Well there I was in Hampshire as a guest at the start of the fallow deer cull, I managed to upset a Glaswegian Muntjac Deer that had retired to Hampshire, with no Andrex in my pocket I had no choice to resort to natures own loo paper, the bark on those trees was rough in them Squirrel-less Hampshire Woodlands, ooooo arrrrrr, learn how I got the new knick name of The Ole Hedge Crapper, if I were a lesser man I would of been like a lamb to the slaughter with those Wolves, but as always I came back leading the pack, with more hilarious tales from myself, Greg The Countryman and Rob from Katch It Traps, this pod cast will split your sides from laughing, with some inspirational education thrown in Country Boy style for good measure
​
https://anchor.fm/.../Interview-with-Rob-from-Katch-it...

But first I must give a massive shout out to Dean Smallwood of ADG Custom Knives, Dean has finished my very own design of my knife, The Ole Hedge Creepers Muckers Knife, its a Countryman’s/Woodsman’s/Stalkers/ Bush Craft Knife, a razors edge is a dull edge compared to this knife, hand crafted from scratch of the finest materials and designed by an artisan master knife craftsman, this blade holds such a sharp edge, those that know their blades, will know what I mean when I say, it sings when you breath on it, with a Walnut handle for traditional roots, it has full tang and comes in a hand made and hand stitched veg tan leather sheath, I will say if your every going to buy a knife, buy this one, its an investment you can hand down through your generations, if you look after it correctly, buy once, cry once as my Pappy taught me, this is not a cheap Chinese piece of rubbish, this is a hand made quality ENGLISH craftsmanship blade of excellence, if you want one of my knives or any of the vast array of blades from Dean, just go over to The Out Post Shop and click on the knives section of my shop website theoutpostshop.co.uk purchase yourself a piece of English Craftsmanship History, a truly functional working piece of art. ​

Like I say we are there at first light, my apprentice joined me later that morning and who took the photos, Goose and I tucked down in by the old fallen Yew Log in the plantation overlooking the game feeders, I always feed until late spring, not so much for the wild game birds, but to help feed our song birds etc, I will write about all the bird boxes and habitat we have created for nature in another article, but for now know this is why we are here, to deal with the ever growing hoard of these Grey squirrel invaders, the first of these started to show itself within moments of us getting into position, I watched this tree rat come in from quite a distance, he got to the base of the feeder approximately 30 yards away, I took a steady aim from off of my knee, took a breath exhaled and squeezed off the shot, the sound of a cricket ball hitting the hickory is the only way I can describe this perfect head shot, Goose stayed in position on point by my side until I gave him the order to fetch, he had already marked the shot squirrel from our snipers nest against the log, I sent him on, he was in and back out with the squirrel in his chops as silent as a ghost, this young dog really has a passion for retrieving tree rats, the next few hours went on like that until the apprentice turned up, who was shocked how well we had done, I did move positions a couple of times along the log too, I knew I had amassed quite a pile but had not counted, Goose really enjoyed himself too as he had lots of retrieves, what I will say and I have said it before, the Air Arms TX200 in the right hands is a surgical instrument, it shoots as smooth as silk and has a deadly accurate humane dispatch on target, making this rifle the best on the market in my humble opinion, the Air Arms Pro Sport is in second place. ​

Spring Is In The Air (part 2)
By The Ole Hedge Creepers
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk
countrymans-diary.co.uk ​

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 

​We start out in early summer of 2020, I had finally finished putting the finishing touches and polishing off Tess the springer spaniels training, Tess is my Dad’s dog, I did try training Dad too but as the old saying goes, you just cannot teach and old dog new tricks, this is certainly the point in my Dad’s case, this was almost two years since I had lost Brook (Labrador) my baby girl to cancer, I just did not have it in me to have another dog just yet, Tess filled the empty gap in my heart for a time, but she was always my Dad’s dog not mine, if you want to read about Brook go over to the Countryman’s diary Magazine, she was one of the most written about, photographed and filmed working dogs on the planet, so there are literally hundreds of articles etc to give you a chance to get to know Ole Brook, may I suggest you start with her final article the one that celebrates the best dog that has ever owned me, also the dog that captured the hearts of everyone she met or who had read about her or watched her on the videos etc, especially the Young Sports she helped me train, go and find the article entitled Its Only A Dog over at the countrymans-diary.co.uk but be warned, have a toilet roll or a box of tissues handy for the tears will flow, I am welling up now just thinking about her.

