Biolite Stove - It use runs off of foraged sticks and branches. It uses the heat generated from the fire to run it's own fan. It can also run LED lights, charge phones and tablets. As well as the obvious cook your food. The stoves fan increases the cooking speed & distributes the heat.

It's a genious little stove and works really well.

You can cook with pans directly on top of the stove, when not using grill. The kettle pot can me used to make tea or cook other food, in a similar way to a pan.

It just runs off of sticks and chopped branches.

The fan has two speeds, high and low. Low is best when the grill is being used or it burns the food. If the fire starts to die in the stove, switching the fan to high, quickly gets the fire going again. Using small twigs to restart the fire from glowing embers reduces the amount of smoke it produces.

They are not cheap, but a really clever bit of kit. I love it!

The Snowdon Horseshoe one of my favourite little adventures and an outstanding ridge walk, that involved walking, scrambling and an amazing sense of exposure.

The total ascent is 1152 meters, reaching a maximum height of 1,085 meters on the top of Snowdon.

Do not attempt in bad weather or strong winds!

As you can see from the picture above, it involves Srambling across the "knife-edged" arête or ridge for several hundred meters, know as Crib Goch. This will involve using your hands and feet. This gives you the most amazing sense of exposure as there is an 800 meter drop either side on you as you move across the top with is only a couple of feet wide! It's exhilaration though and the views as you can see below are outstanding!

I've wild camped several times on the lake at the base of Snowdon. Every time I have done so, I have had the lake to myself. You camp with Snowdon as a back drop! Such a dramatic place to wild camp!

It really is quite an adventure and one of my favourites!

There is nothing like climbing/ Srambling up the North Face of Tryfan in the Snowdonia National Park.

You need to use you hands and feet to scramble and climb up to its peak at 918 meters.

You then have to do the same to climb to up Bristly Ridge and then into the peaks of the Glyders (Glyder Fawr 1,001m and Y Gam 947m). It takes a few hours but it's amazing fun.

There are great wild camping opportunities on the lakes at the base of both Snowdon and the Glyders. The park wardens tolerate wild camping as long as you leave it, as you found it.

I once found an unconscious man on the north face of Tryfan and kept him alive in space blankets and survival bags until mountain rescue and the helicopter could rescue him. He lived. We found a suicide note and an engagement ring in his pocket. He had taken a load of prescription drugs.

The Forest of Dean has a wealth of history. It's been inhabited by humans since Mesolithic times. Archaeological evidence shows that it was used during the Bronze and Iron Age. It was used by the Romans and was the second largest Royal Hunting Forest (Crown Forest). The largest being the New Forest. So it has a long history of being used as a hunting ground and it's harvest used to feed humans. There is also evidence of it being used as an ancient sea port.

There are now large herds of Fallow Deer Present. I've personally seen all morphological types, Common, Menil, Melanistic and White Fallow Deer. With no natural predators the numbers of fallow deer have to managed annually.

Wild Boar became extinct around 300 years ago in the UK. The Forest of Dean population is the largest of the breeding populations that now exist in England. The original population established in woodlands near Ross-on-Wye after escaping from a wild boar farm in the area during the 1990’s. However, in 2004 a group of around 60-farm reared wild boar were dumped in an illegal release near the village of Staunton on the western edge of the Forest above the Wye Valley. By 2009 it was clear that the two populations had merged. The numbers are an estimated 800+ Wild Boar in the forest. The signs of the routing boar is clear to see, over much of the forest. The Boar also therefore require management. Much of the venison and boar meat goes into the human food chain.

There are also Muntjac and Roe Deer in the forest. I believe now a herd of Red Deer, although I haven't seen them to date.

It's a truly beautiful and wild place.

