whats the worst night you have had?

Tulloch

Well-Known Member
I have heard of some real crackers over the years on bad nights out shooting specially from people that have just taken on some new land and coming across problems while exploring, making mistakes is part of the fun of things.

Last night I went for my first fox tour round a new farm that I have taken over the pest control on, everything was good all planned out, thought brilliant do my radio show finished that at 11pm and then to head to the farms location, even called police to tell them to expect me shooting between 0030 and 0300.

best Laid plans and all that. But I knew it was gonna be a bad night for lamping, it was very bright but still worth the explore.

night started well enough, radio show finished but some threatening emails meant I had to stay an extra 45 minutes at the studio ( no worries ), arrived in the village near the farm I shooting on and picked up my lamping companion for the night and started out patrol.

Had it all planned, first field there was Hares so I took one using the .22 nice clean easy 30 metre shot (needed some Bait)

Patrol was going well but no sign of life from any Foxes around the main farm holding so decided to drive out onto the hill and sit and play some recordings, it was a lovely very mild night but still bright even though there was no moon, sat on the hill ground for around an hour no sign of any life other than sheep. That was it around 0215 we said to each other that we would do another round of the holdings then call it a night, heading off the hill on to one of the main big fields my companion saw a set of eyes at the very top of this field,


I waited and squeaked, couldn't get it to come closer so thought in my wisdom to try get a better vantage point so I drove to the top edge of the field to get a better view, this is when it all went pear shaped, stopped settled turned lights off made no sound whatsover and played the recording, sure enough eyes showed again but miles out of range, tried and tried to get it to come closer but it just seemed to get further away then gone completely out of sight. We waited for another twenty minutes but still nothing so we thought thats it lets call it a night, started the engine put it in gear (bearing in mind fwd was already selected) tried to move off, NOTHING couldn't move, we had sank into the field all four wheel were half way deep, no grip nothing, tried every off roading trick I knew nope never worked after an hour of pushing, digging, branches under wheels , we decided to walk the mile and half back to the farm to get the tractor.

Only Bonus on the way I took another hare and a few rabbits.

What a night !!!

Got home at 5 this morning absolutely exhausted, Gun in cabinet safe, gear off hanging in my gun room, rain was on at this point so had to walk from out building to the house in just my boxer shorts. I live 40 miles from where I shoot, quick clean and went to bed as I was absolutely covered head to toe in mud.

Woke this morning to a very very very muddy L200 inside and out, had to do school run and take very pregnant wife to hospital in it, and on way home lost the back box, Adventures are brilliant MRS IS ****ED OFF, lol

What was your worst nights or days out on a shoot???
 
now that sound well bad big yin,

my worst night ever on a shoot was simple,


I went to meet a good shooting buddy who lived about 10 miles away from here,we were meant to meet just south of winchester in hampshire, we both had 17hmrs and had only had them about a week and could not wait for the first long nights shooting under the lamps,

i drove down and went to the normal meeting point, 15 mins had gone by and he was not there, 30 mins later still no sign of him,so i thought i would drive back towards the junction on the m3 and see if he was about,

nothing, so not to be a muppet i said to myself i would not go shooting without him and drive home etc.

ps: he does not use a mobile phone never ever had one, on the way back up the m3 towards the A34 i passed a vehicle crash/breakdown, could only see a white van.

needless to say that in the morning i was told he suffered a seizure and went off the road, he survived but he has never been shooting or driving since after 2 years he went back to south island new zealand where he still lives to this day,

not a muddy story but defo the worst night of my shooting as a civvy.

bob.
 
'disco will do right through that says Jack'..... 'there's no way mate'.... 'you watch says Jack'

an hour later with Jack now in the tractor and chained fixed onto the disco, didn't move the vehicle but pulled the tow bar right out of the fittings, top skills Jack!
 
not as expensive as that but hilairious to me ,mate fell asleep under oak tree as he came straight from pub, ok he was only the gofer nowhere near any guns so left him there till we finished with a note not to move at all, daylight when we went back for him ,hes not been since, another where one lad bothered the life out of me to go lamping ,turned up in trainers and a 1967 car coat the shiney ones with a stripe down the arm , any way second field in steps in a dyke that was covered in brush/weeds so fell through all you could see of him was his head and shoulders , so we told him to keep still so we could use him as a stepping stone ,finally pulled him free but all night all you could hear was him screaming because he was stuck on everything that had an edge to it, by the end of the night he got back to the car with one sleave still attached to the lapels and one pocket , safe to say we didnt get many bunnies that night, atb doug,
 
theres another one where one lad no sense of direction nr dumfries 3 miles away as the crow flies completly lost stumbles into pub to phone his misses who then phoned us to go and pick him up lamp and air rifle in dumfries! as i said 3miles + from were he should have been , thats after explaining to him lamp downhill when you get to the bottom turn round and come back up, bloody clown, carried on walking , doug,
 
thought brilliant do my radio show finished that at 11pm

Your radio show, Jimmy Savile could have fixed it for you :D

Serious, make sure you have not made a mess or your new farmer will be not happy !!
 
