Having the edge in the field.

As we all know a knife is a essential piece of kit for hunters. It is used to paunch rabbits, breast pigeon and in some situations shelter/hide building. Theres nothing worse that trying to hock or paunch a rabbit with a blunt or poorly maintained knife, so if you are looking to replace what you have or just fancy a change give " Bows and Blades" a try.
Based in north east derbyshire Bows and Blades are a mail order specialist that are very competitively priced. With many different designs and sizes I'm sure you will find something that's suits your every need.
Click the picture below or follow the link in the "shops list" to visit this fabulous site.


Happy shopping.

Richard.

Another outing with the Gamo Maxima.

9am... Car loaded and ready for off.

Today I was heading back to my largest shoots some 6 miles away from home and I had got my sights set on Bunny's. I had been told there was an abundance of them running about on a huge field but some of them had got myxi. My aim was to dispatch the infected ones and to have a look how many were still ok. I wasn't there long when the first rabbit presented itself, out in the field digging. I was 50 yards away and over 10 minutes I managed to close range down to 30 yards. He had his head down so I gave a short squeak to get him to look up, and as he did so the pellet hit home, Clean kill with a head shot.

The edges of this field are littered with rabbit runs and holes. I noticed a few adult rabbits out in the distance but it didn't take long for them to bolt for cover as I started to make my way back down the field. All told I saw 15 rabbits, all were 70+ yards away but they all looked clean so I am heading back out on Thursday to bag myself a few. Today was more of a reconnaissance run, looking where I should set up and wait for the bunnies to head back to their holes.

 Almost every meter of the 270 meter hedgerow looks like this, so you can guess just how many residents call this field home.

The cows were most interested in what I was doing.

One bunny paunched, skinned and ready for cooking. I didn't eat it, it was for the cats as I don't like the thought of eating infected rabbit.

Yesterdays short shoot.

Wednesday morning didn't look to promising but i decided to set off to my shoot about 6 miles away from where i live. The sky was blue as i drove into the farm yard but the gray clouds were heading my way so i knew i didn't have much time to find cover. After getting a report on the happenings around the farm i was asked to have a look in the large cattle shed, now full of young turkeys getting ready for Christmas. As i walked in to the shed the noise from the turkeys was quite loud and this worked in my favour. The roof supports were the chosen resting place for 20 or more feral pigeons, feeding on the grain and then heading back up to digest there feast.
I had a nice clear shot from 35 yards at a group of 3 feral so i loaded up the Maxima and took aim. Down came the first one, head shot, the second one dropped to the floor about 7 seconds later and the third one was just looking around wondering what was going on. He very quickly found out as the third shot hit home and he joined his fellow flying rats on the shed floor.
First blood for the Gamo Maxima and i was very impressed with this light quiet rifle that seems more than capable of very fast clean kills.

Leaving the cattle shed i headed out in to the yard. It didn't rain after all and i could see that there were lots of pigeons landing in the hay store, that was my next stop. I slowly moved round the outside and could hear the cooing on top of the bails. Problem was the bails are stacked to the roof so i cant see where they were but as i came round the side of the building one broke cover and landed in the trees. Wrong move on his part as he presented a easy 25 yard shot. Squeezing the trigger a .22 bisley super field thwacked into the pigeon and down he came. Four shots, four kills.

My verdict:
This rifle looks nice, feels light and is well balanced. When taking a shot its weight lends itself to easy handling and with very little kick (recoil) shots come clean and quick. I walked around the farm for 40 Min's and despite not having a sling it wasn't a struggle to carry the rifle around.

I will be out again soon to dispatch some rabbits so i will post how the rifle performs but i am very confident it will do the job very well.

Richard.

New Chat Room is now up and running.

For those of you that dont have Facebook, or just dont want to chat on there, i have set this chat room up for us to have a chat.
Just click the link below and come along for a chat :
The D.V.S Chat Room

http://www.chatzy.com/884727596907 

I will be online most nights from around 8:30pm so i hope to see you there.

A rifle on loan. Thanks John.

Hi all.
Since i sold up some 6 months ago i have been without a rifle and as i am now back in the " shooting seat" i asked a very good friend of mine if i could borrow one of his spare rifles. He very kindly sent me his Gamo Maxima in .22 and i am looking forward to putting it through its paces on Wednesday.
Having never owned a Gamo rifle i am quite looking forward to testing it out. I have read on some other forums that this rifle ( and much of the gamo range) is not rated as one of the most popular for hunting, but I'm quite impressed with the chrono results so far. I got a almost constant 11.4flb ( over 10 shots) using bisley superfield.

 Spec list:
Rifled steel barrel with a sleek muzzle break.
2 Stage trigger
Shock absorbing scope arrestor block.
Manual Safety.
11.5 ft/lbs
Beechwood stock with ventilated rubber pad and checkering on the grip.

I used 2 target cards with a 30mm hit zone set 30 yards at the top of my garden to zero the scope. Very little recoil, light 2 stage trigger and very nicely balanced. The break barrel is easy to open and requires little effort to cock. Noise is quiet and down range the only sound you here is the pellet hitting home.
I will post a report on Wednesday evening and let you know how it performed in the field.

Richard

Need a builder....try SnS Builders Chesterfield.

For a very competitive quote on all building maintenance, plastering  and all other aspects of property maintenance call SnS builders first. Very professional and competent company indeed. Highly Recommended by many. 
Call Shane on 07542 299068 or 07542 299069 and have a chat about what you need doing.
http://snsbuilders.co.uk/default.aspx

Richard.

Targets to print/download.

I have been asked many times for paper targets so i have put together a short list of websites where you can print off as many paper targets as you want.

http://www.6mmbr.com/targets.html              
Targets to print / download.

http://www.mindflow.com.au/targets/          
Make and pring your own targets.

http://www.tuffsteel.com/Targets.html        
Fun targets.

http://www.tnoutdoorsmen.com/targets.htm  
Paper targets

Hope you find these usefull and remember to take your targets home with you as it pays to keep your shoots tidy.
Have fun.

Richard

DVS is now on facebook.

Just a quick update this morning to let you all know you can now join the "DVS chesterfield" facebook page. Add me as a friend and you can chat to me, post your questions and seek help from a shooting community world wide. So, who will be the first............
Search facebook for DVS Chesterfield
Hope to see you there.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002866615931
Richard.