Outside Days » partridge

Battle of the Somme: French Wildfowling

Howard — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:30:22 +0000

Having had so many great guinea pig trips, you can forgive me my audacity when I planned an expedition to explore wildfowling a la francaise and invited a journalist to join me.

Years of writing as a sporting journalist for titles like the Sporting Gun have left Ian Mason more open-minded and intrepid than most, and he accepted the invitation to cross the channel for an entente cordial with alacrity. After a comfortable night on the ferry, we awoke in France and made the two hour drive from the ferry port to Le Crotoy inland from the Bay of Somme. Famed for its duck shooting from hutte, this area is littered with flight ponds and wetlands and thousands of hutte to accommodate the nightly influx of guns from September to sometime in late January or early February.

In France, there is no law preventing the use of live decoys, so each pond has a holding pen for pricey ducks and geese (up to 200 euros a brace for geese). These decoys are taken out onto floating stands where they are fixed for the evening, able to hop in and out of the water at their leisure. The live decoys are laid out in straight lines so they don’t become targets as dusk descends.The logic for this arrangement becomes apparent when it is explained that while the evening flight is undertaken in much the same way as it is in Britain, the main event involves a shotgun with a telescopic sight mounted on it and the ducks that have settled onto the water between the lines of decoys.

Through the pillbox-like window of the hutte, we squinted out at indistinct shapes bobbing on the water. While it undoubtedly challenged our perceptions of a sporting shot, firing at a bobbing target in the dark through a small slit when only just awake is much harder than it sounds. Our bag was 6, one shot British-style at dusk and the balance in the French manner. While definitely not a sporting destination in its own right, when combined with wild grey partridge and/or walked-up snipe, the adventure becomes worth crossing the Channel for.

For more details or to book your trip contact us at info@outsidedays.com

Where Did August Go?

Howard — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:05:35 +0000

The glorious 12th came racing up on me like a steam train, leaving disarray in its wake as I tackled Yorkshire, Croatia, the 19th century and the Sussex downs in rapid succession. While the rest of the country basked in an Indian summer, I sweltered in tweeds and froze in moleskins depending on the whim of Mother Nature. I pack sunscreen and short sleeves for Croatia, but the indignity of combining suncream with tweed has me questioning the apparent realignment of the seasons. Except for the not-so-glorious fog that accompanied the guns on August 12th and 13th of course.

The first of our annual brace of black powder days went off with a bang as the team attempted their first partridge. Mini-driven days are always more about the laugh, fancy dress and the giving of stick, bag is immaterial to this team…especially when we never seem to reach it. At 60 seconds plus to reload both barrels, I spend more time on the radio holding the line and my belly than anything else. Having taken up the invitation to fire a flintlock in anger at quarry, I am amazed the team hit anything at all: the delay requires physics calculations worthy of a submariner to put shot in the same airspace as a bird.

At long last, the sweltering weather seems to have broken with cool nights, showery days and the fallow rut settling us in to autumn’s rhythm. The first pheasants are starting to turn up in bags, and days are going from pure partridge to the days of mixed sport that signal the start of pheasants in seriousness. With the first frosts underfoot, we are selling the last of the late grouse bargains and a few remaining guns and days. The first woodcock have been reported on the Isle of Lewis, with many more to follow as the winter days draw in and the arctic blast we are promised materialises. If you find yourself with some spare days to fill, get in touch…we’ve taken our first booking for January 2013 so you needn’t worry about appearing overeager.

Thomas Cook Has Nothing On Us

Howard — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 21:47:04 +0000

Before you start shaking your head about the cost of foreign travel (never mind sporting holidays) and cleaning your weapons in preparation for mothballing, have a look at Outside Days out of season sporting breaks. After all, I didn’t get a can of WD40 for my birthday because I am a frivolous spendthrift.
Texas
No. 2′s nationality has nothing to do with my passion for this vast state and the varied sport it offers (her kind cling to the coasts). From quail over pointers to hogs in high seats and bass from boats, there is literally sport to be had 365 days of the year. Packages can be as simple or complex as you like: take in multiple venues or be based from one camp, devote yourself to one quarry or sample a plethora of sporting opportunities. In 2011, start from $250USD a day.

