Stavross

Very nice, I love the first two, always something completely different

I know what you mean with having to use two hands and it is quite bulky but the main thing I like about them is the binocular and using both eyes, they seem ideal for one spotting and one shooting

I’m from up north mate, you can buy a bloody house for that

I’m going to have to get a paper round Dave to save up for one, the xq38 binocular is still £2750, I’ve played with a couple of thermal spotters, but having them as a binocular in my opinion just works far better

That’s a lovely looking buck Dave, well done, I see a lot of good feeds there, it may be time to invest in a mincer and a sausage maker

Well we covered a massive amount of ground last night, it’s certainly very different to up my way, with the harvest moon the going was tuff, with no cover on huge fields we found them very weary, we could pick them up with the thermal ( and what a bit of kit that is ) but trying to get them to come out in the open was a different matter, we managed a couple both well over 200 yards and then turned our attention to the hares for a game dealer order, running the thermal around the fields I couldn’t believe the amount of hares and muntjac it was like shooting fish in a barrel, in one field of cabbages I counted over 40, the thermal binoculars are a stunning bit of kit, been able to pick out far more than with the NV or the lamp but at £5200 I think I’ll stick with the torch for now

Well I’ve made the trip down to Norfolk and just set out with robin and ric for a nights foxing on the flat lands, one down so far and the amount of hares are unbelievable, fingers crossed for a good night

I’ve never understood why people have problems with open tickets, tell them you shoot the land that you have put on your application and you have also been offed pest control on the local stables, I’ve had my FAC for a good few years now but right from the start I’ve had no restrictions on it and to start off with my first bit of land was my only bit and that was under 10 acres, I know someone who used to shoot at a club and had no land and he has an open ticket, it seems the all the forces make up there own rules

Most like to ask about back stops and safe shooting practice, the may also ask about how far you think the round will travel unobstructed ( it might be a lot further than you think, google it ) Cleveland are ok with hmr for fox but when I was asked I said mainly for rabbits and sometimes fox on the sheep farm where centre fire was not an option, but you don’t have to mention for fox, you also want an open ticket so you are not restricted to where you can use it, tell them about your pheasant shoot and how you can shoot rifles there

They are complete idiots, part of there argument is that the birds attract foxes and crows, that take ground nesting eggs, do they think these predators will not bother if there’s no pheasant or partridge there, or maybe they will hit them harder because there’s less food without the game birds and the keepers who control the vermin as best they can

The top calls on my icotec are, rabbit distress, hare distress, field mouse, pheasant distress and at certain times of year vixen call and fox cub distress, I also use lost lamb on the sheep farm during lambing, this one is a killer, nothing else works there at that time of year

On our little shoot we feed right through the winter even after we have finished shooting and up until the start of summer, the different species of birds that are up there is unbelievable, if the winter is particularly harsh we’ll even take the tops off a few feeders for the deer, It’s nice when people are not just in it for the shooting and appreciate what the have got

Cheers Dave, I get just as much out of it as the lad, I love been able to give people the opportunity to do something they would otherwise not get the chance to do

Well the flight pond would of sold that for me, there’s nothing better than a bit of duck shooting, for me the best shoots I’ve been on or part of have always been private shoots, it’s not all about big numbers and high birds, the shooting comes second to a day out with a good bunch of people, I’m off down to Lincolnshire on Friday for a bit of shooting with a mate ( robin foxer off YouTube) fingers crossed it might include some duck you should have no problems with you FAC it’s a tool to be used with your job and now you are involved with a shoot it’s another reason for needing the right tools for the job

No better way at all mate, is that where you work or have you joined a local shoot?