Robin Hood country show

I must start by thanking the Aztec Events team especially Maddie with the speed it took to send me over my presspass due to me sorting everything out to late.

Entrance to the show was very swift and well organised but once inside I did find it a bit confusing as the layout didn't seem quite like the picture in the programme.

There was various ranges including cork rifles, where you could win money, a catapult range, archery, darts and paintball. There was also a small paintball course.


The birds of prey were well worth going to see, with three stalls with many different species of birds of prey from Barn Owls to Harris Hawks. The Harris Hawk on the demo was amazing he was at least 500 yards away at the stand and he managed to spot the man swinging his treat around at the main arena and flew over, circled around, and then dived down to his treat. This is well worth seeing, it made me decide to find out more about falconry and is something Im now looking into starting up in the future, it is definately something I am looking forward to researching and finding out more about it.

The demos as far as I can see are to give people who dont know an insight to what the sport entails. This is something Simon Whitehead from Pakefield ferrets has managed to get down to a fine art, with a great demo that show what the ferrets do under ground and the different equipment used for the sport of ferreting. Everything was explained to the point where the simplist of people could understand.

The gundog demo was gave a real insight into what it takes to train a gundog and what they really do, if I didnt already know alot about through my participation in countrysports and my through my research I would of walked away a more knowledgable person.


I only caught a bit of the Essex dog display teams demo and that was agility up and down two ramps and then through a square hoop, the ramps had poles on the tops which were on fire and the hoop was also on fire and dogs were doing the course while carrying a dumbell which was also on fire, all very exciting and entertaining to the public but I thought it was quite irresponsible considering the size of the plates on the dumbell protecting the dogs (they were far to small) and the fact that a dogs coat is fur. I bet you wouldnt get the Essex dog display team owners doing it so why should their dog.

The archery demo was a robin hood themed archery competition, with all the characters from the story competing for the chance to go head to head with Robin Hood, very entertaining.

I spent along time talking to Jenny from the Ferret friends rescue, very nice lady absolutely love ferrets and has some amazing ferrets including the long haired angora ferrets, during this time talking to Jenny I found out that people feed there ferrets cat food I new it happened but I thought I was the only person that had experienced it I rescued the last of four ferrets three of which had died due to being fed cat food, I didnt realise how common this is. The ferret friends rescue board, rescue and rehome ferrets.
If you ever see them at a show be sure to go and have a chat, they really are very nice people.
They also have a blind albino ferret called Barney who took part in recreating a Da Vinci picture the Lady with Ermine and also a two page spread in the Daily Mail. Barney was also at the show this year, so if you see them at a show at least pop over to see Barney probably the most famous ferret in the country.
Here is a link to their website so you can visit and see more about what they do.


www.ferretfriendsrescue.info

NOBs where there selling memberships. NOBs stands for National Organisation of Beaters and Pickers up. They are the link between gamekeepers and beaters. If a shoot organiser was two beater down for his pheasant shoot, it was in your area and you are a member you maybe able to go and beat on that shoot.
Its £5.00 a year to sign up for a basic membership or £20.00  a year for the insurance membership package, Im not going to go into detail of the insurance but i'll put the web address below. This is not to be missed it really is the best insurance package I have ever seen.


www.nobs.org.uk


There was a trailer with different stands on it each different stand had a different breed of sheep. You don't realize how different, different breeds of sheep look to each other. Throughout the day there was a man giving sheep sheering demos.


The mobile farm experience. This is a really nice idea, great for the children. Basically the come to your home or wherever you want them to go and bring the animals with them. Great for children's parties. It is suitable for any environment.
My two year old son came along with me and he loved it. He basically had a lamb on his lap, and he held a two day old duckling. Apart from the ducklings and lambs they had a cockerel, goats, two fully grown ducks and a Shetland pony. A fantastic idea my boy loved it.


www.gemmasfarm.co.uk

It was great to see that the All About Dogs show is still running although it is a bit of a shame its part of another show and nothing like the scale it has been in past years. It consisted of many trade stand's and the same amount of rescue centres all trying to raise money and awareness for there cause.
Events throughout the day were-

• Mad tyke dog rally-o.
• The Deaf Dogs demo.
• AMK9 dog display team.
• Tierney and Missy crufts winners heel work to music.
• Billericay dog display team.
• Marie Miller.
• Canine performers heelwork to music.
• and dog docks which is always worth a watch, as dogs run up the dock and then stop at the end while an embarrassed dog owners tries frantically to get there dog to jump in. Stick with it because you will see a brave dog run up the dock and just leap out into the water (normally soaking the people who got to close).

