New Opportunities

Tom Sykes gathers a new permission after a neighbouring farm hears about the good work he’s been doing on the estate.

- Tom Sykes

I always try to keep my farmers happy and control their vermin to the best of my ability. Doing this can pay off in numerous ways – other than job satisfaction another major perk can be gathering more ground through word of-mouth. Such a thing happened to me last year when a neighbouring farmer had been chatting about his crow problem to the shepherd on the estate where I control a lot of vermin.

I received a phone call later on that week after the shepherd had passed on my details. After a brief chat on the phone, I arranged to pop in to have a look at the ground to see how I can help in the future. As I wanted to make a good impression and show I was keen, I arranged to call into the farm the next day.

I decided to pack the car with the necessities to make a start on the crows if the opportunity became available. I took equipment that I deemed to be useful in most crow shooting situations because I didn’t really know the area well enough to make a proper plan. As it sounded like the shooting would be primarily “urban warfare” around buildings, the main kit was my gun and ammunition, but I also took a few decoys, some camouflage netting, poles and a seat with me, too.

First look