I've been meaning to get my dog out with me when trying for a deer and have been practicing and training at home. This morning I headed to one of the farms that I've got permission on but not been to yet due to a couple of footpaths running though and around it. A friend who used to shoot a lot but doesn't really now due to the loss of their shooting partner many years ago joined me as I've been trying to encourage him to get out more.
I arrived at 06:45 and pulled into the yard. Lots of rabbits running around so will need to get onto them at some point I imagine. The wind was really not helpful this morning, from the yard which is the only way on the wind blew right towards the hedgerow I wanted to work way my down to get to the bottom of the farm as working across would blow my scent across the whole place. I tucked in as much as possible and set off, lots of rabbits and hares running about and at one point I watched 3 hares in a row on top of the ridge. An owl came out and they quickly scattered.
The ground was very crunchy so moved slow, got to the bottom which is where I wanted to be and worked my way along, found plenty of sign and then over the boundry about 5 swans dead on the flow and one that looked injured, I watched it for a little while to see if it would fly off but it didn't, at first thought I figured maybe Bird flu but then realised the powerline directly above them and as another group flew over it became quite apparent they had hit it.
On my side of the fence there was a "watering hole" with lots of slots in and around. I marked that and carried on to get the full picture of the farm. Spotted a pair of foxes working across the farm, bif anf healthy looking, no need to take them so just watched. The male mounted the female and then spotted us so they stopped and ran. No deer showed today so went back and set up the camera so I can get an understanding of timings.
Major was very well behaved, followed the tracks and I was just happy to have him with me for once. Hopefully get some good pictures from the camera as well.
I arrived at 06:45 and pulled into the yard. Lots of rabbits running around so will need to get onto them at some point I imagine. The wind was really not helpful this morning, from the yard which is the only way on the wind blew right towards the hedgerow I wanted to work way my down to get to the bottom of the farm as working across would blow my scent across the whole place. I tucked in as much as possible and set off, lots of rabbits and hares running about and at one point I watched 3 hares in a row on top of the ridge. An owl came out and they quickly scattered.
The ground was very crunchy so moved slow, got to the bottom which is where I wanted to be and worked my way along, found plenty of sign and then over the boundry about 5 swans dead on the flow and one that looked injured, I watched it for a little while to see if it would fly off but it didn't, at first thought I figured maybe Bird flu but then realised the powerline directly above them and as another group flew over it became quite apparent they had hit it.
On my side of the fence there was a "watering hole" with lots of slots in and around. I marked that and carried on to get the full picture of the farm. Spotted a pair of foxes working across the farm, bif anf healthy looking, no need to take them so just watched. The male mounted the female and then spotted us so they stopped and ran. No deer showed today so went back and set up the camera so I can get an understanding of timings.
Major was very well behaved, followed the tracks and I was just happy to have him with me for once. Hopefully get some good pictures from the camera as well.
but then he is a terrier.
