The Ole Hedge Creeper

KL52High Powered Lamp and IR Review

3/6/2020

The Ole Hedge Creepers KL52
High Powered Lamp and IR Review
By The Ole Hedge Creeper

As the co owner of The Countryman’s Diary Magazine and a Professional Controller we are always being asked to review kit and equipment for out in the field, it matters not if its day or night we use it all and really put anything were asked to test properly through its paces, as a respected Countryman, Conservationist and well known International Game Chef, my word is gold, I have always had this same ethos if its not good enough for me to part with my hard earned cash, then it most certainly is not good enough for you, here I will give you my honest view of this latest Lamp both Greg and I have been sent to test, I will say I don't write technical articles, not because I cant its just they bore the ears off of me writing them, although I may add a little technical bits just for a bit of colour as it were.

I have done a rough and ready YouTube video to accompany this article to give you a visual idea of this lamp, so watch this video too and make up your own mind, there will be a link over on The Countryman’s Diary Magazine to where you can buy this lamp from too, so go over to the magazine for that link countrymans-diary.co.uk here is a link to the Mag.

First off I will say I don't like this lamp, I bloody love it, alright its a bit fiddly to start off with until you get used to how it all works, take the battery out of which there are two, one to use and one as back up, for some reason they put it in a toy torch even though they supply a battery holder, that made me scratch my head for a moment, it comes with a double battery charger too, a barrel mounting bracket or the figure eight one that goes on your scope etc, lots of little extras like O rings and other little bits.

The kit come with the K52 torch and magnifier and four pills, they are White, Red, Green and Infrared (IR) and I must say the IR is amazing but we will get to that shortly, all the colour pills are brilliant and crystal clear looking through the scope I could see eye shine at 400 yards and identification clearly at 300 yards, although my experience told me what was what at greater distance just how the animal moved.

Changing the pills was a bit fiddly really but very well made so I guess that was the reason why, you have to take out the battery, remove the magnifier and wind the collar up to access the pill, then you have to unscrew the pill to change colours or indeed the IR pill, like I say that's a bit fiddly but does make for a very well made sturdy lamp that wont break in a couple of outing, all the colours performed brilliantly but as always my favourite is the Green Pill, no other reason but personal preference as I like that spectrum and find it the most successful for me, mounting on the gun could not be any easier and is self explanatory, I am sure I don't need to draw you a diagram me for this as you should be able to work this out for yourself, charging is dead easy and straight forward, a red light means its charging a green light on the charger its charged, you can take the torch switch off the end and put on the thumb pressure switch by simply unscrewing the bottom of the torch, in fact if your changing pills this will be already off so just screw on the thumb pressure switch, all this comes in a nice handy ABS case that is cut out with foam to fit all the bits in.

KL52 Lamp Technical Bit

OD-KL52

Item Weight
277 g

Product Dimensions
17 x 7.9 x 5.3 cm

Batteries:
1 Lithium Metal batteries required. (included)

Item model number
OD-KL52

Colour
Black

Style
KL52

Material
Aluminium

Power Source
Battery-Powered

Voltage
3.80 volts

Wattage
5 watts

Item Package Quantity
1

Number Of Pieces
10

Type of Bulb
LED

Luminous Flux
850 lumen

Handle Material
Metal

Laser Beam Color
Red

Switch Type
Dimmer

Switch Style
Dimmer switch

Batteries included?
Yes

Batteries Required?
Yes

Battery Cell Type
Lithium

Battery description
battery_type_lithium_ion

Battery Capacity
3000 milliamp_hours

Adjustable Focus: Zooming out the hunting flash light to be used as a spot light can reach out as far as 1350ft in high mode. Zooming in as a flood light provides a wide view when you are searching targets.

Interchange 4-colour LED Modules: 4 different colour lights are included in the hunting set red light, white light, green light and IR850nm light, can meet all need when you are searching for different targets in various hunting situations, Modules are easy to load and unload.

Smart Remote Switch: Intelligent pressure switch can free your hands when you are holding your shotgun. Press and hold the button to turn the light on and release to turn it off. The button makes no noise at all.

2-type flash light mount: The K185 aluminium mount can be installed in shotguns with Picatinny rail freely; the POM high strength quick-release mount can fit multiple scope sizes, no worry about different gun size.

Weather, water and shock resistant: Enhanced aircraft aluminium body designed for rough outdoor use, that is perfect for using in the rain, wild forest, which can be soaked in the water for a short time.

Now I do know there is a KL41 model of this torch but as of yet we do not have this one so I cant say what this one is like, but thats the one in the top pic, we do have a link for that one too over at The Countryman's Diary Magazine.

The IR I must say is the very best I have tried to date, as with all the other pills they are fully adjustable from flood beam to a pencil beam, the clarity on these are quite simply remarkable, the IR really gave great clarity on several Night Vision units that I tried it with, I used an old Pitch Black Unit for the main demo, you will see in the video I watched Deer, Badger and Rabbits all play none the wiser I was there right out to great distance.

My final word on this lamp is, yes its a bit fiddly until you get used to it, but that said its well made and sturdy with quality components and wont fall apart in two minuets, this should give you many years of good service if you look after it that is, I will say again that IR is something else too, I will give this my golden thumbs up seal of approval for value for money, does what it says on the tin and is a quality product, I believe the price is around the £80 to £90 mark, but as my Pappy always said, Buy Once Cry Once.

KL52 Lamp Review
By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk countrymans-diary.co.uk

The Countryman's Diary Link Button

0 Comments

Deer, Deer, Deer, and Rabbit Too.

10/5/2020

2 Comments

Deer, Deer, Deer, and Rabbit Too.
By The Ole Hedge Creeper

A few weeks leading up to this lock down due to this ghastly Covid 19, for me was some of the best Sporting and Professional work I had ever done to date, I was asked to go and help deal with three different deer control culls on three different deer species, this was also in three different counties here in the UK, first was a rabbit clearance job and a Chinese Water Deer Cull in Buckinghamshire, Second was a roe Doe Cull in Somersetshire, the third was a Muntjac Deer Cull in Hampshire, I will tell you of all three in turn, I will also tell you about each of my Ole muckers that had invited me to go help them and that of the Muckers who came to help me with these adventures.

Buckinghamshire:

I had been meaning to go up and see my Ole Mucker Bucks Moocher for a couple of years now, also he was going to come back down to me too, but our lives just got too busy with work and other things so we just kept in touch on social media and the odd phone call from time to time, Now Bucks is an old school Countryman after my own heart, he prefers to hunt with dog and ferret net and lamp as do I, although he is a damn fine shot too with quite a good collection of shot guns etc, he is pretty tidy with a catapult too but that's for another story, we have hunted together many times over the years all over the country with the most memorable being in West Wales many years ago now, that has already been well documented and written about before.

Bucks called me up one night asking could I come up with my rifles and help out on a Chinese Water Deer Cull on another good friends of ours (David) farm well his families farm, they had or well still have a huge problem with these deer destroying the crops and eating more grass than their sheep, so a weekend was arranged and I was to head up, also joining me was Niall my right hand man on a lot of my professional work and Little Jon he is the mountain man with the beard in the pictures, I am mentoring him well sort of in his deer stalking career, Bucks also used a magic wand and said oh whilst your up can you come help with some traditional ferreting and rabbit control with a Game Keeper friend and his family, now that was the magic word and for the few weeks leading up to this weekend all I could think or dream about was getting out Traditional ferreting with purse net/long net/ferret and running dog, to me this sort of hunting is the panicle the golden crown of hunting, I have heard folks say this about catching a Salmon or stalking a Red Stag, both of which I have done and filled my bag, but to me as a rough Ole Countryman that I am, nothing beats a bolting rabbit in a purse net on a frosty morning as the Viking war drums start as the Pug’s (ferrets) make contact with Drummers (rabbits) deep under ground, as I am writing this I can feel my heart pounding at just the thought of it, so as many get goose/duck/stag fever what ever I get rabbit fever, its never left me since my very first day in the field traditional ferreting when I was just two years old.

Friday morning Niall arrives in his van to pick me up two hours early I might add, but I was ready as I was just as excited to be going up to Buckinghamshire too and catching up with my old friend Bucks and David, the journey up seemed to fly by as we chatted like a couple of excited school kids, Niall was really excited about seeing Chinese Water Deer for the first time, I was too but for me it was the chance to run a running dog, work a terrier, slip a ferret down a warren and bolt the humble bunny, before we knew it we were outside Bucks House, well I better rephrase that as Her Majesty might have not have had the kettle on, we were out side my Ole Muckers House Bucks Moocher, I tapped on the door and he answered it was just like I had only seen him yesterday not several years had passed, his good lady made us a wonderful fresh home made vegetable soup and a cottage pie for the boys, she was working all weekend and staying at the farm, so it was a boys weekend too, I will say she is a wonderful cook and keeps a lovely house, it was nice to see my old friend with a little weight on him, as he used to be like a coat rack, sorry mate you were a bit skinny that girl looks after you well, she is defiantly a keeper, don't forget my invite to the wedding too.

Little John arrived a couple of hours later, we all sat there chatting like old friends as if we had known each other all our lives, we had that lovely tea then headed out to meet up with the Game Keeper and his family, I was greatly looking forward to this as I wanted to chat to a fellow keeper and see how he did things there different to what I do on my shoot in Somersetshire, this was also who we would be going ferreting with too, we met up with the keeper James and his Son Liam, by golly they were two man mountains and I could see why the local poaching travelling fraternity gave them a very wide birth as they both had hands like shovels, right away we hit it off chatting when he said lets take these two running dogs for a walk and run a few rabbits and survey the land for tomorrows ferreting trip, my smile just grew from ear to ear, Bucks grabbed a lamp in case it got dark so we could lamp a couple of rabbits too and give the dogs a stretch of the legs.

My golly you have to be fit to keep up with these boys its like mountain goat territory, had this been four years ago I would of died on those hills I was so unfit for duty back then, but the hard work of the gym etc has paid off and I am almost as fit as those running dogs, up hill and down dale we went, James pointing out famous land marks etc in the distance and explaining the history of the place, I telle that man knows his stuff, Bucks and young Liam were keen and after the rabbits running the dogs, catching a few, a few getting away, to me it made my heart beat like a Viking war drum or was that just the climb up the hills, seeing the runs really was a pleasure I don't get to do now days as we hardly have any rabbits here in Somersetshire now due to that ghastly RHD disease, James and I hung back and chatted like to old chums, Niall kept up with Bucks and Liam and the dogs, poor Ole Little Jon I think he thought he might die on those hills as he is a little bit larger than life and not the fittest of the bunch, but I was proud of him he managed the best part of five miles on foot according to his pedometer on his wrist.

We got to a high hill ground that ran along the side of a main road, James was just explaining this was where we were going to clear some rabbits in the morning, at this point two men with running dogs came into the field, shone a lamp straight the six of us just standing there seventy yards out stood bolt upright looking right back at them, James said that's poachers, as he and Liam took off after them, I could hear a lot of shouting as James escorted them off the field and told them not to come back and he was reporting them to the police as he had their registration number, they had Irish accents and were shouting something about losing their shoes in the field as they drove away, blimey that was enough excitement for one night, Jon walked back to the car as he was done he had nothing left in him but he did well, the boys carried on for a few more fields and ran a few more rabbits, James and I meandered along following them chatting away, time to go home as we had to be up for ferreting in the morning.

We were up bright and early, I was more excited than a polecat faced with a rat, a good Ole Full English Breakfast was had by all and we were off, I got to meet Emma James wife and Liam's brother, bugger if I can remember his name, but a thoroughly nice lad as was Emma she was e a very nice lady and set purse nets beautifully, Liam and his brother constantly dug at each other as brothers do all day, it reminded me of my brother and I and my as we always used to, or my Ole ferreting muckers the Kington Brothers they were the same, there is a famous story of those two fighting one ferreting morning that actually got us some great ferreting permission, James showed us the huge warren on this big high bank at the bottom of one of his best partridge drives, I showed Jon and Niall how to lay a purse net and we went to work laying all the purse nets and setting the long nets, this was done in almost complete silence, I smiled and though oh yes I am home back under the hedge after coney (rabbits), nothing I love more than traditional ferreting, I have said this so many times.

The ferrets were slipped in and that silence came over the warren, no sound existed for me, the wind stopped the birds stopped, dead silence I could hear my own heart beat as I strained to hear the rumble of the drums deep under ground, the first rabbit hit the net like a cork from the bottle, to me it looked almost in slow motion with muffled sound, rabbit in hand and a net re set it was like watching a well oiled machine, then another rabbit hit the net right in front of Niall but he was too slow, so Jet the whippet and myself launched into action from two different angles, who got there first it was a draw, she had a good hold of it and so did I, that rabbit was not getting away, it turned out to be a ginger rabbit, I had not caught a ginger one in thirty years so that is a memory made right there, the rest of the day went on like that, rabbits hitting the purse nets, slipping the nets and hitting the long nets, dashing in all directions to grab rabbits, this was when disaster struck, we had a kill very deep under ground, as always right in the most awkward place to dig right in the middle of the hedge, Dad always said two things, if your going to get a kill it will be in a god awful place to dig, also if you miss that bolt hole and not net it the rabbit will always find it, bloody true both of those saying I telle, James got to digging and had a half grown dead rabbit out in no time, again we could not find a ferret, turned out Bucks didn't check his locator batteries in his collars before using them, that's a rooky mistake as we gave him some stick for that, also the boys didn't see his big Hobb wander out of the warren, it headed across the field to a road hedge warren, what gave it away was the rabbits bolting out of it, eagle eyed Emma spotted the Hobb walking about, in no time at all we had the ferret to hand, picked up all the nets and returned the area to its former glory leaving nothing but foot prints and a few less rabbits, I gave Liam a few of my nets as he didn't have many, for me that's an investment into the future traditional rabbiting man, I have sorted a bit more gear out for the lad too, so when I go back up I will gift him the kit that has served me well for over forty years, we paunched out the rabbits, said our goodbyes and headed back for fish and chips and a few beers, we headed up to another of Bucks woods for a spot of roost shooting with 4.10 shotguns as Bucks and I have the same guns, we got a few shots but the pigeons and squirrels really didn't play ball, so we headed back for food, there's another funny long story about the best fish and chips in Buckinghamshire that will take too long to write, all I will say my fish and chips looked just like a large pizza and I will say no more for now.

