I took a quick trip to a local permission
in the afternoon, I only took my air rifle.
After a quick chat with the farmer's wife
in the yard, I headed to the bury under the Nettle patch.
There was a large doe sunning herself, and
she was too busy enjoying the warmth of the sun to notice me arrive.
She slumped on the spot.
I collected her, and headed to the bury by
the rock piles.
As I approached I saw a rabbit dive for
cover, so I got into position behind a broken wall.
I watched the hillside for about 5 minutes,
when there was a rustling sound from further on the bank.
I slowly turned to face the noise, and saw
a rabbit making its way towards the bury I was sat outside.
I watched it hop closer, and waited for it
to reach a small clearing.
He rolled down the banking and lay
motionless.
I waited another 10 minutes, then had to
move because 3 young girls were heading down the hillside from the top
farm, so I collected my rabbits, and went to check further down the
hillside.
As I approached a large area of bushes, I
spotted a pair of Collared Doves feeding in the undergrowth.
I slowly aimed my rifle, and squeezed the
trigger.
One of the doves slumped, and didn't
flutter a wing, the other took off, and sat in the nearest bush.
I re-cocked the rifle, took a small
side-step to get a clear view, and squeezed the trigger again.
Missed! I hit a small branch, and the dove
fluttered to another nearby bush.
Once again, I moved to get a clear view,
and took a shot.
Another miss.
I took 5 shots at this dove, and after each
shot, it moved to the next bush or tree, I still didn't get it. Then it
flew away.
I headed to the bottom of the hillside,
where this permission joined the next, and as I searched the trees around
the plant paddock (this farm is a plant nursery) I saw a Grey Squirrel sat
in the fork of a large Oak tree.
I steadily raised the rifle, and placed the
sight-post on its chest (just behind the shoulder.
He fell from the tree, and lay on the floor
with no more than a couple of flicks of his tail.
I collected him, and checked the rest of
the remaining trees on the boundary.
My mobile rang, it was my wife saying she
was beginning to make tea, so I called it a day, and headed back to my
car.