Aches and Pains

I appear to have "tennis elbow." not as a result of over exertion on the court but more to do with excessive log chopping. Since our last dual electricity and gas bill dropped heavily through the letter box we are making a concerted effort to economise on heating costs. This has so far resulted in thermostats on all radiators being turned down to their lowest point and the wearing of thermal undergarments and thick sweaters. The wood burner is now relit at lunchtime instead of tea time and shut right down at bedtime. Consequently this has resulted in greater inroads on the log pile and heavy use of the log splitter and my right elbow. I do hope this does not interfere with my shooting abilities, crap as they already are. If so, I will bite the bullet, so to speak, and however reluctantly, pay the larger fuel bills.
I road tested my new Muck Boots last night with a dusk deer stalk in the mizzling rain. Wearing just thin insulated socks as recommended, my feet remained remarkably warm even when trudging through icy puddles and mud. Unfortunately they were no help in locating a deer for the larder. As I write rain is lashing at the window and my shrubbery is bending under ferocious winds. The forecast is for worse to come so hunting is out of the question for a day or two.
My little booklet "How to Make a Cat Trap" is selling well on eBay with good feedback on its effective usage. I believe most buyers do as I do, and using the design make a larger version for use as a live catch fox trap. I have used one with much success for a number of years now.

Just watching a cock pheasant from my office window. Each time he turns his rear to the wind his tail feathers curl forwards over his head. Most amusing.

Shooting Times

Saturday proved to be a perfect driven bird day. Dry, bright, a little wind and numerous pheasants. We shot our new 240 acre mixed woodland for the second time this season and after two weeks of leaf fall the birds were far more shootable through the tree tops. We are not a big bag shoot and after four drives and 25 brace we retired to the pub for a pint and a bite.
Sunday morning dawned bitterly cold with a hard frost. Our little clay bashing club meets at 10 o'clock for a 40 bird sporting shoot. I was on my usual crap form with 19 ex 40. If they had long tails I would improve my score somewhat.
After a lunchtime session at the Old Bull we returned home to find one of the estate's foresters at the door. He had just had a run in with a bunch of roughnecks coursing deer just down the road from here. Even though he blocked their exit from the field with his Landrover they barrelled their Subaru straight through the hedge, across a ditch and away down the road. Five men, two lurchers and a dead fallow made a clean getaway. The registration number when ran through the police computer proved to be a false one.
I have since received certain information regarding these characters which has been passed on to the police. Suffice to say it appears that they are of the travelling fraternity who no doubt will escape any punishment for the deed.
On a lighter note I have discovered a new source of mistletoe which should prove profitable in a few weeks time.

More Problems

It's not all roses over the door and trilling bird song in the countryside. This morning brought the postman struggling to reassemble the sliding conservatory door with which he had been a little heavy handed.
Ten minutes later we discovered the toilet would not flush due to a sewer drain blockage. Fortunately my brother in law who is a plumber was here at the time, so he got the shit job.
The rats in the roof have now found their way into the floor space and are ignoring all my traps and poison.
To cap it all I opened a letter from our local council to say that planning permission has been applied for to convert neighbouring farm buildings into an equestrian centre. This, if approved will bring numerous problems to us and the access to our property.
On a lighter note I had a burger making session today using fallow deer haunch and pigeon breasts.
Just returned from the wood having finally caught up with the dog fox which has been plaguing one of the main pheasant feed rides.

Rats in the Roof and Rumpie Pumpie.

Fried up the last of my home cured bacon this morning. Two rashers on a toasted sandwich with sliced beetroot went down very well indeed. Gemma has just delivered another two pork bellies for me to play with, but unfortunately that will mean a three week bacon free gap whilst waiting for it to cure properly. Fortunately I know another home curer with whom I can exchange venison for bacon.
Now sat in the Old Bull at Inkberrow. (The Archers Pub) enjoying a pint of Herefordshire Pale Ale. The dinner menu here is always a little different. Murphy, the Irish landlord specialises in unusual and eccentric dishes. On offer tonight we have Rumpie Pumpie :Medallions of pork on a black pudding mash. Three Breasts On A Plate. Pheasant, duck and wood pigeon with red cabbage and pancetta and a Sloppy Joe. Burger. Spicy beef chilli with halloumi cheese on a bun. All these are priced at under £11.
We appear to have rats, squirrels or other unwanted visitors in the roof space at Home Farm Barn. My son, his partner and family were kept awake most of last night by scampering creatures above their heads.
I have now set three traps and scattered poison blocks in the area which I believe is being used for access to the roof. Tomorrow morning will hopefully produce results.

