Hi Erik,

How was your trip to blighty, shootinng pheassies?

do you have any pics?

Rgds,
FB

Hi FB,

Sorry for the delay in reporting back, but I had actually intended to post about it sometime this week! With a few pictures (very few though, since the battery on my wifes pocket digital camera died, and I forgot to bring the charger...)

The shooting was great fun, and after a couple of drives where I made lots of holes in the sky, I ended up doing quite well. The 4 of us shot a bit under 400 birds in 2 days, and I'd say that about half (Edited for a typing mistake!) 1/3 of them were mine!

More later!

Is that 1/3 or half of 1/3?

As I'd never been on a driven pheasant shoot, I was looking very forward to this trip over to England that I'd been invited to. It took place near Oxford at Eynsham Hall. There were only 4 of us, and I was the only one who hadn't been on such a shoot before. So I wasn't expecting to hit much, since most shooting done over here is with birds flying away from me, and not towards me. However, I'm smart enough (barely!) to listen to those who are more knowledgeable then myself, and this definatly paid off.

The first couple of drives gave me quite a lot of shots at partridge, but resulted in far more holes in the air than birds. I was luckily able to pull myself together, and by the end of the day I was hitting quite reasonably. One of the gents shooting was 86 years old, and is quite stiff and slow now. One the the others shoots rather little throughout the year, and thus didn't hit much either. Which left it up to myself and the fourth guy to get a decent amount of bird down. Which we did once we warmed up. The first day ended up with a little under 150 birds (both pheasant and partridges), and the second day with a tad under 250 birds. So all in all, the 4 of us shot a little less than 400 birds in 2 days. An experiance I've never had before, and doubt I'll have again! About 1/3 of them were due to my little 20 gauge SxS.

Unfortunalty, the battery on my wifes little pocket digital died rather quickly, so I wasn't able to take many pictures. And while the birds were flying, I was rather occupied myself with other things than taking photos! Below are the few that I did take:

Eynsham Hall in the backround. You'll notice that I'm not exactly following the usual driven pheasant dress code, and I got a few odd looks from some of the older beaters/picker-uppers to begin with. However, after I had talked a bit with them during the day, they all warmed up, and were a good bunch of guys (plus a couple of girls!).


A massive amount of pheasant came out from the left side of the picture, and I had quite a few doubles (right&lefts I think you call them in England?) :


This drive contained mainly partridges, and they came in quite low.


The Game Keeper:


A short break to sip some warm soup:


A tighterer area, where the pheasants came flying over the opening giving only time for very quick shots:


A veiw towards Blenheim Palace, which was right next door to where we stayed, and very close to where we shot. The lake in the picture is man made! :


All in all a fun 2 days, and I can only hope to be able to try it again. Although very differant from the other hunting I do, and not exactly strenuous, it was good fun, and very social with friendly banter between the drives.

Great photos Erik, the place is georgeous isn't it?

Beautiful!

Who was the contact/outfitter for the trip?

Erik, how much ribbing did you get for your Lodens on the uppety pheasant shoots?

I can probably afford to shoot pheasants in Blighty, I can't afford the new double or the $3000 worth of clothes to shoot in.

I doubt they would be happy if you showed up with a Benelli Gold Eagle and your Columbia American upland outfit.

Come to think of they probably wouldn't say a thing, until later at the bar.

Erik,

Fantastic!

Great photos, looks like you had a fantastic couple of days and well done on the shooting with your (as the Brits say) "20 Bore".

Next time you go invite me and we can be similarly attired.....

quote:

Originally posted by D99:
Erik, how much ribbing did you get for your Lodens on the uppety pheasant shoots?

I can probably afford to shoot pheasants in Blighty, I can't afford the new double or the $3000 worth of clothes to shoot in.

I doubt they would be happy if you showed up with a Benelli Gold Eagle and your Columbia American upland outfit.

Come to think of they probably wouldn't say a thing, until later at the bar.

God forbid! A day's driven pheasant shooting in the shadow of Blenheim Palace and no ties and tweeds!

It will be the end of the Empire, no less.

***

The only think Erik is not wearing compared to the rest is the compulsory Barbour jacket. And Wellingtons which lace up! Shock horror!

***

Looks like a fun day.

NitroX,

I am referring to the tweed breaks, wellies, tie, tastertall shirts, and shooting caps.

About 200 yards from my parents lives an English couple that moved to Wyoming for better gun laws after they retired.

He shows up to shoot chukars and huns with $3000 worth of clothes and $10K shotguns. He always looks like someone covered his tweeds in sage and cactus at the end of the day.

quote:

Originally posted by CaneCorso:
Beautiful!

Who was the contact/outfitter for the trip?

CaneCorso,

Peter Swales set things up for the Gentleman who invited me: peter.swales@kiltarlity.com

He's a nice guy, and can set up hunting pretty much anywhere in the world.

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:

quote:

Originally posted by D99:
Erik, how much ribbing did you get for your Lodens on the uppety pheasant shoots?

I can probably afford to shoot pheasants in Blighty, I can't afford the new double or the $3000 worth of clothes to shoot in.

I doubt they would be happy if you showed up with a Benelli Gold Eagle and your Columbia American upland outfit.

Come to think of they probably wouldn't say a thing, until later at the bar.

God forbid! A day's driven pheasant shooting in the shadow of Blenheim Palace and no ties and tweeds!

It will be the end of the Empire, no less.

***

The only think Erik is not wearing compared to the rest is the compulsory Barbour jacket. And Wellingtons which lace up! Shock horror!

***

Looks like a fun day.

John, Seth and Gerry,

Believe it or not, I am actually wearing a shirt and tie under my jacket! And it is not a "Loden" jacket, it's a Bergans Pasvik II:


Which of course is far from traditional outerwear when on a pheasant shoot.

I think though that if anything shocked anybody, it was most likely my "Lundhag Professional" boots:


Everyone else was in rubber boots.

So I might well have been the topic of a few jokes when the beaters were at the local pub that evening.

However, maybe because I was dressed a bit more casually, the older beaters ended up talking far more with me than the others inbetween drives, which I enjoyed. They had some good tips and stories that they shared with me.

When it comes to attire, this pheasant shoot was perhaps a bit differant, and maybe more casual then would be common in England. As I mentioned, there were only 4 of us, and we are all family. But since I have never been on any other pheasant shoot, I might be wrong.

I would definatly love to try it again, and had good fun. Proper attire or not!

Thanks Erik, nice pictures!

I am glad to see that you are wearing Lundhags, I am through my third pair and would still have been on my second but some low-lifer broke into my car and took them. Used them in the Army every day, year round.

They work fine with a pair of tweed breeks as well!

Regards,
Martin