Woodland wander-land

Tom Sykes has an afternoon potter around the estate and makes a start on corvid control

The shooting season seems to have flown by. It has been the fastest season to date for me and it barely seems any time since we were releasing pheasants on the shoot.

A few epic keepers’ days marked the end of another fantastic winter in the field. Charlie and I have had a great season and managed to see our fair share of action from the peg and on the wilds of the foreshore.

The last few weeks of the game season saw us out practically every day, which left Goose and Hugo ready for a few days off. Being a wildfowler, I had the extension of 20 days on the foreshore, which again seemed to be a mad rush towards the end to ensure I stocked the freezer for the summer months. I had all the shooting I could do without regretting missed chances and the waders are now cleaned and stored for another year.

During the winter months the crows have been left in peace to avoid disturbing the pheasant shoot on rest days. But now the game shoots have fallen silent it’s time to get stuck into the corvid population. They seemed to have regrouped over winter and there are plenty to get on top of before they start causing trouble around the farms and on the shoot. In these late winter days I always like to have a mooch on the ground and try to set up an ambush in the roost sites.

Big gang

First, the estate gamekeepers organised a large roost shoot, the highlight of most of the beater’s diaries shortly after the pheasant season. The keepers spread the Guns out throughout the roosting wood to set an ambush for the unsuspecting jackdaws and crows.