I apoligize

I am very sorry I have not blogged for a long time, I have had some personal problems and have had to get all that out of the way before I can start to blog again. This morning I received five products to review and I will be getting them on as soon as possible, I also have been working on a view to put up, ill start tomorrow.
Happy hunting
Ben Holmes

Jack pyke sure fit shooters gloves

These gloves come in one size which is great if like me you haven't got a clue whether a small, medium or large glove fits your hand.
           The come in English Oak camouflage pattern. They are very thin which I find great to give you the extra sensitivity in your hands you need when gun handling.
           They have thumb and palm rubber dot grip which is also amazing for handling your gun although I have noticed they mark the bluing on your rifle but its only temporary markings as it has disappeared with in an hour or so.
All-in-all a great little product and I would never embark on any hunting trip with out a pair in my pocket or game bag.

Get ready for snow.

 With weather warning being issued and the BBC talking of snow "Rain will spread eastwards after midnight, turning into sleet and snow mainly across the higher ground of Scotland and the Pennines" I thought now would be a good idea to tell you about the Swedteam snow range.


Rucksack HW-snow

This rucksack has a snow camouflage pattern and the Swedteam air flex system.

          A large inside pocket that fastens at the top with a plastic buckle and unzips at the bottom for easy cleaning of the inside ( this is a great feature if you use this rucksack to carry  shot game).

          The rucksack has a built in stool, two large zipped storage pockets, a small zipped pocket on the bottom and a bellows pocket on either side. The rucksacks is 36 litres in capacity.

Pilot cap HW-snow.

This hat is lined with synthetic fur and has a hardwood snow comouflage pattern. This warm hat comes in sizes Medium to extra large.

HIPORA HW-snow gloves.

These gloves come in sizes ranging from small to extra large. They are made from a silent and flexible micro fabric with a thinsulate lining and a HIPORA membrane to make these gloves wind and water proof.

            The trigger finger is made using a thin and flexible stretchy material for extra sensitivity. These gloves are also in the hardwood snow camouflage pattern.

Cool Thermo suit

 

This set is your base layer including a top, long johns and boxers.

              Made using Coolmax technical fabric to help to regulate your body temperature. coming in sizes ranging from small to triple XL.

Snow APS camouflage oversuit.

This lightweight suit is thin and flexible. The jacket has two large storage pockets, a two way zip and a sewn in hood that does up using drawstrings. The trousers are elasticated at the waist and ankles and zips for access to pockets.

              This suit is not waterproof and comes in sizes ranging from small to triple XL.

Snow Balaclava.

This balaclava come in one size and is very warm to wear great for the snowy winter weather.

Time off micro fleece set.

This is your mid layer, the set comprises of a top and trousers. It is made using soft micro fleece. Comes in sizes ranging from small to triple XL.

For more information on these products and any other Swedteam products follow the link.

http://www.swedteam.eu/

Keeping In Touch With You.

We have a few other pages. We feel you should know about, Ways that we use to keep in touch with you.


Hunting CPUK
Hunting CPUK is one of our facebook pages, it to be used as an advice page. Like it, ask your question and wait for the answers to flow in, either from us or others that use the page, or just share your knowledge with others seeking advice. Once a month we will put all the questions and answers into a blog post along with your name so everyone gets there appreciation for there input.


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hunting-cpuk/155077227914972


Country Pursuits UK review page.
This is also a facebook page where we link all our blog posts, it is also the place to suggest a blog post topic or a product to be reviewed, we will beg, borrow, or steal to get hold of the product you request.


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Country-Pursuits-UK-Reviews/277861625592357


Twitter
Our twitter page is our main page to link our blog posts and tell you about all our up and coming projects we have.


https://twitter.com/#!/cpuk-ben


Be sure  to like and follow all our pages to really get the most out of us. You can also follow this blog

New shoot day1

  Today was my first trip to a new shoot permission. I arrived at ten o'clock to meet the landowner and go through the usual routine, what can be shot? what can be? where are the boundaries? where to park the car?
where not to go? etc..
   I soon realised the landowner didn't know a lot about the air gunning and the way things should be done. He is expecting big numbers which is often not the case with air-gunning. He also asked for squirrels to be controlled on a lane which is a public footpath and used by a lot of dog walkers, so by law this cannot be done.
   I am allowed to shoot rabbits, rats and squirrels. He doesn't see pigeons as a problem so I'm concentrating on the above three. He also asked me to control foxes, I explained to him that foxes do not qualify as airgun quarry and as he is only allowing me to use the airgun for the time being the foxes will have to wait until he lets me use different methods in the future.
  The landowner gave me a map with the boundaries highlighted on the back was my permission letter, he gave me a photocopy and the original document a copy to keep at home and a copy to keep in the car.

BSA Lightening XL Tactical .22

This rifle comes in .22, .177 and .25 calibres and weighs just 6.7lbs. Its overall length is is just thirty seven inches making it a fairly compact rifle and has a barrel length of just ten inches.The lightning XL has an average velocity of 608 feet per second using RWS Superdome pellets with an energy of 11.9ft/lb. All this and its only priced at around £255 and is also available in a beech stock for a little bit more.
        The stock type of the BSA is a synthetic sporter which is made from hi-impact polymer and was designed by John Sykes.

The imprinted logo sorry the pics not to good

notice the cheek piece, logo and recoil pad

safety catch and two stage trigger

Thumb indentations

       The guns features include a rubber recoil pad on the stock and a surprisingly comfortable cheek piece. Studs which are already attached to the stock and barrel ready for you to add your swivels and gun sling. The BSA also has an adjustable two stage trigger, built in BSA sound moderator making this rifle very quiet indeed, a very comfortable thumb and fore finger indentations on the stock and an easy push safety catch which can be pushed from your shooting position just by moving your trigger finger. All feature combined together make the BSA LIghtning XL an absolute pleasure to shoot.
      The BSA logo is imprinted into the stock in two places and engraved along the barrel are the words "BSA UK LTD ENGLAND(the BSA logo) .22".