Argentina
The high volume dove shooting in Argentina needs very little introduction, nor does Tierra del Fuego and its enormous sea trout. But it wouldn’t be an Outside Days adventure if we hadn’t explored every nook and cranny to bring you sport off the beaten track. The pampas holds enormous trophy reds and antelope that will have the stalkers dreaming, and Patagonia’s stunning trout rivers and freshwater lakes will take the ardent flyfisherman by surprise. Whether iconic Argentinian sport or a diversion from convention gives you the shivers, we can take you there with 2011 excursions starting at $450USD a day.

South Africa
Last year’s guinea pig trip is this year’s strong contender for the best boys trip away, offering huge value that almost matches the bag. We offer a range of South African options from the luxe and plush colonial to the no-frills lodge experience. From wildebeast to dove and all sizes of fur and feather in between, we’ve got a southern African trip to suit. And the meager hour time difference means no jet lag! With 2011 African experiences available from £1,600 for a week, you can trade the heat of the British spring and summer for the balmy African winter.

Croatia
With the amount of time I spent there last year and the fun I had, I’m considering registering as a Croatian citizen. They think nothing of waking before dawn to pursue quail over pointers, then heading to the Dalmatian coast for a bit of spearfishing and baitfishing, or to icy mountain streams for trout before returning for another bash at the birds. Add chamois, moufflon, boar and woodcock to the sporting menu and it represents pretty amazing value within a couple of hours of London. Let’s be honest, that’s closer than the big Devon high bird shoots (for most of us), and with two days of sport starting at 900euros in 2011, a LOT more affordable.

If any of these sporting destinations appeal to you, please get in touch so we can help you customise a trip to suit.

******CALLING ALL GUINEA PIGS******
If you like the unexpected, the bargain, the occasional compromise, and expressing your considered opinions in a constructive way, this is for you.

Every year, we add a few new strings to our bow. And, as you would expect from us, everything is road tested before we offer it to the wider world. The road test dummies, affectionately known as guinea pigs, get bargain trips to stunning (well, we hope) locations. In exchange, they tolerate me and the unforeseen. Risks have included dodgy transfers, mystery meat, unusual food combining (banana, ham and salad cream sandwiches), local games, and patchy sport. On the other hand, we’ve had enormous bags of a diversity of birds, real bargains, made some new friends around the globe, and no shortage of laughter.

Providing I have enough of you volunteer to be experimented on, the 2011 offerings include:
* Flyfishing for trout on the rivers in Bosnia
* A three day barbel on the dry-fly trip to Spain. Yes, you read that right, my fantasy fishing experiment has been made a reality by the Spaniards.
* Partridge, taimen and antelope, the Mongolian McGenghis, for the really adventurous.

Sign up now to join the doughty band of adventurers named after a children’s pet. You, too can be an Outside Days guinea pig.

Croatian Flights

Howard — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 22:09:09 +0000

When it comes to birds, we pride ourselves on offering the extremes. Our quail and woodcock packages in Croatia are no exception.

If, as the dog days of summer roll around each year, you contemplate the sorry state of the British summer and rusty shooting skills in the face of the Glorious 12th and beyond, kill two birds with one stone: add a quick trip to Croatia in pursuit of migratory quail walked up over English pointers and setters to the diary. Within hours you could be ensconced in rural agricultural Croatia, contemplating an evening’s walked up quail over pointers. Hunt for four or five hours from dawn and then again for two or three hours in the evening to avoid the heat of the day. Being on the doorstep of the hunting ground compensates for a lack of bells and whistles accommodation when you are hauling yourself out of bed to be in the field at dawn. Perhaps a villa by the sea and a pre-dawn commute to the fields is more your style: only an hour from our rural hunting idyll, the coast offers an array of watersports from boating and snorkeling to fishing and diving.

