Shoot report supplied by Alistair Montgommery
- Bag – 60
- 55 Pheasant
- 1 Partridge
- 4 Mallard
- Drives
- Beeches
- Frank’s House
- Roundels
- Roadside reversed/ Weedy field
- The Arm
- Sandy’s Drive
Last Thursday many of us set off in heavy rain, but by the time we reached Tulchan it had abated. The day then continued to be a mixture of sunshine and cloud with a variable breeze.
The day brought mixed fortunes to folk, as is often the case depending on favoured pegs or shooting skills on the moment (being our first day of the season).
The first drive was the Beeches driven to the estate road, with a few guns placed on the other side along to pond up towards Sandy’s drive. Most birds did fly towards the main body of guns on the estate road presenting good shooting. Those escaping backwards were low initially by the pond but were higher for the guns further up the line.
Second Drive was from the main pond towards Franks house. This was not nearly as productive with many guns not firing a shot.
Third Drive was the two roundels. A covey of partridges came out of the old roundal, but not many pheasants- those that did mainly flew to the new roundel. Seem to recall that there were quite a few low birds that had to be left.
After lunch guns lined up in the Weedy field as the beaters worked in from the estate entrance. This produced many low birds that had to be left well alone. The arm was then driven with some higher flying pheasants. The last drive was Sandy’s. The back guns on the Keilor Road saw no action but we could hear plenty of shots coming from the other side of the trees.
Final tally to be confirmed. A count before the last of the bag was delivered to the board was 35 Cocks, 13 Hens, a partridge, a pigeon and several ducks., so the final total will be slightly higher than that. One new gun, Simon, managed to shoot 13 birds that day, which I hope does not raise unrealistic expectations for the next time. Shelagh (Ray’s wife shooting David Burns gun) also had a big smile on her face as she made good use of her opportunities. Sandy managed 5 pheasants for 10 shots. Many others though were not so fortunate due either to lack of opportunity or not being on such good form. I confess to being a mixture of the last two!
The workday on Saturday was hard work. Full marks to Ray who spent 5 1/2 hours bagging and carrying the 3 tons of corn to the feeders when still recovering from his Aortic valve surgery! Again we were fortunate that it stayed dry for us, making for an enjoyable yet tiring day. Hopefully, our labours will reap rewards for all over the coming weeks.
All the best for the Saturday guns this weekend- though the weather forecast could be better!