​Judy arrived as arranged with only Tilly, no Hooley (Goose) this time, after all the formalities Judy left leaving Tilly behind with me for a two week trail, Judy had already met Mag’s my secretary, I explained when I am away working or at shows etc, Tilly would be staying with her, Mag’s passed the interview etc too, the first walk up in my woods on the shoot, I think was a nervous time for both Tilly and myself, but as the days went on we got on very well, but it was very clear Tilly had bonded with Mag’s more than I, this was most likely because Judy a woman had showed her love for the first time, Mag’s well she just spoiled the dog and showed her so much love the bond was there, she bonded with me but not the same, I could see this in the dogs eyes as well as Mag’s, I discussed this with Mag’s, explaining that Tilly just was not right for me but perfect for her, actually she had already decided, if I did not take Tilly on she was going too, that little dog was not going anywhere, just look at the photo of Mag’s and Tilly on the Ipad, it says it all in one photo right there, they are inseparable, as it turns out Tilly and Mag’s make a great beating/picking up team on my shoot I keeper, that dog is loved and spoilt beyond words and quite rightly so, Judy came over and did all the paper work and signed Tilly over to Mag’s, she then left saying she will keep a look out for another bitch for me.

Just look at the bond Mag's and Tilly have, pure love right there.

Awwww little Goose, who could refuse that face.

The Rescue of The Wild Goose.​

I have never had a cocker spaniel before or trained one, something I have learnt very fast, this breed is highly intelligent, they learn quickly so its easy to bugger them up too, no room for error with a cocker that's for sure, they are real characters, I can see why Judy called him Hooley short for Hooligan, he is a little scamp that's for sure, the bugger stole my lasagna, Mag’s pork chop, chewed holes in my slippers and is an escape artist, there is a lovely photo of both Goose and Tilly sat in the front of my land rover sunning themselves, lovely yes but they were supposed to be in the dog box in the boot not on my passenger seat eating my lunch, proud as punch of themselves too, I could not tell them off it was so funny, I took the photo and asked what exactly are you two up to then, I got a wag of the tail and a what us Dad, as Goose dropped me a crust of my lunch in my hand, almost as if to say you look hungry Boss, I will share my lunch with you, these two have brought such delight in to my life as well as Mag’s, since her husband and my dear friend and Masonic Brother died coming up for five years ago, she had a real lonely time, but Tilly has filled that gap for here, as Goose has for me since I lost Brook.

Goose has come on so much, but like I say, I am holding him back, he comes with me on all my Professional Pest Control jobs, or up on the shoot I keeper, helping me feed and check all the drinkers and traps, this is also a great time for him and I to be alone, training and building that bond and keeping it strong, he does have a blip now and again when he comes face to face with a cock pheasant, but he soon learns when I tell him off, but such a sweetie he gets cuddles too.

He has caught a rat and paid it no quarters in the grain mill, he came with me to pick up some grain, as I was chatting to the farmer, we heard a squeak and out he marched with it shaking it dead as a door nail, not something I have encouraged him to do, but he has had a couple now, if I take my eyes off him for a second, squirrels he has a real passion for marking them up a tree, I always take a shot gun with me when feeding etc, something my Pappy (Grandfather) taught me was listen to what your dog is saying when they speak to you, the same for horses, Goose can find a squirrel up a tree blind folded, again not something I have taught him but he just has it in him, I have shot several out of trees he has marked to say a sharp tooth was up there, they drop to my shot, he sits and waits for me to send him, then retrieves them straight to hand, again this is doing more than I want too soon, but none the less the boy loves it, I have let him retrieve a couple of pigeon on command, the same again he drops it right into my hand on command, I have cut the wings off a duck/pigeon and pheasant have put them on his dummies for retrieving, using my 1 in 10 method he is getting quite good at retrieving the left and right and the go back, so I am very pleased, like I say these Cocker's learn very quickly, I always have in my minds eye not to go too fast, but so far so good, on a job the other week I was shooting rabbits with my 22LR with Eley Subsonic ammo, I was also with another pest controller, his old spaniel was retrieving them from a ditch for us, he could not find one, so I let Goose out for a stretch of the legs and a pee, he marked the ditch on point, so I said go on then boy if you think you can find it, 20 seconds later he dropped the rabbit in my hand eye wiping the older dog, that's enough of that for now, lots of praise but now back in the truck you go, just last weekend I took him for a walk on a my wild bird shoot, we were just going for a walk with the gun really, a bit of training, just a stretch of the legs, he suddenly went on point near some short bramble, I sent him on, he flushed a Cock Pheasant. I shot it, he sat to shot as I had been training him, I sent him on the retrieve, that pheasant was nearly as big as him, he brought it back with a mouth as soft as velvet and dropped it right into my hand, I kept him to heal after that, only one retrieve keeps him interested, more would make him unsteady.
​

A very nostalgic photo, Goose and I with my brother and nephew on a recent pest control shoot on the estate.

I will write more about Goose and His training etc in part 2, but here you are right from the start, now you will see us both grow as a team in all our adventures, actually that's a good book title right there, The Adventures of Goose and The Ole Hedge Creeper, in time I may write it, but for now our training continues.​

Before I finish off can I ask you all to keep your eye out for a 10 year old chocolate cocker called Bracken, its Judy’s own dog, it has gone missing, either stolen or there maybe fowl play here I think, if you go on to her face book page all the details are on there, but please keep your eye out Judy is heart broken, I have even been over searching with my thermal equipment to no avail.

Such wonderful memories of past flights with my Young Sports and the other wildfowling club lads, not a duck goes to waste a home was had for every duck.

