I've Just Been Out ~ Briefly!

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

On Night Patrol! Shit in my pants and I'll pull them up, if that wasn't Harsh!

 

Been sat here all night, getting older and softer. Just had the Dogs out and found us under a blanket of snow and still coming! " Eureeka! " I thought. " This is what I've waited for! ".

 

Got the Dogs in and the rifle and lamp out. Slung my jacket and hat on and off I went. Crunching through snow. Snow in my face. Cold wind. Cold chest - I hadn't thought to do my jacket up and now my hands were too full to start messing about with it. Cold feet. Cold hands. COLD night!

 

I trudged and crunched up to my top gate, then up to the junction. My hands, by now were Freezing. Crunched and trudged a bit more. Lit up all the fields along the way. Saw snow. Checked a couple of pathways for tracks. Saw snow. Realised my left hand was so cold it was now in my pocket and I was supporting the entire weight of the rifle in my right. Saw f*ckin Sense! Back I've come. F*ck That!

 

 

But I Tried!

[Guest flint]

ditch get wrapped up and get back out thr might be your last feckin chance till next year

[Guest Macnas]

Was training the pup this evening, it was so wet she didn't want to put her arse down, kept it an inch of the ground while sat.

 

You have to dress for our weather Ditch, or it'll dress you.

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

We need a board here for Kit. Maybe that Reviews Board? Only I want to ask about those 'Mittens' where the finger bit pulls off so ye can use ye fingers.

 

Have some nice gloves here, but I obviously can't push a heavily gloved finger into the trigger guard of a loaded rifle!

 

I'm fine in the most torrential rain here. But that cold did my hands in. Especially as I fractured the left one a short while ago. No proper footwear right now either. Think I'd better become a fairer weather merchent for the duration

[Guest JohnGalway]

Thinsulate gloves do ya fine for walkabout lamping. They're not dear, cut a slit on the inside of the index trigger finger to turn it into a specialised shooters glove (infact buy two pairs, modify both and sell the other one for 27.95 + shipping lol).

 

Thermal long johns and thermal T-shirt, long sleeved shirt if ya can get it (all on fleabay). Insulated wellies, such as Muck boots. Good thick socks and other clothing inbetween your thermal and outer layer which should be wind/water proof (not resistant, I use Stormkloth stuff I got off fleabay and find it good even for taking prone shots in the wet, and I do meant wet), also should be quiet! Thinsulate cap, or, for speccy wearers a stiff rimmed boonie hat (FB again) for when it rains (folds neatly into a pocket).

 

I also have a heavy polo neck jumper for my lamping too, and an old rather pathetic looking now but still very functional hoodie.

 

Should WW3 break out during the cold months of the year, you're well prepared.

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Cut a slit on the inside of the index trigger finger to turn it into a specialised shooters glove.

 

 

:notworthy: F*ck! Why didn't I think of that?!!

 

 

Right; Later today ~ when the warmth of this Jamesons has worn off ~ I'll be digging out my big, puffy, lovely warm gloves and taking a well considered Stanley Knife to them! Few stitches, to keep everything tidy and ..... yeppers; I could well go into the business of making Happy Hunters! I'll make Me one, anyway!

 

And those furry lined " Muck Boots " too! Oh, Pull Eeeease!!! My circulation's so bad now the blood almost grinds to a halt passing round my feet. And here's me trudging round in bog standard, steel toe capped gum boots? Feet are like blocks of ice all day and night here! That's with the 'Commando' socks on too.

 

I'd been planning to try and get some of those cushioned insoles? F*ck it. Think I'll set my sights on a pair of those furry lined buggers instead! All soft and paddy and clingy, aren't they? Had a pair when I was a nipper. They'll do. Cheap too.

 

I have all the rest of the kit and am 100% Waterproof when I go out. Just that tonight I rushed it and my feet and hands Really took the brunt of it. Bloody near crippled me, to be honest. I'm getting no bloody younger, John

 

 

Thanks for the input, mate!

[rob reynolds uk 3]

the best place for snow is on the front of a christmas card ,thats it ...never had a good night or day out shooting in snow im to old and too much sence now to go out in it

[Guest Macnas]

Sometimes it takes a beating from the weather to make your mind up wrt kit. I know it does me, I use stuff until its falling off me, I'll be in the middle of some bog or other trying to keep an eye out for snipe and woodcock when my hat/coat/trousers boots will fail/leak/tear and I say bugger it, time to get something better.

 

My Missus, wonderful woman that she is, bought me a very good coat this Christmas, a musto stalking jacket. I'm not a big fan of avantage timber cammo but I have to say its effective and the coat is a winner when it comes to being water and wind proof. Plenty of decent sized pockets in the right places and a decent hood, so I'm sorted in the coat dept.

 

I use a pair of hunter wellies with a boot sock liner, the boots are waterproof and the liner keeps my feet insulated.

I've a pair of thinsulate lined cammo fingerless gloves or mittens if you like, which do the job nicely.

A double size game bag, which you could fit a 5 bar gate into also doubles as something handy to sit on.

 

I'm looking for a pair of trousers that'll keep the worst of the thorn from slicing up my legs, so far no joy. Getting anything in a shop here is a joke, with little or nothing in the way of agents for the good kit (seeland, deerhunter etc) its impossible to get a pair off the shelf.