Built in stud

sound moderator and built in stud

synthetic stock

      The action of this rifle is break barrel / spring piston.
      The box was just a plain brown box with no large pictures or lettering printed on it. I think this is a good idea as the area where I picked the gun up from is not a particularly nice one and has a reputation for being rough, Also I like to keep it quiet when I bring a new rifle home, and a brown box keeps the neighbours guessing when transporting it from the car to my home, I know I then give the game away by going to the car the next day in camouflage gear carrying a rifle slip but hey.
      Once I had mounted my scope on this beautiful little rifle it was time to get some practice.
      Zeroing the scope took a while because the recoil is a bit harsh  but after a while the recoil calms down and it is a pleasant rifle to shoot.
      I took the rifle for a few field tests and found it to be a great little hunter.
     The cocking is a little on the stiff side but once you have the knack of it  its relatively easy. I think everybody should learn to shoot using a springer before moving onto a pre-charged pneumatic recoilless rifle and this is a great rifle to learn to shoot with, but the BSA is not just a great beginners rifle, it it great gun for anyone who wants to shoot a springer and at £255 its a bargain. 

Rocky APG Jacket

The Rocky APG Jacket comes in three sizes small , medium and large. It is waterproof and made mainly from polyester with a warm comfy fleece lining. The jacket does up using poppers and has two outside pockets that also does up using poppers. A warm hood that pulls tight using a pull string.

         The Rocky APG jackets downfalls for me outweigh its good points. This jacket is noisy making a long, hard stalk even harder and most of the time leading to poor results. If it doesn't scare off your quarry by its noise then it will by the way it shines. On sunny days it shows up from across the field worse than a shiny bald head with the sun on it.
        I have just taken this jacket out with me again this morning and after getting the pocket caught on a branch it has ripped the pocket. overall this jacket is not worth buying, I'm not going to put the link up for where to buy it because I don't want to be responsible for anyone purchasing this jacket.

Essex Guns Gun Slip

The gun slip actually made by a company called AC Supplies it just has the  Essex Guns label on the front.

This gun slip looks great and has a nice soft thick fleece lining which I think is Great, I don’t know why but I have it in my head that my rifle will perform better if the metal work is warmer.

          For me it has the perfect shoulder strap, I have a tendency to be a bit clumsy and not always zip my rifle bag up all the way. The strap on this bag is positioned on the bag so that you have to carry it upside down so there is no way the rifle can fall out.

          I found that it does moult a bit but its not something that really affects me as it is only a bit.

For information on the Essex Guns shops or the products they sell go to http://www.essexgun.com/index2.html

Poachers curse

After I recently read the two part series the poachers curse in the countryman's weekly. A tale where a group of poachers one which is caught in a mantrap set by the head keeper and is slowly bleeding to death, the rest find the keeper he shot one then the rest caught him and put his head in the man trap turning it into a guillotine. After being caught, tried and sentenced to be hung, they vowed to haunt the woods on the estate where the keeper set the mantrap and that keeper would not be the last person to die in them woods. This night 150 years later an elderly man see a repeat performance up at the woods and is found dead in the morning.

      I do not know whether or not this story is true, all though I suspect in to be fiction. I have researched this story and apart from that article in the countryman's weekly I cant find it anywhere.
     Never the less, this amazing story inspired me to conduct research in to ghost stories involving poachers or hunters.
    I haven't found anything similar to this story or anything as long but I have found two stories both very short.


   In Wadhurst (Sussex) at the Beggersbush/Bestbeech Hill crossroad area, there is a haunting manifestation of a man. This ghostly figure in a tan coloured coat is seen to be struggling along the road, his brown sack bulging with his harvest. This is presumed to be that of a poacher.


   The other story is set in Myrtle Cottage down the road from Balingey in Perranworth.
   Apparently a poacher has been seen dressed in leather gaiters and rough clothing walking through the wall where the cottages front door used to be, he carries a rabbit and heads over to the fireplace.
   The next door neighbours have also seen a man of the same description taking a short cut across there front garden towards the cottage.
   It is suspected that the poacher is Mr Stephens  (husband to Mrs Stephens and father to a boy who was eleven at the time of his fathers death). Mr stephens was killed while working in the mines.


   I do not know if any of these stories are true. I am dissapointed that I cant find any other stories to tell you so I will be continuing my research and I will find more to post at a later date.

Jack Pyke Field Trousers

I love these trousers; the English oak camouflage print is really well done. Jack pyke have managed to get the autumn leaf colour spot on, which is something I have noticed a lot of other companies have not yet managed.

                They are made from rip stop material which is always a great when it comes to repairing ripped trousers as they normally only rip in straight lines.

                The pockets in these trousers are amazing, massive deep pockets with plenty of room to store your essential kit, Two big back pockets, two deep front pockets and two leg pockets.

                The only downside I have found to these are the buckles on either side of the waist band for tightening the waist, but if you are carrying a gun on a rifle sling the buckle rubs against the stock not a problem for me as I have a synthetic stock so I just had to deal with the noise of them knocking together but if I had a wooden stock the rubbing of these buckles on the stock would probably result in scratches in your precious wood work.  To rectify this problem I have simply taped the buckles up with a piece of camouflage duck tape.

To order your pair go to http://www.jackpykeshop.co.uk/ today