The next morning we loaded up the van with all our gear as we would be leaving to head home to Somersetshire after we had finished the Chinese Water Deer cull that very evening, again we had a lovely breakfast and then headed over to David’s families farm, as soon as I got there and caught up with my old mate it was like we had never been apart, David is another fine Countryman of the old school and he hails from a long line of fine Countryman just like his Dad another dear friend of mine, so we surveyed the farm with binoculars working a plan of action out, Niall and I would cover the long ground these were huge crop fields, we would work our way round and back to the woodland on the boundary hedge, Little Jon would stand by the wood as the ground was too much for him and ambush the deer from a stationary positions with a strict clear safe shooting area, David and Bucks would go beat the far reaching field and drive the deer towards us, this worked perfectly as I had my first Chinese Water Deer grassed within ten minuets of being there, it was a slightly longer shot than I like to take, not that I am not capable of taking the longer shots, but to me stalking is just that, I like to stalk in and take the animal, but these wide open undulating fields gave us no cover what so ever, I also reminded myself this was a cull not a stalk, actually I had never seen so many deer in one place like this, if a field had a 100 strong flock of sheep in it, the next field had the same but were Chinese Water Deer, no wonder there was so much crop and grass damage, Niall came over and said blimey that's a big one I thought they were smaller as I just laughed, Bucks and David came over and took my deer back to the keepers house to field dress and hang in the game larder.

Now it was Niall's turn to stalk some whilst I took a breather and just watched, all I will say on this one is, they are not Roe Deer he was stalking in lovely deep wooded valley in Somersetshire, the deer educated him that, he came back to me red in the face puffing like he needed new lungs saying what the hell are these deer, its like deer on speed or something, I full on belly laughed, so much so I could have had a Muntjack deer but didn't see it for giggling, by now it was starting to get late so we stalked around towards the woodland where Jon Was waiting, we text him to say were on our way and from what direction, he text back he knew as he was watching us with his binoculars, David and Bucks were stood with him too, we stalked around and came up from his back left as to not compromise his safe shot zone, we were just about to enter the field as we hear a shot report and a dull thump, I said to Niall I think Jon had got that, by the time we got there David and Bucks were retrieving a lovely medal Chinese Water Deer Buck, Jon was smiling like a Cheshire cat, not a bad start for his one, Jon has a bad back due to his size so he headed back to the keepers cottage too with his deer in tow with the lads, I said I will hang on for the last chance to get Niall on to a deer, I spotted a nice buck coming into the woodland field, it was a bit of a long shot for a beginner like Niall, he was not confident, so I said I would take this one, I let it come right round to my left so it had a perfect back stop of the hill behind it, resting on a round bale of straw I steadied myself, calmed my breathing and slipped off the shot, it dropped without a twitch another perfect shot to the engine room, I breathed easy and made the rifle safe, turning and saying that's how its done mate, Niall did get a chance of a shot, but I think nerves got the better of him and he missed cleanly, that was the end of a brilliant weekend spent with old friends and making new ones, some great food drink and banter, oh yes and some remarkably brilliant sport too, we said our goodbyes and thanks for a lovely weekend and headed back to Somersetshire loaded up with fresh shot venison and Jon back to Dorsetshire.

*There will be a video link to Bucks Moocher YouTub Channel at the bottom of this page*

Somersetshire:

It was almost the end of the Roe Doe season, what with the weather and other commitments I was right behind on this years cull on 2 of the estates, the land owners were breathing down my neck to complete both herd cull management plans, I asked Jon if he would like to join Niall and myself on this one as it would be great experience for him, also as I am sort of mentoring him this would be the perfect time to put what he has been learning into great practice, it was late on the Thursday night he got to my Country Penthouse Apartment (my flat overlooking the farm) here in Somersetshire, I had arranged to do a very early stalk on one estate in the morning and an evening stalk in the evening on the other, so after some wonderful food a couple of ciders it was an early night for us boys.

I arranged to meet Niall and Young Sports Ambassadors Oliver and Carter on site before first light to get set up and make sure the kabuto was all ready to go, I love early mornings before the sun comes up its a magical time just like sunset, we all met in the car park of the lodge and Niall opened up the first flask of coffee, we studied the estate maps and I told him where to wait for me with the kabuto and told him how I would stalk in onto the estate gardens/vast lawns and open parkland and where I wanted him and the Young sports ambassador's to be, I had been watching some cull does there all week so knew where I wanted to be and the wind was just right for this today, I spoke with the boys showing them field craft, tracking, other prominent signs most folk just walk past, discussed the wind direction and how I would use what natural cover there was to get to a good shooting position with good back stops.

Jon was to wait at a good vantage point so he could watch me as I stalked in, later on he said it was like watching a leopard stalk a gazelle after watching me stalk in on the deer he could see though his binoculars, I did laugh but then again I have leaned to become one with nature after 40+ years of being in the field and taught by the old masters.

I stalked around the headland way out to the right away from the feeding deer, then turned back in when the wind was right to a little out crop of trees, the stalk into these trees with the wind in my face did two things, one my scent and any sound was being taken away from the deer, two the trees covered my stalk in across the open parkland by keeping the tree cover between me and the deer, I got to the copse and set up on the far left side, I range found it and it gave me 400m of open undulating ground all around me, as the light came up the deer started to meander back to the big woods from the lower ground, I studied them all until I picked the right cull doe I was after, actually there were two that had to come out this morning, both very big deer old deer and they never threw any young last year so I determined these two would be the ones to take out.

As luck would have it the first showed herself on the low ground slowly making her way back, she came right across the cops around a 100m out, stopped in a little hill ground dip and took a pee, I was already on her cross hairs on the heart, she was facing left to right with a perfect broad side shot, I squeezed the trigger and thump she fell on the spot not even a twitch to the Federal round from the 243, all the other deer took off running for cover as you would expect from the crack of a moderated 243 shot, luck surely was on my side this morning as the second cull doe appeared on my left coming across the open parkland on her way back to the big woodland, she dropped out of sight in the hilly parklands leading up the hill, then appeared again 70m from me, this was a little tricky this shot as she was half facing me, many folks like to take a head or neck shot, but not me I prefer a heart and lung shot, I have seen all to often other stalkers wound a deer this way and then I have to go and find said deer and deal with it, so head shots are not for me, not because I cant do them, no it’s my respect for the animals I have to deal with, as I was taught as a boy we have a duty of care to the animals and birds we are culling etc, so the chance of wounding one I will not do, luckily enough my patience paid off and she turned full broad side facing to the right with a perfect engine room shot, I squeezed off the shot and that distinctive thump of a perfect shot on target was heard, she dropped on the spot with not so much as a twitch, two perfect humane shots and two cull does in the bag, I radioed Niall to come pic the deer up and Jon to come over too, I think Oliver and Carter could not believe their eyes as they watched it all with binoculars from right up on the high ground, the boys helped load them into the kabuto and we all jumped on board and headed back to the estate game prep area and cold room, Niall Gralloched the deer and I showed all the boys what to look for as far as disease etc went, we all then headed back to my secretaries for a big old full English Breakfast and a huge pot of fresh brewed tea, after breakfast I took the boys up to one of my big woods on the shoot to give them a go on some squirrel clearance I had been meaning to get on with after the end of the game season, I think the boys enjoyed going round squirrel drey poking with me especially my Young Sports Ambassador's Oliver and Carter, the day passed so quickly and it was time to get back to the other estate for the evening stalk.

I had arranged for the boys to cover the top hill ground woodland with air rifles, this was for a few reasons, one we had a major squirrel problem there and a few rabbits that needed culling, this would also keep the deer away from that area as I deemed it not safe to shoot with a full bore rifle, they could watch my every move from there too with binoculars as I was on the low ground, I stalked around this beautiful estate but only saw Bucks and a the does that were not on the cull management list, that was until I got to meadow view, it what we call this big meadow at the bottom of one of the big woods as it has a wonderful view, I stalked round to the bottom of the meadow as this would give me the best and safest shot into the hill side, I glassed the tree line and picked up five deer, after studying them for a while I stalked in as there was one doe there that was on my list, she had a bit of a limp so the estate manager said take her out, I stalked right into 60m and settled in with the Primos trigger sticks, you know I bloody love those sticks, there they were grazing quietly none the wiser I was there, there were actually two of the cull does there, limpy moved out into the open as she was stood dead in line with another deer so did not present a shot until she moved, I waited although I could of taken the other cull one first I wanted to get this one with the limp in the bag, again cross hairs on the engine room and she dropped to the shot without a twitch, I quickly reloaded the deer did not bolt and I dropped the second cull doe in quick succession, this time the other deer took off running and I took a breath and radioed for the quad bike, we took them back to the estate game prep area gralloched them and hung them up in the chiller ready for the game dealer to come collect her.

The rest of the weekend I took the boys out on some of my other grounds a bit of rough shooting, working Tess the young Springer Spaniel, just had a jolly good weekend until it was time for all the boys to call it a day, Jon to go back to Dorsetshire, Niall to go back to his day job and Oliver and Carter back to their school, so that Sunday night everyone went home with a smiling face and a game bag full of fresh wild ethically sourced wild meat.

Hampshire:

I got a call from a good friend of mine Bruce, he was having trouble getting on top of a Muntjac Deer problem in some of his vast forestry in Hampshire, he had arranged for a few of the boys to go up last year and help him cull, I don't think they got on so well, alas I could not go over then as I was away in Malta on a Masonic Pilgrimage, so when he called me this time to arrange it again I said of course, I cleared my diary, booked a hotel and was looking forward to catching up with the other lads as well as my old friend Bruce, alas as it was all the lads cried off one by one what with work commitments and other reasons, so it just left Bruce and I to have a go and see what we could do in this vast forestry plantation.

Talk about mountain goat territory or what, I thought I was going to have to carry oxygen and mountain climbing equipment on this one, I jokingly said if I shoot one up there it will roll down to the truck for us, we both laughed, I spent a wonderful couple of days up there, stalking round, tracking, using all my field craft, in fact it reminded me of hunting in Germany and their vast woodlands, I saw lost of signs of deer from tracks fur left on barbed wire and more, but did I so much as a see one of these fabled Fallow Deer or a Roe Deer no, not even the bark of a Muntjac let alone see one.

We headed back to the low ground to the base camp, we sat down had a lovely mug of coffee and some really nice meat rolls, pasties and other tit bits, I finished off with a custard slice from a local shop, I am a bit partial to something sweet now and again, Bruce and I sat there and discussed the afternoon stalk, I said I will cover the low ground, for two reasons really, one I didn't fancy that climb to the top again and two my gut feeling was these deer will be on the low grounds or at least at some point they will be, we discussed what high seat I should go in as Bruce didn't fancy the climb again either so he would take another high seat.

I just finished my second mug of coffee when I had that gut feeling, I don't know its like a sixth sense I get, over the years I have learned to trust this gut feeling in so many situations not just out in the field, I turned to Bruce and said I am going to just take a look down this track a moment I just have a feeling, he said crack on I am pouring another coffee, I stalked down about a 150m something told me to stop and glass this big scrub covered embankment, I scanned with my binoculars and there is was a young Muntjac Buck staring right at me 73m out right next to a tree half way up the embankment showing a full broad side from left to right, by golly the hunting gods were on my side on this one, a perfect broadside with a perfect back stop, I dropped the Primos trigger sticks nice and slowly and quietly, mounted the rifle and took a breath with the cross hairs on for a perfect heart and lung shot, I squeezed off the shot and that dull thump report was heard telling me I was right on target as the beast rolled down the embankment to the bottom, I breathed easy and smiled as I really had earnt this one, I made the rifle safe took another breath and laid the rifle on the floor.

I beckoned Bruce to come down who was just finishing his coffee, I heard the shot he said did you get one, oh yes I smiled as we both went to retrieve it, I really could not of been more happy as the shot was pin point where I wanted it to be, a totally humane ethical shot, I saluted the beast as I do with all I cull and took it back to base camp to gralloch and dress out and butcher, well Bruce did the gralloch and skinning I did the butchery, we split the beast half each into out cool boxes, after this we headed around to the high seats, I never saw another deer this day, Bruce did he was his big matriarch Roe Buck and said he was in full velvet, I was gutted I would of loved to have seen him, we were only here for the Muntjac on this trip so even if I saw a cull fallow or a cull roe I would not have taken the shot, we headed back to my hotel as the light fell, had some lovely food and a few well deserved pints of Guinness, alas the next day the Sunday the weather came in bad heavy rain and high winds, so that put pay to another days awesome stalking in some of the most magnificent of scenery even though it was mountain goat territory.

