

 

Ok, let the fun commence. Arrive at original permission (Farm 1) at midday Sunday 21 June and decide to do a quick high seat safety adjustment that needed a little rope added to be secure.

Then onto zeroing a couple of scopes – nice and cool in the woods

 

Both scopes work well with bore zeroing and a few rounds to zero (I am using Sako Factory Arrowhead 50g’s...these are super accurate...) I put three through the size of one and a half bullets widths! These came from a mate that had recently sold his .223 & I wonder why I reload with this accuracy!

 

I then have a brief sit in the newly secured high seat, not expecting much activity but take in the sights and sounds of the countryside.

 

Then check out Farm 2 for a reccy of the land, this is only a few fields with ponds and bordered by a wood. I find a good vantage point and sit up and let things settle down, there are plenty of rabbits (so I’ll come back another time with the .17) but the farmer has asked for foxes to be knocked over. Have a call (with the wood 100 odd yards away) and after 10 mins a fox appears (it has crept along a ditch and pops up for a look) there are sheep behind so no chance of a shot. I stay still and hope the fox moves and presents a shot. It goes back into the ditch and I don’t see it again. Now around 7:00pm and I need to be back at Farm 1 only a couple of miles away for a sit up. I’ll need to rethink tactics at Farm 2!

 

I get myself settled into the high seat for 7:30pm

 

 

and wait for foxy to show, a little after 8:00pm a couple show up at the other side of the field on a hedge line about 250 yards. The wind has picked up and a shot from this seat would be a little optimistic, and I need the fox to move for a backstop too. I put some bait out earlier so I decide to watch the fox and hope it finds the bait.

 

Zoomed in on the hedge

 

After a fair while it stays in the area dipping in and out of the field so I decide a call is worth a try...it runs like the wind..AWAY! Mmmmmm, that’s no good to me.

 

By 21:30 it (or another) shows up heading for the bait..it stops short and has a sniff around...I get that one at 170 yards, the Sako ammo does the business.

 

I stay put not to disturb the ground and hope another shows, by 22:45 I am struggling to see through the scope so head to the car for a kip.

[AndyCM]

I kip from 23:30 by the time I get to the car and settle, with alarm set for 3:30....I don't need it I'm awake by then and greeted by this

 

 

I return to the same seat and wait for the mist to clear

 

 

 

 

I see two foxes in the same place as the wily one last night....they like it there...no chance of a shot and I wait as light is on my side now. One does come across the field, but not near me and in unsafe areas so I watch only. It dissappears through a fence only to return 20 mins later to retrace its steps, I am noting the times

 

I know this mobile seat will need moving later to intercept these foxes.

 

The one I got last night

 

[Zapp]

Some lovely pics there. I love misty summer mornings

 

ZB

[AndyCM]

I decide to return to Farm 2 for another reccy and whilst not dawn it is still a potential time to see a fox

 

 

none show but I get a better feel for the place and see a lot of rabbits and crows, I'll be returning here... a lot

 

Back to Farm 1 and time to move the high seat to the other side of that popular hedge

 

 

Just don't fall asleep in this one without a Life Jacket

 

 

Is it breakfast time yet, I'm a little peckish now

 

 

Ok, from the other end of the field we should be nearer the action for later this evening

 

 

even better to the left of the seat this is now the view...so some bait down here and no sheep to get in the way

 

 

I spend the rest of the day, herding sheep, the farmer is shearing and I got the job of sheep dog 3 as Shep was off sick , checking and repairing high seats and trimming a few branches, and visiting a mate up the road for a cuppa and chat.

 

Once I am back in the moved high seat for 7:00pm I am very hopeful of being near the action. I have a long wait and by 22:00'ish.....only to see a fox enter the field from within 40 yards of where I moved the high seat from Oh, well he's heading this way.

 

There are a lot of sheep around where the fox is headed and I am struggling to see it in the scope....not good I am running out of light fast. I rush the shot and MISS :( Damn, blast and botheration

 

I look to my left,

visibility is a little better here and of course no sheep should help if a fox shows up on the bait but time is running out.

