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mudman

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Everything posted by mudman

  1. mudman
    Saturday morning on the Humber, nr Reads Island ? I had a few teal but some boys a few hundred yards downstream seemed to be getting into the geese, could'nt see because of the fog. Maybe you were one of the? It was -12°C and my decoys had a ring of ice around them when I retrived them. The dog went white with the hoar frost but did'nt seem to mind a swin or two, the water would have been warmer than the air temp though !
  2. mudman
    Depends what Caprelous means when he speaks of a clean weight. Does he mean just green gralloched with head and legs still on? Or head and legs off and as you would present it to a game dealer ?
  3. mudman
    18 kilo at the dealers is a pretty decent weight, full gralloch, head and legs off, skin on Shot yearling bucks in April at under 10 kilo at the dealers.
  4. mudman
    I think that the 'hammer' calls are one of the most difficult types to master, IIRC they need back pressure. But I have also read that once mastered they are second to none. Did it not come with instructions? Myabe there is something on youtube ?
  5. mudman
    Redlegs, maize and millet (as already described) Greys, kale and fodder turnips in strips. For wild birds summer feeding/breeding a thin cereal and clover mix.
  6. mudman
    Why not try to join one of the Essex clubs, some brilliant wildfowling down there and a heck of alot closer for you? More time on the marsh = more success
  7. mudman
    I had the pleasure of spending last week fowling on the Northern Firths. Did Nigg on the monday morning (I think I may have spoken to you Fed Up Fowler?) and never went back, saw some high shooting coming from the oil tank side. Our bad experience was later in the week at a different bay , 7.20 (nearly daylight) on a morning flight five guys from NE England came over the back fields and set up between our group. I had two starting 40 yards to my left and another three starting 50 yards to the right, this was on a four mile foreshore. I 'commented' that they were a bit a close, there was p
  8. mudman
    My wirehaired Viz is just as described in Swampy's first post. He is a house dog and is daft as a brush. I use him for everything from beating to driven shooting and from stalking to wildfowling. He retrieves perfectly and will wait to put the bird into my hand, never drops it at my feet.
  9. mudman
    See buck and doe twins regularly, shot one of a pair of buck twins a fortnight ago, both still with mum. Watched four does last spring and came to the conclusion they were mum and triplets (1 biggun, three little'uns).
  10. mudman
    Maybe just moulting, they can look as scruffy as hell at this time of year ?? Saying that the totally bald neck would ring alarm bells, probably the best thing for it, rather take one by 'accident' than have it suffering from mange or similiar. Not a problem either way here as they are in season from 1st April.
  11. mudman
    On the arable land in general Roe do very little damage and alot of farmers are fully aware of this. What they do do damage to though is young trees and shrubs, if there are any new plantations or hedgerows under HLS then they maybe an angle of attack. Other approaches : herd management, point out the fact that yearlings are displaced and lost off the land often to become road casulaties etc, nothing dies of old age, old anaimals starve and succumb to disease - weather etc venison- taking a crop off the land, bit for you bit for me poaching - reducing the deer populatio
  12. mudman
    Its also a total b*****d to beat through ! The estate I go to sprayed off tracks through the cover to make it easier on us later in the season and open it up to the birds a bit more. If it could be guaranteed to grow then nothing beats kale, but it is so vulnerable that perennial such as chicory amd yellow clover are becomng much more popular.
  13. mudman
    yellow blossom clover also thrives on chalky soil, compliments chicory very well, perrenials but neither have any feed value. Another vote for Hurrels as well, good set of people, not so well known as a firm but they supply alot of the seeds to the more high profile game cover merchants.
  14. mudman
    I had a day on the first bit of ground back in November with my brother. Nice piece of forestry, my brother got a sika hind next to the deer fence, one of three in a group. I went to help him drag it back later and there was a big red stag watching us from the open ground, that was the only deer we saw but there was alot of sign including some great wallows. Also had a couple of blackcock fly over, the first I have ever seen. At the end of the day getting back into the car and just about to shut the door when a sika whisltled from about 20 yards away in the trees ! Hopefully get back again lat
  15. mudman
    Its for Seismic surveying - oil exploration. Did you see much or has all the disturbance shifted the quarry ?
  16. mudman
    Red deer.
  17. mudman
    How long can you afford to keep feeding them for? Thats what it boils down to at the end of the day. Wheat has gone through the roof, if you are managing to shoot 78% of what you put down, I would stop feeding at the end of the season. So what are the poor devils going to eat then ?? Not much natural food about in February and March, you will be condemning the survivors to starve, maybe not to death but they will certainly be very hungry. 78% returns rate, well not impossible but most likely either not releasing many birds..or benefitting from someone elses.
  18. mudman
    Great Auk (Guillemot)
  19. mudman
    Tapeworm cysts?? hard to say without photos, don't like the sound of the little ball within the muscle structure though.
  20. mudman
    I was out this morning up on the Wolds John and saw a doe with twins and another with a single kid, could not find a buck though. Getting up at 3.15 am really screws up the rest of the day!
  21. mudman
    I think alot has to do with genetics. I shoot in the same area as John Robbo, the ground is highly productive arable land with a range of crops grown over chalk, just the same as the chalk downland in the south of England, yet top quality heads are few and far between . There are medals to be had but the overall quality is not refective of the quality of the land IMO.
  22. mudman
    Get a pair of pliers to it, snap off the excess growth and the guy will have a nice trophy
  23. mudman
    The wood you describe sounds just about perfect Roe habitat, they love a bit of a 'jungle', plenty of fallen trees and big bramble beds is just what they like, keep it as it is. It will be a devil to stalk itself but great holding cover to feed the surrounding fields. It may well be that your 350 acres has already reached its carrying capacity and will never hold many more deer than it does now without serious land use changes (ie more woodland). But if the general area has good number if you shoot one the it will be soon replaced by another, especially at this time of the year when last y
  24. mudman
    Another vote for Oystercatchers, they are really noisy.
  25. mudman
    Are you wanting clean skulls, ie bone and antler? Otherwise some rather smelly parcels might be arriving on your doorstep!
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