I stayed in the hotel and went in the pub over the road for a jolly good Sunday lunch with some people I met there, Bruce had gone home to the Isle Of White, I must say the Guinness did flow rather well and I retired in the early evening to my bed, I got up the next day had a jolly fine breakfast, loaded my truck and headed home with a full belly, a full heart smiling like a Cheshire Cat as my cool box was full with half a Muntjack Buck I culled with a good friend, so many memories made together with all my chums.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it, please keep your messages and emails coming in to The Countryman’s Diary Magazine, I do try to get back to you all personally but some of you do slip the purse net from time to time like a good rabbit does.

Deer, Deer, Deer and Rabbit Too.
By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk
countrymans-diary.co.uk

2 Comments

Whistling Wings Under The Moonlight

6/4/2020

0 Comments

Whistling Wings Under The Moonlight
By The Ole Hedge Creeper

Whilst sat here in social isolation due to this ghastly Covid 19 virus that is running rampage through our beautiful world, I find myself catching up with my back log of all my articles and writing my next book, I distantly gaze out of the office window looking over the farm, this was when I drifted off in the sands of time and my memory of this last wildfowling season and more spent with friends, family and my awesome Young Sports Ambassador's, I have aptly named this article Whistling Wings Under The Moonlight, as my first thought was of the first nights wildfowling in the 2019/2020 season with those awesome Young sports Ambassador's.

We start off in late September early October, we had just managed to get all the wheat off in time before the rains came, this was just inland about a mile from the foreshore, fresh stubble's like a blanket of gold laid out the dinner table for the wildfowl and more, then the rains came just as the combine pulled out of the fields, this does not happen around here very often but fresh cut wheat fields that were late being cut, then rain making big flooded splashes with wheat chaffs and fallen seed all over them, this was like a magnet to all the ducks/geese and more, I set up 2 days after the harvest was collected in, joining me were my good friend Niall and Young Sports Ambassadors Harry, Oliver and Carter, oh not forgetting young Tess the springer spaniel, Niall and I set the hides/blinds up whilst the Young sports Ambassadors set out all the Jack Pyke Flock Coated Duck Decoys and the Canada Goose decoys from Riverside Outdoors.

We agreed we would let the Young Sports Ambassadors shoot the early birds and Niall and I take the later birds in the evening, well what can I say the ducks slipped air paddles down right into the decoy spread, all to the calling of my Young Sports Ambassadors on the Duck Calls I had sponsored them, the air was filled with a symphony of wildfowl calling from the boys, they were amazed how the ducks responded to the basic calling techniques I had taught them, I also taught them how to read the birds and when the right time to shoot was, to many make the mistake and shoot too early before letting the birds commit properly, Oliver dropping a cracking green head mallard with his first shot from right to left, then is was Carters as he dropped a fine duck in the decoy spread sending Tess straight after it as it was a runner, now it was Harry’s turn as a duck flew straight over him and he folded cleanly with one shot, I telle I don't think those boys smiles could of got any wider.

Time got on and now it was mine and Niall’s turn to have a go, we got the boys doing all the calling and helping Tess to do the retrieving, the wildfowl just came like magnets to the boys and their calling as they were getting better and better by the minuet, I don’t know who was more proud me or the boys as I sat there wide eyed smiling like a Cheshire Cat, then I heard it echo on the wind, that ghostly bugle of the wild ghost riders echoing on the wind, by that I mean the wild geese, I said to Oliver lay it on this with that Canada Goose call and I will do the same with mine, then all of a sudden there they were a nice little skein of them coming our way round onto the wind paddles down honking back, Tess the springer spaniel was up on her toes like a frozen to the spot shaking with excitement, Niall looked like a hawk ready to stoop and the boys so wide eyed with their hearts beating from their chests, well that could have been mine too as it was beating like a marching drum, we called them right in so close we could see the whites of their eyes, Niall dropping two with one shot right over the Riverside Out doors new Canada goose decoys, I swung through with my 10 Bore at a going away bird, the boys call that gun Dragons Breath as it fires a double magnum of bismuth and lets out a roar with flames especially in the low light, I dropped another goose stone dead in the air soon after, but we had to retrieve that later as it was the other side of the river and too big for this little springer and a long walk round too, we finished that flight with a brace of fine wild mallard each and a goose each to take home for Christmas dinner.

One of the next flights that really sticks in my memory was in early January, there are so many I could write about and may at a later date, but for now this one really stands out, for those of us there it sticks out as one of the most wind and wet flights, the wind really blew a hooley and it rained so hard we could not see 20 feet in front of us, we hunkered down and waited for the storm to pass, thank god we all had our Jack Pyke Hunter clothing on that took the worst of it and kept us warm and dry, the weather cleared the sun setting a golden sky behind us as the moon came up in front of us just as predicted, the young Sports Ambassador's Harry, Oliver and Carter set the decoys out, we had mallard/teal/wigeon decoys out and my wind powered flying mallard decoys and some Canada geese decoys out for good measure.

All was set it wont be long now before the wildfowl start to fly in to my marsh down on The Somerset levels, first to drop in amazingly was a lone Cock Wigeon that none of us saw but Hawk eyed Oliver did, he mounted the gun like silk swung through and dropped this left to right crossing bird as smooth as silk, I have to say that's one of the finest shots I have ever had the pleasure nay honor to whiteness, I really cant do that shot justice with mere words I telle.

Even Nik my good friend from another wildfowling club who came as my guest agreed that was a fine shot, this was about when again we heard that ghostly bugle echoing on the wind, the ghost riders were on their way, all of a sudden they appeared from the moon coming right into my calling as I was the only one with a goose call this flight, in they dropped from left to right over the decoys right across us, I shouted take them boys as all of us sprang into action, again four geese dropped, alas Nik dropped one stone dead right over the other side of the river so again we had to retrieve that after we had finished the flight, but I and Oliver had it marked down.

Now as the flight progressed the sound of Mallard/Teal/Wigeon/Shoveller filled the air as well as snipe/plover and an assortment of other birds and more filled the marsh, it was like the music of the night had started its show, I spotted a barn owl and gave it a few vole squeaks, it quartered right above us much to the delight of all the lads especially Young Sports Harry/Carter and Oliver, now the wigeon and Teal really started to move and dropped into my calling right into the decoys on the moonlight, it was truly magical, Carter would spot them really well early on but they were too fast for the boy, so his Dad Niall got in some fine sport, Harry and Nik just could not see them fast enough although they got off a few solutes, But Oliver and I were on fire and worked as a team, we got in some mighty fine sport as these wild wind riders slipped air paddles down right into my decoys enchanted by my calling, this was a truly magical flight on a moon that made my marsh look like daylight and the silhouette of the moon on the splash that lay before us was quite simply beautiful, it also made the splash look like a giant shimmering lake too, I really cant describe this flight in all its splendour or do it justice with simple words, photos or video, you just had to be there.

We finished off the night with a nice bag of wild meat between us all, Mallard/Teal./Wigeon and Wild Goose to grace our tables, this night I say the man of the hour was Young Sports Ambassador Oliver, although all the boys did well and us old boys too, Oliver shot like an absolute pro and his calling under my tutelage well watch this space boys we have a NEW whistler in town and he is locked and loaded with my favourite Calls and not just wildfowl either.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and maybe using your imagination we have taken you along with us to the marsh, as you feel the wind hit your face and the sound of wild fowl filled the air, or maybe I have reminded you of some great flights out there from last season or further back through the sands of time.

We also had a brilliant evening flight on a corporate duck shoot with a lot of our chums and all the Young Sports Ambassador's, this was for my old Dad’s 70th Birthday as my gift to him as a memorable birthday with a truly wonderful birthday meal to follow too, we also did the British Shooting Show 2020 and my Young Sports Ambassador's flew the flag brilliantly helping with the stand and our Game cooking Theatre putting into practice all the game prep they had learnt this last season, I did a great interview on camera called back on the sofa with my old friend James Marchington, keep your eye out for that video.

Take Care one and all, stay safe, stay well and above all stay at home, the quicker we don't give this virus a host, the quicker it will die out, see you all on the other side muckers or in my next article.

Whistling Wings Under the Moon Light
By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk
http://countrymans-diary.co.uk/

0 Comments

Raising The Game

24/3/2020

0 Comments

Raising The Game
By The Ole Hedge Creeper

Well here we are on lock down, after the PM announced it last night over this C19 Virus, its our own fault, many people just flaunted the governments advice or just plain ignored it, so to those Sheeple that flocked together you have nobody else to blame but yourselves and now WE all have to suffer for your stupidity, the same as all the selfish panic buyers stripping the shops etc, you all have to stay calm, listen to the advice given and stick to to it, then and only then can we get through this, Hitler didn't beat us, neither will this, we just have to do as we are told, so STAY AT HOME and be safe and well or you will spread this ghastly virus.

Rant over its been a busy few months here at The Ole Hedge Creepers Cabin in the Woods, so much has gone on, getting ready for all the shows, The British Shooting Show was awesome and a massive success especially for my Team and I, alas we are shut down for the moment, but we will rebuild, regroup and stand again as always, as the old saying says, these British Colors DO NOT RUN, my Young Sports Ambassador's Programme has been a huge success as we hit 2020 on the front foot moving forward as always, my Young Sports Ambassador's are hand picked after working very hard for a minimum of 12 months to earn their places, they also have to keep working hard to stay on my Ambassador Programme, whilst be an inspirational shining light to their fellow Young Sports and indeed each other, I always stress to them they are representing me directly and the Pass It On Young Sports Organisation too, I am very proud of each and everyone of them, especially Young Sports Ambassador George, he has left school graduated with honors and is now training to be a brilliant chef, all this under the wing of Andy another amazing chef and a very dear old school friend of mine, George is soon to graduate from my Young Ambassador Programme as he will turn 18 very soon, he has lead his Younger Ambassador's with great Honor/Passion/Sportsmanship with Conservation at his core, oh and WOW can that boy cook too, we wish him well and hope he keeps his passion for Hunting/Shooting/Fishing and Cookery with conservation at his core.

I have also been trying out some awesome new kit from my chums over at Jack Pyke, I will just tell you of just one bit of kit for now, some of the other gear will be featuring in another article and on a TV add I have done, I have been using the awesome NEW Digi Cammo soft shell Jacket from Jack Pyke, I must say its warm comfy and well thought out, it keeps you well concealed too in the British Countryside, click on the Jacket details photo its a web-link to the Jack Pyke website for a full spec of the jacket and all thier awesome gear, you can also find your nearest stockist too, I telle muckers its worth every penny I love mine, I have used it for everything from fishing, rabbit shooting, roost shooting and even deer stalking, its also silent unlike others I have tried from other leading brands, as I always say buy British and buy the Best and for me that is the Jack Pyke Brand that has never let me down.

Click on the Jack Pyke picture link above to be taken to the Jack Pyke website.

I have also recently signed up with Eley Out Doors as their UK Brand Ambassador, again click on my photo its a picture link it will take you to the Eley website where you will be able to sign up, follow my story, come with me on this journey learn some new things, ask me or the rest of the team for advice, or even pass on your knowledge too us, Eley has great ethics as they share my passion for conservation being at its core, its ammunition is in my opinion simply the very best for out in the field or on the range or indeed in competition, this ammunition gives you the winning edge, I have found it to be very reliable, pin point accurate with a humane deadly punch on target for all my Professional Poison Free Pest Control where I have had to use a 22 rimfire, follow my other articles over at The Countryman’s Diary Magazine or indeed over at The Eley Out Doors website and TV Channel etc, I have been using Eley ammunition since I was a Boy as many of us have, I can honestly say hand on heart it has never let me down, or indeed if it did perform under par Eley were right there to listen, give advice or find out what was going wrong.

You know my Pappy (Grandfather) always said every day is a school day, you could live to be 101 years old and still not have enough knowledge, of course he was right too, just recently I was at my rifle range when the club secretary and indeed the owner posed a question to me, they were having miss fires in several of their guns, using different Eley ammunition, when I say miss fires, its what many of us call a dead man's click, the strike on the case was well good as was pointed out to me, I contacted Eley the very next morning, Michael Atkinson (brand manager) came straight back to with the answer, by golly he was right it was not the ammunition at all it was the guns, I wont bore you with the technical side of this but lets just say a properly cleaned and serviced gun was what was needed, if you would like to know more about this or are finding you are having the same problem, drop Eley a line through their website or by clicking on the picture link of me above, I will also add a button for their website to the bottom of this article too so its easy for you to drop them a line, I am told they make a bullet casing with a thicker rim for just occasions too, I am a Hunter/Countryman and Professional Pest Controller, I don't do much target shooting but I am told it can be a common thing with target rifles that are poorly serviced or indeed not cleaned correctly, like I say every day is a school day.

I entitled this article Raising the Game, I believe we are doing just this by using The Best of British Starting With Jack Pyke, NiteSite and indeed Eley Out Doors to name just a few, over the coming months as soon as we are able to get out in the field after we come through this ghastly C19 fiasco, I will bring you some truly inspirational articles and indeed footage, using The Very Best Of British with my Young sports Ambassador's and also out on my Professional Poison Free Pest Control Rounds and more.

Until next time everyone please do as you are told, stay home, stay safe and stay well.

Raising The Game
By The Ole Hedge Creepers
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk

Eley Out Doors Weblink

Jack Pyke Weblink

0 Comments

Out Foxing Charlie 15

20/2/2020

0 Comments

Out Foxing Charlie 15

Well blimey yet again I really don't know where to start, Christmas has come and gone, the game shooting season and wildfowling season is over until it starts to get going again in September, well the wildfowling season that is we have to wait until October for the game season to start, The British Shooting show at The NEC has come and gone in a flash too, I must say my stand and my Young Ambassador's Stand really was the shizzle this year we were rammed all weekend with show folk all wanting to talk and meet my Young Ambassador's and have a calling lesson from us.

