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Shooting season 2020/2021

Feedback from last week was;
31 pheasants, squirrel, teal, three pigeon magpie. Good first day. Hedgerows was best drive of the day!
All for 168 shots
 

Pheasant shooting will be curtailed across vast swathes of the countryside after the Government bowed to a wildlife campaign led by the BBC presenter Chris Packham.

The amount of birds released each year is likely to be dramatically reduced, with officials at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in charge of licencing game bird releases.
 
Peasant shooting?
There's a comforting vision.
1604144597123.png
 

Pheasant shooting will be curtailed across vast swathes of the countryside after the Government bowed to a wildlife campaign led by the BBC presenter Chris Packham.

The amount of birds released each year is likely to be dramatically reduced, with officials at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in charge of licencing game bird releases.

Packmong strikes again
 
I've had a great start to the season, I took a friend as a guest for the day and when he called the shoot captain the next day to say thanks/enquire about the waiting list he was offered a place for this year there and then. Unfortunately an old boy had dropped out last minute and he'd called at the right time!

Our and about today (walked up) and a pair of snipe made us look like a pair of clowns hahaha
 
Thanks to the Coronovirus nonsense I've been in the happy position of being to do a great deal of shooting over these last few months which has led to a significant reduction in pest numbers.

Locally a major problem exists with Magpies, it not being uncommon to see flocks of over 20 jinking around from wood to wood.
By mere happenstance I shot one in open ground at about 50 yards and stayed put in the hide, about 10 mins later there were another 6 of the dratted things cackling around the floppy so I shot another one, another ten minutes - rinse and repeat.

Gathered up the dead, got home and had an infrequent moment of clarity which resulted in the birds being tidied up with clingfilm and chucked in the freezer. Following day lifted them out and toddled off to the edge of a nearby woodline and set out the frozen birds as decoys - result.

It seems to be that as long as I work his system over a large enough area the birds don't twig on having thus far accounted for 43 Magpies.

As a result of this I'm confident that the very local native songbird population will be much improved next Spring

Oh yeah, and 13 1/2 brace of Charlies too.

And squirrels, lots of squirrels.
 
Thanks to the Coronovirus nonsense I've been in the happy position of being to do a great deal of shooting over these last few months which has led to a significant reduction in pest numbers.

Locally a major problem exists with Magpies, it not being uncommon to see flocks of over 20 jinking around from wood to wood.
By mere happenstance I shot one in open ground at about 50 yards and stayed put in the hide, about 10 mins later there were another 6 of the dratted things cackling around the floppy so I shot another one, another ten minutes - rinse and repeat.

Gathered up the dead, got home and had an infrequent moment of clarity which resulted in the birds being tidied up with clingfilm and chucked in the freezer. Following day lifted them out and toddled off to the edge of a nearby woodline and set out the frozen birds as decoys - result.

It seems to be that as long as I work his system over a large enough area the birds don't twig on having thus far accounted for 43 Magpies.

As a result of this I'm confident that the very local native songbird population will be much improved next Spring

Oh yeah, and 13 1/2 brace of Charlies too.

And squirrels, lots of squirrels.
Air rifle?
 
November’s shooting days are now off the cards. Thankfully there are enough gaps in the diary over December and January (deliberately) so there will be a chance to reschedule.
 
Good first day on Saturday
First socially distanced shoot with Covid precautions throughout. A fine, very fine turn out of beaters.
The Mrs made a huge picnic for my bubble, and I took along two new beaters, and the Mrs who made malteser cake for the entire shoot.
She was, as always, more popular than me.
I had a good shoot on the second drive and dropped three pheasants before putting my gun away.
My youngest then took my card and shot with his gun for most of the rest of the drives, getting one.
I then took one of the new beaters to a safe stand and introduced him to pheasant shooting.
He didn’t come close to dropping a bird but loved the whole experience.
Pheasants brought home to prepare and distribute to friends and neighbours.
 
In reply to Sniper Bob:

Not really an air rifle, I use a 'Remy 700 SPS in .223 with a 20" HD Varmint barrel fitted carrying a 4 x 32 Artemis 'scope and also have a Harris Bi-Pod fitted.

Usually carry a 'Mod to use when the need arises.

Ammo was RG MILSURP

By way of context my "Open" permissions cover just shy of 800 acres locally.
 
I think we could have told them that.
A glut of pheasants caused by the lockdown shooting ban could impact songbird populations, the RSPB has warned. Countryside organisations have spoken out after the government ruled that hunting and most shooting is unable to continue over the lockdown period.
 
We managed to get our third shoot in on Wednesday by rapidly jiggling the diary. I attended the second one but work got in the way for the third, which was a cracking day. The weather was stunning and the pheasants (many being last years vintage) were soaring. The bag was predominantly French partridges (haven't seen an English one for the last 4 years) but a good bag of just over the 100 mark with a few duck, and a teal from the first walk up to the river.
 
We managed to bring Thursday's shoot forward 24 hours . Nice and sunny , so the birds did wander , but we managed 36 .
Previous Wednesday went wildfowling in a group of 5 of us and shot 25 teal
 

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