On this morning I had a couple of my Young Sports Ambassadors joining me, one of their Dads brought them along and was waiting for me by the gate, we set a few decoys out just for the ambiance of the morning, well sort of token really, many say the First of September is too early, I say poppycock, its the start of the season, so get out there, the old saying stands here, USE IT OR LOSE IT, now I rarely even load the gun on the early season its more of a case of the just being there for me, this Morning was all about the Young Sports and giving them a passion for Wildfowling with Conservation at their core, so a few decoys out in the pitch black of the early morning waiting for the sun to come up, the moon was full so still bright enough to see, I told the boys to practice some calling and to listen too as the marsh came to life, Young Sports Ambassador Oliver really has nailed the calling down, he is now getting quite good, look for Ollie’s Calls over on face book, both boys were as wide eyed as a kid on Christmas Eve.​

The light started to come up with the first rays of the sun rising in the East, we heard the Ghost Riders in the distance, that's the wild geese honking across the sky, a shiver went down my back, just the sound of geese makes me tingle all over, just like the first time I heard them when I was a young boy, both the boys were like cats on a hot tin roof, then the mallard started to call, so the boys laid it on thick with their Buck Gardiner Double Nasty Mallard calls, 3 mallard dropped right into their decoys, a volley of shots rang out and 2 ducks dropped into the decoy pattern, that marked the start of another great season, I had a sword of Teal come right past me, as always I was in ore at just the sight of fowl on the wing, I never so much as raised the gun, like I said it was the just being there for me, you don't have to shoot, I like that choice, I always have a gun with me no matter what Country Sport I am out doing, then its my choice weather to fill the game bag or not, some of the best shots I have ever taken have been with a camera not a gun, this is something I am passing down to the Young Sports, there are too many people who are just blood thirsty, this is not how I was taught, you take from Mother Natures living pantry only what you need, you also put more back than you take out, thus why I say conservation is at the core of all I do, Country Sports in its essence if practised properly is the biggest Conservation Body in the world, but like with all things those few rotten apples spoil it for the whole barrel, so I will teach my Young Sports the right way, good ethics and conservation first, only take what you need for your table, obviously pest control etc there are some exceptions to this, but again with good ethics you can find a balance.

*photo for illustration purposes only* Tess didn't know how to take a photo so I used a stock photo instead.

​A few nights later I took one of my top Young Sports out wildfowling as a guest of a friend in South Somerset, he has some wonderful splash ponds and flooded grass areas, they had literally just cut the maize too, Young Sports Ambassador Harry was so excited, Harry is one of those young men who really gets it, he has great ethics and is keen to learn, we set up a few decoys for evening flight and tucked down into the reeds to await the wildfowl, we chatted like a couple of old friends, he told me of some plans for his wood working, oh if you want to see some of this lads amazing artisan wood working skills look for Woods By Harry on Face Book, then I heard it the distant chuckle of Mallard, Harry started calling on his Buck Gardiner Double Nasty mallard call, like a dream they dropped into the decoys, paddles down, wings set, whiffling on their way in, Harry mounted the gun swung through and nailed a perfect right and left right on the button, both duck were retrieved by my Dads Springer Spaniel Tess, the one I wrote about in my gun dog training article for Eley Out Doors, there were many more duck flighting this night and it was a pleasure to watch them, I asked harry how many do you need for the table, he said two for him and one for his grandad, another pair dropped in I said take just one more then and he did with his second barrel in fine style, he missed with the first shot, swung through as it flared and dropped it cleanly with his second shot, even if I say so myself that really was a cracking shot.

The next trip out was with my Ole Dad and his springer spaniel Tess, I now have a young Cocker Spaniel called Goose, he is in training and only now 7 months old, I brought him along for the experience and to just sit and watch Tess work as well as get used to all the sights, sounds and smells of the marsh, I was graciously invited to go shoot some flooded grassland alongside the marsh, Dad was invited too, I would not of gone otherwise, you see I don't yet have a competent dog yet for the retrieving, like I say Goose is only a young pup, Tess is fully trained, I know I trained her and at 3 years old I must say she is brilliant, but alas she is not my dog, she is my Dads, you know I really find it so remiss of people not having a competent dog if they go out wildfowling or indeed shooting pigeons over standing crops, I wont go on about that here as I wrote about it in my last article for the magazine, Dirty Pigeon Shooters.​

So there I am with my Ole Dad sat behind our duck blind, decoys out and dogs sat to heal, Goose had his New Jack Pyke hunting coat on to keep him warm, Tess insisted on getting in the pic with Dad and I, Dad’s first shot was a wood pigeon that came flighting out of the grain barn across the field, I do have to go back and deal with a pigeon problem in that barn but that's for another day, the light started to fade and the first whistling wings were heard over head, I started calling very gently, I didn't want to blow the duck into another County, sometimes less is more especially when it comes to game calling, a mallard turned in from way off, I gave a few clucks of the feed chatter and in he dropped in, wings set paddles down, Dad mounted, one shot he was on the water belly up, Tess was sent in and she retrieved it in fine style I might add, we saw lots of duck that flight and Geese in the distance, just as we were about to retire for the evening a brace of mallard dropped right in unseen, as they lifted Dad mounted swung through like a well oiled machine, both duck fell belly up in the decoys, I sat there as wide eyed as I did as a boy watching him shoot, he just makes it look so effortless, this was one of those Father and son memory moments, he just looked at me and said are you going to take the dog out to retrieve them or not boy, nothing changes there then, I have been the TV remote and game retriever since I could remember, I would not have it any other way.