My game cooking theatre was also packed with wide eyed folk wondering what I was going to cook up next, and the launch of my NEW game cooking book Home & Away was so well received we sold old out, but we will be at The West Of England Game Fair Come March 21st and 22nd doing our demos and more.

As For the Professional Poison Free Pest Control its gone completely mad and I have crop and live stock protection jobs coming out of my ears on my agricultural as well as my domestic and commercial pest control work too, I will tell you of a couple of live stock protection jobs I have had to do just recently and my Young Sports Ambassador's Oliver and Carter got to join me on as I further their education and training.

We start out on a bitterly cold ghastly wet January night, we had to go to one of my oldest clients farms, he has sheep, pigs, ducks and chickens, this is a commercial piggery and lambing station, his fowl are kept for his personal eggs and meat etc, his neighbour is just a house with a large garden who also keeps rare breed fowl as they like to show them at the agricultural shows etc, something was attacking both the farm and the neighbours rare breed fowl killing many and just taking one, of course I knew this to be a fox or foxes.

I got there late afternoon about an hour or so just before dark would fall, I tracked around the perimeters of both properties to work out the attackers entrance and exit, I indeed found these out quite quickly but I wanted to test my Young Sports Ambassador's knowledge and field craft and see if they had taken in some of the lessons I had taught them previously, I was glad to say they had both boys doing very well with their limited young knowledge of tracking, I showed them some of the things they had missed from a single feather, to fur on the barbed wire and even some of tracks they had not seen.

I asked the boys to tell me where would be the best ambush point to take this fox or foxes on its natural attack route, both boys taking into consideration safe back stops, shooting angles, location of live stock, houses, farm buildings etc, I pointed out one thing they forgot, that was the prevailing wind direction as we did not want the fox to wind us before we could get a shot, it was decided that the gate going into lambing field was the best place to set up with everything considered and we had a large barn breaking up our silhouettes etc, I set up my trigger sticks and mounted the NiteSite Eagle Rtec Dark ops on the ole 223 Lead Injector with my favourite Norma Lead Aspirin loaded in the breach, As the dark fell we blended in to our surroundings, Carter started off using the NiteSite Sentinel Pro spotter but then asked could he use my Night Pearl Thermal Spotter, I let him do all the spotting for I knew we would not have long to wait, Niall that's Carters Dad went to check the lambing sheds then came back and said all quiet on the home front.

My 6th sense kicked in as I said I swear I could feel and smell a fox coming in on the wind, Carter looked to the left and very excitedly whispered there he is coming from the left down the big hill through the farm gate, I mounted the rifle switched on the NiteSite Eagle Dark Ops, there he was a big dog fox coming round on the wind just as I had tracked him earlier that day, he started to veer off so I got Oliver to do just two rodent squeaks on my Newly designed Ole Hedge Creepers Fox Magnet multi call, this worked like a dream as he came charging in down the steep hill from 300m to 200m to 100m at 60 I shouted but still he came on strong, at 40m I gave a load rabbit squeal that stopped him as he sat down face on, the rest is history really safety off as I squeezed off the shot and sent the Norma sleeping pill down range, a perfect heart and lung shot as the fox fell stone dead on the spot.

My Young Sports Ambassador's were off like rabbits to go and retrieve the fox, Carter got there first, they both excitedly said how do you do it this all happened almost exactly as you said it would, I just said experience boys but it don't always go this way sometimes the fox out smarts me, my client came out of the farm house after hearing the shot shaking his head saying you never fail you always get your fox, I laughed and said I have failed many times and every time I learn something NEW.

The next problem was on a VIP major sports ground, they had 2 problems, something was attacking their little petting zoo that they have for disabled children, the other was something was digging up the sports ground, the owner swore it was Wild Boar, now although we have had reports of Boar in that area the damage was bad but not bad enough for Boar, to me a swore it was badgers that was my gut feeling, as for the attacks on the petting zoo I had already proved it was foxes, there were plenty of fox tracks fur left on fences sides of enclosures etc, there was also a small rat and rabbit problem to deal with too.

I said to Niall you take Carter and Oliver with the air rifle and the NS50 and see if you can deal with the rabbit and rat problem, I am going to set up camp under that oak tree high upon the hill off the sports ground, I know these foxes are coming down from high ground to attack, This position also gave me 400m of open killing ground with a 180 degree view all with perfect back stops.

I settled in for the night as the night fell the sky was cloudless and the moon was coming up bright, the reason for hiding under said oak tree to hide my silhouette, this it did superbly, I had voles, rabbits, deer all around me within 2 yards until they came around on the wind and winded me that was, I even had a tawny owl land 6ft above my head none the wiser I was there, then I hear a pig type snorting noise 3oom to my left and this big bramble bush start shaking I thought blimey it cant be Boar surely, then two of the biggest badgers I have ever seen came charging out at full throttle right towards me, I could see them clearly in the bright moon light, they charged right at me one chasing the other making loud snorting noises, they crashed through the hedge not 20 feet away from me and kept going, I telle that made my heart pump alright, I took a breath and calmed myself down and carried on spotting with the awesome Night Pearl Thermal Spotter.

A short time later I spotted the first fox coming in from the big wood right over to my right, I got in position with the 223 again with the NiteSite Eagle Rtec mounted on top and watched the fox quietly come in right where I thought he would, I made no sound at all as if I did he would have me pegged in a heart beat, I let him come on round on the wind, then he detected me, he froze on the staring right at me at 100 yards, but too late my cross hairs were already on target, again another text book shot as the fox fell on the spot, I breathed reloaded and settled back down, a few moments after I heard a fox calling to my left, I turned around and there coming down off the top of the hill was another fox.

Again I got the gun and NiteSite in position still hugging my oak tree, this fox knew something was up, he came through the big hedge jumped the high side of the large ditch to the lower side and sat there, this time I tried a rabbit squeal, he was having none of it, and just sat down on the lower side of the ditch bank, it was a long shot but not out of my range, I got my breathing right settled my heart rate put the cross hairs on the top of his head allowing the drop to be an engine room shot and squeezed off the shot, he did a big back flip into the ditch, I went straight up and there he lay in the deep ditch with a perfect shot to the engine room stone dead, it was a very deep ditch and one I was not going to retrieve from by torch light, I told the owner and he had his green keeping staff retrieve it for me in daylight so I could take it to be incinerated.

By the time I got back to the oak tree Niall, Oliver and Carter were there asking well did you get them or it? I told them what had happened and the boys were off like rabbits to retrieve my first fox, both clients since my visit have reported no more fox attacks, as for the badgers we are trying some sonic beepers to keep them away so only time will tell if that works.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it, so until Out Foxing Charlie 16 or one of my other articles, or you come say hello at a game fair, all I can say is catch you later, please keep the emails letters and smoke signals coming into The Countryman’s Diary Magazine I do try to answer you all but some do slip the purse net like a good rabbit on a frosty morning.

Out Foxing Charlie 15
By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk

0 Comments

Young Sports & The Countryman

7/1/2020

0 Comments

Young Sports & The Countryman
By The Ole Hedge Creeper (Rob Collins)

Well here we are with Christmas come and gone and all those preparations a distant memory now as we start 2020, but for me its the start of the new show season and inspiring the many families all about Shooting/Country Sports internationally, I always said I would not let this encroach on my own Country Sports season, but as always it does both at the start and the end of my season, actually its a twelve month of the year seven days of the week job now, I have always had a passion for Shooting/Country Sports since I could walk, spending my first day out traditional ferreting at the age of two years old well nearly three with my family, those of you that have read my first book will know only too well of this first day in the field and how from that first morning and that first rabbit a passion for Country/Shooting Sports & Conservation filled my veins and was tattooed on my soul.

The years flew by and the passion never left me it grew stronger, it gave me a hunger to learn more, but always with what my family of Old School Countrymen taught me right from day one, everything we do in mother nature and Shooting/Country Sports but be from the core that Conservation is the very foundation of all we do, all life is sacred so if we are going to take a life it has to be for a very good reason, Also what was taught to me from day one was the importance of safe proper firearms handling and marksmanship properties, I will get to this further on in this article, as time went on from my school years being dyslexic and in a village school I found myself all out of sorts, but my family especially my father and grand father taught me to read and write using the then Shooting and weekly news now known as The Countryman’s Diary and The Shooting Times, each week I would not only have to learn to read the article aloud but also copy them with pen and paper thus my grand father spent countless hours teaching me how to read and write where the school failed, he knew I had a passion for Shooting/Country Sports and used the correct carrot in front of the donkey to teach me, how can you repay someone who teaches you to read and write when the school had given up on me, in my book you cant, as the years progressed I saw my fellow school chums struggling in other parts of their lives and getting into trouble with the police and worse, so I taught them about Shooting/Country Sports, this was when a seed was planted in my soul once again, the seed for coaching and teaching as my Pappy (grandfather) had passed on to me.

Moving on later in life I went to keepering college and passed out as a fully
qualified game keeper/land and habitat manager and deer manager, I also
went on some years later and took a Bachelors degree in coaching
specializing fishing and shooting, but my love for traditional ferreting has
lasted the test of time 45 years on, I now cover all forms of field sports from
ratting with terriers right up to stalking the mighty Stag, it matters not weather
on a formal game shoot or stalking the humble rabbit I love all Shooting & Country Sports with a passion, my Grandfather a real Countryman of the old school had instilled this in me from a young age, also the passion for conservation, for he always said conservation should be at the core of all Shooting/Country Sports, you just cant have one without the other, he also taught me the value of all life, so that he made sure I knew when I took the decision to take a life it has to be for a very good
reason, by this he meant for crop/livestock or in many cases wildlife
protection, he taught me that every living thing from the crawling insects to
the trees flowers fauna and all birds and animals have a right to live under
gods canopy.

I have tuned this into my cogs in the machine talk when I lecture at colleges/schools etc now, I start off with explaining to my students that the Countryside is a well oiled machine and its our job as Countryside Engineers to keep the machine well greased and serviced but also in good running order, each of those cogs God intended to be a certain size, some big, some medium sized & some small, when a wrong cog comes in like say the Grey Squirrel or American Mink its my job to take that cog out of the machine thus keeping it well maintained and in good running order.

As the years have gone on my Passion for Coaching and Teaching has grown, I started off Pass It On Young Sports back in 2010 so by the time we get to The British Shooting Show at the NEC in 2020 it will be the 10 year anniversary of the organisation where we are holding a huge get together all weekend, with prizes giveaways and so much more from us and our sponsors and The Show itself, when I started Pass It On Young Sports off it was with one single thought process in mind, to inspire the kids of today and tomorrow and indeed their parents all about the wonderful world of Country/Shooting Sports, where their food comes from ethical Farming, a passion for fishing and looking after our ponds, lakes, rivers and sea, never waste anything if you cull it you use it, create habitat for the greater and when you leave you leave nothing but foot prints, Conservation is at the core of all I do and passing on that passion for mother nature and beyond through Shooting & Country Sports.

The Shooting Shows/Game Fairs/regional Country Fairs are vitally important important for helping teach this, families taking their kids to these shows get to meet some of the very best Countrymen & Women in the world as I did as a boy, I met the writers of the magazines they fuelled my passion for all of this as they too were and still are the people us wide eyed country/city kids look up too, we read their articles, when I say we I some times forget I am an adult as I stand there like a wide eyed kid again, I look up to my fellow inspirational writers and Field Sports Channel/Shooting Show celebrities etc, they are all great ambassadors for the very ethos I stand for, each of them giving the young sports time advice, passing on knowledge and more, also at these shows the kids and families get to have a go with some of the most modern top of the range guns in the world, yes I said guns for they are a tool for a job, no more no less a tool, when a person is taught correctly how to use said tool, they will NOT miss use it.

Many guns are works of art and also feats of engineering, all can be sweet on the eye as they are to hold and use, but none the less they are a tool no different to a hammer a trowel or a screw driver, you must be taught correctly how to use them, in a recent BBC interview the question was put to me that guns are dangerous and kids should not be near them, yes they are in the untrained hands but no more dangerous than the simple table knife and fork that we all use daily was my answer, this threw the interviewer right off his train of questioning, I asked him a question who taught you table manners and how to use a knife and fork? He related to me it was his mother and told me a funny story how he had stabbed his brother in the leg as a very young boy for stealing one of his chips, he was told off quite sternly by his mother who spent a lot of time with his teaching him table manners and how to eat properly and use a knife and fork, I smiled and said now you see my point going back to your earlier question

Education and Training is the key, his whole attitude changed and wanted to have a go with the air Arms Air Rifles, I sat him down next to an 8 year old girls who was on her second time on my Pass It On Young Sports Air Rifle Range, she was quietly and calmly plinking a Jack Pyke Target down range, much to her mothers surprise as she said she has ADHD and struggles to to concentrate and sit still, funny in all my years coaching and teaching firearms training the kids with learning problems/disabilities or indeed ADHD and more, always calm right down when shooting, I have literally hundreds of stories letters from parents thanking me for giving their child a new lease of life, one from a parent who's son was going to need an eye operation for a genetic eye problem he had, I worked with him extensively many hours on the range coaching his shooting, the eye specialist at his last pre op appointment said he no longer needs an operation, his exact words were all the shooting using a rifle scope has strengthened the eye muscles better than he could with an operation, I say you cant get much better than that, like I say I have many positive stories and recollections of the good Shooting/Country Sports has over the years and not one negative one, anytime there is a negative thing to happen it is always with illegal and untrained people nothing to do with the legal/ethical and safe use of firearms.

