wildfowling

Hornet

Well-Known Member
Just wondering what other wildfowling members will be doing on opening day this year?il be having my usual trip to the wash out on the marsh before dawn, i can feel the butterflies already :) its become a rite of passage for me now, the only downside is it feels like 5 mins to xmas and another year almost done. HORNET.
 
I will be out on the first morning on the Humber. Usually get there very early to try and get the spot I want on the marsh and to soak up the atmosphere. No two starting days are the same but there is usually a fair bit about, usually teal and greylags, little and large, with a few mallard. Once the first is past it is normally quiet until October when the migrants arrive.
 
I'll be out on the marsh bright and early (Around 3.30-4am) to make sure I get one of the six allocated spots for opening day. Will probably be Mallard, with maybe a chance of the odd early season Greylag or Pink. Then off to a greasy spoon for brekkie, back on the farm for pigeons and then out again for an evening flight on if the same marsh or a different one. Might make the morning flight next day or if not, spot of pigeon/vermin shooting then evening flight.

I love opening day more than anything else, regardless of whether I get the chance to fire the gun. The butterflies have kicked in since the weekend and the beginning of August. Gun, Calls, Shells, Waders all ready. couple of recces the weekend leading up and I'm all set.

Oh to be out and watch the sun rise, mist drift by, the sound of birds stirring on their roosts and the first flight coming in the distance wondering whether you're in the right spot for them to pass close enough.

Can't decide whether to drive down the night before and have abit of a meet up with a mate of mine in the carpark, couple of stubbies, bit of a fry up, start the winding up banter early though. Bet on whose going to miss first, get first duck, get first goose, get the first crow (Normally me as I can't resist shooting the black stuff), get stuck :lol:

Mind you, I love it even more in Late december/early january when only the true fowlers are out cracking the ice as we cross the marsh.

May your aim be true and straight and many fowl fall at your feet.

SS
 
I've been watching 300+ greys for the last few days on the river by home and a few ducks flighting over some ground i hav shooting on
should proove interesting if it all goes right
till then something just to wet the appertite

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the first

Good to hear your replies lads, il prob have a bit of a barbeque an a couple of stubbies on the sea wall too,with a couple of pals,an as suffolk shooter says rib each other on whose gunna miss first,an weve got a wildfowling virgin coming out this year so il do my best to put him under a duck or 2, and no doubt have to help him out of his muddy hole :lol: i absolutly love the first morning of the season,back in that mysterious world between the tides as BB used to put it, warm barrels boys HORNET.
 
Used to go out in the harbour early September but cant stand the hot weather and midges anymore! Also found that a lot of the duck were not feathered up properly and some still had broods with them.

Personally I will wait till mid October before I wait at a pond or go flighting down the water meadows
 
Ok lads i have been asked to get rid of geese i have no decoys at all and no experience.I will do it because i want the stalking on the ground four big fields and a large pond is all the woman has but it is a deer haven and a goose magnet.what date can i start to shoot them and whats the best approach. ps they are pinks.
 
I'm off to the patch to clear around the pond - its an old mill pond which attracts only a few mallard - its got a good Canada flightline over it usually (or at least it has for the last 2 years). So this weekend wellys on and sythe in hand -

Love wildfowling - would love something bigger but can't pursude the farmer to open up the pond at all :(

So if anyone needs someone to help locally (ad should read - Have a 10 bore and willing!) :lol: :lol:

I'd be game!

Tom
 
Ok lads i have been asked to get rid of geese i have no decoys at all and no experience.I will do it because i want the stalking on the ground four big fields and a large pond is all the woman has but it is a deer haven and a goose magnet.what date can i start to shoot them and whats the best approach. ps they are pinks.
 
I'm off to the patch on saturday to clear around the pond - its an old mill pond which attracts only a few mallard - its got a good Canada flightline over it usually (or at least it has for the last 2 years). So this weekend wellys on and sythe in hand -

Love wildfowling - would love something bigger but can't pursude the farmer to open up the pond at all :(

So if anyone needs someone to help locally (ad should read - Have a 10 bore and willing!) :lol: :lol:

I'd be game!

Tom
 
L.D.G said:
Ok lads i have been asked to get rid of geese i have no decoys at all and no experience.I will do it because i want the stalking on the ground four big fields and a large pond is all the woman has but it is a deer haven and a goose magnet.what date can i start to shoot them and whats the best approach. ps they are pinks.

Pinks eat grass and new shoots growing through stubble, so assuming you have fields which are grass or are stubble, I would give it a couple of days to work out which direction they are coming in from, and where they intend to start feeding on the field as they will keep coming back if undisturbed and work progressively. If you go out and shoot a couple, give it a break for three days and then go back again, that way you can have good sport for a while rather than just one bang and thats it. (Think old bull telling young bull, rather than run down the hill and **** a cow, we'll walk down and **** them all.;))

Get yourself under the flightline, assuming there are a few trees/bushes to hide in/behind and try and take them as they come over, preferably head on and not when AHV (AHole view).

If they're using the Large pond, same principle applies. You don't need decoys, I don't have any and I do all right each year. Use Non -Toxic in Shot size 2, 1 or BB. (Nothing smaller as there are a lot of feathers and meat to get through to hit vital organs) or and make sure your gun is suitably proofed!!!!

You can't shooting until 1st September and will need to be in place at least one hour before sunrise or two hours before sunset. Don't be surprised if you have to wait until late morning though for them to come in as Pinks and greys can be a bit lazy if wind, weather isn't right, preferring to stay on their roost until they have to feed.

Remember that birds will always try to (Dependant on trees etc.) land into the wind so you want to be on the down wind side.

Good luck, one of the nicest birds to shoot and eat.

SS :
 
My reply to your problem mate is to let me come and help with the big ten!

Like LDG says under flight paths and you'll get em -
 
wildfowling is an amazing sport and there is somthing about it which lures me in every year i only have a small strech of the avon to shoot on and i would love dearly to have a flight pond but its not to be. i get a few mallard and one or two teal late in the season and my best ever bag in a day was nine head which was last year, i know a lot of people wouldnt get out of bed for a day like that but they dont have the wildfowling spirt in them as far as im concerned.
 
The boy (charlie the chessie) and i will be out early on the mudflats on the River Forth. I generally refraim from shooting ducks for a month or so as i dislike taking those i consider too young, but hopefully the geese will be early again this year.

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I shall be out the Humber hopefully with a mate or two the kettle and the dog. Hopefully have a few warmer days before the cold sets in :) Tom
 
Unless I'm working away, I will probably make evening flight, the last 3 seasons I didn't get down until the 3rd or 4th.

Looking forward to giving the dog some retrieving :D

Brian
 
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