I hope you enjoyed my scribbles as much as I enjoyed writing them, the full moon the last couple of months have been fantastic, but now I await the November Moon for with it comes the migratory fowl and the marsh will be alive with quacks, whistles and honks of far off magical distant lands, I may then take something for my table of indeed the Christmas Feast.

Stay safe and well one and all at this ghastly time of our second lock down, keep your chins up for The Wildfowl are Coming On The November Full Moon.​

Whistling Wings Under The Moon Light Part 2
By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk
countrymans-diary.co.uk 

I was also there weekend to show Rob the awesome NiteSite Eagle Rtech Dark ops and Night Pearl Thermal Spotter in action, he was struggling with a couple of foxes he just could not get and they were eating his pheasants and partridges, Rob being old school he still only used a lamp at night and relied on his trapping skills, I am the same but there comes a time when technology really comes into its own and pulls the rabbit from the hat.​

We head out late on the Friday night just after I had got there, the hay fields had just been cut so perfect timing really, there was a nice wind about and pretty cloudy, perfect lamping weather I say, but tonight Matthew we are using Night Vision and thermal technology to bring home the bacon, immediately Rob could not believe the clarity of my gear, he had seen others and found it blurry, pixelated and quite frankly not user friendly or fit for the job, that was until he saw my set up in action, blown away is an understatement he had his credit card out ready to buy himself a unit for himself today, now no yesterday, I explained Solware of Tamworth wont be open until 9am in the Morning, as its now almost midnight on a Friday night.

We drove around the whole estate, we stalked many paddocks and grass or crop fields but no foxes, we saw Fallow Deer, Muntjac Deer, Roe deer, Rabbits, Hares, Owls and Bats, but still no foxes, we were just heading back to the truck when my 6th sense kicked off, I just had to check the far paddock one more time, even though we had checked it on the way out, bugger me there was a fox laying behind the sparsest tuft of grass the forager had missed, he was watching some rabbits by a rough area, I spotted him on the thermal, if I was scanning with night vision I would of missed him, but nothing escapes my thermal and my 6th sense, you know he was laying flat out, he could not of got any lower or flat if he had tried, we stalked in to a ditch but could not go any further, I set up the ole 223 with the NiteSite on top on the Primos Trigger Sticks and zoomed in, Rob says that's a hell of a long shot, he said it was 150m I said no closer to 200m as I know my gear, Rob says that's too far off of sticks mate, I did chuckle at that one, a small target of about the size of a tennis ball was all I had, I could see the top of his ears clearly and both eyes, I gave him a rabbit distress squeal, he just lifted his head up a bit and said I am not falling for that and lay flat out again.

I said to Rob, mucker I have two chances here, a clean miss or a clean hit, or I give him a Tonsure (a monks haircut) so I steadied myself, got my breathing just right and my heart rate settled, just like I teach my Young Sports we shoot from a calm ripple less pond, I took the safety off and took a steady aim, exhaled and squeezed off the shot, that dull distinctive thump of a perfect shot, not to float my own boat but dang that was a good shot square between the eyes, literally right on the button, I think I surprised Ole Rob on that shot, now for the long retrieve mucker as Rob took off over the ditch like a gazelle, he came back a little out of breath saying that was a bloody long way that was, it was the big Dog Fox he had been after for months that kept giving him the slip, we never saw the vixen but that's the way its goes.

​Niall’s Roe Buck was put in the chiller and we headed back for breakfast and a shower for me, the lads all went for a big belly buster fry up down the local cafe, I stayed behind had my shower and had a nice mug of fresh Yorkshire Tea and a bowl of Crunchy nut cornflakes with real gold top milk, oh Rob likes Earl Grey, YUK disgusting stuff and the sweepings from the floor, I will stick with my Yorkshire Tea, the boys came back to find me sewing my buttons back on my shirt that I ripped of in my hurry in the woods, the boys looked like stuffed pigs after their breakfast, we then all got some shut eye ready to go for the evening in the high seats.