Going back to the interviewer sat next to the young girl, I gave him a full lesson on safe proper firearms handling, even though it was a sub 12ft lb air rifle I said it matters not weather this little Air Arms Air Rifle or a Barrett 50cal so longs as you stick to to what I teach you with safety being a paramount weather on a range or out hunting nothing can or will go wrong, he said this shooting is not as easy as it looks I thought we have a telescopic sight it was just point and shoot, I laughed as the young girl gave a giggle next to me as her mum said you know what thought did, didn't you, the young girl said if you listen to Rob you might actually hit the target so shoot from a calm pond, I smiled almost with a tear in my eye as that was the first lesson I teach, shooting from a calm pond makes you a safer more accurate shooter, we got the targets back, my young girl shot a brilliant grouping the size of a five pence coin the interviewer well it looked more like a shot gun was used, just to prove it was not luck the young girl and the interviewer swapped guns and tried again, he really concentrated this time, although his grouping was much better my young girl put five pellets in a tiny clover leaf, he left with a much better understanding of safe proper firearms handling and marksmanship properties, my young girl with ADHD left calmly and went outside and let off some steam on the play area.

Doing and interview from the barbers chair for BBC radio whilst having my hair cut at Backwell Barbers.

Families and their children at the British Shooting Show 2020 will be treated to simply amazing show that covers far more than just guns, they will also get the chance to meet some of the best in the business, be inspired by all they meet and made to feel most welcome, go over to the air rifle ranges have a go get some formal training and learn what we in the industry know already, safe proper firearms training is not only a pleasure to learn but vital for the kids of today and tomorrow, for education is the key not only will they never get in trouble with guns or do something silly, it will open a door for knowledge and possibly a career, where being the best you can be a passion for Shooting and Country Sports where conservation is at the core of all you believe, come find me on The Pass It On Young Sports Stand where I will be more than happy to talk with you and do my best to inspire you, as we say at Pass It On Young Sports, TOGETHER WE CAN INSPIRE.

By Rob Collins aka The Ole Hedge Creeper head honcho & pointy hat wearer
at Pass It On Young Sports, TOGETHER WE CAN INSPIRE
www.pass-it-on-young-sports.org.uk
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk
www.reallywildadventures.co.uk
shootingshow.co.uk
countrymans-diary.co.uk

For tickets for the show click on The British Shooting Show picture link below.

0 Comments

Fur Feather and Fish The Varied Life Of An Old School Countryman

17/11/2019

0 Comments

Fur Feather and Fish
The Varied Life Of An Old School Countryman

Blimey I just do not know where to start with this in my latest chapter of my humble scribbles, I have Hunted/Shot and Fished from mountain tops to valley bottoms and from rivers and lake to being at sea, most of it my Young Sports Ambassador's have joined me on as well as a good many old friends, so I suppose I should start at the beginning where we left off in the article The Flight Of The Silk Moths.

As always I am very busy with my professional Poison Free Pest Control Rounds, although I specialise in Agricultural Pest Control over nearly 30.000 acres on the books, I also have a vast amount of Commercial and Domestic contracts that seem to be getting more and more busy as I seem to spend as much time in the inner cities as I do out in the Countryside.

I will tell you of a couple of these days where my Young Sports Ambassador's joined me to learn and gain some knowledge about trapping and indeed shooting, One of my oldest VIP Agricultural Pest Contracts is on a free range organic piggery, I must admit their bacon/faggots/gammon/black pudding and indeed pork is probably the best I have had since I was a boy, oh if you want any of these products and more pop over to Jacklands Fishing Lakes Farm Shop, just Google Jacklands Fishing Lakes nr Nailsea, Bristol, you will find them, the fishing both Trout and Course is exemplary too as well as the awesome cafe.

Back to the piggery, I went there to check my traps as always twice a day, on the evening check I took along Young Sports Ambassador's Oliver & Carter, firstly to give them some experience in live cage trapping to teach them humane dispatch of said quarry this time rats, they were also going to help me shoot the grain mill using the awesome Air Arms air rifle and Brilliant NiteSite night vision for said rats.

The boys could not believe the size of some of the rats in the traps, Niall that's Carters Dad and my right hand man on the pest control rounds just laughed, as both the boys swore they were as big as cats, as the night fell on went the night vision, this was when the boys found out in the darkness there is a whole new world to explore, Using the NiteSite Eagle Dark Ops and the NiteSite Sentinel Spotter the boys went on a new adventure after the long tailed Ratticuss, Each shot the boys took with these British made Air Arms Air Rifles was with surgical precision, that's how good these guns are, I have tried them all and nothing comes close to an Air Arms, maybe in a far off distant second place maybe a HW100, the only thing that comes close to an Air Arms for deadly pin point reliable accuracy is another Air Arms in my humble Opinion, I have said this so many time as I have been using air Arms for 30 years this year, my first was an air Arms Carmargue way back in 1989.
We finished that night with a huge pile of rats from both trap and shot with The simply brilliant Air Arms/NiteSite Combo and my Young Sports behind the butt.

The next trip was out on The North Devon/South Somerset Estate, I am in charge of seven wild deer herds and their management, I had 1 Roe Buck left for this year to Complete my cull on this management plan for this part of the Estate, Young Sport Oliver joined me on this stalk along with Niall who was taking care of a squirrel job on another part of the estate for me.

We stalked along the deep hilly meadows along the 20 acre wood, Young Sport Ambassador Oliver shadowing my every step using the binoculars to glass every inch of woodland and meadow grass on this Devonshire Hillside, I spotted some movement along the bottom of the wood as we turned the corner into the sun baked meadow on the South side of this huge ancient woodland, we tucked in by some haylage bales as Oliver knelt down to glass what the movement was, I knew already as it was one of my breeding Doe with a young follower from this year, but this was journey of discovery for the boy and learning field craft etc, my Pappy (Grandfather) always said a good teacher will teach you what to look for but not where to look, that how experience and knowledge joins in the tapestry of life.

As I stood there I could see the sheer concentration on the boys face, I asked in a whispered voice is it a Buck or Doe, Oliver whispered Doe I think? Wait there is more than one, I could sense his excitement I swear I could hear his heart beating from his chest, its two Doe a bigger one and a smaller one, I told him ahhh yes one of our breeding Doe with one of this years followers, at this point something spooked them in the other end of the wood so they trotted right towards us, I whispered don't move a muscle, they both trotted right up to us within ten yards, they never knew we were there well not until they came round on the wind and scented us gave a bark and were off showing us their heels, young Oliver was lost for words after such a close encounter, we settled our heart rate had a drink of water then stalked on.

We crossed a little wooded brook and into another pasture ground, immediately I glassed the cull Buck I was after following around one of last years Doe, we stalked in around the headland to get wind side of the them, Oliver tucked in next to a bush I mounted the rifle on the Primos Trigger Sticks next to another bush about twelve feet away, we had a hundred yards of open meadow rising up a nice hill behind the Buck, I waited a moment or two so my heart rate settled down and got my breathing right, I set myself up nice and steady put the cross hairs on target took a breath exhaled and squeezed off the shot, The Buck dropped on the spot a text book shot, Oliver let out a huge YOU GOT HIM and was off like a Lurcher on a rabbit before I could say hang on, I bumbled at leisurely pace as my youthfulness of running anywhere left me many years ago, a nine young cull buck that finished off this year Roe Buck Cull, even better I got to inspire a Young Sport into the wonderful world of deer management, I think the pride on the boys face says it all don't you, I called Niall to bring the quad bike over to this side of the estate to bring the buck back to the estate chiller, Oliver even got in there and helped with the gralloch and take it back to the estate, His Lordship gave us this cull buck as bonus for another years work well done, we Oliver got to have some of his own Venison he helped stalk on his first deer, I must admit Niall and I were grateful for the gift too as we did not have any venison left in our freezers. All in all a magical day again inspiring a Young Sport Ambassador.

Next I was called into one of my VIP Multi Sports Ground Contracts, I have had this contract for over two decades now, the owner in fact has become not just a client but a personal friend too, he was complaining of rabbit damage on some of the pitches and greens, I went over for a quick recce during daylight and indeed he was right the rabbits had come back with a vengeance, I arrange to go back later that night when this sports complex was closed, joining me and Niall were Young Sports Ambassadors Oliver and Carter, the weather turned ghastly high winds and rain showers, thank god for all our Jack Pyke Gear is all I say, for it takes everything mother nature throws at it and keeps us dry warm and concealed what more can you ask for this awesome British manufactured gear.

Niall and I set up the rifles for me to use with a comfy seat on a table on sand bags with a kettle boiling for hot coffee all night, we set up in one of the under cover areas with a 400m rising up a small hillside for a back stop in front of us, I set up to deal with a fox problem that the organic poultry place had next door and the foxes were coming across the sports ground to get at it, the 223 had the NiteSite Eagle Dark Ops mounted on it, the 17hm the standard NiteSite Eagle R tech mounted on it for those longer rabbit shots, and the 22 rimfire with the NiteSite Wolf for those closer shots, Young Oliver had his Air Arms S200 with him so we put The NiteSite Viper on that so he could try and get his first ever rabbit, the boys used the NiteSite large spotter and the NiteSite Sentinel for spotting the quarry that lay out in the darkness, I used my new Night Pearl thermal unit I purchased from NiteSite and worth every penny and more I telle boys.

We settled in to let it all go quiet whilst Oliver and Carter kept watch Niall and I had a fresh brewed coffee, very civilised this nights work I telle, in fact it blew a hooley and the rain came down side ways, but it did not matter we were as snug as bugs in a rug warm dry and comfortable sheltered from the wind, I remember saying this is the life eh boys, in between the weather there were good breaks in it, the rabbits came out in force and we managed to bag a few, Niall took Carter off for a walk up to the top of the sports ground and bumped right into Charlie fox, much to his annoyance as all he had was an air rifle, the fox took one look at him and off he went never to be seen again, Niall and Carter came back with a rabbit, my turn to take Oliver Off for a walk with his air rifle, I took the 223 too just in case old Charlie came across my path, we stalked around the front of the building towards the car park as a lot of rabbits had been seen here, I was right there were several feeding on the manicured grass banks of the car park, I could see them like daylight on this new Night Pearl Thermal unit from NiteSite, We got Oliver in position and the trigger sticks and waited, a huge buck rabbit hopped out not 20 yards from us, Oliver got his cross hairs on target for a perfect head shot, he took a breath squeezed off the shot as the rabbit did a back flip and lay on the floor stone dead, the other rabbits took no notice as this rifle was whisper quiet with a quality made Andrew Huggett Moderator on it, ten minuets later Oliver Bagged another fine rabbit not ten feet from the first with another perfect head shot just as it started to rain again, so we grabbed both rabbits and bolted for the sanctuary of our base camp. It was starting to get late Niall and I bagged a couple more rabbits from on the hill greens then decided to call it a night as Carter fell asleep with one of the rabbits on the floor of the base camp, we had some lovely fresh rabbit for the table, I had mine pan fried with smoked bacon garlic onions and some herbs, Niall had his in a stew, and Young Oliver and His Dad had his roasted, Oliver said he prefers it pan fried my way, yet again another truly magical night on my pest control rounds whilst inspiring the Young Sports Ambassador's that they are the next generation of countrymen and custodians of our mother nature.

The day out was a Pass It On Young Sports social day aboard the good ship Real Deal with Skipper Dan, we boarded the boat early morning as the sun was just coming up, on the boat were three out of for of my Young Sport Ambassador's Chris, Oliver & Carter as well as Latina that's Carters Sister, Dads Niall, Paul and Big Chris the fish and well of course me and Skipper Dan too, WOW what a boat as fast as the wind itself with all the mod cons on board you can think off including a toilet, I made good use of that as I have a bladder of a 90 year old now days, Dan got us across the water to the fishing area and had us fishing in no time, this man knows how to catch fish and put you on the mark I telle, Niall caught the first fish a small codling that was immediately thrown back nun harmed, then the fish really started coming on the lines, nothing huge but great fun, Cod, Whiting, Conger, Dog Fish, Bull Huss, Tope, and several different typed of Ray all being caught this day, everyone caught fish, Young Sports Ambassador little Chris The Fish caught himself in the nether regions as he was trying to unhook a conger eel, thankfully only in his hunting trousers, much to the amusement of the rest of the ship mates as skipper Dan had to unhook him, I think the photo says it all, Young sport Oliver catching his first ever sea fish, I was stood right next to him as his rod bent double, now Oliver is not the biggest of people but he does have a Lions Heart just like a good terrier, he was not going to let this one get away even when I had to grab him and the rod as the fish almost took him over the side, the boy fought a good hard battle with me holding onto his belt, and up came a monster 16lb Conger, I know its not a monster to you guys but for this young un it was a monster and his first ever sea fish, I think the photo says it all and it was eaten and enjoyed later that week even I got some for me too, all in all a brilliant days fishing with my Young Sports Ambassadors and their ole Dads.

I have been out on my wild bird shooting a ghastly weather working my Dads young Springer Spaniel Tess, I am enjoying training her, you know its one year ago I lost my beloved Labrador Brook, I still cant bring myself to get another dog yet, but I will say Young Tess is helping to heal those wounds, I have fished for monster trout in Wiltshire heading up a social days fishing as I chair the Somerset branch of The Masonic Fishing Charity and all my volunteers and committee member's had a wonderful day.