Are you pheasant and partridged out? Or has the end of the British shooting season come all too soon? Maybe you are just a ‘cock junkie? A quick flight from any of the major British airports and a short commute to the hotel at the centre of the hunting ground has you in the heart of European woodcock territory. Pack comfortable boots as you can walk for five or six hours each day in pursuit of these pop-eyed shot-dodgers. On the plus side, the pointers give you the heads up before the birds leap skyward. Groups of two or more can shoot woodcock over pointers over more than 100,000 hectares of prime Croatian hunting ground from the 1st of October to the 28th of February.

Both of these packages are flexible, offering sport for one day or many, and are readily combined with other fieldsports.

Packing for the Coming Season

Howard — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:30:15 +0000

On the cusp of a new season, with one bag packed for Croatia and another for the Yorkshire moors, I find myself contemplating the sport that lies ahead.

By the time you read this, I will be in sunny Split chasing wild migratory quail across the Croatian countryside. At least if you are reading this between 4 and 9am or 6 and 8pm. Otherwise I’ll be chasing wily trout in mountain streams, stalking sea fish with a speargun or lolling about on a boat dangling my line over the edge. Don’t say I didn’t give you the opportunity to do the same! In fact, if you hurry, we may be able to nab a few days sport in September.

The walked up grouse in Yorkshire sold out as soon as it hit the books, and left some of you queuing. We are working hard at expanding our last minute offers for this season, and the availability for next. Meanwhile if someone can work out how to fit two large men, a labrador, a springer and her pup and all our kit in the back of a small van without crushing anything vital, please let me know.

September is full of promise for fur and fin alike with evenings stalking and nights on the rivers in pursuit of sea trout, not to mention some of the best early season partridge about. We do have a few days still available, and anticipate being able to squeeze in a few more before the season’s out. If you are not already on our mailing list, sign up so you can be among the first to find out about new offerings and last minute availability.

Simulated Game Summer-y

Howard — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:20:12 +0000

The long dry spells this spring and summer have made for marvellous game clay days, and many of you joined us to have a go at faux pheasant, partridge and duck. In all more than 50,000 cartridges were fired at a similar number of clays. Add to that drawn out lunches on the lawns of the Cuckoo Inn (notable for Jenny’s home-made chillies, curries, cakes and other delicacies) and you were sent home satiated and spent.

With the birds well and truly on the ground, we’ve rolled up the picnic rugs on another fantastic simulated season, but if you fancy one last blast Outside Days hosts the 50 bird sporting clay shoot at the Hamptworth Country Fayre.

So come and join us for one last chance to blow the dust from the barrels before the season starts in earnest.

Mellow Autumn Fruitfulness

Howard — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:00:02 +0000

In the lull between grouse and partridge, No. 2 has taken advantage of my height for a bit of hedge-picking and scrumpying to fill the larder for the coming winter. Yes, we are a bit early for the sloes, but she argues that with the advent of climate change, conventional wisdom can be stretched here in the south. And she has had a look at my calendar, so list-making and task distribution are in full flow in preparation for my disappearance into the shooting season.

Sloe gin is a long-standing favourite, and after a gap in production, I have set aside numerous litres that should be ready in…February. In other words, don’t expect to be drinking my vintage until the 2010 season. You’ll have to settle for shop-bought this season, I’m afraid. With rosehip syrup, blackberry jam, green tomato pickle and rhubarb chutney in production, No.2 is focusing on the other jobs to hand. So if you fancy a day’s partridge over the coming weeks, do let me know…you’d be rescuing me from a spate of chicken pen building, veg garden manuring, and spreading a mountain of barkchip over her garden.

