Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

Catlow’s notebook

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 41

TheGunssharetheirhope,and
hopetoo— thoughnotperhaps
withouta touchofanxiety— thatthey
willbeabletoputtheirshareofbirds
inthebag.I hatestandingina lineof
Gunsandshootingbadly.I gohome
fromdaysspentmissingpheasants
feelingfoolishand miserable.

Disgusted
Butona workdaythereis littleriskof
suchfeelings.Youmayhityourthumb
oroneofyourfingerswitha hammer;
morethanlikelyyouwillscratch
yourselfonbramblesorsomebroken
wire;yourbackis almostcertainto
startcomplainingbeforetoolong.But
youareveryunlikelytodriveaway
froma workdayfeelingappalledand
disgustedbyyourownincompetence.
Andanothergoodthingabout
workdays,especiallythehotand
sweatyones,is thatwhentheyare
overI gohomeandloungeinthebath
forhalfanhourinanattempt
tomakemybackfeela little
happier.I thenpreparemy
dinner and realise with

delightandreliefthatsherrytimehas

at lastcomeround.Thewonderful

fluidtastestwiceaswonderfuland

twiceassoothingasit normally does,

whichis sayingquitea lot.

I amwritingthispiecetowardsthe

middleofJulyandthereareoneor

twomoreworkdaystocome.Then

therewillbe 600 ex-layerstotake

tothepensat ForestHall,a rough

andreadyfarmers’shoottowhichI

belongandwhichI enjoyenormously.

Anda three-linewhiphasalready

beendeclaredforthedeliveryofthe

Wyegillbirdsinless than a week.

Fishingtrip

Talkofworkdaysremindsmethat

thereis plentytodoat HighPark.

HeadkeeperTonySmithhasbeen

somewhatoutofsortsandI havebeen

fishingobsessively;I amofftoWales

foranotherweek’sfishingjustbefore

thebeginningofrelease.Sonow,not

ina dayortwoorsometimenext

week,nowis thetimetomake

everythingreadyforthe

arrivalofourpoultsat

theendofthemonth.

I shallhaveto

renouncefishing

untilI headtoWales

unlessperhaps,

if I workreallyhardandmanage

togetaheadofmyself,I mightbe

abletorewardallmyeffortswithan

afternoon(ortwo)ontheTeesorthe

Wharfe.If thatis tohappentherewill

havetobea frenzyofstrimmingand

sprayingroundtheoutsideofthe

pensbeforetheelectricfencescan

surroundandprotect them.

Pop-holes

Thepop-holeswillneedattention,

drinkerswillbecleaned;thepellets

areintheshedandwillneedtakingto

thebins;freshcoverneedscuttingto

provideshelterandrefugefornervous

poults.Thoughbothpensaremore

orlessnew,I mustremembertocheck

thewireincasethereis a holeortwo.

Ohyes,andI needtogetenough

balesofbarleystrawforthefirstweek

ortwoofrelease.PerhapsI should

forgetaboutanyfishingbeforemy

triptoWales.Thegoodnews,anyway,

is thatI rememberedtoorderthe

birdsat thebeginningofFebruary—

I forgotoneyearandwasonlysaved

bya latecancellation— andI have

alreadyfixedthedayoftheirdelivery.

SometimesI amsurprisedbymy

ownefficiency,thoughthereis one

dutythatI haveforgotten.Thiswas

toadviseallholidaymakerstoavoid

south-eastCumbriainthelastweek

ofJuly,becausethatis whenmybirds

cometoHighParkandit alwaysrains.

Youwillsurelyrememberlast

summer’sdrought;well,it endedup

herethedaybeforemypoultsarrived.

Asit happenedI wasnottheretosee

therainnorthepoultsbecausemy

LandRoverwassulkinginShropshire

andmoreorlessrefusingtomove.

I wasforcedtoleavemypheasants

toothersandgofishinginstead.

Anyway,thisarticleis toolatefor

end-of-Julyholidaymakersandit may

bethatthesunshoneforthemin

Cumbria.Butyoucanbesurethat,as

themonthdrewtoa close,therewere

greyskiesoverHighPark with rain

coming out of them.

A fishingtriptoWales
beckonsforLaurence,but
notuntilHighParkis re
forthenewarrivals

Astheseasonrollsaroundoncemore,allthe

jobs on the shoot must have been completed

Palominograpesand

Spanishgeniusmakethe

nectar that is sherry