A Foggy Day's Sport

Eddie’s out after tree rats with his dad.

Now winter is truly upon us it’s time for me to hit the woods and start my squirrel cull. I have spent quite a lot of my time off work in Wales so my grounds have been getting an unusual rest. There is nothing I like more than spending a chilly, frosty morning walking through woodland, and the amount of wildlife that you come across that has been hidden by the greenery of summer inspires me to get out as often as possible. Many a day I have sat in one place waiting to see how many different types of bird I can see, or even just listening to the noises that come from the animals that surround me. These are the reasons that I get out into the countryside, the pests that I shoot are a bonus.

I took a call from a landowner who told me that he had a small wood which had been seen to have a fair bit of squirrel activity lately, I shoot this ground from time to time, but mainly in winter, once the call comes. I had planned to go out with my old man before the call came in, so it was a good opportunity to give the Galahad another test and also for my dad to go on his a first squirrel hunt.

C’mon Dad!

I arrived at Dad’s house one very foggy morning, and from leaving my house and driving 30 miles to his, the temperature had not risen above -2. I’d packed extra clothing to complement the new Jack Pyke fleece hoodie and jacket that I was trying out, just in case it was going to be too harsh in the field. It was about 10.30am when I arrived at Dad’s, and it had been a slow trip because thefog had dropped visibility down to 30 yards in places, but we were hoping that it would lift as the sun was trying to break through and give us a glorious sunny day.