Write Ups

I always love the boxing day shoot,it's a bit more relaxed and everyone is just glad to be out . this year it was a bit different! apart from most of the shoot being water logged,has been all season and no signs of it drying up.we have called it off as nearly everyone is ill with some bug 🤮💩🤧. so I'm not going miss out on my fun. I saw it as a good opportunity to introduce the new pup to game and it doesn't matter if she fcuks it up,as it won't spoil the day for anyone else. managed to persuade wifey to come and keep an eye on her. I decided to work out some outlying spinneys. we set off , walking down the track with the Mrs 5 paces behind ( like any good wife should 😆)a nice cock pheasant got up flushed by the pup,good start. she...

There’s an interesting article in the December 2023 edition of Australian Shooter, the Sporting Shooters’ Association magazine. I’ve tried to post a digital copy but I’m not able to make one so here's a few highlights. The story is about a private range in western New South Wales. It is owned and run by Ray Dennis, a dentist, and the founder of Lightforce and Nightforce, who needed a place to shoot his Barrett .50 BMG. The range is used by Australian defence companies needing somewhere to test and develop their products as access to defence ranges with associated bureaucracy and red tape was insurmountable. What started out as a single range today consists of five ranges with different characteristics and is licenced for up to the...

Started noticing the odd grey kicking about - i am always on at them - walking feeder to feeder - sitting on a feeder waiting - getting our keeper trapping them - so was not expecting much But needed a walkabout as much as anything -even if the weather was shocking - took the shotgun and my accolades just to see if i could see them in the trees Oh my - i could not believe how good this was - i shot 19 in a couple of hours - to see them hiding in the tree tops or pushed against the trunk was eye opening Scanning with my eyes was so hard to see them - up with the thermal - look again - squint - yes there - time and time again Without the thermal i think i would have got perhaps 1 on a feeder Be out again after our next driven day

A friend of mine and I decided that we were going to take the plunge and have a rack at it. We bought the Lee challenger kit and started on the little 222 rem calibre to save powder as we learned. Started with PPU virgin brass and had a choice between the 55g and 50g vmax bullets, mate uses the 55s and I see no need for the extra 5gs. Beam scale took a bit of getting used to and will be looking for another option for that. Started at 21.5grains of Lovex 073.4 and went to 22.5 which definitely showed the difference a grain of powder had on accuracy. Unfortunately I pulled a shot on the last target but did manage to redo it and get a better grouping.

Well that was a learning experience. I spent Wednesday and yesterday evenings down in Gloucestershire on the edge of the Forest of Dean as a newbie client of Warren Broad (WarrenJB). I was introduced to him by word of mouth. He wasn't available on Wednesday (product testing some fancy new semi-custom rifles for Savage) so one of his neighbouring keepers and stalkers took me out. We went through all the ground rules and discussed heavily pregnant sows or sows with squeakers in tow. Pete put me up in a high seat overlooking 2 rides and a feed spot where they had seen boar regularly the previous few days. His advice was to give them a minute to settle when they came out to make sure they were good animals to cull. It was a rather cold...

Sunday was the third of our driven hunts. - 6c with a coating of snow on the ground but luckily very little wind. This year there has been a lack of boar . The start of the season was very wet with many of the boar lying up places under water plus it has been a massive acorn year. Normally on a boar day the number shot can run into double figures but this year over the last 3 shoots only about six boar in total have been shot. So yesterday wearing my thick padded trousers, battery powered waist coat and new battery powered gloves I was out hunting again. One of the guns shot a boar in the morning then after lunch it was off to sit for the second drive. After walked to the stand and had just got seated,gun loaded and snow brushed off...

Some of you may recall the loss of my harris hawk (frayer) about 4 weeks ago. Well I would just like to put a few photos up of my new companion. His name is Jo and he is a red tailed hawk , he’s 1year old but he’s been a bit of a naughty boy for his previous owner. So we have a bit of a hill to climb, but as he’s only a year old I am sure we will get to the top of the hill. We have only had him a week and Al ready he’s flying to my hand and getting comfortable. I was warend not to handle him as he’s quite aggressive, but we do seem to be getting some where . Patients is the name of the game 😀👍🏻

Out in the cold yesterday with the intension of catching up with some hinds and followers. The stags for me are done, even the prickets, it's time to ensure a block of woodland that attracts a lot of Sika from mid-November onwards, are not left to feel too comfortable. Stags or prickets can only fear guests or clients, I'm just going to try an concentrate on the females and hopefully not leave any dependants until later in winter. With this in mind, and knowing how crispy the woodland would be, I took the long route to the far end of the woodland block by way of the downland, entering on the Northerly wind. Deer generally do not like their food frozen, so on the way, there was none to be seen out in the fields, just a few on the...

If I can just get my defence in early doors. This was not my choice. Today was a planned 'cull' day, on our wee shoot - the forecast looked shocking, but it is better than staying in a nice warm bed. Apparently.🤥 My hand is forced in any event. I am due at the farm to feed the birds, and so the option of simply rolling over and hitting 'snooze' is simply not on. At 0400 hours, the frost on the 110 is impressive. For those who know about 110s - on a trip to Scotland, if you put the heaters on full blast at the M25 they normally kick in at Cumbria. Utter shite. Consequently I am sitting on the driveway for the thick end of twenty minutes, trying to get the truck 'road legal'. Much exhaling of my hot (and I suspect rancid) breath, a...