 

a fox does show and I can see clearly in the bins, but not too well in the scope, to make things worse the fox is hyperactive, no scent marking and not stopping in one spot for more that a brief moment. I'm swapping between bins & scope and wish the bins had crosshairs and could sit on the rifle I pick a moment...and MISS, "stay composed, I can't fall out of this seat"

 

Call it a night and reflect, another 4 hours kip....

[Stealth Stalker]

Exellent write up & pics, keep em coming I've got a feeling you nailed the missed fox?

 

SS

[AndyCM]

I don't need the alarm again.....I'm up but the alarm goes off in my pocket and I think...what a bloody start after last night

 

I return to the jinxed seat...after 5 mins I am not getting good vibes so decide to move, I get to a much higher and stable seat and wait for the mist to clear which it starts to

 

 

and then comes back

 

 

That sun looks good but will limit my angles

 

 

I see a crow about 150 yards away, in the middle of the day I'd take the shot, now I want to keep focused on foxes, when a fox comes from the right and runs at the crow :( the crow lifts and the fox runs back where it came from...not seen that behaviour before, a mad cub or a fox that can't tell the difference between rabbits and crows

 

After 20 mins another trots out of the wood and comes towards me fast, 100 yards closes to 60...much further and I am in trouble... I line up and take a headshot

 

 

The other side of it's head is not pretty (it's not there )

 

I stay here a little longer but am getting blinded by the light, time for a mooch to Farm 2

 

 

A lot of rabbit activity and then a crow lands a little over 100 yards away, I line up the crosshairs with the window bag (a Bazooka Joe special) doing a great job, when another crow joins it so I let then settle, they conveniently line themselves up and I take the shot....two down

 

 

I leave it a while and other passing crows are not happy, I don't feel like getting out the semi auto so decide to pick them up, I pace the distance as 150 yards, that makes up for the misses last night. The lack of sleep is interferring with my range estimation. I unload the rifle and get 40 winks.

[AndyCM]

I awake and think about mooching off, two days of great sights and sounds and just being out there.

 

Plenty of kit unused, the shotgun didn't come out once, nor the lamp ( I needed to sleep a bit) so start to load up,

 

one last sit up for a while around noon Tuesday

 

 

A few crows dropping in just out of range, then this one at 120 yards, the Sako ammo does tha job again

 

 

Not a huge bag, but a great break....head home for a kip, and time to start planning the next break :(

 

If you made it this far, just hang on a second.....you deserve a medal

 

Cheers

AndyCM

[Dougy]

nice pictures,

 

and just thinking it all strarted 25 years ago with a HW77. something we should all consider when reading posts by people less fortunate than ourselves.

 

we all started from some where and most probably from air rifles !!!

 

nice set up and i am sure you will have hours of enjoyment from your chosen sport

[PAULT]

what scope are you using thanx

[AndyCM]

what scope are you using thanx

 

Swarovski 8x50 (on my .223)

 

I reckon a proper test against my Zeiss 8x56 (on my .243) will be happening soon.

 

It did highlight (again) how good the 8x42 Leica bins are

[bullet boy]

Great write-up and pics-WELL DONE.

[Baldrick]

Is that a BushWear 'Panther' seat, Andy? Do you find the height sufficient?

[AndyCM]

Is that a BushWear 'Panther' seat, Andy? Do you find the height sufficient?

 

Hi Baldrick,

 

Yes, a little on the low side but the price I pay for portability (I don't want to cart around the cub extension piece too, or a real seat in a few pieces).

 

I mainly use it as a test of locations, or to put the seat up quick for one off use - if the site lives upto expectations a real set goes there. One benefit of the low height is that it reduces the need to hack branches off to site the seat or increase the view.

 

Cheers

AndyCM

[lurcherboy]

I enjoyed reading that Andy

 

 

 

 

LB

[Chineseman1990]

a good contry and a nice gun!

[Bagsy]

Excellent write up, cheers :blink:

[shot shot]

Thats a story and a half, great write up

[MerseaDavid]

Great shooting and great pics mate

[adbirdy]

That was a great read Andy, well done

 

 

Ade

[kip270]

Now that's the way to spend a couple of days, a cracking write up, and good results.

 

Invest in a strike a light and you will never need matches.

 

Take a look here:

http://www.light-my-fire.se/default.asp?ID=209&pID=147