BACK IN THE CHAIR

Dave Barham reveals how a recent return to rabbit hunting after a two month layoff was not as easy as he’d anticipated

- Dave Barham

It’s been almost eight weeks since I had a rather unfortunate accident that saw me crack two ribs. Although the pain has now subsided and life is beginning to return to normal, I’m still feeling uncomfortable ‘twinges’ when I move in a certain way or sit in one position for too long.

All the time I’ve been sitting at home I have been itching to get back out shooting. Sure, I’ve had a few hours here and a couple of hours there in my back garden and even in a friend’s field whilst testing rifles and pistols, and of course, keeping my eye in with my own rifles, but the draw of hunting and putting fresh meat in the freezer was beginning to give me cabin fever. I’d had enough. I had to get back out there.

EXPENSIVE BUT WORTH IT

Last month I showed you my little project born from boredom – my makeshift shooting sticks built from a couple of garden canes. My plan was a simple one, to get myself back out in the field in search of rabbits, but I had to overcome a few more hurdles once I arrived at the shoot.

I recently purchased a rather expensive yet lightweight carp fishing chair from Nash Tackle. It’s purposely designed for us ‘lankies’, and measuring in at over 6ft 5ins I justified the price tag to myself. I did buy the chair for fishing, but I also had it in the back of my mind that I wanted something comfortable for sitting on in the middle of a field for three hours, waiting for rabbits to pop out of the hedgerow.