Just for those who may be stuck indoors today. An early start this morning. It is (euphemistically) one of our 'cull days'. 0430 finds me sitting atop a tree in about 4° of temperature - winter is definitely on its way. The thermal picks up Muntjac from 0655, but they never present with an ethical shot and so live to die another day. This seat is SE facing, and so I just enjoy the show...

It is Wednesday of our week away up on Harris, and I have (thus far) not exactly covered myself in glory. A day's fishing produced a Smolt (doesn't count apparently), and a half-day shooting over Pointers demonstrated a complete absence of Grouse and my inability to hit Snipe. Still onwards and upwards. Literally. My Stalker for the day is the same lad who 'filled in' for the Dog-man yesterday. I make a mental note to look out for him stepping in front of the rifle. The sun has put in (an all too brief) appearance as I am driven off to the range to 'check zero'. Notwithstanding the usual 'performance' anxiety whenever anyone is watching me 'check zero' (or find the atlas joint on any deer come to think of it) I manage to send a...

I won't bore anyone with an account of my last outing, a pretty pedestrian shooting of a CWD from less than 50 yards. What I will mention is the fact that I nearly had my day spoiled by an owl! I was driving to the farm in the pre-dawn gloom when the headlights picked up a large obstruction in the road. I slowed to a halt, and identified the lump as a smallish owl (Athene noctua, I think). I waited. He waited. I retrieved my iPhone from my pocket, adjusted the settings and took a picture. He glared at me. I had reached the point where I was about to exit the car and either shoo him away, or capture him and spend half the day trying to find a vet who'd deal with him, when he finally got bored and flew off, apparently uninjured...

Was asked to trim up some Reds on a place I have been to pre covid also this time I have installed a small unit made a internal frame and have my hangers (Thank God) as they would just not fit hanging by the hocks. It is a bit of a drive so one is enough to cleaned out and on the road. Weights after 4 days 96 94 kg which over time I have noted they loose 3-4kg with the unit sitting.

Well I finally managed to get the last of the uk deer species, my Sika. I have just returned from a booked outing with Kevin Rigler down in Dorset. I arrived early Sunday afternoon with the intention of going out on the Monday. On arrival Kevin showed me to his on-site accommodation & asked if I fancied going out that afternoon. Well of course the answer was yes. So about 3.30 we loaded up on his Gator & went and looked over a couple of areas. On the 3rd area we stalked through a small area of gorse to a field/marsh area where Kevin had explained where he was expecting to see deer. He was spot on as we set up on the edge of the cover he spotted a stag out in front of us. I was set up on my sticks & he tried to call the stag in but he...

Pre covid I had a great trip to Essex to shoot my first muntjac with @Tim.243 Now, 3 years later I would visit him to carry on where we left off. After a pick up from the station and a quick cuppa and say hi to the dogs, it was straight out to the "honey hole", a paddock that has produced a lot of muntjac in the last few years. The weather was glorious, with a rainbow prominent after a few spots of rain. There was a bit of wind, unfortunately blowing in the wrong direction. Scanning with the thermal soon revealed a pair of muntjac working the hedgeline ca.150-160 m away. A quick deployment when they were feeding or looking the other way soon narrowed the gap to 125m. I waited patiently on the sticks for the buck to present a clean...

It's Thursday and last night the Castle was filled with ten 'clients' from around the world. A sporting syndicate formed through business and its associated trappings. They are dropped on the front lawn by helicopter - not a 110 in sight.:-| This syndicate has taken all three Estates on the Isle and consequently it is all 'hands to the pumps' for the staff - Guides, Ghillies and Stalkers are roped in from about the Isle to help out. My Stalker is rather too honest (is there such a thing?) and tells me that this is his first time 'guiding'. I do my very best to put him at ease, and explain that there is absolutely no pressure today. I do not care if I do not shoot a Stag, literally, do not care. We will (I hope) enjoy each other's...

I needed to feed the pheasants today prior to our next shoot on Friday. I looked at the forecast and thought "Oh dear, well .....it might not be that bad ". I can't feed tomorrow as I have a hospital appointment, so today it had to be. I started early, thinking I might just get away with it. I was wrong. I did not get away with it. The heavens opened up and it was a constant deluge. Puddles appeared before my eyes. The tracks disappeared into lakes. I hid for a bit, but it just got heavier and heavier and heavier. I was soaked right through to the skin as my coat decided to die. If I was not a really good swimmer I do not think I would have made it out alive. Bloody weather !

Another great afternoon on the boat today (In-spite of what people may think from my posts on other topics, Arabia is a truly amazing and varied place, with many generous and kindly people too) A 3:30 pm cast off. New leaders on the fly-rods. Flies selected. A bit of a lottery. There is no "matching the hatch" with this Blue Water fly-fishing malarky. Previous knowledge helps a bit so I elected to go small (A three inch baitfish imitator is small for this game) Stayed local and looked for signs of activity. No "rising fish" for this caper - though sometimes a fish leaping can be a clue Local artisanal fishermen are always a great sign , but there were none today (funnily enough they did turn up once we were into fish, so it...

A couple of mornings ago I was back at the scene where I had seen a big bodied boy with the unmistakable look of a stag walking home with head down but for the life of me I could not ID his antlers so he was watched as he melted into the bush. I was back the next morning for the following. It may look nice and open and yes where he is right there it is 'good' however the spot is surrounded by untouched native forest for kilometres and has log trash windrow heaps covered in blackberry canes and there are lots of 6'-7' high Dogwood thickets. I was fortunate enough to have been there before daylight to set up and then at first blink of light observe two Askari stags jousting below me although only through proper bino`s in light too...