I made a wonderful steak bap with the sirloin I had brought up from home, Rocky helped me eat it too as it was quite large, the boys came back for some red bull (energy drink) and nicotine and we headed back out to the high seats, Niall was back with Rob desperate to get a Fallow Pricket, I was back in the high seat where I shot that nice Fallow Buck and Dave was in the High Seat we were in that morning, Niall and Rob again saw lots of Fallow but all Doe no Prickets of Bucks well one but it was too far away, I sat in the high seat in the high seat and thought I would try some calling for a change on my Butlo call, I didn't really want to shoot a deer just see how the call worked up there as the rut had just started on the Roe, I would of shot that Vixen had she come out, a beautiful high gold medal Roe buck came to my calling and stood broad side not 35 yards away, I could of taken him easy, but deemed him a good breeding Buck to keep a lesser man may have taken him but not me, I let him trot off after a few minuets, I hear a Muntjack Buck bark to my left then saw him and Doe
heading towards Dave,s high seat area, I stopped calling and waited and listened, a few moments later I heard a bang and a distinct thump of a clean hit, half an hour later I hear another bang, then my phone went off he had bagged the Muntjack Buck and Doe and sounded like a kid on Christmas morning on the phone, I got down out of my high seat and headed over to take a pic before we lost the light, Niall and Rob came back to pick us up and congratulated Dave, we then headed back for a kebab and a few well deserved beers. ​

The next day we headed home with some very happy Countrymen, some awesome memories and my Land Rover full of fresh culled wild meat, we all send a massive thank you to Rob Elton of Katch It Traps for his hospitality, you sir really are a scholar and a gent sir, its my turn next for you to come to me mucker and me to host a weekends sport on the South Somerset/North Devon Estate for you and your good lady. If you want anything from Katch It Traps they are the best in my opinion go on their website www.katch-it.co.uk and say I sent you.


I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it and remembering a great weekend spent with top drawer muckers and some outstanding sport, so until the next adventures of The Ole Hedge Crapper I wish you all to stay safe and well.​

Deer, Deer, Deer & Fox Too
By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk

Now being somewhat of an old boy now days in the world of Country Sports, I suppose I call myself a Countryman of The Ole School now, as it seems I have earned that coveted tile, I was once a young Countryman eager to know everything about all Country Sports, or indeed thought I knew it all, ahhhhh that old saying, with age comes experience, or Youth is wasted on the young, I remember getting advice from the old masters about all sorts of things, from traditional Ferreting to Fishing or Stalking to Pigeon Shooting and more, yes I am guilty of thinking I knew best and learned many a lesson the hard way.​

But one thing I would or could not ever be accused of is not respecting my quarry or indeed mother nature and all who live under her veil, all wildlife, plant, fauna, trees it matters not you treat it with respect, this was drummed into me from that very first day I stepped out in the hunting field, conservation is at the core of all we do, I was taught the Country Code and to leave nothing behind but foot prints, I was also taught to put more back in than I take, thus my passion for conservation started early.

Now being somewhat of an old boy now days in the world of Country Sports, I suppose I call myself a Countryman of The Ole School now, as it seems I have earned that coveted tile, I was once a young Countryman eager to know everything about all Country Sports, or indeed thought I knew it all, ahhhhh that old saying, with age comes experience, or Youth is wasted on the young, I remember getting advice from the old masters about all sorts of things, from traditional Ferreting to Fishing or Stalking to Pigeon Shooting and more, yes I am guilty of thinking I knew best and learned many a lesson the hard way.​

But one thing I would or could not ever be accused of is not respecting my quarry or indeed mother nature and all who live under her veil, all wildlife, plant, fauna, trees it matters not you treat it with respect, this was drummed into me from that very first day I stepped out in the hunting field, conservation is at the core of all we do, I was taught the Country Code and to leave nothing behind but foot prints, I was also taught to put more back in than I take, thus my passion for conservation started early.

​Now there are a long list to why I call them this, I have just recently been dealing with some agricultural contracts, whilst working with the combines over the almost 30.000 acres I have professionally on the books, I was forever dealing with dead birds in the crops, cartridges left all over the place as well as other rubbish, now also having quite a mixed collection of New decoys including a full floater set up, I have repatriated these to my ever needing Young Sports, they have quite a collection now, all left behind by these Dirty Pigeon Shooters, now you wont see anyone I coach doing as such, especially my Young Sports for they are being taught correctly to respect the land and the quarry, I mean how can you lose decoys? You count twenty out, you count twenty back in, this could not be any simpler a process, as to leave a full on floater behind dancing in the wing you just have to be blind or have more money than sense, we lost 4 hours work one day as a decoy went up inside the combine making a hell of a racket where it got stuck, the farmer had no I idea what went wrong so we had to strip the combine out until we found it, then it took over an hour to get it out too, so that farmer was not happy and neither was I, this particular farmer was renting the land for growing his crops, the land owner was letting out the shooting to many, I have come across this attitude before I am paying for it so I can do what I like, well no you bloody cant, firstly leaving your rubbish everywhere is dangerous to the wildlife, the eco system and live stock and more, secondly this was my other gripe just shooting the pigeons and leaving them where they fall or dumping them under the hedge is disgraceful, if you don't have a home for them, don't shoot them, I had a novice once do this after the telling off I gave him he wont do that again, or indeed the ones I have had to clear up behind both spent cartridge cases and shot birds, totally unethical and brings every other person involved in Country Sports into a bad light, also the fact that leaving the birds in standing crop is a disease hazard, a potential fire risk, and quite simply just not cricket at all with no respect for your shot quarry, I know of a farmers barn that has just gone up in smoke because the bales caught fire, I am told on good authority it was because dead birds were found in them, I have heard all the excuses, on big bag days you cant retrieve them all, no maybe not but there's ways to reduce that, for one have a competent dog for retrieving shot birds out of the crop and two limit yourself to no further than 30m, mark every bird down and get it immediately, yes you will still lose the odd one that cant be helped, I picked up 60 shot pigeon with my old dog behind some Dirty Pigeon Shooters not so long ago, another small wheat field is stinking with dead pigeons in the crop, totally disgraceful, I say this to YOU, if you just want to shoot things go clay pigeon shooting or target shooting, stop flashing your cash and disrespecting mother nature and us real Countrymen who are trying to do things correctly, or learn to be a Countryman for which the rewards are vast.

