A Nice Jaunt

[Dr B 186]

Well, the drive up the M6 was 'OK' and I landed in the lake district for around 11:00am. A quick trip to see my elderly father, and to show him my new gun. This was followed by stories of shooting rabbits with 'chalked-up' open sights on his old Webley Vulcan - the implication being, I've got it easy with a PCP and a 4-12x50mm Hawke scope and thus should come back with hoards of quarry. Nice one Dad, no pressure there then.

 

Then I was on my way to my perms to set up for a week of solid shooting. I arrived at my rented room in accommodation right in the woodland where I'd gone to shoot - so very handy. I unpacked and prepared all my guns. I took all three but really wanted to try / christen my new S410 classic thumbhole walnut in the woods and see how it coped with the conditions. That first afternoon I went for a long walk around the estate looking for where we knew the squirrels were active previously. Sure enough, the signs were there. Although the woodland is around 70,000 acres, because of the way in with the land is broken up, and the distribution of certain tress etc, I'd estimate that pockets of squirrels cover about 15,000 - 20,000acres of this overall spread - and I focussed on sections in this area over my time there.

 

The weather over the next 3 days was atrocious. It pissed down almost consistently for three days and the wind at the north face of the forest was so severe (I'd say 60mph on average) that the rooks were 'surfing' on the branches outside of their nests with their wings spread out for balance. Nonetheless, I was out in this for 4 hours every morning and another 3 hours in the evening. My jacket and pants got wetter than a fishes wet bits - truly wet.

 

The gun, soaked four days in a row, the woodland very boggy, my walking boots completely covered in mud. Due to the wind, I could not make serious inroads into the rooks (the owner wants these cleared out) and only bagged a couple - those that ventured from the top branches to middle ones that were not swaying as much. I did get woodpigeons every night, and managed to actually stalk a couple to within range, as the rain and wind was clearly masking any noise I was making. When a strong wind rattles through woodland bending and shaking trees, it generates its own background noise. Very useful for masking noise, though 40yard tree-top shots are out for the same reason. The rest involved me sitting at trees that I'd identified the woodies like to sit in. Distance of these shots was around 30yds in all cases. I bagged a few squirrels, but few were about early on in that weather. I was disappointed with this and will be returning in the next few days to make more of an impact on numbers. I always try to learn new things when out hunting and here is my take on my jaunt.

 

The gun and scope coped well with the bad weather. The scope never fogged up and thus I'd say its claims to be waterproof and fog proof are true. The gun cleaned up well and shoots nice and sweet. The adjustable IR on the scope was excellent in the woods as the crosshairs in the scope are 'fine grained' so the illumination is a big plus in low light, and amongst the twigs. I'm more use to handling carbines these days, and the rifle is 'noticeably' longer in terms of handling. However this is no bad thing and I soon learned to compensate.

 

I already knew my camo gear was good in bad weather, but this really confirmed it. Under my jacket, I was dry and the membrane on the inside of the camo, shielded from the biting wind - so I actually felt little from the outside. My walking boots were a big help. The woodland is very uneven, with some steep climbs and descents required - stable footing on pathways that had become fast running streams was a must otherwise I'd be on my arse in no time. This terrain is beyond that of the humble welly. These were some of the most challenging conditions I've been out in, in a long time. It was great fun though.

 

Squirrels don't like serious rain. I never saw many until about the third day when I guess they just had to feed - even in the bad weather (though it had gotten slightly better). I bagged all my squirrels in one shoot session, an early morning gap in the rain on the third day. These were also larger in size that what I take from my garden in the midlands. They were all satisfying shots, all to the head, at ranges 18 -30yds.

 

Although the wind was extreme at the north face of the woodland, deep in the woods it was hardly present. All my shots were no higher up the trees than midway, and from the middle of the woods, down towards the south side - so they were shielded from the majority of the wind. I did not compensate for wind with any shot, and those I missed, I knew as I pulled the trigger the error was mine.

 

All in all it was an enjoyable jaunt. The gun has been christened and I am pleased with it. Although I wanted more quantity of quarry, the bad weather put an end to that. However, I was pleased with the diversity of quarry and the guns effectiveness with all of these (squirrel, rooks, pigeon). I'll be back.....

 

The drive down the M6 was hilarious. Southbound, free flowing. Northbound looked like a 140mile car park (on the Bank Holiday Friday).

[random 659]

Sounds a real test for all your kit and yourself,can be hard to keep concentration when being battered by the weather, must be nice to have so much ground to go at with a good amount on it,in harsh conditions it can be hard to get anything at all so to bag a handful is a fair result,you have the time to try different approaches in varying places so should make a good trip,a few pics would finish things off just right!

[Dr B 186]

Thanks Man.

 

Yeah, its a great perm, lots to do and requires a lot of pre-thought and preparation due to its size and the nature of what needs to be done. Its been a while since I've been out in such truly awful weather. Living and being from the lakes, trust me, I'm used to rain and wind, but last week was borderline gale force and for 2 or 3 days in a row, and it must have put down a fair few inches of water in a short time. Horrible.

 

I'll keep you updated. Sorry, don't do pics. I don't own a mobile phone and I don't like taking pics of dead quarry. Just not my thing and never has been. Though I fully accept lots do like to do this.

 

 

Next time I'm up there I'll try and take some pics on my dslr camera, (which is a bitch to lug around and cant really take hunting), of the woodland and the challenges the landscape poses.