I stuck my gralloching knife in my the top of my thigh the other night doing a suspended gralloch .I had to walk 1.5m back to the truck. I made a pad from antiseptic wipes held on my leg with the elastic out of my coat. Along walk. the blood finally stopped by the time I got to A&E an hour later. Lesson learnt.
 
thought brilliant do my radio show finished that at 11pm

Your radio show, Jimmy Savile could have fixed it for you :D

Serious, make sure you have not made a mess or your new farmer will be not happy !!

its all good. I know them very well and it was right at the edge of the field i never drive through the middle of fields its disrespectful and could easily cause damage, spent many years on and around farms thats why in the end we got the tractor. accidents happen.

I have two radio shows a week for internet radio lol
 
Not my worst night but it was for 2 guys who thought it would be fun to shoot around 20 243 rounds with no moddy on off at 2 am on my best mates farm when they were supposed to be foxing.
He was not a happy bunny when he had to get out of bed and go and have a word with them!!!!!!.
Needless to say they lost there shooting on that 1200 acres.the good news is that only my mate who farms the land and myself shoot on there any more as he is sick of people coming and asking if they can do a bit of foxing or rabbiting after those 2 muppets.
Happy days
 
Mates got way too much money and not near enough common sense. He turns up for our planned outing in his wife's brand new Rangerover sport. The new one with the sloping back and little back Window. Bright white in colour with leather seats and all the extras. A chesapeake and a lab in the back, guns in the back seat, the usual mountain of gear and I'm getting nervous because I know she's completely unaware that he's nicked it from the drive. She's a right dragon from Poland who he chased for her looks and certainly not her personality. She came over to the UK, met my silly **** of a mate and 5 mins later lady muck is firmly installed in the big house with attitude in spades.

Eric is unconcerned. He's like a big kid; bouncing around saying 'the salesman said their every bit as capable as the full sized ones.'

Out on the ground and there's some forest tracks. One runs down a long slope with at least a 4ft drop off either side. It runs down for at least 500 yds before turning sharply to the right with a burn running through a pipe, underneath it. We get to the top of the Hill and the track is silvery white in colour due to the thick ice sitting on top.

I distinctly remember Eric calling me an old woman and reminding me that this motor could do almost anything. He wouldn't listen to the fact that it sported stylish low profile tyres which were useless nor the fact that the slick ice ran right down the track. I stood and watched as he ran down the hill without a care in the world. The dog and I stood and watch his brake lights on.....off.....on again as the rear of the car swung round and it then slid sideways off the track. The back buried in the mud and the front clinging to the side of the track. The back wheels spinning in air.

After much head scratching and telling me what he intended for a certain lying salesman, Eric trudges off to get the farmers up and borrow the tractor. An uncomfortable feeling knowing that someone considers you a complete ****, no matter how you try to explain the situation. It also came as a surprise (to Eric at least) that one very ****ed off farmer with a huge chain and a tractor can do considerable damage to a motor when dragging it out of a ditch. It did look a very sad sight, sitting by the side of the road during the 2hrs it took for the recovery truck to arrive. I couldnt look the guy in the face whilst Eric told him we'd swerved off the road, trying to miss a sheep. Not a bloody sheep in sight but plenty of tractor Tyre treads and one very mangled motor.

Eric never did describe how he explained it to the wife but I gather she now has the keys to his Mercedes on a permanent basis.
 
Last edited:
It could have been worse Tulloch. I'm sure someone will be along to correct me, but it's my understanding it is an offence to shoot hares in Scotland after dark?
 
last two am in stitches reading ,

sorry to hear about your mate bobjs :(

cheers T.

Dave is not to bad now he is back home, he now has some more rifles but is still unable/permitted to drive, he spends some days dropping lead out to sea, and its not on the end of a fishing line :)

bob.
 
It could have been worse Tulloch. I'm sure someone will be along to correct me, but it's my understanding it is an offence to shoot hares in Scotland after dark?
The Farm has a license for shooting hares on their bottom field , sorry should have mentioned that, Dale the farm manager has pretty much pummeled them back on that field due to damage they caused, it is the only field he is allowed to shoot them on.

I think also it is not illegal if it is in an enclosed area such as a fenced field or clear boundary, You are definately not allowed to shoot Hares at night under the lamp on open moorland or hill ground, maybe thats where the confusion stands on the law though not sure.
 
Last edited:
I stuck my gralloching knife in my the top of my thigh the other night doing a suspended gralloch

Being a fan of the suspended gralloch (saves my old back!) I'm keen to avoid the same fate. Would you enlighten us all as to how you managed that neat trick?
 
Had it all planned, first field there was Hares so I took one using the .22 nice clean easy 30 metre shot (needed some Bait)



i have been told shooting hares in the spotlight and shooting them with a rimfire or centrefire rifle was against the law.
was told can only shoot them with a shotgun and only allowed your gun to carry two cartridges to shoot them with.plus there is seasons you can only shoot them and now brown and white hares are out off season and you need a out of season licence to shoot them this time off year.

CAN ANYBODY TELL ME IF THAT IS RIGHT
 

Yer completely correct, the farm manager showed me his license which was granted in January, hence why he has asked me to do his pest control as before he just had some randoms from Inverness doing it showing up when they felt like it, He also has applied for a night license for deer coming of the hill into his top fields as they are wrecking his silage bales and turfing up the field, however he has not asked me to do deer out of season yet.

To be honest I dont think he needs to do any Hare control anymore in the field he has a license for as he really done some damage himself, bur he has asked me to try keep the numbers down so I will keep an eye on it.

Think my concentration for the next month will be on hoodies ( multi cage traps going to be built this weekend ) and foxes which he has a plenty.
 
Back
Top