Many decoys found, cartridges all over the place, dead birds thrown in the hedge and over 100 dead pigeons left in the crop of a small 5 acre field of wheat we harvested.

The shotgun was unloaded and propped up so Dad could have his cup of tea out of his flask.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this as mush as I have enjoyed writing it, I feel much better getting this rant off my chest, but if this offends you then you are part of the problem and I advise you to change YOUR DIRTY PIGEON SHOOTING WAYS.​

Dirty Pigeon Shooters
By The Ole Hegde Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk

Right back to this one, like I say it was a wet windy cold night, drizzle rain you know the stuff, fine and gets you soaked to the skin, I got there in daylight with my right hand man Niall who I am teaching the finer points of field craft tracking trapping and so much more, stealth being the one thing I have yet to ingrain in him, but each day he improves his knowledge, as I was taught with each fail a lesson is learned, this is the case with Niall he has to learn the hard way, I worked out that this client had more than one fox attacking, he had at least two foxes coming in from over the long meadow, by the tracks I would have said a small vixen and a larger dog fox, pond ground a different set of tracks, and home field most definitely two different foxes, one very large dog fox the tracks were huge and he kept leaving fur on the barbed wire fence in the corner of the field entrance, along side this was another set of tracks not quite as big, my thoughts either a large mature vixen or possibly a smaller dog fox.

I set Niall up on the long meadow in the shadow of and old willow tree, I suggested we put a rabbit out with his paunch as a bit of a scent attractor to get the foxes where we wanted them for the humane rifle shot to dispatch them, Niall declined, I on the other hand had just finished a rabbit job and had some fresh shot rabbits in my truck, so I paunched them out and hung them on a fencing spike at the bottom of a large bank, this not only would hopefully get the foxes right to where I wanted to shoot them but also give me the perfect safe back stop I required, as I was taught from boyhood once that bullet leaves the barrel you cant retrieve it, another reason I insist on walking any clients land in daylight to make sure of safe shooting positions and back stops and non safe shot zones.​

The rain started to come in and my New Jack Pyke Digi Cammo jacket held up pretty well, I was lit up by the farm yards flood lights so I hid in the shadow of my truck, this did two things concealed me quite well and sheltered me from the drizzly rain, I first spotted the big dog fox in the corner of pond ground on my Night Pearl Thermal unit, oh yes I forgot to say that's where I set up, I then switched to the NiteSite Eagle Dark Ops mounted on my trusty ole 223, there was another fox there now too, quite a big fox but not as big as the first, I thought oh yes that's a Dog and Vixen paired up there, I could see them tentatively wind scenting my rabbits, I gave them one quick rabbit squeal no more, many people over call at this point, the Vixen came in like a steam train right to the rabbits hanging on the field spike, I slipped the safety off as I followed her in, she stopped 6 feet away from the rabbits and looked, I squeezed off the trigger and that distinct dull thump of a perfect shot to the engine room was heard, she dropped on the spot not even a twitch, the dog fox did not run so I squealed again a longer louder one this time, he came bolting in like hell was on his tail, I was just about to take the shot when!!! a load voice shouted from the lights of the yard, DID YOU GET IT? Bugger me Niall had left his position came as running as soon as heard the shot shouting and scaring off the dog fox, I growled like an angry bear, it was not his fault he is only learning the finer points of professional pest control, we did catch the dog fox a few days later in my humane cage trap and humanly dispatched him too, I will come back to this farm in a bit after the next couple of farms.

