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Post by sakorifle on Sept 29, 2014 19:22:07 GMT -5
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Post by sakorifle on Sept 29, 2014 19:31:02 GMT -5
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Post by htownhunter on Sept 29, 2014 19:39:54 GMT -5
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Post by beehunter on Sept 29, 2014 20:08:57 GMT -5
That would be alot of fun.
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Post by HighCotton on Sept 29, 2014 20:36:33 GMT -5
Oh man Billy! That is awesome! I wish I could hop a jet and head over with my "boys" for some of that action! Ya got Duke my Geman Wirehaired and Rock my Elhew English Pointer drooling over here!  They just want ya to know...have a great time and we'll be thinking of you. Will you be able to post up some pics of that outing? |
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Post by tenring on Sept 29, 2014 21:37:02 GMT -5
The protocol of those hunts are fabulous, double guns only, ties, loaders. Come on Powerball.
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Post by sakorifle on Sept 30, 2014 3:41:00 GMT -5
greetings
lovely dogs, my lab is still a great big pup and ellie is almost retired so i wont be taking a dog with me this time.
Yes the protocol is very important, this trip one of my twin sons Stuart is coming to shoot and now that he is a 21yr old man ,gone has the camo jacket etc, that he used to wear as a kid when he went with me, it will be shirt and tie and a tweed jacket, probably one of my old ones from work which is the royal tweed only worn by her majesties keepers, yes that is what i used to be issued with many years ago.
I go mainly to see my friends it is a big social occasion.
I will explain a day.
We all get up early and set off to the estate where we meet up, into the room for a cup of coffee and a chat, the keeper then gives a safety briefing and tell you what you can shoot( ground game is almost certainly a no no).
The you draw for pegs(where you stand) this is done by numerous novel ways, there may be a number on the bottom of your cup or glass, may just pull numbered pegs out of a wallet held upside down, after each drive everyone moves up either two or three for the next drive, so if i am num 2 on drive 1 next i will be num4 on drive 2 and so on, this gives everyone a fair chance at some shooting.
Then you hear Right ladies and gentlemen can we please make our way, time to go and get your boots on, put your side by side or over and under together and immediately put it in its gun slip, it never comes out of that slip until one is on his peg.( semi autos are a no no and one will never see one on a formal day)
With partridges in particular we hae to be very quiet getting into our pegs birds have ears like everything else.
Once you are on your peg you can take your gun out and load it ready, the birds can come any time once you are in position.
Hopefully the drive will go well and birds will fall to the shot.
After about three drives we have what is known as elevenses, this is where we either have a posh picnic on the bonnet of my landrover or if wet we go into a building, this is where the ladies excel and one can be a right pig eat too much and waddle for the rest of the day the spread of food is fantastic, there is also usually drink made from natures fruit marinated with a bottle of gin etc, i never partake of it any more due to medication, but one small glass and that is usually it for those that do.
Then back to shooting as before usually for another two drives but if we are short of birds for the bag we bought there may be a third drive put on.
The day usually finished around 3pm then it is into the guns room where you will find a massive table all laid out for the guns and there partners.
The food is always traditional English food cooked by the keepers wife , her daughters or sometimes he friend will help her, then the banter and stories start, all good clean fun as we always have ladies in our team, believe me there is some fantastic stories told around that table, lol
There is tea coffee and alcohol,but of course the people driving are tea total only.
AT a reasonable time we deicide to go, we thank the keeper and his wife for there hospitality.
In the uk is a tradition and is expected to give the keeper a tip, the going rate last year was minimum of twenty pounds per hundred birds or part thereof, so for a 120 one would give the keeper forty pound tip.
We all say our farewells thank the team member of organising it and put your name down for next time.
The cost of a day like this can vary, from 28 pound a bird to 38 pound a bird depending on the estate.
This year as the keeper is our friend so we get mates rates so it will be 28 pound a bird, we book a hundred bird day and we have ten guns so it is 280 pound each
As i said at the start Stuart is shooting for the first time as a man, daddy here is watching, he better shoot my old gun straight or the laughing will start, never know the old man may have to give him a lesson,lol
He has a choice to use either a lovely side by side English 20bore or an equally as nice 16bore , bet he takes the 16 bore,lol
If i have time and i remember a decent camera i will try to get a picture or two.
regards
Billy
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Post by drs on Sept 30, 2014 4:25:24 GMT -5
Somewhere in my library I have a back issue of "The Gun Digest" that had an article on Hunting in England. Showed a group of happy Hunters, all wearing coats and ties looking very formal. They all had double barreled shotguns, and under their photo it said that if anyone showed-up with a repeating shotgun, they wouldn't rate a second invitation. ~ Interesting article.
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Post by HighCotton on Sept 30, 2014 6:10:42 GMT -5
Billy, thank you so much for that synopsis. As I read your details, I found myself trying to imagine the whole day and simply dreaming of being there.
The anticipation. Then the smells, sounds, climate, family, friends and so on! Where many would dream of various safaris and big game trophy hunts, I rather would choose such a day as first on my list.
I guess I better take a tip from tenring on the Powerball!
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Post by dbd870 on Sept 30, 2014 6:20:43 GMT -5
I thought this was going to be about English longbows!  |
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Post by tenring on Sept 30, 2014 6:43:56 GMT -5
Ah, to be able to just sit in a hide with George Digweed on a shoot would be a fantastic day. Even without shooting, just listening to him would have my sides hurting from laughing describing the hunt. But if one cannot make it across the pond, it would seem that we have at least one spot here. blixtco.com/onpegnewsletter/ |
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Post by esshup on Sept 30, 2014 8:34:12 GMT -5
Yep, come on Powerball!!! Exchange rate today is 1.627020 pounds per american dollar.
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Post by tenring on Oct 2, 2014 15:01:27 GMT -5
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Post by sakorifle on Oct 2, 2014 16:43:51 GMT -5
greetings
looks a good day out if it is not too far away
regards
billy
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