Popped Out With Si And Mark Last Night ...........

[Jonjon79 13,340]

Well, Si finally made it down to Wiltshire

 

......... Si, did you spot this lad sitting at the roadside by the county boundary mate?

 

He's my dads, daughters, grandads, sons cousin, once removed :laugh:

[Jonjon79 13,340]

It was a decent afternoon - I met Si at the big manor house permission at 4pm.

 

They were feckin about with marquees and tents in the field near the grain silos so, we gave those rats a pass and, headed for the woods over the road.

 

That strip of woods usually has a few squirrels moving around but, we didn't see any.

 

Pigeons are notoriously difficult to get in there but, it wasn't long until eagle eye Si spoted one. Feck knows how - half of it was hidden behind branches.

 

I had a crack at it with the .22 Falcon.

From what I could see of it, I took a heart and lung shot through the upper wing but, it didn't go as planned - the shot went through the wing and out of its back.

..... it hit the floor and shot along the undergrowth.

We caught up with it quickly and, Si did the honours.

 

After that, we headed off to the woods at the top, by the cricket pitch.

 

The squirrels up there are giving themselves away well at the moment

 

..... they're sitting in the tops of the trees eating green conkers and, while they strip them, the bits of shell are raining down.

 

We found this in a few places but, the little buggers are right up high, hidden by the leaves.

 

I found one eating and, it made the mistake of moving the leaves.

The best I could do was an upper chest shot, aiming straight up.

The hit was good but, all that fell out of the tree was the conker

 

As we worked our way back and came into the lower woods, Si spotted another pigeon through the branches.

..... This shot was good

 

His .177 FX Streamline hit it perfectly - it dropped stone dead with no fuss

 

We left there at just after 9pm and headed for the rugby club ..........

[walshie 2,804]

So you actually half killed a pigeon and half killed a squirrel?

[bigmac 97kt 13,732]

It was a decent afternoon - I met Si at the big manor house permission at 4pm.

 

They were feckin about with marquees and tents in the field near the grain silos so, we gave those rats a pass and, headed for the woods over the road.

 

That strip of woods usually has a few squirrels moving around but, we didn't see any.

 

Pigeons are notoriously difficult to get in there but, it wasn't long until eagle eye Si spoted one. Feck knows how - half of it was hidden behind branches.

 

I had a crack at it with the .22 Falcon.

From what I could see of it, I took a heart and lung shot through the upper wing but, it didn't go as planned - the shot went through the wing and out of its back.

..... it hit the floor and shot along the undergrowth.

We caught up with it quickly and, Si did the honours.

 

After that, we headed off to the woods at the top, by the cricket pitch.

 

The squirrels up there are giving themselves away well at the moment

 

..... they're sitting in the tops of the trees eating green conkers and, while they strip them, the bits of shell are raining down.

 

We found this in a few places but, the little buggers are right up high, hidden by the leaves.

 

I found one eating and, it made the mistake of moving the leaves.

The best I could do was an upper chest shot, aiming straight up.

The hit was good but, all that fell out of the tree was the conker

 

As we worked our way back and came into the lower woods, Si spotted another pigeon through the branches.

..... This shot was good

 

His .177 FX Streamline hit it perfectly - it dropped stone dead with no fuss

 

We left there at just after 9pm and headed for the rugby club ..........

AND

[bigmac 97kt 13,732]

So you actually half killed a pigeon and half killed a squirrel?

TOLD YOU WALSHIE THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW TO SHOOT

 

BUT NO ONE LISTENS TO ME

 

ATVBJIMMY :thumbs:

[Baldcoot 2,352]

Sounds like an excuse to see what guest ales on at the Rugby club or is Tuesday topless barmaid night .And stop using my brother,s photo online he get,s embarrassed

[David.evans 5,323]

That Jon Jon , is like Pinocchio, but he ant that bad a shot , unless the rabbit he shot when I went down , was planted and already dead , I wonder , lol

Atb Jon

Half dead my bollkks !

