long time ago.

[jigsaw 11,899]

When I was a young lad,maybe 18 or 19 I had this romantic view of poaching.I bought a book and I think it was written by GUY N SMITH,I could be wrong but thats what sticks in my head.There is to this day an estate known world wide for its famous castle.Now if one was caught on the grounds of this place,either walking or anything else,one would be in real serious shit as the groundsman/keeper was a big bloke and had the tolerance of a psycothic murderer.You just knew from stories that you did not enter.

Well I had other ideas,seeing myself as being invincable and a bit of a rascal,plus wanting to be the poacher described in the book I got my gear ready,my gear being a 10 speed racer,mode of transport,my .22 rifle plus silencer,and plenty of ammo.All I needed to take on this tyrant.At 4.30 a.m.I left home on me bike,gun thrown over my shoulder and a pocket full of bullets.I approached the estate from the back end and trapesed through the fields till I came to the line of conifirs that marked the boundary to the estate.The minute I stepped over the line of trees I was in forbidden ground.Off I went with trepidation,my senses buzzing with slight fear and excitment.Well I spotted my first victim soon enough,A fine hare was shot and hidden quickly.This was back in the early 's and I remember it well,andfor good reason as you'll soon see.I took a few rabbits also the same morning and scarpered.Now I was living the dream,a poacher with stealth.

The next few visits were even more productive,get there early pre 5 a.m.home by 11,except the more i visited the more daring I became.I left the bike at home as I was confined to the roads on the way back,so I walked the 5 miles to the estate on the road as it was the fastest way to get there and on the way back I went cross country.I started taking my lurcher with me as he was a good dog to retrieve,land or water he had no problem.The keeper had over a few months built up a stock of pheasants that he used to entertain visiting guests,he ran a small shoot.I started to take a few birds and sell them in a local market in my local town.My average bag was 4 to 7 birds at a time.

this particular morning I brazenly walked around the line of trees only to find myself directly in front of the keeper who was waiting in ambush for me,the only way I knew he was there was because the dog left out a low grow if someone approached.I was approximately 50 yards from the keeper when he raised his gun and left a barrel fly and hit the dog.The dog left a howl of pain and took off back to the road and dissapeared.I legged it behind the dog,my heart thumping like it was trying to burst through my chest.I never looked back I jus ran and ran.I hit the main road and ran down and across into more fields.Well I ducked and dodged all the way home.When I got there the dog was home before me but he was in a poor way.I borrowed money from my father and got him straight to the vets.He was kept in for 3 days and 34 pellets were taken fromunder his pelt.I vowed to get the keeper back for this.Soon after that I visited him again and shot 6 more birds and a few rabbits,I also took a few duck that were sunning themselves on the grass at the edge of the lake.On the way back I rounded the fir trees to walk straight into the keeper.We were face to face,me with a great big bag of mixed game him with a double barrel shot gun,well before I could react he hit me right on the mouth with the butt of the gun,bursting my lips and blood spilled from my mouth and nose.He knocked me to the floor and stood on my neck.He then proceeded to tell me in great detail what was going to happen to me if I ever entered his domain again.He took great delight in boasting about killing my dog.He thought the shot had finished him off.

He left me go and I limped away with my tail between my legs.This poaching craic didnt seem as romantic as I thought all of a sudden.Anyway after this incident I visited him 1 more time but a few weeks later just so things died down a bit and he thought he'd won.I went out with the rifle andshot a few pheasants and whipped their tails off,i crept to his front door and placed the feathers in his letterbox.as I put down the flap on the box there was a dog in his house that started barking,christ I almost fainted with fear,I took off running and got home as soon as I could.I heard afterwards he looked everywhere for me but thank God our paths never crossed again.The man has since passed away and if I ever meet him inside the pearly gates I'll offer to shake his hand as I got what I deserved from him really I suppose.I hope you enjoy this tale and if you have any experiences of your own please delight us with the story.

[J Darcy 5,871]

Great story. brilliant. lets have a few more poaching tales. As long as its from days gone by then i think we can all learn and reflect upon them . We all know we must stick to the letter of the law, but its good to read about times gone by....

[Simoman 110]

Great read jigsaw

[jacob 28]

jigsaw ,another great story, i wish my memories were as clear as yours mate,mine only seem to appear about the same time as the guiness keep em comin

[snoopdog 1,256]

cracking story jigsaw....damm good read.....

[jigsaw 11,899]

I'll tell you all something now and I swear as true as my father is dead .When I was 12 years old I was in the scouts,we were practising our marching out in the courtyard of our local church,built onto athe church were bedrooms that students could rent while going to college.A bloke staying up there filled a bucket of water and threw it down on us,we were soaked.I looked up and saw this bloke for no more than 10 seconds and he put his head back in the window and dissapeared from my life.Right I was working as a maintenance painter for a while about 7 years ago at a hospital,this psychologist doctor fellow walked passed,now I never came across him while working there but he said hello to me and I returned the greeting.Then like a blast of lightning I knew his face.I asked him do you remember me,he said never met you before,did I?I asked if he ever lived alongside the church in my local parish,he said yes he did,how could I know that,I asked if he remembered throwing the water on small lads in the courtyard,he almost fell over.He said he did remember it and I explained I was the young kid that got the most of the wetting.He actually had to sit down with disbelief,I have to admit I was also blown away by remembering it.He told everyone of the nurses and they came and spoke to me of it.Just imagine after seeing a bloke for 10 seconds,and thats as long as it was and to remember him 25 years later is I think amazing,but yet I can forget simple things I was told a few weeks before.All the things I did with the dogs I can remember with great clarity and detail.I think its because I was passionite about what I was doing and it meant so much to me growing up.

[dobby 1]

good read mate

 

 

dobby

[Guest Frank]

That deserves a

 

Any news?

 

Frank.

[stig 2]

fantastic story t

[buckshot 53]

excellent read

[whin 463]

a little part of a book i wrote ,when i had more time on my hands , ie banged up,

was on the river at night netting estuaries went into the dip or water ,as the tide hadnt turned enough , as daylight was coming in so went into the flow were the net was seven salmon and woosh something brushed my leg, i shit my self a big feching dog seal i was out that water faster than linford christie , never expected him up that far , were i stayed its the last mining type village after that fifty miles of estates , and keepers and peole with guns , any way ot with a infamous guy lcaly we were on a bit of daylight roe chasing i says jonny , no real names , there haveing a shoot on the same estate, this is madness but fech were were mad so we catcha deerin the snow and bump in to the laird with his shooting party , im going to shoot your dogs, my aqaintace says ill rape your wife and burn yur hoose , the laird says with his inbred sense of hunour you havent seen my wife yet ohohoho, we got away with it as my aqaintace that day has abig family and they would stop at nothing jails no big deal five grand fines no big deal etc so we got away crazy day ,they are akeepers and water bailiffes nightmare or farmer who grasses them of for nettting rivers through there land as there fond of a bit mutton or whatever else .

 

there thousands of stories true but to many eyes and well best kept for paid publicaition

[Guest Lurcherbitch]

Another great read over breakfast gonna make another brew and read it again.

[Guest Macnas]

Jigsaw

 

So, after he'd recovered, you gave him a beating he'd never forget, yeah?

[J Darcy 5,871]

Jigsaw

 

So, after he'd recovered, you gave him a beating he'd never forget, yeah?

[jigsaw 11,899]

Didnt think of that Macnas You know what they say,times a healer.But I'll get the b*****d the next time