It’s that time of year again

[Sausagedog 7,381]

The year has flown Stav!

[si brown 8,486]

this has been a great thread stav,, although the shoot its self is not my thing ive really enjoyed reading it over the last few months!

im just glad the weather has been good to you over the last few weeks and you've had some good days..

I know a bad weather days not the end of the world and the lads still enjoy it but you cant beat a fresh dry one and I can only imagine the buzz you felt when the keeper gave you the nod

got me fingers crossed for the finally hopefully it'll be another fine day

[Stavross 15,216]

13 hours ago, si brown said:

this has been a great thread stav,, although the shoot its self is not my thing ive really enjoyed reading it over the last few months!

im just glad the weather has been good to you over the last few weeks and you've had some good days..

I know a bad weather days not the end of the world and the lads still enjoy it but you cant beat a fresh dry one and I can only imagine the buzz you felt when the keeper gave you the nod

got me fingers crossed for the finally hopefully it'll be another fine day

Cheers mate I appreciate that, To be fair the game shooting isn’t really my thing, what I like is putting on a good day for people and especially the young shots and people who haven’t done it before, yesterday I gave my gun to my mate Morris so I could run the beaters all day, for a keeper from a large estate to compliment you on the quality of your shoot is really nice, it proves that this is not a rich mans sport and if it’s done right it’s for everyone, fingers crossed we finish the season off with some more good weather

[Stavross 15,216]

Back up at the shoot this morning and what a difference a day makes, very dull and deathly quiet without the beaters and dogs charging through the woods, it was just hand feeding of 4 main drives today there wasn’t many birds about but it was mid morning when I got there so they will of had a wander, with any luck we should get one more good day out of it, I managed to account for a few more squizzers and got to sit and watch a pure white stoat chasing a field mouse, this is the first time I’ve seen one up here

[Sausagedog 7,381]

It was worth it to see the stoat mate

[Stavross 15,216]

30 minutes ago, Sausagedog said:

It was worth it to see the stoat mate

It was a lovely thing to see, I wish I’d taken the camera with me, I couldn’t get close enough to get a picture with my phone, I’ve never seen one up there and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen one ermine in the wild

[shovel leaner 7,650]

You’ve got one up on me Stavross. I’ve not seen a stoat in Ermin, maybe it doesn’t get cold enough down my neck of the woods . I’ve caught  them in traps with bits of white on them but I’ve  not seen them in a full winter white coat . Sounds like your season has been going well . I got an invite from a friend who runs a small shoot . It’s where I first picked up a shotgun and shot a pheasant  30 odd years ago . He used to run it with a pal who sadly died last year of the dreaded big C . It was the first year without Rob and he was remembered at the end  of the day with a toast of port . His ashes are scattered on the main drive and as I was stood there waiting for a pheasant to appear from the cover  I remembered all the great days I’d had in his company. Then I looked around and saw his son was stood with Robs spaniels picking up . He’s a credit to his father and although a strapping chap now I remembered him getting bollocked by Rob for messing about when he was small . We had a great day and it was nice for me to relax and have a craic and shoot some fantastic pheasants. Doing what you do and encouraging youngsters and friends into the sport is admirable. I was someone who was invited to come along and have a go at beating and at the end of the season have a go myself and it changed my life . The kids also benefit hugely from the discipline and mixing with people from all ages and walks of life . So good on ya Stavross, keep up the good work.

[Stavross 15,216]

Thanks mate, hope the shoots not running you to ragged, what a perfect and lovely way to remember a good friend and knowing he’s always with you when you are out on the drive, an opportunity given to someone can change a life, I like you was given an opportunity and I grabbed it, the things I have seen and done from that one opportunity have been amazing and completely changed my life and now I’m in a position to give others the chance to do some of the things that I do and with a bit of luck they will enjoy and respect it in the same way we do

[shovel leaner 7,650]

6 minutes ago, Stavross said:

Thanks mate, hope the shoots not running you to ragged, what a perfect and lovely way to remember a good friend and knowing he’s always with you when you are out on the drive, an opportunity given to someone can change a life, I like you was given an opportunity and I grabbed it, the things I have seen and done from that one opportunity have been amazing and completely changed my life and now I’m in a position to give others the chance to do some of the things that I do and with a bit of luck they will enjoy and respect it in the same way we do

Well said Stavross . I know game shooting and in particular large scale pheasant and partridge shooting is under the spotlight at the moment and the shooting industry is working hard to get its house in order .... it has to . But for me it’s the friendly little grassroots shoots that are where it is at . Modest bags and all the birds being taken home and enjoyed . Low impact on the environment and within the reach of anyone. I think while there are people like you and my friend  Tim still running these shoots then the future looks bright .