For the kids there was zorbing, boating and a massive inflatable fun centre that even I wanted to go on.

The knights were amazing, competing in a jousting competition and ending up having plenty of fights with hints to the Olympics, archery, sword fights, spear throwing and spectacular stunts throughout. This is a must see if you have kids, I cant stand horses and I loved it.

Upcoming events.

Southend 7th-8th July.

Suffolk 6th-7th October.

Newark 13th-14th October.

• www.robinhoodcountryshow.co.uk

new shoot day 2

I parked my car in one of the farm buildings out of the way, retreived my game bag from the boot, took my rifle from its slip and removed the trigger lock andheaded out inbetween two farm buildings and out into the first of the wheat feilds the idea being of coarse to suss the place out where to find what and generally get to know the land a bit.

So I walked to the right, round the edge of the field and down towards the bottom. half way down the ride I noticed a rabbit have a spot of breakfast in the form of wheat crop, so I started my stalk towards shooting range, sticking tight into the hedgerow, it hadnt seen me yet but it knew I was there as it stopped eating to look around trying to find me. Eventually it put its head back down to resume its meal. So I started to crawl, I got within about twenty five yards an started to slowly raise my gun to my shoulder, rested my cheek on the stock and peered through the scope, the scope reached my eye just in time to see the rabbits white tail dissapearing into the hedgerow.

I found nothing else around this field apart from two woodies and a magpie in the trees at the bottom but they were of across the field before I even knew they were there.

I headed towards the woods, the outside line was litterally scattered with rabbits, I moved slightly to block me from the rabbits view by a tree also blocking my view of the rabbits, I stalked up to the tree and then round it to the right, keeping my footstep as quiet and as soft as possible, I leant against the tree to steady my aim, I held my breathe to steady my aim even more and a small pop and then the familiar skull penetrating crack as the rabbit flipped onto its back sending all the rabbits running for cover. Two stopped on the edge of the bramble, I took aim on the biggest of the two and he took a accupel pellet as well and eventually ending up in the game bag.

As I was to head back to the car I decided to gut the rabbits there and then, I put all the inners in a ditch hiden from the view of anyone walking by, the foxes will finish this up tonight.

Being my first real shoot here its only right I hand the rabbits over to the farmer to say thankyou. after all it is his land.....

update to vfg cleaning pellet review

On a visit to my local gun shop where I went in search of a new rifle sling and came out with a new rifle. I found that this shop sold the vfg cleaning pellets that I reviewed when I first started this blog, I was told not that they do not any damage to break barrels and that it is not anywhere near dry firering but that they clean the barrel just a bit more than lead pellets.

hunting on the high street(sainsburys)

I have two products which I use on a regular basis from sainsburys but unfortunately I cannot find pictures on their website so ill update this when I get a chance to go into sainsburys and take photographs so you can see the packaging and everything.

Garden multi tool

I use this as a hide tool why pay £29.99 when you can pay £5.00 for what is essentially the same thing.
It comes with serrated edge knife, saw, knife, a set of secateers and one other item that im not sure about and have never used, I will make sure I include a picture of it so you can see what it is. This also comes in its own case with a belt loop.

Knife set.

This is a set of five knives, chopping board and a knife sharpener similar to the ones that come with the outdoor edge butchery kits. This is my butchery kit but I sharpen all my knives with the knife sharpener.

Pictures still to come.

hunting on the highstreet(wilkinsons)

Latex Gloves.


Useful for a variety of household & messy DIY tasks. Embossed textured surface helps provide a better grip. One size, foits up to hand size 8.
£0.64
I use these to control the smell of rabbit. Gutting a rabbit stinks and the smell seems to stick around for ages. These come in packs of 25.

Paint hooks

These hooks are great for hanging up rabbits if you hang your rabbits, I hang them when I got more than one purely so im not leaving a gutted rabbit on the floor to get dirty to long.

