Here we have our latest creation, since shutting down The Countryman's Diary radio station as it was killing our servers, Greg (The Countryman) and Yours Truly (Rob) The Ole Hedge Creeper came up with the idea of these live pod casts, spoken from the heart in our Velvet West Country tones, Cornish and Somersetshire, we bring you some truly magical interviews with VIP guests each week.

We also bring you every Friday our Fat n Hairy weekly round up, The Pub Is Open, sat at the bar with a pint in our fists, the fire crackling in the back ground, here with the latest Country Sports and Farming News, with hilarious stories from a life time spent in the field, Comedy, education and inspiration all under one roof, find out where it all began for a couple of rough ole Country Boy's.

What I will say, this is not for the faint hearted, or the snow flake brigade, we take it right to the wire, egos and feelings might get bruised, you have been warned, Country Boy humor delivered with the ooooooo arrrrrrrr effect as only we can get away with.

Pour yourself a glass of something nice, sit back by the fire and be ready to laugh your heads off, I would have some tissues handy too, for you will be crying with laughter, you will be on the edge of your seats wanting the next episode to be here, I guarantee you will play each pod cast more than once and share it with your chums too, catch you over at The Fat n Hairy Live Pod Casts, from our seats at the village pub.

​One of the fellows sneered this day was a fail, I laughed and said no it was a huge success, we had great food put on by Emma and Jon so a huge shout out to them, everyone had a wonderful time especially the Young Sports, the Youthful banter and joyous laughter could be heard right down the valley, they fired a lot of shots at various vermin high up in the trees above each peg, squirrels and the likes, bear in mind I have made this a 4.10 shotgun only shoot, no other calibre permitted, anything they shoot at will be a real sporting bird, for me the size of the bag matters not, its the teaching the correct ethos of formal game shooting on a green shoot like this, hard work, teaching a proper work ethic, creating habitat and Conservation is at its core, a dress code for the appropriate occasion, last but not least sportsmanship, so a fail of a shoot day, NO NEVER, not on my watch, a roaring success, most definitely a MASSIVE YES, the Young Sports Ambassadors even wore their shoot day tweeds etc to school on non uniform day that following week, I am very proud of my Young Sports Ambassadors, each and everyone of them, they were hand picked by me to fly the Pass It On Young Sports Flag, this they do magnificently, I am truly humbled to know them and their families.

We had some more work parties on the shoot, Harry and Grace built the most amazing memorial bench, just look at the photos below, this was a memorial to mark all the people we had lost this ghastly past year of Covid 19 that was hanging over us, I will say right now it is awesome, I have asked Harry who also runs Woods By Harry on face book to make me some more benches around the main woods, I use this one a lot after feeding, checking drinkers and all the traps etc, Goose my Cocker Spaniel and I normally sit there with a mug of tea from the flask, as we sit quietly we watch and listen to nature, listen to our birds go to bed each evening, it truly is the most peaceful and tranquil place on earth, watch the videos attached to this article they show you far better than mere words what I mean, alas this was the only formal days shooting we managed this season with lock Downs and social distancing etc, but we did manage a few small rough shoots and vermin shoots, still complying with the latest government guide lines on social distancing with advice from BASC, I will tell you of these days shortly, I must send out a massive thank you too all who helped out this season, the beaters, pickers ups, the Mum’s and Dad’s and all the volunteers, but especially my Young Sports junior under keepers, last but not least Sam. he is a Masonic Brother, a Qualified Game Keeper, who also donated us our partridges out of his own pocket, he was our beat keeper on the day, a job he did brilliantly, so thank you Sam my ole Mucker.

Jake’s first day out with his new air rifle from Uncle Rob, I took him to a grain barn as the weather was a little inclement on and off this day, we zeroed his rifle in no time, he gave his Dad some stick saying wow look at my scope and my new rifle its better than yours, I gave him a soft clip round the ear saying wind yer neck boy, your Dads forgotten more about shooting than you will ever know, my Brother and I had a giggle as he reminded us of well us at that age, both giving Dad and Uncle Dave the same stick, I sat him down in an old cattle feeder underneath this Old Oak Tree, I knew full well it wont be long before a feral pigeon landed in it, they love that tree before going in the barn messing all over the grain and eating it, I was not wrong as I poured a couple of mugs of tea from my flask for my brother and I, seven feral pigeons landed on the dead branches, Jake was already on them and had one in his sites, doing exactly what I had taught him on the range, he took a breath, exhaled and squeezed the shot off, the distinct thump of a perfect hit echoed across the yard, the feral pigeon fell stone dead to the floor, Jake carefully laid his now empty and broken barrel air rifle on the floor, again just as he had been taught, he went and retrieved his prize, I don't know who was more proud his Ole Dad or his Ole Uncle Rob, our hearts beat from our chests, both of us smiling like Cheshire Cats, Jake was smiling too excitedly saying I got it, I got it Uncle Rob, just like you taught me, well lots of praise right there was given, I don't mind telling you, both my Brother and I had a tear of pride in our eyes too, or was it that cold winters wind making us pair of rough old Countryman's eyes water, Jake did it in style too with a perfect head shot, like he said just as I had taught him on the range, before that day was finished he had three more ferals and a squirrel in the bag from that Old Oak Tree, I think Uncle Rob knows what a young Countryman in the making wants for his Christmas and Birthday presents eh, next he will get a proper hand made sheath knife and taught a Countryman's proper knife skills and game prep, maybe next year his first 4.10 shotgun, I will have him on the clay pigeons first, although I have had him out with the 4.10 already shooting squirrels on my shoot, but there nothing like having your own gun is there. ​

I hope you have enjoyed my humble scribble, please stay safe and well one and all, I will update you further later in the year with more articles from the heart of this Rough Ole Countryman, but do go over to The Countryman’s Diary Magazine, we have a huge library of articles/videos and now Pod Casts for you to listen too, with expert writers covering all sectors of Country Sports and more, both from home here in the UK and Internationally, as I always say in my mantra, Teach Them Right, Coach Them Well.

​for TOGETHER WE CAN INSPIRE.​

The Season That Didn’t Really Happened
By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk
countrymans-diary.co.uk