There are no natural predictors to either deer or boar. It is estimated that around 20% of the deer in the UK need to be culled each year the the UK to prevent deer numbers escalating to unsustainable levels and to prevent significant woodland and crop damage. If the deer were not managed, the result would be a loss of woodland regeneration and a loss of woodland flora. Recently some experts suggest that 50% of the deer in the UK should be culled, in order to stop the significant rise in deer numbers, that has occured over recent years. Each year there are around 70,000 RTAs on our roads involving deer, 500 hospitalisations and around 10-20 human fatalities. If deer are not managed, these figures could rise dramatically.

The aim is always to manage the deer & boar to suistainsble numbers and not to eliminate them. This is important to ensure a healthy population and a balanced ecosystem.

Deer Stalking or Shooting Deer is a very emotive subject, that many don't understand or feel nessessary.

For years I had the same opinion. I to love to watch deer in the wild, as they are such beautiful creatures.

At the time I didn't understand the nessesity to cull deer. Culling deer in many areas of the UK is very important.

We only manage the deer, keeping them to sustainable levels in order to balance the ecosystem. Without culling, there would be little or no woodland regeneration. I've seen this with my own eyes. One of the foresters that I know well, had no new Ash Tree saplings, when his deer population got too high. He relies on Ash for his living, being a fast growing tree. Too many and the ecosystem is tipped the wrong way. The blue bells, Oxlips and Cowslips for example, begin to discapear.

As a meat eater, I thought it was important to be able to take the responsibility of my food from death to table and learn to butcher etc.

These days, I haven't got such an issue with things. I see them as a great source of meat. All the deer that I shoot are eaten either by my family or friends. We enjoy venison and know the deer have a much better life, than most farmed animals.

There are 2,000,000+ deer and the numbers are growing rapidly.

In areas that there is no culling, territories become limited. Come late spring, many of last years young are pushed off of their existing territories, to make way for next years young. The male deer push off any young bucks, so that the don't have to compete with them for mates. It is at this time of year, many young deer are run over on our roads, as they seek new territories.

Deer are very clever animals. Make too much noise, get the wind direction wrong or if they see you, they are gone. This makes them much more challenging to hunt, than most species in the UK.

You have to learn their behaviour. The time of year, availability of different food sources and the weather, can change their feeding behaviour significantly. You have to learn how they behave and then things are still highly unpredictable. Like wildfowling, deer stalking requires a huge amount of fieldcraft.

99% of the time when I am out stalking, I am just enjoying the beauty of our woodlands and countryside. Watching the wildlife, the trees, birds and other animals. You see and experience so much more than most other humans beings. It is very peaceful, there is often just the sounds of the birds and the countryside.

Occasionally I just watch the deer. Many are just not in a safe enough location to shoot. Occasionally I shoot one for the table.

If you shoot one. The hard work begins here. The deer, has to be gralloched (gutted), immediately, or the stomach ruins the meat. The carcuss and offal had to be inspected, to ensure that there are no signs of disease and that it is safe to eat. The deer then has to be carried back to the car, sometimes considerable distances. It has taken me hours to get a deer back to the vehicle.

The deer is then hung in a chiller. It is then butchered.

You have worked hard for this meat. And what great meat venison is. Especially fresh and wild.

There are 6 species of deer in the UK (7 as reindeer, have been reintroduced into the highlands of Scotland). Roe, Muntjac, Fallow, Red, Sike and Chinese Water Deer. They vary dramatically in size and behaviour.

Fallow, Sika and Red being hearding deer. They have many eyes and ears to watch you.

Muntjac are only the size of a spaniel and they can move quietly through the bushes and hedgerows like a fox.

Many people don't get to see many deer, as they vary often only feed at dusk and dawn.

Once a deer, has been spotted, your approach has to be considered carefully, the wind if you are not careful will soon give you away.

The deer also has to be in a safe place to shoot. With ground behind it. So planning your position is critical.

Deer are shot in the heart and lung region of the body, to ensure instant and ethical kills.

So overall why do I enjoy Deer Stalking?

We enjoy eating fresh venison. They are are a hugely challenging quarry to shoot and you have to learn a lot about them to get much success.