I have had a couple of wonderful wildfowling flights under the November full moon, Young Sports Ambassador's Oliver and Carter have joined me and both seen some amazing flight of wild fowl, we had gone down on to the Somerset levels to feed my ponds, I had noticed a small splash on one of my fields and a lot of waterfowl activity on it, I said to the boys lets have a couple of hours on this and see what happens, it was one of those flights that will live in my memory forever, I honestly did not think it would come to anything much, there was so much water about I thought if we get lucky the boys will get to see a few duck we might be luck and get one duck for the table, oh how wrong was I, I should have taken some more Hull Steel Cartridges with me as we ran out, Young Sport Oliver bagged his first ever duck of his life and a cracking left to right crosser it was too, he only bagged a fine cock wigeon what I consider to be the king of ducks the lucky little bugger, Young Sport Carter and Tess the springer spaniel did a brilliant job retrieving too with Carter saying this is the best shooting ever, I have to agree with him wildfowling is a passion that runs deep in my soul. Niall and I just could not stop smiling as the sound wildfowl filled the air and our hearts beat from our chests, I swear I felt ten years old again, we finished the flight with a nice bag of wild duck for the table each of us taking at least a brace home each, we saw that night, Shoveller, pin Tail, Mallard and Canada Geese all went on not saluted as they were not in range, we saw Teal and Wigeon that we harvested shot and retrieved and are now destined for my Christmas dinner table, yet again a truly magical nights wildfowling where we all left smiling like Cheshire Cats even I swear Tess The Young Springer Spaniel.

The last day I will write about is with my Young Sport Ambassador Harry, Niall and Young Sports Ambassador's Oliver and Carter were off doing a car show as Niall had a stand there, I am told they had a fantastic time sitting in Mustangs and trucks and a brand new Lamborghini apparently that made to boys day, Young Sport Ambassador Chris the fish went fishing with his ole Dad Big Chris the fish, I am told they had a wonderful time and caught some monsters both in river and lake, I am waiting on their photos and full report.

Harry and I headed out on the estate, I had to check all my humane cage traps, so this would be a wonderful opportunity for me to spend some one to one time with Harry and coaching him without the disturbances of the others, Harry is my Young Sport Ambassador for Country Sports, Carter and Ollie are Shooting Ambassadors and Chris my Young Fishing Ambassador, Harry has a great passion for the out doors, he has re built his own steam engine a Lister Pump engine, he loves hunting, shooting, fishing, he prepares all his own game and cooks some amazing wild food and has a passion for Agriculture and can be often found helping out on my friends farm.

Harry joined me checking and re filling my traps, I explained to him the importance of real field craft here and the legal sides of trapping and more, we then headed over to one of my bigger ancient woodlands where we have a very large conservation effort going on, I had been targeting the grey squirrels very heavily here both with trapping and shooting, I had seen a few new Drays appear so I said lets go over and poke them out, I let Harry shoot whilst I poked the Drays out, Tess the springer Spaniel circled the trees to catch any squirrels that fell, I must be doing my job right as we only saw one squirrel in the whole woodland and he was dealt with very quickly, this is an ancient mixed woodland and the squirrels are destroying the trees so the estate are putting in a big effort to control the greys here, we went back to the truck had a soup and a sandwich then headed down off the hills to the Somerset levels to feed the ponds, I had to finish early as I had to be back to Jacklands Fishing Lakes for their winter supper, I said To Harry lets stand on a splash you might get a shot or two at some duck dropping in before we have to leave, indeed Teal and Wigeon dropped in but they were too fast for the boy.

I was just about to say time to go when the air filled with the sound of the ghost rider, the wild geese were coming and in big numbers too, I could hear them in the darkness coming our way following the moon, I gave Harry a couple of heavy load bismuth cartridges I had in my pocket that I carry just in case, two huge skeins came right over head honking like a Benidorm traffic Jam, Harry gave the two salutes on one bird not 25 yards above his head, alas I think goose fever got him as he missed clean behind twice, I could hear the boys heart beating with excitement, I laughed and said that's the way it goes some times son, we left the levels with a very happy young sport and a not so happy dog as she did not have anything to retrieve.

A really proud moment for me, one of my Young Sports Ambassadors George who has now left school and doing well as a chef and passed his car test too, a remarkable young man who against the odds with true grit and determination has turned his life into a great story that's only just begun, a passionate game chef, now I remember his first day in the field with me as a young boy, his first job gralloch and field dress a roe buck the next was a squirrel, really proud of this young man learning under a brilliant chef and an old school chum of mine TOGETHER WE CAN INSPIRE 😉

I went to the Jacklands Fishing Lakes supper and had the most amazing evening of awesome locally sourced food and fine wine, spent in the company of a great many local people I knew at a distance but had never spoken with, a truly awesome jovial and fascinating evening was had by all, I have booked myself in for the next one too.

Fur Feather and Fish
The Varied Life Of An Old School Countryman
By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk

0 Comments

October 04th, 2019

4/10/2019

0 Comments

Advanced Decoying Part 3
Rise Of The Silk Moths

Blimey where has the summer gone? Here we are moving into the wildfowling season and indeed the game season, I am also very busy with my deer herd management too, the summer pigeon shooting is starting to fade into memory now, here in my latest scribbles about this summers crop protection against the grey hordes attacking the crops and the methods and equipment I have been using, your not only getting just one article but two, so as always your getting value for money as it were and a life times experience from the field.

We start off in this one on a very difficult one indeed, this farm is located right on the edge of a town, the shooting angles are very limited here, also because of its location/footpaths/close to an urban population and topography of the land the gun of choice is the Air Rifle, you see the shot gun is not always the best gun of choice, mainly due to the obtrusive ban it makes, safety is never the issue for in Britain we are proud of our firearms safety as we all have very strict rules, but safety none the less is a problem on this farm as people just walk out where they are not supposed to be, that coupled with a vast amount of anti shooting people living around the area makes it a problem, so the quiet pin point accuracy of an air rifle really is the tool for the job, even though you would not be breaking any law using a shot gun, prudence dictates to me the Air Rifle is my first choice.

Now to be a successful pigeon shooter time and time again with an air rifle comes down to mastering your field craft and marksmanship properties, this is why I call this advanced decoying, we will get to how I out smart the Corvid's (crow family) later in the article, quite simply getting pigeons to come into decoys is not the hardest thing if using a shot gun, but to get them to land time and time again and stand for a shot is extremely difficult, I hear many of you laughing and saying I do it all the time, maybe you do get pigeons to land in your decoys occasionally but are you using an air rifle or are you leisurely shooting with a shot gun, with a shotgun people get complacent as pigeons especially juvenile ones in summer are easily fooled.

Many people also rely on the latest gadgets and not field craft, I have said this time and time again, to be a good pigeon shooter or hunter it takes knowledge and time learned field craft, the gadgets help and have their place, but without field craft you just get lucky, I have also said the most essential piece of equipment of any hunter is a good pair of binoculars, reconnaissance and building up a picture of where the pigeons want to be is the key to a good days shooting.
to edit.

Field Craft, where is the sun you don't want it in your face all day, the wind direction locality of drinking water, tree lines/woodland/copses, flight lines, sitty tree or pylon wires etc, natural cover to put your hide, the birds will tell you if you are in the right spot, you can be wrong I am often wrong and have to move.
Decoy patterns maybe wrong the wind may change the birds may decide to feed elsewhere, don't just sit there like a dummy if the birds are not playing ball find out why, are they seeing you in the hide is the sun silhouetting you are the decoys on they backs, get out the hide and see what's putting them off work it out, this is a DIY day that YOU are the Captain of, do you need to flag fields off or build a scare crow. sometimes the birds no matter what you do wont play ball its that simple, that's what makes pigeon shooting a real challenge for me in its untamed rawness and to do it consistently with an air rifle you really have to master your craft.

I will tell you of a few outings this summer protecting the crops in very difficult to shoot situations, especially on the farm I have already mentioned, blimey there are so many outings to choose from as I am a professional pest controller, I specialise in agricultural pest control and crop protection with over 25.000 acres professionally on my books, although I have as many domestic and commercial customers too.

I think I will tell you of the times I am out coaching and inspiring my Young Sports Ambassadors, I know you guys like to know how the kids are doing as it revives a lot of your own memories shooting with your Fathers/Uncles/Family Friends or the old game keeper from the village, I know it brings back so many memories for me as a you Countryman in the making, also reading articles from my child hood hero's like Fred J Taylor (The Rabbiting Man) John Humphreys (Country Gun) or The Major Archie Coats (The Pigeon Shooter) that's where I came from as many of you have, I bet you are there like I am now writing this looking off into the clouds of a distant past with a smile on your face remembering your childhood hunting memories.

Right lets get on with this article, this year I am trying out all new kit, I have hides from Jack Pyke/Riverside Out Doors, Floaters from Jack Pyke and Cammo Clothing, Decoys from Enforcer Decoys, The Air Rifles I am using are the simply awesome Air Arms S510 Ultimate Sporters, I have knick named them the Silk Moths for they are like shooting pure silk, pin point accurate with a mighty deadly punch, using Air Arms Field Diablo pellets, I have yet to find an Air Rifle Combo of gun and pellet to beat these British Made outstanding engineering awesomeness, in fact everything else comes in way back in 3rd place in my books for the only thing close enough to come near and Air Arms in 2nd place would be an Air Arms again.

I was called in by the farmer who was almost in tears, the crop was devastated with weeks of high winds and rain right on when the barley should have been harvested he lost the crop, with the prospect of winter on the way and no feed for his cattle he quickly direct drilled stubble turnips in to the barley stubble, the Corvid's (crow family) came straight in and started ripping the seed out of the ground and the pigeons came in behind them and was hoovering it up, a dreadful sight to see a man almost in tears, this 5 acre field as I had said before had 4 houses at the bottom of the field all of them totally anti shooting people, they normally run out in their gardens banging saucepans etc trying to scare the birds away when I shoot there, what they don't realise is they are actually doing me a favor by keeping the birds off that end of the field where I cant shoot them, but shhhhhh keep it between us we don't want to ruin their fun now do we, there is a main road at the top of the field too, so the shooting angles are very restricted here, I have shot this field many times with a shotgun for 20 years and always had great success, there are no public foot paths on this field so that's one blessing, I chose to use the air rifle here for many reasons but the main one was another shooter had hit it hard with a shotgun previously when it was standing crop, so fire one obtrusive bang and all the birds went to feed at the house end of the field not returning.

I also had to deal with Corvid's (crow family) now that was going to make this job a thousand times harder, the camouflage had to 101% perfect as well as the field craft and the marksmanship, I set Niall my right hand man a task take Young Sport Ambassador Carter and Oliver down the bottom end by the sitty trees keep the birds of that end at all costs, I tucked into the standing maize crop at the top end on a good flight line, I had reconnaissance the field the day before and knew this was a very strong flight line plus with 20 years of experience shooting the field I knew this was just the spot for an Air Rifle shoot.

Niall and the boys in position lets get cracking, indeed the boys had a lot of fun keeping the birds off that end of the field as they tried to learn how to decoy them, all a learning curve a passage of discovery for the boys, I put my Star shaped pigeon pattern out using Enforcer full bodied decoys, this consists of only 4 decoys set in the shape of a long tailed star, I learnt this pattern from the pigeons themselves with the tip of the star no further than 30 yards away, my good friend Matt Manning asked me about this at the Midland Game Fair this year on my stand, I think he is going to use it and write about how it works in some of his articles, I also placed out 1 single crow decoy 25 yards off to the right of the pigeon pattern, part to be a confidence decoy and part to see if I could build a bag of Corvid’s up as both were feeding together and destroying the crop.

I got back in the maize and immersed myself and became one with nature, young Tess the springer spaniel stayed at my side, within a minute the first wood pigeon landed right in the kill zone, I took a breath exhaled and squeezed the trigger off, whisper quiet the pellet left the gun and a distinct thump as the pigeon dropped to my shot with a few flaps, no obtrusive noise of a shot gun and I barely had time to cock the gun as another landed next to his dead mate, this continued on for about an hour until I had around 20 dead pigeons on the ground, when the birds told me I had to go and tidy up the pattern, that was just the pigeons, the Corvid's did the same in that hour and I accounted for a good dozen of them too, I went out to tidy up the pattern and clear my kill zones for another session, of Course Tess wanted to help too and said I had put the birds in the wrong spots so moved them all for me, ahhhhh a young dog she was just trying to help even when I growled at her to leave them alone, she just stuck her nose in the air and went back to the hide as if to say sod you then you can get it wrong all by yourself, the little bugger also ate my cheese sandwich that was sitting on top my shooting bag, my own fault I should have put it back in my lunch bag.

*Pic for illustration purposes only*

Back in the hide the action started again for the couple of hours or so until it was time to pack up, I think the picture says it all as the Young Sports helped me pack up, remember we just started with 4 full bodied decoys and 1 crow decoy using a natural hide and air rifle.

The next shoot was totally not planned, no reconnaissance I was not going to this job to do crop protection, I was there to clear feral pigeons and rats from a grain mill, I was going along quite nicely and dealt with the job so went to the farmhouse back door to drop my invoice off, Farmer came out ER Boy I have a problem on the middle ground can you go out and move some pigeons off some crop, well yes of course but I had no gear with me today well apart from my air rifle that is, this one I normally do with a shot gun as its way out in the middle of nowhere, I have let George from the farm next door plant some stubble turnips in as his wheat crop is still standing and is buggered should have been harvested 3 weeks ago, bloody pigeons are playing havoc on it, luckily I had 4 of the Enforcer full bodied decoys in the truck as I had forgotten to put them back in the bag from the other shoot.

