Back up at the shoot

[Dervburner 2,548]

200 pages on this thread.

[shovel leaner 7,648]

Saw two foxes ( maybe Cubs ) in the distance through the thermal , but didn’t shoot any more last night . In spite of the  cut fields they didn’t pull any foxes . But I’m out again tonight. 
           An early start this morning to check the birds . All ok so I spun past the cut fields in the hope I might see Charlie having breakfast, but again nothing doing. 
       Black grass is a big problem here and the reason why we have so much ground given over to silaging. The way they get rid of it is to drill the affected fields with Italian Rye grass and then cut the silage a few times then spray it off with roundup and repeat in the hope that you eventually clean the ground up of black grass . It has been a drastic decision to cut a whole field like this . But every cloud as they say , I for one love silage fields .

[BenBhoy 4,706]

What will they do if/when we ban glyphosate?? 

[Dervburner 2,548]

53 minutes ago, BenBhoy said:

What will they do if/when we ban glyphosate?? 

If we were still in eu I think it would be banned already. I’ve been told it’s banned in Europe?

[BenBhoy 4,706]

57 minutes ago, Dervburner said:

If we were still in eu I think it would be banned already. I’ve been told it’s banned in Europe?

Not quite Europe wide but lots of them have mate yeah, and France currently paying farmers NOT to use it!! Matter of time I think. Trouble is it's bloody good at its job! 

[The one 8,397]

I took a run up the other night and as the farmer was bailing hay it was worth it being seen and talking to him , but apart from the hay field nothings cut and there's nothing on it . There's a good few rabbits starting to appear and  i shot a dozen for the ferrets but even with headshots they where jumping into the gorse and i couldn't even see them never mind retrieve them . He said at least mid August before thinking of making a start on the barley  and wheat  

[Stavross 13,733]

It was a similar problem with neonic’s ( I know that’s pesticide ) and I can see a big problem with herbicide’s and pesticides, surely the land can’t take much more, but with no alternatives that are as effective what are they meant to do, every time I go to my mates farm he’s in the sprayer hammering one thing or an other, his crops always look really good but it can’t be good for the the land or his pocket 

[FOXHUNTER 5,020]

Feckin pests ....lily beetles have just destroyed my lilies

[shovel leaner 7,648]

I swear part of my job is being an Agronamist . This one little patch of cover crop was very late going in because of bad weather, the ground itself was ok , but where it is was impossible to get machinery in without getting stuck . Being too late for Maize, we have drilled it with a mixture of fodder radish , stubble turnips and Utopia which is a fast growing mustard / kale hybrid . So in the last week I have had to spray for flea beetle and also because of the damp conditions a dressing of slug pellets. Brassicas are a bloody nightmare. 

[FOXHUNTER 5,020]

28 minutes ago, shovel leaner said:

I swear part of my job is being an Agronamist . This one little patch of cover crop was very late going in because of bad weather, the ground itself was ok , but where it is was impossible to get machinery in without getting stuck . Being too late for Maize, we have drilled it with a mixture of fodder radish , stubble turnips and Utopia which is a fast growing mustard / kale hybrid . So in the last week I have had to spray for flea beetle and also because of the damp conditions a dressing of slug pellets. Brassicas are a bloody nightmare. 

Gamekeeper , Jack of all trades eh Soil management,  crop management,  predator management, game management public relations ....but you wouldnt swap it

[shovel leaner 7,648]

4 minutes ago, FOXHUNTER said:

Gamekeeper , Jack of all trades eh Soil management,  crop management,  predator management, game management public relations ....but you wouldnt swap it

Public relations could probably do with some improvement. My “communication” and “interpersonal” skills have been stretched to breaking point over this pandemic. 
           I was always polite to people at first and would explain why they shouldn’t be where they were away from the footpath . Now hey get a “get that f@ckin dog on a lead and get back on the f@ckin footpath !!!
 

[BenBhoy 4,706]

1 hour ago, shovel leaner said:

Now hey get a “get that f@ckin dog on a lead and get back on the f@ckin footpath !!!

Exact same here mate. I've had "I'd appreciate it if you didn't use that kind of language"   he got a "I'd appreciate it if you'd stay on the FUCKINĞ footpath". Don't think we've seen him since. 

[BenBhoy 4,706]

3 hours ago, Stavross said:

It was a similar problem with neonic’s ( I know that’s pesticide ) and I can see a big problem with herbicide’s and pesticides, surely the land can’t take much more, but with no alternatives that are as effective what are they meant to do, every time I go to my mates farm he’s in the sprayer hammering one thing or an other, his crops always look really good but it can’t be good for the the land or his pocket 

With glyphosate I think its due to cancer risks they wanna scrap it. 

[Stavross 13,733]

3 hours ago, BenBhoy said:

With glyphosate I think its due to cancer risks they wanna scrap it. 

Yeah, I think they tried to get it banned in America, it’s cost the manufacturer millions of dollars to settle lawsuits, but they still use it. The problem with things like black grass is the seeds lay dormant for a very long time and ploughing doesn’t help even when you loose a crop to it and use the crop as animal feed, then spread the muck, you are spreading seeds in its own fert 

[Stavross 13,733]

Hahaha someone forgot his chopstick shooting sticks so had to use my triggers, much to his annoyance

down to the helicopter mans for the last hour of daylight, not much about at all, only managed 4 but it was a warm evening and nice to be out for a bit