Most of all, when you are moving around quietly in our beautiful countryside or woodlands. You get to know, see and understand so much about our British Natural History. I have learnt the sounds, signs and behaviour of so many of our British Animals. To some extend it feels almost primeval, hunting deer, as my achestors have done for tens of thousand years in the UK. It's one of the ultimate hunter and gatherer experiences that you can get in the UK.

Anyone who knows me, will know that I have a passion for wildfowling. 

To me this is truly wild shooting, that requires a large amount of fieldcraft. Every bird on the ground, is hard earned.

I've have done plenty of formal driven shooting in my time, but these days it bores me. Dropped at a peg in a 4WD it just feels false, standing there waiting for the birds to come over in approximately the same direction. 

The wildfowler has to endure hardships, be a better shot, as the birds can come at any angle and speed, often with poor light and terrible weather.

A Wildfowler has to be a trained ornithologist, get to know the habitats of the quarry. The effect of the weather, the tides and the moon, on the way the quarry behave.

There is something truly magical about waiting for the sun to rise or set, with the noise of the many waders coming from every direction. 

The excitement and anticipation of the flight, that may or may not happen, is like no other feeling for me.

We are very often on our own with our dogs, with not a soul around. I personally love that feeling of isolation, on the very remote and wild British foreshore. I feel utterly removed from the world of modern living, every worry and stress dissolves. 

Ducks and geese often flight right on the edge of dusk or dawn, as a hunter we need every sense and instinct available to pick up the birds against the dark sky. The bags are normally small and very hard earned. This combined with the wild nature of the marsh or foreshore, is like no other form of shooting to me.

We know every sound that our quarry makes, hearing them brings all of our senses alive and our hearts fill with excitement and anticipation.

Bad weather and strong winds tend to make the birds fly lower, trying to escape the wind. This brings them into the range of our guns. Fog or snow makes them follow the contours of the land. You have to learn how the quarry behaves, to be successful. The tides will push more birds off of the mud and the moon can make them flight later.

Birds will often follow rivers or drainage ditches. Taking the shortest route across promontories. 

Like I said every bird is hard earned and deserved. This is proper hunting in my opinion. 

I always use a semi automatic 12 bore, with a synthetic stock and barrel that isn't blued. The salt can soon destroy an unsuitable gun. The advantage of a semi auto, is that I can use heavy loads, without increasing the recoil. The third shot always comes in handy as well. There has been many occasions when I have killed with the 3rd shot.

You will need hides, face masks and keep bone still, or the birds will very often see you and veer away at the last minute.

I don't use Steel, as I personally find that it kills less effectively. The low density of steel 7.8g/cm3 leaks energy more quickly and limits the range of steel. Range is important when wildfowling on occasions. I am happy to use bismuth, tungsten matrix or Hevi-shot that have densities of 9.6g/cm3, 10.8 g/cm3 and 12.0g/cm3 respectively. Lead had a density of 11.0g/cm3 for comparison. 

I used to carry duck and goose cartridges and switch between them. But this proved to be very difficult on occasions. Last season I shot 42g No.3 Tungsten Matrix at everything and didn't find this a problem, even shooting teal. 

Foreshore, tide, splash (flooded fields), evening, morning and moon flighting all have there differences and appeal to me.

On the roosting or feeding grounds, we look for signs of recent activity, like fresh feathers or droppings, by day. This tells us were the birds have been recently feeding.

Using decoys and learning to call the ducks and geese, will all increase your chances. I've seen birds turned from 100s of yards away, to come over us on many occasions, using a call. 

Always use a dog or go with someone who has a dog. To me it's a hunting crime to lose a bird in the water or reeds.

On top of this wildfowling is relatively cheap and accessible.

I personally love wildfowling and I suggest that if you haven't tried it, give it a go. But please don't be put off, by lack of success at first, like any good hunting discipline, it takes time to develop the skills to become a good Wildfowler.

Enjoy!

My Wildfowling club Gloucestshire Wildfowlers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=batlc14ZfqY&sns=em