Peanut pinching thief.................

[philpot 4,925]

My shooting partner and I have put two squirrel feeders in our quarry perm, both of which have some dead branches leaning against the tree to act as a ramp. Each feeder holds approx 6lts of food so we don't need to go and fill up every day in fact it lasts 4 or 5 days however I noticed the other day that one of the feeders had what looked like claw marks on the dead branches along with the plastic tray bent over.   Okay, the plastic tray was a mistake but the point was something had bent the tray so not a squirrel or even a very big squirrel so we thought we had a badger visiting the quarry.

Well yesterday we were in the permanent hide waiting for the last feed of the day by the squirrels and to get a few pigeon coming in to roost from the rape field which they had been devouring. We had a few pigeon which were testing targets in the tree tops in blustery conditions, my pal nudged me and pointed across to the area where the feeders are located, we found who was stealing the feed...............................a muntjac deer.   At only 25mts away, we were able to watch this little fella for a short while before he left the area.

A quick job to take down the feeder and transfer to another tree and at waist height might keep him off with luck. My pal went back to the quarry this afternoon and our little friend made an appearance again.  We had no idea there were any deer in the quarry until the other day when 6 roe deer came out in front of us as we were walking round the top side of the quarry,  when we had a closer look at where they came out, it was a sheer chalk/rock wall so how the hell they got up that, I have no idea.

This quarry perm is about 7 or 8 acres but most of it is impossible to enter as the undergrowth is extreme with brambles and thick bushes but this coming spring we are determined to make a very serious cutting back to allow access and then we will have some amazing shooting area.  If you get round to coming over Jimmy and Si, I will take you there, I love the place, it is like nothing I have ever had permission to shoot on before and I doubt anyone else has either.   We have a lot to learn about this place as time goes by, just wished I owned it, oh yes we also really need a thermal spotter to find the shot pigeon in all the ground ivy so I will be interested to see how you go on with the one you have Si.

 

Just a very small part of the perm.

 

Phil

[bigmac 97kt 13,730]

I will be down Phil that i promise mate

there now iv got to come down

or Trish will batter me if i dont lol

atvbjimmy

[si brown 8,486]

Just seen this post Phil, I’m sure my phone doesn’t bring new posts up sometimes

me and jim will defiantly be down to see you at some point

cheers for the offer!

 

youll love the thermal, me and my mate were out pre dawn the other day sat at the end of a hedge line waiting for the geese that never showed up.. when my mate said there’s something over there!

so I fired up the thermal and it was a fox about 40yrd away, we’ve been after this one for a while and failed on all attempts but when your sat down smoking/talking and drinking coffee it makes an appearance, it won’t be making any more

[philpot 4,925]

Today my pal and I went to alter the position of one of the feeders so that our little resident muntjac cannot reach. this one is a little longer and will hold about 7ltrs of feed.

 

 

After we had finished with the chores, we scaled the very steep and muddy banking that seperates the two quarry areas by using a rope to pull ourselves up. Now those of you who know me, are aware that I am built for comfort whereas my shooting partner is like a bloody mountain goat so I sent him up to scale the bank and I used to rope, but I did it in style 

Now with the rope we were able to gain easy access into the other area which is stuffed with rabbit warrens and another area which had about 200 pigeon in the trees, resting between feeding on the rape fields next door. We will cut steps into the bank in the next week or two to make life a bit easier when carrying feed for the pheasant feeder we placed in there today and of course when carrying the guns and gear over the bank.  I did say in my earlier post that we will be making some serious cutting through the brambles and bushes to allow this area to be shot with ease and judging by what we have seen today, it will be well worth it although the task is not a small one.

The sun was not making it easy to take the photos but here are a few to try and show some of the area we discovered today and this is only a small section so a lot to be gained and learned.

 

 

 

 

This place is the smallest perm we have by a long way but there is just something that I love about this place.

Phil

 

[villaman 9,979]

Big old feeder Phil , must cost a fortune to fill that one 

[philpot 4,925]

1 hour ago, villaman said:

Big old feeder Phil , must cost a fortune to fill that one 

The maize is free from a friend and the peanuts are those sacks from B&M mixed with some very cheap bird seed and a little bit of wheat, again free so all in all not so expensive and only have to fill it once a week. Only draw back is the need for a ladder to reach the bloody top to fill it 

Phil

[j j m 6,479]

looks good phil

[Rat ha tat tat 35]

Hi guys looks good ground nice bit of cover all I would like to say is I got a few feeders in my shooting woods and always a big no no for to fill mine with mixed seeds and (nuts ) as the squirrels empty them just looking for the nuts and don't eat any of the seeds or very little so just fill mine with wheat and don't have to fill them for weeks they do like wheat not telling you guys how to do it but it works for me every time hope this helps in any way and works out so much cheaper good luck hunting regards phil