Tasks For Today

Each evening before retiring I prepare a list of tasks to be done next day. Some of these are quite often rolled over to the following day.
Several of today's jobs will depend on weather conditions and the forecast is not good.
Here we go:
Vac pac yesterday's faggots.
Purchase new oven for barn conversion.
Purchase sturdy barrow for moving logs.
Deliver a load of logs to Old Bull.
Have a pint at above.
Purchase winter boots and hat for German boar hunting trip.
Meeting at estate office on stalking matters.
Visit a sick friend.
Attempt to shoot two prickets to fill an order.
Deal with correspondence etc.

I see a huge marquee is being erected in a neighbouring field for the Young Farmers annual bash. This promises a sleepless night on Saturday.

More Of The Same

Spent an hour making more venison faggots. I used a TV chefs tip of blanching the offal in boiling water for 5 mins before mincing. Makes hand mincing easier but shaping the faggot balls more difficult. Also added a little sage and onion stuffing to mix for extra flavour.
Whilst in a culinary mood I also knocked up a simple salad dish using a recipe supplied by my Danish friends. Cut two heads of broccoli into numerous mini florets and place in a large mixing bowl. Add a handful of raisins and 2 tbs of red wine vinegar.
Season to taste with salt and black pepper (I use celery salt). Mix and coat thoroughly with about a third of a jar of mayonnaise. Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and serve with almost anything or sit and eat a whole bowl of it yourself.
I spent a lazy hour this afternoon flicking through the pages of some old Shooting Times magazines from 1928. A pair of Churchill's "Premiere" sidelock 12 bores £240. Numbered in gold at no extra charge! Cartridges 13 shillings per 100.
Just cracked a bottle of one of my favourite malts. Knockando is a twelve year old single malt and one of the finest Speyside whiskys with a unique delicacy and fruitiness. Cheers.

Back To Normality

My Danish hunting guests have now returned to bacon land and life is a little easier. They finished their trip well pleased with a good number of deer in the larder. Included were seven good bucks whose heads will grace Danish walls in a few weeks.
I now need to deal with mopping up operations for a day or two before taking wifey for a well earned break visiting some Devon friends.
Finished skinning five deer this morning and butchered two large fawns for the freezer. Reserved a couple of fillets for later this evening.
Orders for logs coming in thick and fast. One in particular from a local pub has proved most useful. They require large logs for a huge fireplace which has enabled me to make inroads into a huge pile of knotty cord wood which was difficult to work with a chainsaw. A £10 splitter and a sledgehammer are doing the job and helping me to loose a little weight in the process.
Received my list of meeting places for the Croome and West Warwickshire Hunt this morning. Only two will interfere with my stalking but I can live with that as the list also includes dates for Dinner and Dance, countryside race day, Barn Dance, Farmers Hunt Ball, and my all time favourite - Farmers Beef Suppers.

Second Day

9.30 pm. Totally whacked. Nonstop from 5.15 this morning. Taken eight fallow today including the two below. Also dealt with road casualty fallow this morning. Stalking interrupted for an hour whilst dealing with trespassers and their dogs. "We were just going for a walk" Why choose 7.30 in a morning in torrential rain to take your family for a stroll through private woodland?

First Day

Sat in airport car park waiting for Copenhagen flight and my three Danish guests. When they have arrived we will return to the farm for bacon sandwiches (English of course) before checking their rifles for zeroing. Have chosen three high seats for this evenings stalk but rather concerned that heavy rain forecast for later will thwart my plans.
8.15pm. Rain held off but deer in short supply. One pricket taken but does are in tomorrow so the next few days look promising. Have just introduced my guests to venison faggots, onion gravy, mashed spuds and mushy peas followed by wife's apple and blackberry tart. Hope they don't oversleep tomorrow. Just time for a nip of Balvenie, a gift from the Danes, then early to bed.

Ready for the rut.

My three Danish friends are flying into Birmingham for 10 o'clock tomorrow morning, accompanied by an assortment of Blaser rifles. They will be here for five days and ten stalks. I will be totally knackered by the second day but their enthusiasm for the hunt will encourage me to persevere. On their last trip they accounted for 55 head of deer, mostly fallow with a few roe and muntjac. That has barely dented the deer population in this neck of the woods.
Received a surprise parcel of goodies this morning. @KevinTidepool, one of my Twitter followers and a sporting goods dealer has sent me an assortment of American deer calls for me to test out on my patch. Not sure how to set about experimenting with 14 different calls but no doubt the Danes will assist. I have only used a Buttalo call in the past and was not too impressed by the results. It was more successful on muntjac than roe.
I have included photos of a hazel stick I cut in the wood this morning. Should make an interesting walking stick next year.