Elastic bands

I use elastc bands to hold almost anything together that is two big to put in bags. including nets and snares.

Non slip car mat

Cut these into Atwo inch strips fill all the hole with pellet going about two inches in from either side, then you can hand it inbetween your scope mounts with the pellets hanging on either side. from wilkinsons they do fit .22 pellets but they are very tight it fits .177 alot better. shop about though as the holes come up bigger or smaller in different shops.

Head lamp

Ahead lamp is a great way to find your to and from the feild.

Garden Wire

I use this wire to make my tealers for my snares it does the job well. I will create a blog post eplaining how to make them.

Stapler

I use this stapler to staple signs example free ferreting adverts which actually are quite productive. I also use it to dry out pelts. stretch them out and staple to a pallet of something similar which will let the air flow round the back as well.





Thread cutters

The are a massive help when it comes to making nets and snares for that matter I find them easier to use than scissors.

Folding Saw.

This is great little tool for the kit bag. I use mine in hide building and for cutting hazel pegs. make sure you have permission before you start cutting down hazel.

Gel pens

I find these pens the perfect size for .22 pellets, simply empty the insides out put the metal end back, take the end t of the top of the pen and fill with pellet then simply put the lid back on the pen.







hunting on the highstreet(halfords)

Halfords
 Rechargable 1 Million Candlepower Torch
The Halfords Rechargable 1 Million Candlepower Torch has a swivel handle and stand which allow you to position the torch however you need it, and this makes it a very versatile product for when you are working as it allows you to keep your hands free.
The torch has a continuous use time of 45 minutes from a single charge and can be recharged before the battery runs out. If the charge is very low the battery will take approximately 8-10 hours to reach maximum capacity when using the mains adaptor supplied. However, a 4 hour charge period will provide a useable amount of charge in the battery.

I have used this torch to lamp rabbits to dogs and it works really well.



gun tuff gun mount laser.

I have been wanting to test one of these lasers for along time now, but I have always been abit unsure about hunting with one.

The laser itself come with three batteries, two allen keys (one to adjust the laser itself and one to do up or undo the mount) one rifle mount and one scope mount, a push button switch (which goes on the back of the laser) and a pressure pad switch which has a long enough cable to mount almost anywhere on the gun.

The first thing I did was to mount the laser to my scope and stick the pressure pad to my rifle stock. I adjusted the laser until it lined up with my scope at thirty yards and then took a few shots. I found having the laser on there made finding the target quicker it also meant I could shoot in low light without any problems.

It is also great for range finding because it will match the crosshairs at thirty yard (or whatever distance you zero your scope and laser at). If you aim at your target and the laser dot is above your crosshair its more than thirty feet away, if you aim at your target and its less than thirty feet away your laser dot will be slightly under.

The gun tuffs laser also comes in a neat little presentation box and is very cheap for what you'd expect.

Stoager X20

The model on review is the .22 in the camouflage stock. The realtree synthetic stock is made from high impact polymer, it comes as standard with fully adjustable fibre optic open sights, adjustable for both elevation and windage, the forend fibre optic sight is protected by a plastic casing, the fibre optic itself is red and at the rear sight it is green making it easier and faster to aim.

          At the other end of the rifle you have a black rubber recoil pad and an ambidextious stock and automatic  thumb push safety catch which engages when you break the barrel, when the safety is engaged there is a small white line on the top of the catch to let you know it has been engaged. There is also a two stage adjustable trigger which is protected by a stylish trigger guard and a monte carlo cheek peice at at the buy end and chequered grip and forend.
         Back at the business end this rifle is topped with a small stylish sound moderator which also acts as something to grip when cocking the rifle.
         This rifle comes in either .177 or .22 and has the stock option of synthetic camo, synthetic black or wooden. It ways just 7.5lb and has an overall length of 42.75 inches with a power outage of just under 12lb/ft and costs just £265.
         The recoil on this rifle is quite harsh, it is starting to settle down abit and is managing to make this rifle abit more of a pleasure to shoot.
         Being used to a much smaller, more compact little rifle you really do feel the weight after a long stalk but after a while you soon get used to handling this rifle. This rifle has a bit more of a caveman type feel about it than some of our other modern day rifles.