It’s been pouring for an hour now and I sit here listening beneath my glass canopy; the drumskin of a rainwater percussionist. The sound, like a rock anthem or a classical overture, is awesome. Not just because it’s natural, not just because it’s rhythmic, but because it pulses like the push of blood through an … Continue reading Rain Dance
I stepped outside and the cool morning mist caressed my face like a lover's gentle kiss. The swirl of vapour swathed the motor and for the first time since winter, I had to scrim the moisture from the windows of the vehicle. The yellow halo of a veiled sun was already auguring an Indian Summer … Continue reading Wildscribbler’s Diary – September 2019
The early morning air in my SUV was blue with curses as I drew onto the farm. I’d spent the previous evening gathering my decoying kit and studying expected weather and wind for the morning. I woke and loaded the motor with a very definite field in mind which adjoined a small copse that would … Continue reading A Morning On The Stubbles
On the second weekend in August (while the rest of the UK was subjected to a battering, torrential rain, and flooding) here in East Anglia we got off lightly with just warm, gale-force winds. Yet the temperature was about 26C. It reminded me of the tent-tearing ‘scirocco’ I endured on my only ever camping trip … Continue reading When The Wind Blows
I’m long enough in the tooth now not to get too ‘rattled’ by the antics of those opposed to shooting as August 12th approaches. The opening day of grouse shooting, every year, prompts not just salvo’s of lead but also a barrage of verbosity from both sides of the shooting divide. Yesterday saw the usual … Continue reading Gloves Off On The Glorious Twelfth
It’s a sad truth that the older you get, the faster the days fly by. Life seems to be logarithmical. The slow, impatient pace which frustrated your youth becomes the steady progress of mid-life. Before you realise it you’re trying to snatch the essence of every day in later life. You regret the indolent teenage … Continue reading A Strange High Summer Fox Encounter
In the modern shooting era we are blessed with those wonderful tools called digital rangefinders. They are a superb addition to any hunters kitbag and serve a number of uses. To the small vermin hunter, rough shooting wood and field, they are next to useless. I will expand on that shortly. For the hide or … Continue reading Mastering Range Estimation – An extract from my latest book.
There was a feeling of deja-vu when the BASC notification came through on my mobile phone today. Buried in the mundane depths of a day job which is the anti-thesis of my outdoor persona, I had to grit my teeth. My shooting, my addiction to being in the wild (and writing about it as often … Continue reading Sun Tzu and the War Against Shooting
Please take a look at the screenshot above then allow me tell you a little more about the story. A dog walker took this picture close to boundary of a Hawk & Owl Trust nature reserve in Sculthorpe, Norfolk. Twenty miles from where I live. A beautiful place. The marsh harrier is an iconic … Continue reading A Clear And Present Bias – The Sculthorpe Marsh Harrier
The argument from anti's that we hunters are interfering with nature is not one that I can endure. As explained in the previous section, that we have become the dominant species on this planet is far from coincidence. As the creature at the pinnacle of the food chain, we have an immutable responsibility and authority … Continue reading Shooting – The Ethical Debate (An Extract)
