The Unintended Keeper ( Diary of a keeping blagger )

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

36 minutes ago, bumpy22 said:

 

i do shoot the odd fox from time to time aswell  

I know you do  

Are you still plagued with them or are the numbers down to a reasonable level ?

[bumpy22 414]

51 minutes ago, FOXHUNTER said:

I know you do  

Are you still plagued with them or are the numbers down to a reasonable level ?

Still a lot to be fair just taken on a new contract site and that has produced silly amounts.

Time is limiting factor I am afraid even when getting paid you have to balance it with family life. 

Running the syndicate with a mate has been good for me and my my lads. But I got to admit if you asked me only ten years ago if I would be interested in a pheasant shoot ? I would of laughed unless at night with my rifle lol 

[FLATTOP 4,389]

4 hours ago, FOXHUNTER said:

Well the season has started

Went out myself today with pheasant firmly on my mind, I knocked one up about ten foot in front of me gave it both barrels and missed shotguns are definitely not my thing I’m still sitting here gutted it would have been a gimme to most decent shots.

[Sausagedog 7,381]

I always try and get my first birds with a muzzleloader.

Last year was with a flinter but this year I used a topsy turvy barreled caplock.

Two shots for two birds. One going away at about 30yds. The second bird pushed out by my dog, a left to right 40yarder.

 

[Stavross 15,316]

2 hours ago, bumpy22 said:

 Birds are looking good no where near shootable but hopefully in a Month should be.

busy feeding, cutting rides and also arranging a change to one drive. Hopefully should bd a good season for everyone. 

i do shoot the odd fox from time to time aswell  

Good to see things are going along nicely for you, keep your posts coming I like to see how other syndicates are getting on, like you, if you had said to me did I want to keeper a shoot a few years ago I would of laughed, I only joined the syndicate all them years ago to get all the rifle shooting but since I took over this one it has taken over my life, the missus is starting to moan a little as I’m never at home, I have put a cracking dent in the foxes and squirrels mind

today I had a little help in the shape of little Hugo’s dad, now the weather has changed the birds behaviour has changed noticeably, they are not wanting to be on the field side now it’s been drilled and are more along the rape and on the rides. I was last there on Wednesday afternoon with the intention of going up yesterday but with the weather been so bad I thought I’d let them stay under cover, when we got there this morning it was clear to see they had spent the day around the pens, every feeder was empty in both pens and they were hungry, this is something I really like to see, I’ve started hand feeding wheat in a few spots just to try and keep them where I want them for the next couple of weeks. Our first day is 6 weeks today so if the pheasant gods look favourably on me they  should be a few about, another thing I was pleased to see was the amount of birds around the forestry pen, we only put 200 in there this year ( half of what normally goes in ) and I’ve had the usual problems with dog walkers but they seem to have come back in, one thing that’s bothering me is the forestry pen feeds the piggeries drives and with there only been half the amount I think that them drives might be a bit light this season, but we’ll see what comes into them over the coming weeks

 

[Stavross 15,316]

27 minutes ago, Sausagedog said:

I always try and get my first birds with a muzzleloader.

Last year was with a flinter but this year I used a topsy turvy barreled caplock.

Two shots for two birds. One going away at about 30yds. The second bird pushed out by my dog, a left to right 40yarder.

 

Lovely stuff, I always look forward to Mr Bernard Sausage’s game shooting posts

[shovel leaner 7,650]

I wonder how all this late putting birds to wood is going to affect their development? As a rule of thumb the earliest you shoot pheasants is about 19-20 weeks old . But this I would apply to birds released early and have a long warm summer to develop. A bit  like growing tomatoes in a greenhouse , things grow better in the warm . Young birds spending energy keeping warm at night ?  It’s why animals breed in the spring . 
            But we can only play the hand that we are dealt , and guns must be grateful for any shooting they get , I know I will . But it will be interesting to see how they grow . I’ve got my first day loading next Saturday, then I’m flat out . The season has soon come around again , it’s frightening. 

[Stavross 15,316]

19 minutes ago, shovel leaner said:

I wonder how all this late putting birds to wood is going to affect their development? As a rule of thumb the earliest you shoot pheasants is about 19-20 weeks old . But this I would apply to birds released early and have a long warm summer to develop. A bit  like growing tomatoes in a greenhouse , things grow better in the warm . Young birds spending energy keeping warm at night ?  It’s why animals breed in the spring . 
            But we can only play the hand that we are dealt , and guns must be grateful for any shooting they get , I know I will . But it will be interesting to see how they grow . I’ve got my first day loading next Saturday, then I’m flat out . The season has soon come around again , it’s frightening. 

I wasn’t happy with the date I was told we would be getting ours, most are feathering up nicely, I’m just keeping my fingers crossed for no frost in October also there’s just been a bird flu control zone 4 miles from the shoot so fingers crossed that doesn’t show up on the top

i’ve had a couple of invites to shoot at some small syndicates already this year and I think I’ll go this year, I normally say thanks but no thanks but your only around for a short time so I think I’ll make the most of it, I’m also off to Norfolk next weekend for a bit of everything, ducks, geese, muntjac and foxes, looking forward to that

[shovel leaner 7,650]

12 minutes ago, Stavross said:

I wasn’t happy with the date I was told we would be getting ours, most are feathering up nicely, I’m just keeping my fingers crossed for no frost in October also there’s just been a bird flu control zone 4 miles from the shoot so fingers crossed that doesn’t show up on the top

i’ve had a couple of invites to shoot at some small syndicates already this year and I think I’ll go this year, I normally say thanks but no thanks but your only around for a short time so I think I’ll make the most of it, I’m also off to Norfolk next weekend for a bit of everything, ducks, geese, muntjac and foxes, looking forward to that

Go and enjoy yourself Stavross. It’s funny but when you finish keepering you will find out who your real friends are . Because when you are no longer in a position to offer sport to others then the phone soon stops ringing. 
          So I was delighted to find that I hadn’t been forgotten by my old stalwart beater Dave who keepers a large estate, and they do a few modest days per season , for the estate owners family. And I am to be his guest. I can’t tell you what that meant to me  . But who am I kidding, money talks and BS walks and if I thought that all these former associates were after anything more than a bit of free / cheap shooting . Then you would need to have a word with yourself.

[Stavross 15,316]

Day/night scope swapped onto the.243 for next weekend’s trip, it almost feels wrong shooting deer with a digital scope but I’ve been told to take a shotgun, a 17hmr and something for deer and foxes so the .243 is the better option, just got to go and zero it now, oh, and buy some more ammo

[ianm 2,594]

What bullet weight are you going to use in the 243 for foxes?

[Stavross 15,316]

12 minutes ago, ianm said:

What bullet weight are you going to use in the 243 for foxes?

It likes 70gn BT sako’s ( it’s like having a second wife, it’s got expensive taste ) and for the deer I use 90gn there’s minimal difference in zero but the good thing about putting the wraith on is I can zero it with both rounds and switch between them 

[David.evans 5,323]

If your going to see robin 

try and hit something this year

have a nice time mate 

atb 

[Stavross 15,316]

2 hours ago, David.evans said:

If your going to see robin 

try and hit something this year

have a nice time mate 

atb 

I’ll do my best, I didn’t do to bad last time, missed a couple but I have been there and blanked in the past

[BenBhoy 4,706]

What's general opinion on best feeder type to keep badgers out? They buggered my springs last year. Have couple this year with plastic trays & couple of metal ones full of holes...