[Stavross 15,216]

We where talking about this where I was beating today, it’s what I would call a mid level shoot, it’s still a syndicate but out of the reach of the average working man, the owner of the shoot sees the way forward as simulated game, low cost, no season and very much focusing on the hospitality side, as it’s his land he could do what he wants but to me it would be terrible to not carry on doing what has been done for hundreds of years on this land, sadly people who are not involved or don’t get the opportunity to see what goes on just tend to see how we are portrayed in the media 

[shovel leaner 7,650]

Simulated has a limited market. I go on one every year which a friend organises for charity. It’s £195 for the day and then you factor in 500 cartridges plus my donation to charity and it’s an expensive day . And I don’t know many people who go to more than one or two a year and to be honest I only go on it because I feel a bit pressured in to it . It’s always been a bit of an opportunity for guns to get together out of season . And for shoot owners to make a bit on the side before the birds go to wood . The shooting industry makes millions and is a big money spinner . I think we have a future , the commercial side is where our detractors have found chinks in our armour. Let’s just keep enjoying it while we can , keep doing things right and not give our enemies any ammunition.

[Stavross 15,216]

Not my shoot but I was asked to go beating on a posh boys syndicate in Richmond North Yorkshire today, this is the first time I’ve been here although I know a few of the members, as I’ve said before I’m not a massive fan of expensive game shooting but this place is something else, it’s basically one hillside split into 5 big drives and everything is driven towards the river, there’s one drive that’s callEd  Boy George’s ( I don’t know why ) and it’s basically a cliff face, there’s a rope to get down to a ledge and you push it across driving the birds out towards the river valley at a hight where they would look like sparrows from the ground, it’s a condition that if you have never been before you have to do the very top of Boy George’s ( to test your metal, so to speak) up there it’s like been on top of the world thinking that one good gust of wind would take you back down to earth  and once you get to the tip you can see the birds from above and you realise why they hit less than 50%, 

[Stavross 15,216]

15 minutes ago, W. Katchum said:

I know that land well

The place is unbelievable and lifting with rabbits, my mates a member so we will find out what sort of mate he is when it comes to getting me some rabbit shooting 

[Longshanx 833]

On 04/01/2020 at 20:08, Stavross said:

Day 6 over with and we couldn’t of asked for a better day, we had a full team of beaters and two full teams of guns, the morning definitely shot better than the afternoon but this might have something to do with doing the main drives early, mainly to show the guests what sort of birds we can produce on our little shoot, we had one lad shooting with us today who is a keeper on one of the biggest estates around here and helped us out loads at the beginning when the birds weren’t doing to well, it was lovely to be thanked off him and told that the birds over him on the first drive were stunning and as good as anything that they produce on their estate, we stopped for refreshments and were not disappointed with the soup and sausages and to wet our whistles sloe gin and champagne ( we really are getting above our station), a few more drives to finish the day off with everyone getting some shooting, the bag was 46 pheasants, 2 pigeons and 1 squizzer picked, so after running the beaters all day and been in the thick of it leading by example, showing these youngsters how it’s done I was more than ready to get to the pub for a sit down and pie and chip with a few from the shoot, only one proper day left and a if it flys it dies day at the end of the month, the season seems to have gone in a blink of an eye

It was another great day, the turn out was brilliant. Thanks for letting me take my nephew along, he absolutely loved every minute. Thanks for letting him take his first ever shot with a shotgun he was buzzing. It was a joy to hear him say he would to come beating again and I want a shotgun. 

It's a pity the season is nearly over, especially when I've just got my eye in

[Stavross 15,216]

You are welcome mate I’m glad he enjoyed it, with some of them birds you hit we will be charging you more to shoot from now on, the couple you dropped on that first drive were screamers