Mad Monday

I knew it was going to be one of those days at 7.45 this morning when the Ranger wouldn't start. Not particularly cold, battery Ok, plenty of fuel. Fuel! Young son had filled up with diesel from a tank at his work place which I have since discovered had been untouched for 10 years. Water, rust and sediment in the fuel now means the Rangers tank has to be emptied and cleaned along with fuel pump, filters etc.
I took the other 4x4 to the wood in order to repair a couple of high seats and then realised the gate keys were in the other truck which I had towed to the garage. After retrieving them I then walked half a mile through boggy almost impassable woodland to the first high seat to find I had forgotten the branch loppers which I needed.
Back to the farm at lunchtime to be informed the hunt are working this area tomorrow which will bugger up my planned evening stalk.
To cap it all I have just discovered my venison freezer was accidentally switched off about four days ago and it's contents have part thawed. Prior to discovering this I had checked my fruit store to find rotting spuds, squashes and apples in large numbers and also that pheasants I had shot and hung on Saturday were already plastered with fly eggs but fortunately have not spoiled the meat.
Looking forward to a better day tomorrow.

Lazy Sunday

After a boozy Saturday evening it was a welcome bonus to have an extra hour in bed this morning. A bacon and egg sarnie and a couple of strong coffees later popped down to shops for papers and milk.
Prepared roast vegetables and stuffed a guinea fowl ready for lunch and then spent a couple of hours sampling the Herefordshire Pale Ale at the Old Bull in Inkberrow. Lunch over, Sunday papers finished, now ready for Homeland.

Autumn Pleasures and problems

Autumn at Home Farm brings happiness and hard work in equal measures. The Fallow rut is in full swing with bucks coming into my patch from miles around. Numerous prickets are circling the rutting stands hoping for a rapid rape of one of the many young does before a master buck sees him off. Large numbers of deer in the area always mean I am very busy culling, gralloching, skinning etc. I have three Danish guests arriving next week and between us we should take around 50 fallow, roe and muntjac.
On the down side I now have the seasonal invasion of vermin to contend with. Mice in the kitchen, rats in the barn and the compost heaps and squirrels everywhere. The current East winds have caused our boundary ash trees to shed their leaves 6ins deep on the front lawn instead of on our neighbours side. Two hours raking has removed about a third of them.
On the up side again. Tomorrow brings my first day as a Gun in the new syndicate I have joined. 16 Saturdays to look forward to. Not big bag days but good company and a pleasant lunch at pub after shooting.

Fry Up Time

After six days curing and three days hanging to dry in the barn (in muslin covers), my bacon is now ready for the pan. The rashers have been cut by hand, rather thick but I prefer a man size slice rather than that nanby pampby stuff one gets from the supermarket. I know it's middle of the afternoon, not exactly breakfast time, but I couldn't resist a small fry up with a few fried potatoes and a dollop of rich brown sauce. Quality food.
I have invested in a small vac packer and after a little experimenting have produced some quite professional looking bacon packs ready for freezer or barter.
I have spent most of the morning logging in nearby woodland where I hold the stalking permission. The fallow rut appears to be commencing a little early this year. Although I heard no"tuning up" or groaning as I did a couple of evenings ago, fresh scrapes were much in evidence around the rutting stands and I plan to try for a pricket in this area this evening.

Mixed Fruit

A busy day between rain showers. First job of the day was burying gralloch from yesterday's deer. I guarantee badgers will find it within 24 hrs. It would be far easier to dump it straight into their earth, but that would no doubt be illegal.
Whilst in the wood I repaired a couple of high seats which had shifted in the recent gales. Back to the farm and damson picking. Not a heavy crop this year but fruit is much larger than recent years. Will make damson vodka this time as my damson gin stocks are adequate.
Collected a few apple windfalls and stewed a bucketful for the freezer. Our main cooking apple crop will go into shed storage when ready in Oct/Nov.

Queer Deer

Whilst making our way to a high seat yesterday evening my guest spotted a muntjac buck with a doe feeding on a ride some 80m distant. Taking the shot off his stick he dropped the buck with a heart shot. To our surprise the animal had a coat different to any I have seen before. It's underside was much whiter than normal and it's legs displayed definite piebald markings. It would be interesting to know if this was just a one off aberration or a genetic tendency.