I told farmer I only had just over an hour as I had to be at another job but I would return with a full set up including shot guns the following day, again I have been dealing with this farm for the best part of 20 years, I took a guess that the lone Ash tree was a good place to have a go, I set out my 4 bird decoy pattern and sat back against the tree no hide just a face veil and gloves on this Jack Pyke Camo is brilliant I telle, the pigeons were like bees round a honey pot landing in the tree above me then dropping down to the decoys or just landing straight in, by the time I stood up and had to leave I had the best part of 20 fresh shot wood pigeons on the ground, I returned the very next day with the Jack Pyke/Enforcer Decoys gear and shot a further 400+ with a shot gun, but the size of the bag is not what matters its the being there and protecting the crops and putting your field craft to the ultimate test that's what matters not the size of the bag, also complying with the necessary GL Licences etc I strongly urge you all to read the GL licences and carry the necessary ones with you as I do.

Also have you got your gun ice cards? What's that I hear you say? They are Gun In Case Of Emergency cards, they are devolved especially for us country folk, now I know you will say you got it on your phone etc, but what if your phone is in your truck 3 miles away or its flat or locked etc, is it worth it for the couple of quid it costs for these cards not to have it, as they say always carry never use, I have a card in ever shooting coat the truck and in my wallet just in case, I already know this simple card has saved several lives, so don't be a tight arse for this card can save your life, go on to their website www.gun-ice.co.uk

The last shoot was with my ole Air Arms S410 my own rifle not one on test from Air Arms, I have been using Arms Arms since 1989 and that was an Air Arms Carmargue and I have not looked at another air rifle brand to keep as my own since although I have tested a great many for the magazines etc.

I was called out to a rat job in a piggery yard, again a very old client of mine, I set all the traps in place and even shot a few rats, when the Farmer next door came in to see my Farmer Client, I was introduced and said and well a long story short he is now also my client, I had to look at a standing wheat crop, he had managed to get the barley in but not the wheat before the weather turned, I could not use a shot gun as the fields were surrounded by horses, I gave it a go on a flight line into the wheat field under an old oak tree on the barley stubble, again no hide half a dozen Jack Pyke flock coated shell decoys a face veil gloves and my old Air Arms S410, I telle that little gun in my hands is a laser nail driver, again knowledge and a little reece told me that lone oak tree was not only a flight line but also a sitty tree, I think that photo says it all really not bad for 3 hours eh.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have remembering this and many child hood memories of a countryman of the old school. Remember all the gear in the world will do you no good consistently if you don't master your craft and learn proper old school field craft, if you don't you wont be consistent you will just get lucky from time to time, read/carry and understand the GL licences, always the leave the countryside how you find it in fact always leave it better than you find it, take all your rubbish home and leave nothing but footprints behind, Always have a home for your shot game do not leave it behind saying its for the foxes, its totally immoral to treat your game this way and brings each one of us into a bad light, remember each and every one of YOU is an ambassador for Country Sports where Conservation should be at your core beliefs, until the next time may I wish you all dry powder and straight barrels.

Equipment used: www.thatchreed.co.uk (Jack Pyke) www.riversideoutdoor.co.uk (Hides) www.enforcerdecoys.co.uk (decoys) www.air-arms.co.uk (Air Rifles) www.reallywildadventures.co.uk (Crop and Pest Control)

By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk

0 Comments

Flight Lines & Decoys Part 2

3/9/2019

0 Comments

Flight Lines & Decoys
Part 2

Well here we are in part 2 of this series, the first one was such a huge hit, I have received literally thousands of messages through social media/email and at game fairs firstly saying what a great piece it was, also asking my advice of how to decoy pigeon more successfully, I have written a series to help you answer many of these questions called Advanced Decoying look for it on The Countryman’s Diary Magazine, I have imparted a life times knowledge in them, not just mine but also the old masters like The Major Archie Coats, My Grandfather/Fathers & Uncle Dave’s Knowledge too, I have asked many a young pigeon shooter of late do you know who The Major Archie Coates is? All have said NO? I laugh and say read his book on the subject for he was and still is in my opinion the foremost expert on the pigeon and pigeon shooting as well as many other areas, this article will stretch into another series I write called Shooting The Silk Moths, in that one we are pigeon shooting using an air rifle, but not just any air rifle, it is the awesome Air Arms S510 Ultimate Sporter, we will touch on it a little here but we will go deep into advanced decoying/old school decoying in that one and old school top class field craft too, So look out for Shooting The silk Moths part 3, read that one and get a glimpse of why I am so successful where others fail, also in this one we will be putting to the test all new equipment that’s available now, the links for all this gear and more will be at the bottom of this article, right lets get on with why I am here then.

Firstly what are flight lines? Now to us old timers this might seem like a daft question, but to some of the novices coming into pigeon shooting its not, they simply don't know, either they have not been taught or even read and learnt anything about pigeon shooting, they have seen it in some magazine or on Field Sports Channel with Crow Man, thinking wow that looks good sport lets buy all the latest tech and go shoot pigeons, here is the bad new chaps, I don't care one one bit about all the latest tech, without time learnt and earned proper field craft all the gadgets in the world wont make you a better pigeon shooter, I have proved this many times, even just recently with a novice with all the gadgets, he shot with a shot gun me with an air rifle, now you will never hear me boast about big bags its not why we are here, but all I will say is he had whirley gigs flappers and bags full of decoys and all sorts of hi tech gear, I had 4 decoys from the 1970s an air rifle and natural cover, he got some good shooting in on this 74 acre field as did I, all I will say on this subject is I had over double in the bag than what he did, the difference between us was field craft and nothing more, I pulled birds away from him with no more than 4 old decoys, so you see it matters not the tech you have to learn your craft first all the gadgets will help so longs you master your craft first young Sky Walker, I say the same about night hunting, Night Vision/thermal is all OK but to be the best you have to learn how to lamp old school style first, to be any good with the gadgets you must master your craft, its the same with all hunting/shooting or indeed fishing, field craft/water craft/tracking/ knowing the quarry you pursue and so much more, that's the difference between the master and the novice, as the old saying says, the master has failed more times than the novice has tried, I urge you all learn well and master your craft, above all else respect your quarry and the land and water

I am often asked what is the one piece of kit you would not be without, I chuckle and say that’s easy, a good pair of binoculars, people look at me cockled? You see it matters not weather hunting/fishing or in this case shooting, the binoculars are the bit of kit that makes the difference, take pigeon shooting for example, rule No1 to have a truly successful day time and time again and not just getting lucky, its reconnaissance that is the key, The Major always said its 3 days reconnaissance to 1 days shooting, I still stand by this to this day, so the binoculars let you sit back and have the eye from a distance to where the pigeons in this case go about their business undisturbed, thus giving you the chance to work out their flight lines thus giving you the idea of the best place to put your hide and decoys, going back to my earlier reference, what is a flight line? A flight line is a pigeon road if you like, you can easily work these out, it can be from tree to tree, telegraph pole, a gap in the hedge or even just a loan water trough and more, sit there and watch the pigeons and don't disturb them, take note of their patterns that they themselves set, my 4 bird pattern I learnt from the pigeons and watching them, it is 3 birds in a triangle each decoy 2 meters apart the 4th set at 6 meters off the bottom of the triangle, either side depending on the wind direction, they drop into this like moths to a flame, so remember field craft/reconnaissance is the key to a great days pigeon shooting, oh and invest in a good pair of binoculars too.

OVER SHOOTING a field or area, this is the one thing that will ruin your pigeon shooting and blow all the flight lines to buggery, its a miss comprehension that the more you shoot the more you protect the crops, no it does not work that way, also remember under the GL licences you are there protecting the crops not there for sport, the fact you enjoy being there pigeon shooting is not relevant, you are purely there to protect the farmers crops as his crop protection servant, you must have complied with all the rules of the general licence before a lethal finding ie shooting them, I would urge all of you to read and understand the GL licences and carry a copy with you when shooting etc, now over shooting does not help, all it does is educate the pigeons to what a man and a gun is, how many times have you taken one shot when a field is blue with pigeons only to see them disappear and not come back, but as soon as you leave the pigeon pommel the crop and devastate it, more times than you care to count I dare say.

I will tell you of one such situation I have experienced over the last couple of years, many of you know I run Pass It On Young Sports & Really Wild Adventures and put up my show stand at most shooting shows and game fairs around the country, so sometimes my time pigeon shooting gets stretched out, I came back from The Game Fair Ragly 2018 and knowing the pigeons were building up on the crop when I left, I thought I would go out and see if I could move them on before the farmer went nuts and lost his crop, I got to one field of wheat that had just been combined, the other fields of barley were still standing, well blown flat, the stubble/the air and the barley fields were blue with pigeons all over them, I thought blimey I hope I have enough cartridges with me, I drove my land rover onto the stubble fields out to a lone oak tree that I knew was a major flight line, indeed there were pigeons all around the tree feeding, as soon as I drove onto the fields every pigeon from the stubble field/standing barley field and trees headed for the horizon? I turned to my mate saying something is wrong here these birds are acting like they have been over shot, seeing as I had not shot here in a few weeks I decided to investigate, I found dead bird in the hedgerows and what was left of several hide positions, I asked the farmer who had been shooting the fields in my absence? Oh I have let a young lad who is just starting out go out, I told him you would take him under your wing, I just shook my head saying that's not a problem but you let him lose without telling me or me even meeting him, it turns out all the horse folk were not happy in the adjacent livery yard as someone had shot almost every day for a fortnight, knowing it was not me they were all set to go down the farm and have a pop at the farmer, this coupled with an armed response unit going down the farm after complaints of the shooting and shot landing on the road, could have been the beginning of the end for the lad, plus the fact he completely ruined the flight lines by over shooting them, thankfully I have taken him under my wing and he is now learning the right way, it was not the novice fault, he had just not been taught properly by someone with experience, so I say to all you novices out there learn the craft, shoot conservatively, now to all us old gunners out there, I say take a novice under your wing teach them well the ways of the old school.

Like I say we have all new gear here to test from folk like Jack Pyke/Enforcer Decoys/Crafty Rabbit and Riverside Outdoors, the new Jack Pyke mesh suits are amazing especially in the hot weather, they keep you cool whilst keeping you camouflaged even keep the bugs off you, these are available from www.theoutpostshop.co.uk , the new full bodied and shell decoys from Enforcer Decoys have to be the best quality and realistic wood pigeon decoys I have ever seen, these are available from www.enforcerdecoys.co.uk , the new pop up hide from Riverside Out Doors is amazing I cant wait to use it wildfowling, this is available from www.riversideoutdoor.co.uk , the New Machete from crafty rabbit what a piece of kit that is, made of the highest quality steel with leather sheath and cuts like a hot knife through butter that is available from www.craftyrabbitengland.co.uk.

Lets get out to the crop fields on our first shoot with the new kit, I started off with my 4 decoy pattern on a flight line on some stubble leading to a standing crop that was being smashed, I cut a hide out with The crafty Rabbit Machete, I was travelling light Air Arms S510 ultimate Sporter air rifle/Primos Trigger Sticks/a seat and 4 decoys and not forgetting my Jack Pyke mesh suit, I chose the air rifle for this job as the location was near a school and main road and I did not want to disturb the area with obtrusive noise from a shot gun, the birds decoyed like a moth to a flame, this is when you know that you have mastered your craft, getting the birds to land time and time again for the shot, you can read the full story soon over at The Countryman’s Diary Magazine entitled Shooting The Silk Moths Part 3, countrymans-diary.co.uk.

The next shoot I had some foreign clients over from South America for a fishing and shooting sporting break, the game fishing went great and the ladies beat the men 7 trout to 2 and 51 fish from over 5 different species in the course fishing, the day we were supposed to be pigeon shooting we had high winds and driving rain, the ladies decided to go shopping instead of shooting, but the one Englishman among the group said lets go pigeon shooting as planned, I had a blown flat barley field being smashed by pigeons, so this was the perfect place to take my client, we sat back under some trees and put The Enforcer Decoys out, I added a Jack Pyke Floater to the mix to give us some movement, the birds decoyed sluggishly in these harsh conditions but the decoys proved their worth, my client getting in some great shots and leaving with a smile like a Cheshire cat.

The next day I took my 2 of my young sport ambassador's (Carter & Ollie) with me to check on a standing crop of wheat, we decided to stand on the edge of the maize field and shoot the pigeons flighting into a laid bare patch, the farmer had said was being smashed by the pigeons, we were right under some sitty trees (pigeons like to sit in these) so would make good shooting for the air rifle and the Enforcer Decoys being no further than 25 yards away would be perfect for the Ole 4,10 shot gun too, the boys took it in turns to shoot the shot gun and the Air Arms S200 air rifle, both pulling off some great shots with both guns, as you can see from the pictures both boys had a wonderful time learning the old ways of field craft reconnaissance and conservative shooting and more, I took them out again a few days later and the boys had a brilliant time.

The next shoot was over barley stubble, again because of the weather the crops had not all been harvested, the pigeons were smashing into the blown flat barley like no tomorrow, I decided mainly due to the location and ease of shooting and finding the shot birds as I did not have a dog with me this left me no option, but to shoot the stubble field with my back against the standing crop, I find it totally remiss to shoot a standing crop without a competent dog to retrieve the birds, the old saying one for the fox just does not stand, decaying birds causing disease in the bales as these will become live stock bedding, also causing heat when decomposing your farmer wont thank you for setting his barn alight when said bale goes up, don't think it wont happen to you, it will I have seen it happen on neighboring farms when shooters just left the birds in the crop, its also immoral to just shoot the birds and leave them or indeed as I have seen just hedge them, if you are going to shoot live quarry retrieve everything you can and have a home for it too, rant over I could write a book on this.

