After Xmas it was nice to get out, so me & Si went to my winter shoot, the 3-acre wood. Si had his Career as the Rapid has a bent valve so it is out of commission, & it does u good to shot with a 12 ftlb airgun, I had my Rapid 7. It was a dead still day, it was about 1:30 when we arrived at the farm to see if it was ok to go up to the wood. The farmer thanked me for the whiskey, & said it was ok so off we went.

It started badly. Just after we entered, the first shot was mine. A tree rat at about 35 yards with its back to me, I had a v shape I had to shoot through about 20 yards in front of me, which was made by two trees, & the squirrel was on the tree past those two, standing, I took aim at the grey through the v & beyond to the squirrel, three large breaths later I squeezed the trigger & heard the pellet strike as did Si, & the squirrel fell out of the tree. We heard it scrabbling for 2 or 3 seconds. Then it went silent, but I could not find it when I went to the tree which I knocked it out of. I don't like it when this happens, but in my attempt to keep it real, if I miss or wound it I will say so, don’t get me wrong, I don’t get any enjoyment out of hurting animals. In fact I hate it, but sometimes it happens no matter how good you think you are, & it’s the part of hunting we all could do with out.

I think it died a few seconds after it fell, but there was a lot of cover a few feet away & I think it made it just before it died. The next shot I had was a bad miss & an embarrassment, let me explain; me & Si were sat down having a fag, when a pigeon landed in the tree opposite, it was Si’s turn, but after a few seconds I noticed he was not taking aim, I said I had a good shot of the pigeon & he said go on then. I brought the gun up to aim, found a good route for the pellet to take though the trees & pulled the trigger, an easy 30 yarder, I got blasé` & missed it altogether, the worst shot I've done in a long time, one I know Si would not have missed, & he should have had anyway, if not for my keenness.

Shot two fired then, & the lows out of the way, so on to shot three & the better times. Me & Si split up, with me at the top of the wood, & Si at the bottom. I watched him very slowly stalk his way down the wood, till he stopped in an ambush position. Once there, three pigeons landed in his & my field of fire, but neither of us had a clear shot at them, so there they stayed. I started to go to my favourite part of the wood with the natural hide in it, some 40 yards away, when I heard a flap of a pigeon wing behind me.

I stood still for 5 to 10 mins, to give the bird chance to settle down before I slowly turned around. I spent a long time looking around, trying to find that bird, but before I found it another landed, which I had seen, but as so often happens it vanished in front of me in the tree it was in. It must have been on the other side of the tree, as I could not see it, & it had not flown away. Whilst I was looking for the pigeon, I heard a squirrel. I thought it was a pheasant at first, but I heard it skip, as soon as it started to leap I knew it was a squirrel, just by the noise it made. But I was more interested in the pigeon, & it was a mistake as the squirrel came around the tree I was lent on 4 feet away from me. We looked at each other for about 5 mins until it slowly went up the tree I was lent up against.

The whole time it was close, it was intense, if I moved a muscle it would have ran off at full speed I’m sure. As it turned out, it would have saved time, but I stayed still hoping to get a shot at it. But the tree I was lent up against hid the squirrel & I did not see him again. By this time all I wanted to do was get to my hide & rest my back, so as fast as poss I went for it. As I thought, the two pigeons I’d been looking for took off, but I’d wasted too much time out in the open.

After a short rest & some back pills, another pigeon came in, but this time I could move & there was nothing between me & it. I was in my favourite place, which meant I had a rest as well. 50 yards, I could do this I thought, not saying the first pigeon sapped my confidence or anything . But 50 yards for me & my outfit is nothing out the norm. I let the lead fly, & it hit home hard. It sent the pigeon tumbling down the tree, I thought it flapped on the way down. With the first squirrel still in my mind I ran over to the tree to find the pigeon upside down & dead. I picked it up & went quickly back to the hide.

I thought about all the noise I’d made running, well nearly running, all right then walking very fast then!, but more to the point very noisily with large amounts of movement isn't too clever.

It’s strange how something can stay with you, & do more harm than good. Anyway, back at the hide I had a fag to calm down, it’s strange how shooting gets the adrenaline going. Whilst I was smoking, I heard a flap from a pigeon behind me. I very slowly turned around, taking 5 mins to do that. I had to move a few feet to get a view of the pigeon which seemed to take forever, but I got there in the end. With a nice 35 yard, front on pigeon looking at me, I slowly brought the gun up to aim, & very slowly pulled the trigger. This time there was no doubt about it, it just fell, & my 4th pellet was fired.

By now it was starting to get dark & cold, I was happy to see Si when he made his way up the wood. We talked for a few mins, I said sorry once more for the first pigeon. He told me about the squirrel he got. We went out the short way. so as not to disturb the pheasants. On the way out the field I spotted a rabbit, & pointed it out to Si. He went after it. It was quite dark by now, & he had no problem getting in range of it, & in fact it surprised me how quickly he walked up to it, silently, & about half the speed of a normal walk. When in range, about 40 yards with his Career (.22), he went down on one knee, & with a head shot sent it into the next life .

Not bad for this wood, two pigeon, one squirrel & a rabbit in three hours. This wood is not about large bags. It’s just fun, & a day’s shooting in the winter. And if your lucky you might start the second mag, but 4 shots is the norm for me. Si seems to fire more shots than me, but he does move more than me, but doesn’t kill more!.

Back: