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.