Sunday Munty

I shot a young muntjac buck on Wednesday evening and have hung him in the barn for a few days. North facing, cool and ideal for hanging game in the cooler months.
After skinning and butchering it earlier this morning I selected the best cuts for the freezer and will barter the rest for a pint or two later today. I have deboned one haunch and sliced it ready for oak smoking later this morning. I use a medium size Brooks smoker for this which will do the job in less than two hours.
It'll be pie slicing time shortly before taking it to the Old Bull for a tasting session. I have not made a fallow venison and elderberry raised pie before. It looks good but taste? I'm not sure if it will meet approval from all as the pasties I made with the same ingredients I thought a little dry.
The dry cured bacon is now in a seasoned brine mix and will require turning daily for another six days before the drying stage.

Ham for peanuts

A food company local to us has a factory shop open to the public and selling various meats, cheese and frozen foods at trade prices. I call in on a regular basis to purchase blocks of cheap cheese which I grate for use as wild bird food. Occasionally I will buy a "slipper" An economical cut of pork which I boil and roast then slice and freeze for use in salads and sandwiches.
A 2.2 kg joint costs around £6. After two soaks in cold water to help reduce the salt content I then boil and simmer for 1 1/4 hrs adding a couple of bay leaves and skimming the scum off at intervals. I then remove from water and after a little cooling time I remove the skin and score the fat into diamond shapes with a sharp knife taking care not to cut into the meat below. I then roast for 35 mins in a fan oven before glazing. The glaze I favour is a mix of rape seed oil, red wine vinegar, honey, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, brown sugar and seasoning. I coat the whole joint using a pastry brush then return to the oven for a total of 20 mins, glazing again after 10 mins. If the glaze starts to blacken I cover loosely with foil for final few mins. This produces a wonderful tasty and tender ham which can be eaten hot or cold. I calculate the final cost for 100 gm is just 35p. A bargain when I see the same ham on deli counters for five times that price.
The young lady that rents our fields for grazing has part paid the rent with a selection of joints, steaks, mince and stewing cuts from one of her Dexter bullocks which has been hung for around 3 weeks. I do enjoy a good barter.
Whilst at the West Midland Game Fair I was given an information pack entitled Poacher Watch. This has been produced by Rural Policing Liaison Group in conjunction with Staffordshire Police. It contains much pertinent advice and information on how to help stem the increasing rise in poaching and other rural crime. Deer poaching in particular is addressed in some detail. It would be of great benefit to the rural community as a whole if this scheme was rolled out across all other police forces.

Bacon Time

Now the weather is becoming increasingly autumnal and the bluebottle population have retired into hibernation I fancy a spot of dry cured and air dried bacon making again.
A friend is coming down from Scotland this week for some stalking. I find him a muntjac and he invites me up for a staggie later in the year. He has a new bit of forest now which contains a good head of wild boar. He shot two recently and is kindly bringing me a loin from which I am hoping to dry cure some for bacon.
I discussed this with a most helpful wild boar breeder and butcher at the West Midlands Game Fair yesterday, and it would appear not to be any more difficult than curing ordinary domestic pork. As the belly meat is much thicker I will need to allow a slightly longer curing time and also remove the leathery skin before commencing.
We travelled to the Game Fair in some style. One of my shooting pals had the use of a rather unusual Range Rover for the weekend. An Autobiography Range Rover converted by Cosworth Engineering. 5.2 litre petrol engine giving 0 to 60mph in 3.6 secs.
The recent breezy weather has given us an orchard floor littered with windfalls. My own attempts at cider making have never been very successful, but a chap along the road has all the equipment required and will collect the fallen fruit in a few days in exchange for a few litres of last years brew.
Just spent a few minutes sorting through my stored spuds. Time well spent as quite a few rotten ones due to keel slugs and blight.
Whilst doing a little border weeding I came across the granddaddy of all frogs. He's probably a more efficient slug killer than several kilos of slug pellets.

Boars Head Viewing

Earlier this year I travelled to Germany as a guest of German friends who I had previously taken out deer stalking on my patch. Accompanied by my colleague Mark who had also been invited we were looking forward to three days hunting wild boar in Hessen Forest. By the end of the trip I had shot my first boar and Mark had shot two. One of these proved to be the finest specimen shot in that area for many years. He left it in Germany to be professionally mounted.
Last night we were invited to view the head now taking pride of place in Marks study. It has been rated as a gold medal trophy so understandably we celebrated with a glass or two of Dalwhinnie which seemed a good idea at the time but not so now. Still hungover mid afternoon. Hopefully I will make a full recovery ready for the Game Fair at Weston Park tomorrow.
On another alcohol related matter this is the first year I haven't picked sloes or bullace from our hedges. Total crop failure. Plenty of damsons in orchard though so it will be those used with gin this year.
A good crop of raspberries ready. I made the stupid mistake of planting summer fruiting canes mixed with autumn fruiting ones last autumn and will now have a pruning problem identifying each.