- Total Bag – 67
- Pheasants – 63
- Mallard – 1
- Pigeon – 2
- Jay – 1
- Drives
- Weedy Field
- Beeches
- Sandy’s
- Oliver’s/ Dell
- Birch/ Main Pond/ Frank’s
- Road Side
With Woodcock off the menu due to the recent red-alert status being awarded by the GWTC all guns were increasingly alert to the task of identifying their quarry before pulling the trigger.
The first drive of the day was duplicating the approach taken by the last Thursday shoot and for those that remember the bottom of the arm from 6-10 years ago. The main guns fanned out in a horse-shoe from the gat below the lodge, round past the pen, down the track in the clear-fell and in front of the pond. The beaters took in the reeds and trees from the trackside fence, where the back guns spread from the old deer seat to the bottom of the arm, towards the mainline of guns. The birds that came out were not voluminous, but they flew at good heights and some good shooting was had across most of the line.
As a back gun for the beeches and Sandy’s drives I didn’t really see how the drive worked, but the beaters first took the game crop and plantation down before turning round to beat up and through Sandy’s drive.
The more nimble guns then skipped down to the riverside of the Dell while the rest came in the newly cleared path from the wooden gate to get into position. A few pheasants were lost to the water, but they were definitely down and marked so were included in the bag total.
Lunch missed the candlelight and soup from Jill, but we survived and the guns went out to take in the fifth of the day’s drive. Guns pushed the reads under the Shed drive towards the birch wood and though to the burn between the ponds. Meanwhile, the beating team and Stevie brought in the moor and then swung round to bring in Frank’s and push the birds towards the pond and the waiting line. This seemed to work really well and some good snap shooting was had.
The final drive was the Road Side. With the wind blowing from the South this gave the birds some speed which the guns in the field adjusted to.
A good day all round and in no small part to the collective effort of beaters and walking guns. That is the 4th of the days for the Saturday’s so we will be shooting extras from now on.
I hope you all have a good Christmas and New Year and we may see some of you on Boxing day.
The feeders have not been topped up for a month or two now so a workday will be required. I will send a separate email to get a team together for that.