​*If you look closely at the photo below you can see the rain falling*

A friend of Niall’s who had just bought a small farm got attacked by foxes, this time getting into his ornamental pet fowl and his beloved Pea Cock and Pea hen enclosure, I was asked could I go and sort out the problem, I went along with Niall to take a look at the problem, as it turns out I knew the lady she was a farmer friends ex wife, I advised better husbandry with better mesh on the enclosures and suggested an electric fence, but this was already in hand as Niall had already been down and put one up that day for them, the fellow told me of two foxes he had seen, I had already had reports of the white van man again in this area dropping foxes off, so I knew there would be more than two foxes, the farm next door was getting hit hard too so I picked that contract up as well.​

Niall and I tracked around working out how they were coming and going from this property, all the main runs came in from the adjacent farm, as night fell we readied the rifle with the NiteSite Eagle Dark Ops and the Night Pear Thermal unit for spotting, we stalked the field margins as well as stayed in a strategic stationary position too, this front lambing paddock right opposite the fowl enclosure just kept calling me as a good ambush spot, by golly I was right, as Niall and I stalked in close to a gate I turned to Young sport Carter and said shadow my every move, if I stop you stop, Carter is Niall’s son and would be my fox retriever for the evening with Niall, I got to the gate and glassed the field, not 25 yards from me was a fox sat watching use, I mounted the rifle onto my Primos gen 3 Trigger Sticks, but the fox trotted off to join another two foxes 45 yards away, I lined up on the first and fired it dropped on the spot at the bottom of this large embankment, the others took off running but not far, so I squealed a distressed rabbit call, the big dog fox came bolting back and I bagged him too not 5 yards from the first, the other bolted into a small orchard that was going up the hill not 60 yards away, I squealed again it froze and I nailed that one, as we went to retrieve those three foxes there were two more coming to their funeral as my squealing had called them in, so a quick recycle of the bolt and I had another brace of foxes, I turned to Niall and said these are no country foxes these are town released foxes, whilst retrieving those five foxes I saw another five foxes just sat there watching us, poor sods did not know how to hunt all they know is how to scavenge a KFC or dustbin, I really feel sorry for them poor things, those that are releasing them are no friend of the animals, in fact they should be prosecuted for animal cruelty I say, no wonder the farmers live stock are being attacked those poor foxes are starving to death, Both Clients were very happy with my efforts but at 4am in the morning I could pull the trigger no more, I arranged to go back in a couple of days if the attacks persisted.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my humble scribbles as much as I have enjoyed writing them, until next time stay safe one and all, you can always catch up with me and my other articles over at The International Countryman’s Diary Magazine on this website: countrymans-diray.co.uk ​

Out Foxing Charlie 16
By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk

My Mum:​

Mum passed away at the end of June 2020 and we held her funeral in mid July, My Brother and I were at her side when she peacefully slipped away, she had not woken for a day or two, but as her breathing shallowed in the last moment as my Brother and I held her hand and stroked her head, she opened her eyes, smiled a beautiful smile, looked right as us both, said our names, then closed her eyes took a last breath and went off to collect here angels wings, all I can say here as it would take too long to write, is she was a great mother who defended her cubs (my Brother & I) to the last, a hard working woman who kept a great house, an even better table and gave my Brother and I the most awesome childhood, that set us up in good stead for adult life, as I said at her bedside and at her funeral, rest easy now Mum Your Boys have got this.

Pigeon Shooting:​

I am going to start this part of with a bit of a rant, firstly I teach best practice to all my young sports and each novice I coach, I always remember my Pappy (grandfathers) advice here, when in nature you leave it better than you find it and leave nothing but footprints behind, one of my biggest bug bears is the Dirty Pigeon Shooter or indeed anyone involved in country sports who do not respect The Country Code.

Just recently I get called to a series of farms with frantic calls come as fast as you can, my crops are blue with pigeons, they are ignoring the gas gun and scare crows completely, we all know this is only a temporary measure as the birds soon become used to these measures, but to comply with the GL licence such measures have to be taken, this sort of call always happens at certain times of the year for me, I am a professional pest and crop protection operative not an armature, so often get called in after the Free Pest Controllers have had a go, now far be it from me to stop a man’s sport and I give full blessing to those who do a good job, but then we have the Dirty Pigeon Shooter, shooting over standing crop with no competent dog to be able to retrieve the shot birds, leaving the dead birds in the crop, or doing more damage to the crop trying to find shot birds with no dog, then leaving all their spent cartridge cases on the floor, I tell you that really gets my goat, I have found its normally these people with the bottomless wallet brigade with cash on tap who are the worst for it, I tell you now if I catch you then the sharp side of my young you will get, leaving the dead birds in the crop with the its OK the foxes will clear them up is no defense, firstly its totally remiss of you to treat one of gods creatures in such a way each bird should be treated with the utmost respect and used, always have a home for your shot birds, also the foxes will not clear them up and you will end up putting disease into the bales that the farmer used for animal bedding or food, cross that with when you burn his barn down with a decaying pigeon in the middle of the bale and it smoulders and catches the bale on fire, don't give me the cobblers it wont happen it will, it has and its not fun when I end up helping a farmer drag burning bales out of a barn trying to save his livestock, also the old nonsense oh its OK the combine will miss them they cut over it, dream on for you live in the twilight zone, I do not appreciate having to clear up behind YOU DIRTY PIGEON SHOOTERS, DON'T, shoot over standing crop without a competent dog, DON'T leave your spent cartridge cases behind, leave nothing but foot prints, be respectful to the general public another issue I have had to smooth out just recently with shooters upsetting a delicate balance of an area, remember you are all an AMBASSADOR for Country Sports.