I decided to use the new pop up cube hide from Riverside Out doors, straight out of the bag it was up and in position within ten seconds, its a little snug only room for 1 person shooting if you have a dog you will need a dog hide too, I put the decoys out in a double M pattern with a couple mounted on the straw bales, this worked like a dream I hardly had time to get back to the hide before pigeons were dropping in, the pigeons took no notice of the hide standing out dark against the green hedge, they just decoyed with vigor not caring one whit even when their chums fell out of the sky to my shot, although I will add a Jack Pyke stealth hide net to it on future occasions, although I cant wait to get it out wildfowling as that's the real reason I asked for this color net , the Corvid's were not so easily fooled by the hide for they see in pure color and were not so fooled, for a couple of hours using all new kit I must say I was very impressed with it all, some kit I have not written about from some other companies as it just did not do what it said on the tin, so I have sent it back with an explanation letter with a try harder could do better theme, for I will not write about a product unless it lives up to the job its designed for or what it says on the tin, its that simple.

I am often asked about decoy patterns, now as always most people use the horseshoe pattern as a base pattern for pigeon, quite rightly so its the standard to start from, I said earlier I used a double M pattern this was down to experience as I knew the topography of the land had shot here before and knew this optimized my shooting potential, each place you shoot is different, there are never 2 days the same and indeed decoying tactics differ for around the country, people come here to The West Country from other parts of the UK then say what's wrong with your wood pigeons they fly and decoy weird, I always laugh as I suppose I have been very lucky to have decoyed all over the country as well as all over the world and not just wood pigeons either, I always try to explain it all comes down to your area, the size of the fields, prevailing wind, woodland, fresh drinking water for the birds, topography of the land, time of day, the weather it all plays a part and more, also I call pigeon like I call duck, I see your eyebrows lifting, a daft smile on your face saying he is pulling my leg, I am not I have called as many pigeon into shot range as I have wildfowl, I proved this again just recently when my chum Rob Thomas came over from the Fenn's to come shoot with me here in Somersetshire, he could not believe it either until I proved it time and time again, the more his eyes got wider and his jaw dropped the more I laughed.

I will include a few pics of decoy patterns others have drawn, but what I will say only use them as a rough guide, make your own patterns up that work for you, add in a couple of floating decoys to your kit, I am not a fan of the rotary machines although I have 2 of them, I bet I have not used them in over ten years, most of all be flexible, don't build a palace of a hide straight away you maybe in the wrong place, I am often in the wrong place and have to move as the pigeons have changed their minds, don't just sit there like a dime bar and watched the birds fly else where, its a do it yourself day, so what you put in you will get out of it, move the decoys if you have too and keep an eye on the wind changing direction, if birds are flaring find out why? Are they seeing you? is it the decoys? is a decoy on its back work it out, take your rubbish home with you and leave only footprints behind and pic up others rubbish too leave the place better than you found it, have a home for all your shot birds and remember its field craft and reconnaissance that is the key to a successful days pigeon shooting time and time again.

I hope you have enjoyed this my latest humble scribbles from a Rough Ole West Country Boy, keep an eye out for Shooting The Silk Moths Part 3 I may incorporate it with my Advanced Decoying series too, so there will be plenty to read and stories to tell. Until next time may I wish you all dry powder and straight barrels.

Flight Lines & Decoys pert 2

By the Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk

0 Comments

Out Foxing Charlie Part 14

1/7/2019

0 Comments

Out Foxing Charlie
Part 14

Here we are in part 14 of my out Foxing Charlie series, those that follow my articles will know this is actually part of my article Shooting The Silk Moths part 2, that was all about a rabbit/rat job I had on, but that was only half the job the other half was a fox problem on the same venue, so I would recommend you reading that article too if you would like to get the full picture and fill in the blanks.

We start of in The City of Bath well actually just out side Bath on famous estate and manor house, I was called in to deal with a huge rabbit problem on the ornamental gardens that also had a huge lake too, my client kept rare breed fowl, I met Eric & Ernie the guard Emus as soon as I got there, below is a snippet of what I wrote in the other article.

Snippet from Shooting The Silk Moths part 2
I was shown around the most wonderful ornamental gardens with ancient trees also having its very own lake, the severe rabbit damage was quite apparent, then I was shown around a chicken run that was almost an acre in size, fenced off dug deep into the ground and 6 ft high security fence all the way around, my client was at a loss how the foxes were getting in killing his prize rare breed fowl, firstly I said you need to electrify the fence or an outer fence at the very least, secondly you need to move those big feed bins next to the outer fence, why he asked? I had tracked the foxes and worked out that's how they were getting in already, I told him as we walked around the boundary of the fence there is your entrance jumping up on the feed bins then over the top of the fence and in, you have even provided them with a small step ladder next to the bins, he agreed to move them away from the fence, now for the inside of the pen how were the blighter's getting out whilst carrying a big duck or hen? I tracked the inside boundary of the pen, ahhhh there it is the exit, it was right in the corner where two straining posts held the corner post up, I could clearly see the claw marks on the posts running up and fox fur on the top post as they jumped out of the pen carrying said duck or hen.

I did indeed shoot some rabbits that day with the Air Arms S510 Ultimate Sporter and hung them out on a garden fork with their guts split open to attract the fox to where I wanted to shoot them, I also hung out some of my infra red glow sticks in the no safe shot zones as the safe shooting angles are very tight on this job, there is a funny story that goes with those glow stick and my fellow co owner of the Countryman’s Diary Magazine big Greg, lets just say he lights up well under night vision, as me to tell you the story if you see me at a show etc, like I said I hung the IR sticks out to remind me in the blink of an eye where I could and could not shoot in the pitch black, its one reason I walk every bit of the land in daylight to get a real feel for the land, so that when the night falls I have it in my minds eye.

This job has turned into a really tricky one, with very narrow safe shot angles and undulating ground and very long grass being part of it, client said he only had one fox, this I know now not to be true and its a several foxes not just one, I have seen seven at once and shot four so far, we will get to them in due course.

First night I settled in under an old beach tree just out from the huge run, I thought the tree would mask my body shape well, I had already tracked the place and new the foxes were coming over from the country house next door who had a vast amount of land and an orchard, I now have her as a client for all her deer control but we will get to that later, I sat there as the night started to come in quite peacefully listening to the sound of rodents scurrying through the under growth, a few bats flew around me I could hear their clicking, a barn owl silently glided into my tree and sat there preening itself, a pair of rabbits hopped out by the bee hives, I sat there watching them on the NiteSite Eagle R Tech Dark Ops, then right on cue a fox appeared at the gate some twenty yards from my rabbits, it sat there looking I swear straight at me then another a much bigger one doing the same, I gave a small rabbit squeak and both foxes bolted for cover, I thought to myself these foxes have been educated, probably squealed at before then shot at and missed, so I wont be doing any more squealing from now on, this night came and went and the foxes did not come black, a couple of days later they attacked again so the client called to say come back please.

* Pic for illustration purposes only*

I went back a couple of days later, this time with my chum Alan and his thermal spotter as I know they were there watching me I just could not see them in the undergrowth, with the thermal it gave us the edge to see them coming and be ready, I also had the client pin the gate back as if it were not for the gate I could of shot them before, the night drew in and Alan cranked up his thermal spotter, right there bang on 10pm the foxes returned from next door, they did not come over the ditch they stayed right inside the next doors ditch so no safe shot, we decided to go for a stalk around the lake and ornamental gardens, this was when we spotted a huge dog fox on the main lawn, we played cat and mouse with him but he out smarted us.

We decided to stalk back quietly to our seats under the Beech Tree, low and behold there was a fox not twenty yards from our seats, we just could not get a clear shot through all the bushes/trees etc, we stalked in but the fox wind scented us or heard us or something and disappeared around the end of the stable, then I saw another heat source on the thermal spotter, another fox just in from the gate, Alan dropped his stick mounted and shot in one smooth action in almost complete silence, it was a real pleasure to watch him shoot, half hour later the first fox appeared on the ditch bank and Alan shot him too, that was 2 foxes in the bag so we called it a nigh leaving a very happy client.

A couple of days later I got a call again, bloody fox has attacked and killed my favourite Cockerel this time come back and bring the army with you, I laughed but thought why not take Carter my Young Sport Ambassador along for some rabbit shooting, it would be great experience for him learning how to stalk these rabbits on the manor house too, his Dad my ole mate Niall came along too as a spotter using the sentinel, Carter had a cracking time stalking late sunny evening rabbits whilst his Dad and I watched on, both of us smiling with pride as we watched the boy put into practice what we had been teaching him on the range as well as in the field, he bagged a cracking shot on a bunny by the lake house from a prone position that he stalked in on his belt buckle, the smile on his face was priceless as the rabbit did a back flip and dropped stone dead to the boys shot from that little air Arms S200, His Dad and I cheered him on I think his smile said it all.

Night was coming in so we got back in to position and awaited the foxes, bang on 10.23pm the first fox stepped out, Carter was asleep on the patio chair next to me, Niall had gone off for a stalk with the spotter to see what was about around the lake, I fixed my cross hairs on the fox and not making a sound I slipped my safety off, I could see him as clear as daylight on The NiteSite Eagle Rtec Dark Ops unit, he stopped to take a pee that’s all I needed a split second, I sent the Norma 58grn Vmax lead aspirin down range and administered the sleeping pill to the foxes engine room, it dropped stone dead on the spot, the shot woke young Carter up with a start as he nearly fell off his chair, I did chuckle at that as Niall appeared did you get it, daft question that I am not one to waste valuable ammo.

About an hour later another appeared almost identical to the first, in fact it all went exactly the same as the first, apart from the first was going left to right, this one came from the right to the left, it stopped to sniff the blood from the first kill, that's all I needed as I slipped off the safety of my old Browning 243 and sent the lead sleeping pill down range, this time both Niall and Carter jumped a mile, I could not tell them there was a fox or it might of heard me, So I just got on and shot it.

That was 2 foxes in the bag now, I could sense I was being watched, I could feel it more than I knew it, I said to Carter come for a stalk with me leave your Dad here to watch for foxes, we can pick that 2nd fox up when we come back, I stalked around the long grassy field stealthily telling Carter to mirror my every movement, if I stop you stop, we stalked around using the NiteSite Sentinel to guide our way in the dark, that’s when I saw it a huge Dog Fox, I had to double check as I thought it was the owners German Sheppard out again, but no it was one of the biggest foxes I have ever seen.

I am not sure who was stalking who here, I would get in place give Carter the Spotter, drop my trigger sticks mount the gun, just like that no fox it had vanished? I would turn on the wind trying to get a line on it so it did not wind scent us, then there it was behind us wind scenting us, this was one clever fox he knew the score alright, I bet this is the Boss Fox who is the main trouble maker feeding all the others I thought, last I saw of him was disappearing over by Niall, I said to Carter lets go retrieve that other fox we shot earlier.

I was retrieving the fox and could see Niall's IR from the big NiteSite spotter lighting us up on the screen of the Sentinel, I thought he was just watching us, but no what he was watching was that big Dog Fox he was no more than 20 yards from us watching what we were doing from the safety of the ditch bank, I even had that sixth sense I was being watched and span around with my Night Master pocket lamp, I must have looked right at him but I could not see him in the brambles.

We got back to Niall and said did you see the size of that fox right by you? No we didn't? as we relayed the stalking story with Young Carter doing the actions, it was now almost 2am and we decided to call it a night, the next morning the client messaged me and said a huge Dog Fox was right by the gate at 7.45am, Thermal will be the way forward with that switched Big Ole Charlie Fox as he knows the score, I will get him it may just take a little time and a new position.

As I type I am awaiting my new NiteSite Pearl Thermal Spotters to turn up, when they do this big dog fox is going to be in the bag, here i am pictured with the one and only David from NiteSite one of the founders, also pictured with my ole muckers the top fox shot himself Mark lewis.

I have to go back and see the next door neighbors in the big country house, like I say they have a deer problem in their orchards and have commissioned me to put in place a deer management plan, you never know I may get that Big Ole Dog Fox over her side after all.

Oh and before I forget, have you got your Gun Ice yet? If not then why not, you must be mad to go out in the field without it, as the mantra says ALWAYS CARRY NEVER USE, check out the website and order yours right NOW www.gun-ice.co.uk.

Young Sport Carter also helped me on some fox trapping jobs as I showed him how to correctly dispatch a fox in the trap according to the BASC best practice guidlines, a lesson he well absorbed.

I hope you have enjoyed my humble scribbles, catch up with the other part of this story in my Shooting The Silk Moths series part 2 Out Now.

*click on the picture link of me below for Shooting The Silk Moths Part 2*

Out Foxing Charlie 14
By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk

0 Comments

<<Previous

To my Haters & Stalkers, I am a Lion not a Sheeple, my advice is to not poke the Sleeping Lion, for if you awake me from my slumber you will hear me ROAR, then you will find yourself staying at Her Majesty's pleasure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

About the Archive

As you will all know I am a busy boy and I am asked post articles and review on behalf of lots people in lots of different places.

The images and photos are for illustration purposes only, they may not be of the actual day/article or location in question or even at the same venue, for client/venue sensitivity,data protection and often location or contract legalities, we may use a stock photo at our discretion, The main place to find most of my articles is of course the
Countrymans Diary Magazine.

This Archive is a central location of all those pearls of wisdom I have let loose on the World, whilst its not bang up to date the knowledge contained in here is worth its weight in gold.

Feel free to share this information its all free and it my pleasure to Pass It On.

KL52High Powered Lamp and IR Review