Dog Days of Summer: Pre-season Panic

Howard — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:00:41 +0000

The best piece of canine wisdom I have been given is that the time to train your dog is the off season: using it during the season is more likely to undo training than perfect it. That said, what with trips to Texas, South Africa, and beyond clogging the first months of the off season, I find myself behind on the remedial work I’d intended for my canine team. To complicate matters, my weakness for spaniels has left me with 3 breeds in the kennel, each of a different bent and all comedians in their own rights. Fortunately, a summer lounging on the armchair in the office between surreptitious raids in the kitchen seems to have done my lab no harm and he is back in full working order. Now that he has had a couple of days on the grouse, he’s convinced that we’re for the off every time the door opens. The postie has had a couple of near misses.

For whatever reason, once cockers get to a certain age, all they want to do is shout. Satch started squeaking when on a line a couple of seasons ago, and it has progressed to what Jumpstart calls ‘feral’: baying like a pack of hounds after every flutter of wings. No amount of training is going to convince him that silence is golden, so you won’t be seeing a lot of him this season. But pushing 10 he’s earned a slow season (even if I have had to fortify Fort Knox to make sure he stays put). He’s been superseded by Int. Ftch. Meggie Moo (as No. 2 insists on calling her). All that’s required is a little sharpening and some fitness outings to get rid of a summer’s spare tyre (hers, not mine).

And then there’s Heck (formerly Hector, abbreviated to reduce the swearing that follows in his wake). I now know why Clumbers aren’t mainstream. He can hunt, as proven last year, and practiced on the chickens all summer. Now if I could just convince him to retrieve. By using a high-pitched voice and rolling on the ground with him, I can incite and excite him enough to retrieve a dummy a couple of times. He has style, but one that is going to leave him with some decapitated pheasants or propelled by partridge if he’s not careful. Hopefully once he’s working on the real thing, he’ll sort it out for himself…eventually. It did take him 9 months to master the dogflap in his kennel…he’s destroyed two since then.

If you are out on a day and Heck’s retrieving, don’t stand in his way…

Sim Species Expansion

Howard — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:00:54 +0000

Many of you have shot simulated game, whether I’m the one flinging clays over your head, or you’ve tried it with somebody else. We’ve just trialled a new venue and format for these fun out of season days, and can now offer 4 species simulated game days from spring next year. It also adds a second venue with completely different landscape to our downland days, tucked in the trees, hedges and ditches of the New Forest.

Hours of stomping around the estate’s fields and woods, heaving clays into empty space, we have derived a strategy that lets us show: driven partridge over high hedges; duck looping crazily and springing unseen from a flight pond; high pheasant soaring majestically over the tree tops; and grouse charging at butts across the heather and bracken.

Butt and blind construction is underway, and I can’t wait to see what you make of it for next season. All sorts of hospitality and corporate packages are possible, and there is something to suit everyone’s pocket. The secret’s out and booking has already started.

Summer Lovin’

Howard — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:44:57 +0000

Ascot week has been patchy to say the least, and not just when it comes to the horses I backed. Traditionally the week when wild partridge hatch, the weather for Ascot was considered to be an indicator of the success of the rearing season and therefore the shooting season. Better than the two previous years, Ascot 2009 produced downpours in some areas, the kind of heavy rain that chills and kills chicks. The use of Ascot weather as a harbinger of the season ahead is fading into memory as few people are relying on wild birds for their season’s sport.

And the heavy summer rains were welcomed by the salmon and sea trout fishermen, who would probably like to see a bit more as our lovely sunny spring has left the spate rivers on the bones of their arses. I can report that the first few salmon have been caught on the Itchen and Test, and even I’ve managed a sea trout off the Avon. We have a few spots on sea trout evenings on Itchen remaining, and are considering concocting another excursion to Devon if the guinea pigs are successful in July.

The roe rut will be in full swing by Game Fair week, with the fallow season following on its heels. My wife encourages you all to get in touch and come stalking to reduce the deer who are grazing on her peonies.