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.

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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.

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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.

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Leaving the heat of the day for the mad dogs and mythical Englishmen (those that avoid hats and sunscreen), we’ll be up and in the fields at first light, following the pointers in pursuit of feathered bumblebees before breakfast. By the time respectable holiday makers are emerging bleary-eyed from their beds, you’ll be enjoying brunch and contemplating the day stretching out in front of you. With temperatures visiting the 30s and the Med a mere 15k down the road, the options are endless. Just be back for an armed tea-time romp. Returning to the fields after the strength of the sun has waned gives the dogs the best chance to find the diminutive quarry. And it means you can return to Blighty’s cloudy shores without looking like a lobster.

We’re estimating an average bag of 40-50 birds a day…influenced by your fitness, walking speed and accuracy, of course. A good day and guns who have honed skills before arrival hold the promise of double that…

The season is short and birds quick so getting planning now as bookings are flying in fast.

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While you’ve been reliving the season past over a pint and cleaning your gun for the final time, I’ve been to the GP to arrange shots and contemplated packing for a guinea pig trip to South Africa in May. Never one to live in the present, I had the details of that trip sewn up with my Christmas shopping: now I’m firming up plans for trips to Croatia in early August. Better known for boar and deer (which we can also arrange), Croatia is also home to a species of quail so small that disturbed coveys have been described as swarming bees. Cheap flights to parts of Croatia have made bargain sporting breaks a tempting prospect. We’ll be putting together teams to go to locations near Split and Zagreb in pursuit of these tiny dynamos. The sport will be quail over pointers at either end of the day (avoiding midday heat), and ‘cultural’ activities in between. As always with pointers, the ideal team size is 4, and the standard package is 2 days sport, 3 nights accommodation. If birds the size of angry bees are your thing, get in touch.

When game birds become protected species on February 2nd, trigger fingers across the country begin to itch through lack of use. Simulated game, or game clays as I like to call them, provides the remedy for many of you each year. From April until mid-July we offer days on several locations in the South, or we can bring the sport to you. Unlike driven shooting where the line is limited to 6 to 10 guns, we work on 12 to 18. Perfect for everything from team building to wedding guest amusement, we’ve organised days for it all. From fully catered with wait staff and candelabras to picnics in a hay barn or sandwiches from the boot, we can do it all. For the lone gun or incomplete line, we have a number of scratch days throughout the simulated season. Get in touch if firing upwards of 400 cartridges a day sounds like fun.

My sporting passion began with rod and line, and every year as the buds burst and the days lengthen I am drawn back to my roots on the river bank. Whether your pleasure is still water or river, novice or experienced fisherman, we have opportunities to flick fluff at trout for all. Days are booking up rapidly, but remember you can always fit in an evening’s sport after the office closes with some of our waters catering to the afterhours fisherman.

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Hospitality is served on an all-you-can-eat platter in Texas. From the classic 50′s diner to roadside cajun dives to the extravagance of homemade EVERYTHING at the lodge, you’ll never stick to that diet in the Lone Star state. Between varmint, hogs and quail, this trip is nonstop, so fuel for the hunter is essential. Paul, the resident lodge chef (and Texas’ only rugby fan), produced a different cooked breakfast every day, only surpassed by his lunches and evening meals. He even understood that tea is a beverage best served hot, and not necessarily sweet.

Our winged quarry was the bobwhite quail, a small bird with an enormous range. You find them from Mexico east to Florida, and from the midwest and northeast south to the coast wherever there are areas of young forest regeneration – what in Africa they call the forested savannah. Like our red grouse, the birds form coveys of 2 to 30 outside of the breeding season (October to April). Released quail can be hunted for 12 months of the year.

If you are a fan of walked up grouse or partridge, these are a bird for you. They flush like little pocket rockets, the covey emerging from the grass in a starburst, wings humming, to skim over the grass and away. Small, unpredictable, and as likely to flush at 20 metres as under the dog’s nose, quail are good fun whatever the season.

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Despite the perception of Texas being populated by longhorn cattle, cowboys and cacti, when we arrived East Texas was just drying out from a flood. Ranch manager cum wildlife biologist Zach Willeford and Mike, a Texas Parks and Wildlife ranger, awaited us with weapons at the ready. In a country where you can buy a rifle at WalMart (read ASDA with prices to match), most ranch guests bring their own. Our borrowed arms were a variety of calibres from 30.06 to 9mm.Having proven our metal on the range, we mounted quads and set out across the 5,500 acre ranch after hogs. Feral pigs, the hogs are a mix of escaped farm stock, wild and Russian boar. Quads may be designed for off-road, but Argo carts they’re not…although with a little persuasion they got us to our highseats. The first night was quiet with the exception of Martin who was ‘treed’ in his high seat by a troupe of raccoons.

The following morning we woke determined to redress our duck. While Martin and I tried our hand at Bob White quail over german shorthaired pointers, Jeremy and David stalked in seriousness. Between them they bagged a pair of hogs and Jeremy took his first whitetailed deer. We swapped quarry, and after determining that it required rounds in the chamber to make any impact, Martin and I finally bagged our hogs.

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