[Jonjon79 13,340]

We met my shooting buddy Mark at the rugby club just before 10pm.

..... Si switched to his .22 Wildcat and Photon, I had the .177 HW100 and NS Viper.

 

We didn't see as many rabbits up here as we have recently but, Si got the first one

 

....... He snuck up on the far edge of the bottom pitch and, took a nice clean shot on one that was hiding in the treeline.

 

That Wildcat really is quiet - the only reason I knew he'd fired is because I heard that sound of pellet impacting skin and bone.

 

We had a bit more of a scan around but, there was nothing else there so, Mark moved up to the archery field and, Si and me headed off for the top pitches.

 

It's the same story in both areas - wide open spaces and very wary rabbits - unless you're very good at extremely long shots or, prepared to sit and wait forever, you have to be very lucky to get one from either area.

 

..... We gave it ago but, the most we saw was little fluffy tails disappearing

 

The farthest pitches are all fenced off and, only accessed by 1 gate.

These are surrounded by banks that lead into a tree line.

..... this has always been a pretty good area where shooters can spread out and stalk different areas.

 

At the foot of the bank, all the way round, is a post and rail fence with chicken wire attached.

 

Mark went for his favourite corner, in the middle, I went left for the bank that borders an old disused road and, Si went for the long straight bank on the right.

 

I scanned for a while but, saw bugger all which, Is strange for that end.

I was sure I heard that impact sound again from way down Si's end but, I couldn't be sure.

 

After a while I started heading back toward Mark, scanning through the fence, under the trees.

I eventually spotted one moving through - it was a little one. Eventually, it hopped past a bigger one

 

I set my sights on that and moved closer.

..... the shot through chicken wire couldn't have been better - front on, straight between the eyes. It just slumped on the spot

 

I found it after climbing over the fence and wriggling under the trees - the JSB Heavy had made a right mess. It had a big lump on the top of its head and both it's eyes had almost popped out.

..... it was a much better shot than my pigeon earlier in the day

 

It was nearly midnight by now and, having been up since before 5am, I was knackered so, I took my rifle and rabbit and, sat down on the bench.

 

While I was sat in the quiet, I heard that sound from Si's end again

 

After a while, Mark came over. He had rabbits in his area but, they'd been playing hide and seek behind the trees - he hadn't been able to get a clean shot off.

 

Then Si appeared - I had heared 2 impact sounds but, he only managed to find one of them.

...... Parts of that bank can be a b*****d for losing them.

 

All in all, 3 good rabbits, 1 pigeon and a brilliant few hours out with cracking company

 

You're welcome down anytime Si - Top man

[Rez 4,957]

Great post this Jon Jon.

[Jonjon79 13,340]

So you actually half killed a pigeon and half killed a squirrel?

Umm, yes but, if you add them up, I got 1 clean kill on a squiregeon

 

..... the shot on the pigeon wasn't great but, that squirrel is still up there - hopefully one of the hawkes will enjoy it

[Jonjon79 13,340]

 

 

So you actually half killed a pigeon and half killed a squirrel?

TOLD YOU WALSHIE THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW TO SHOOT

 

BUT NO ONE LISTENS TO ME

 

ATVBJIMMY :thumbs:

It's easy - take aim, shut your eyes, yank the trigger, hope for the best

[Jonjon79 13,340]

Sounds like an excuse to see what guest ales on at the Rugby club or is Tuesday topless barmaid night .And stop using my brother,s photo online he get,s embarrassed

I wish mate - I'm only allowed up there after they've shut

[Jonjon79 13,340]

That Jon Jon , is like Pinocchio, but he ant that bad a shot , unless the rabbit he shot when I went down , was planted and already dead , I wonder , lol

Atb Jon

Half dead my bollkks !

Shush for feck sake - si didn't notice how old and shot to feck it is in the dark

[Jonjon79 13,340]

Great post this Jon Jon.

Cheers Rez

 

.... it's been a while since I've been out for a good long walk like that mate - it was most welcome

[mark williams 7,549]

Nice write up and good shooting lads

 

atb Mark