There's an opening for someone with a bit of business acumen there I think.

[Knifebar 0]

I have a pair or those thinsulate gloves where the finger velcro's back so you can shoot. A must for any hunter as I was out ferreting last week one chap had no gloves, could'nt shoot with the cold, I had gloves and got some good shooting.

 

They're a must for anyone hunting this time of year.

 

 

Knifebar

[foxdropper 17,092]

Ditch -Pointless lamping in falling snow mate as the light bounces back at you but wait until it stops and get out without the lamp .Look for footprints of intended quarry eg fox and follow [in the right direction],keeping your head up for spotting it and spot it you will .Foxes seem almost stupid in a fresh fall and are easily seen .The fun starts when you see it and in getting close enough for a shot .Good hunting .

[Guest JohnGalway]

Ditch -Pointless lamping in falling snow mate as the light bounces back at you but wait until it stops and get out without the lamp .Look for footprints of intended quarry eg fox and follow [in the right direction],keeping your head up for spotting it and spot it you will .Foxes seem almost stupid in a fresh fall and are easily seen .The fun starts when you see it and in getting close enough for a shot .Good hunting .

 

Agree with that, it's like going out in fog or heavy mist, makes a nonsense of the lamp. It might look ok just lamping around, but take a look through the scope and see what that's like

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

True, lads. And I get my fair share of mist round here. First thing I learned was not to bother! Dean O' and I gave it a crack once, before I even had my own gun. We staked out by a gate way, half way up the basin. Within fifteen minutes we were walking steadily Up the basin, loking ahead of us! At our backs and pushing us on was a gray / white wall!

 

Anyway, regards last night? I was in with a shout. Obviously, the first thing I ever do, before I leave the compound, is set the beam to where the scope's looking. For fifty + yards it was fine. Granted, 75 was a bit 'in the dark'. But I was ready to settle for 30 - 50. I just wanted to get out.

 

Oh, and perhaps it helps that I now set my scope to minimum mag? I was seeing nice, clear, bright spots and the falling snow looked like just that.

 

Sort those gloves out presently too!

[higgins 75]

Cut a slit on the inside of the index trigger finger to turn it into a specialised shooters glove.

 

 

:notworthy: F*ck! Why didn't I think of that?!!

 

 

Right; Later today ~ when the warmth of this Jamesons has worn off ~ I'll be digging out my big, puffy, lovely warm gloves and taking a well considered Stanley Knife to them! Few stitches, to keep everything tidy and ..... yeppers; I could well go into the business of making Happy Hunters! I'll make Me one, anyway!

 

And those furry lined " Muck Boots " too! Oh, Pull Eeeease!!! My circulation's so bad now the blood almost grinds to a halt passing round my feet. And here's me trudging round in bog standard, steel toe capped gum boots? Feet are like blocks of ice all day and night here! That's with the 'Commando' socks on too.

 

I'd been planning to try and get some of those cushioned insoles? F*ck it. Think I'll set my sights on a pair of those furry lined buggers instead! All soft and paddy and clingy, aren't they? Had a pair when I was a nipper. They'll do. Cheap too.

 

I have all the rest of the kit and am 100% Waterproof when I go out. Just that tonight I rushed it and my feet and hands Really took the brunt of it. Bloody near crippled me, to be honest. I'm getting no bloody younger, John

 

 

Thanks for the input, mate!

Ditch order some electric heated soles from Maplin,just cut them to size of your boots!

[Tyla 3,179]

Cut a slit on the inside of the index trigger finger to turn it into a specialised shooters glove.

 

 

:notworthy: F*ck! Why didn't I think of that?!!

 

 

Right; Later today ~ when the warmth of this Jamesons has worn off ~ I'll be digging out my big, puffy, lovely warm gloves and taking a well considered Stanley Knife to them! Few stitches, to keep everything tidy and ..... yeppers; I could well go into the business of making Happy Hunters! I'll make Me one, anyway!

 

And those furry lined " Muck Boots " too! Oh, Pull Eeeease!!! My circulation's so bad now the blood almost grinds to a halt passing round my feet. And here's me trudging round in bog standard, steel toe capped gum boots? Feet are like blocks of ice all day and night here! That's with the 'Commando' socks on too.

 

I'd been planning to try and get some of those cushioned insoles? F*ck it. Think I'll set my sights on a pair of those furry lined buggers instead! All soft and paddy and clingy, aren't they? Had a pair when I was a nipper. They'll do. Cheap too.

 

I have all the rest of the kit and am 100% Waterproof when I go out. Just that tonight I rushed it and my feet and hands Really took the brunt of it. Bloody near crippled me, to be honest. I'm getting no bloody younger, John

 

 

Thanks for the input, mate!

 

You cant beat neoprene wellies!

 

i am a recent convert and after trying almost every combination of footwear and socks finally bit the bullet. My feet have been toasty warm,,, even with bog standard socks, even when standing still for hours while ferreting. i also have a pair of fingerless neoprene gloves, from ebay, which are hard to beat too. Nothing ruins your shooting like being cold and uncomfortable so its well worth investing in my opinion.

[tango 221]

Ditch fella get urself out an get a pair of neoprene wellies from THE MUCK BOOT CO feck their class. got a pair last year,was a bit like yourself before with bog standard greens. NEVER EVER AGAIN cant say enough about them