Rant over I will tell you of a couple of pigeon shooting trips out just recently, I had been up on The Young Sports Ambassador's game shoot with Dave from South Somerset Country Supplies, they are one of the sponsors who are helping with the shoot, we had been making up pheasant feed from Collins Nets that Mags our Pass It On Young Sports national secretary had sponsored for the shoot, Dave had a new young pup called Wren, he wanted to see how she reacted around gun shots so I said join me and ole Tess the springer spaniel in the pigeon hide this afternoon, as it was I had to get some pigeons off a small crop of wheat nr Taunton Somerset, I only stayed 2 hours but put up the Jack Pyke decoying and hide system, the pigeons dropped in like bees round a honey pot, I cant remember the exact bag but we did quite well, we also discussed hide etiquette, field craft, and how a good Clean Pigeon Shooter should behave, Dave left with a boot full of fresh shot pigeons and I am told he made 72 fresh Wood Pigeon Burgers from them, nothing went to waste as he froze most of the carcasses for ferret food and put some straight into the ferrets, another bug bear of mine are those DIRTY PIGEON SHOOTERS who shoot big bags and throw the pigeons into the hedge, don't shoot more than you have a home for, or better still stay on the clay shooting grounds and leave real pigeon shooting to those who know how to do it properly with correct ethics for the job in hand.

These good ethics I teach to my Young Sports, each and everyone of them are taught correctly to best practices and the reasons there for, they are taught ethical Country Sports with Conservation at their core, some of these Young Sports got to shoot with me just recently, I had been called in on a failed crop, when I say failed that's not quite right, the winter wheat had got flooded in the winter so only half the field took, so farmer went straight in and drilled some spring barley with the wheat to get the best he can from it, its for cattle feed so this will work, then as the wheat started to ripen the pigeons hit it hard, come now come yesterday was the call, I had so much paper work on with mums funeral stuff, pest control reports and a mountain of emails to do, I could not do both paperwork and shoot, so I made a few phone calls and called in my Young Sports and their Parents, I had all the equipment they just needed their guns and cartridges, I met 3 families at the field, set up 3 hides and taught them tradition field craft as we went, I left the parents to it with their respective Young Sports to supervise, I went and sat on the back of my truck with a good vantage point to watch them all whilst I got on with my paper work and emails etc, the pigeons dropped into each decoy pattern like bees round a honey pot, I don't think the shot count was so good for birds down, but that mattered not they were keeping the birds off the crop, I decided I would have a little go myself for 2 hours, I had an old broken jack pyke hide, my Primos trigger sticks as hide poles, a broken floater that was the only decoy I had and a cammo fishing umbrella, my retriever and I sat on the back of the truck shooting over some litter ally just cut haylage under a flight line next to an old ash tree, I had a good vantage point of the other 3 hides and only shot if they did not have birds decoying to them, for 41 cartridges, that I picked up I might add, I had 30 pigeons, I missed a few but hey that's pigeon shooting for you, by the time the Young Sports and their parents came back to the truck they could not believe their eyes, they all wanted to know hoe I got so many pigeons, I laughed and said the Old Master has more than one trick up his sleeve, as The Young Sports said you really are The Ole Hedge Creeper ain't you.

The Pass It On Young Sports Game Shoot:​

I created this idea after speaking to some lecturers from some of the game keeping colleges and other colleges I have lectured at, the concern was a lot of the kids coming into the industry, come in with rose tinted glasses on, they think becoming a game keeper or habitat manager is all about the shooting and they get to shoot all day, so when they go to college and find the harsh reality of it all they drop out after 3 moths and the courses start to fail or have lack of attendance etc, so I thought bugger it why not start of a Young Ambassadors Game Shoot, this is only open to those young sports who work had for 1 year to get on my programme, they then have to work hard to stay on it and be a shining light for their fellow young sports, this will also give these Pass It On Young Sports some actual hands on experience of what's expected both in college and in the work place, even if they don't go into this industry it will give them the start of a good work ethic, I call them my junior game keepers, they have to put in the hard work when school etc allows them, I have one main rule, you work hard you get to shoot, don't put the effort in you don't get to shoot, neither money or influence will change my mind on this, I have also said each and everyone of them boy or girl dresses for the occasion on a shoot day, I want to see them all in a shirt and tie and that includes the parents too, lead by example, for I will be suited and booted in my best Jack Pyke Countryman shooting suit on every shoot day, I expect the same from everyone there too, I believe this will show our Young Sports not only a pride in their appearance but also stand them in good stead for job interviews etc, it will also give them pride that their shoot is something to look up to, they will be split into two teams each shoot day, with a new shoot captain chosen each time for each team, beat one shoot one and the young sports have to organise this too including the whole shoot day, obviously I and the parents will be there to supervise, but make or break its their baby weather a shoot day works or not.

So far all the Young Sports have worked hard and cleared one of my woods, cut rides, built shelters and feeders, released their birds and fed watered and dogged in, they have done really well on their work parties with so many more to come before the first shoot day this season, take a look at the slide show or the you tube video at the bottom of this article.