I promised to take Vova shooting with me the day we both visited the GWCT Welsh Game Fair in September. His mother told me Vova spoke of little else for days after the event and was clearly as keen as mustard to accompany me on a shooting day out, having already been trout fishing with me. Vova is from Ukraine and left his home city of Dnipro, together with his mother, elder brother and grandmother, shortly after the start of the Russian invasion. They’re now living with a host family here in north-west Wales.
Perfect conditions
With the hills of Eryri white with snow and a sprinkling on lower ground, the conditions were perfect to head out in search of woodcock. The migrant birds, which are numerous in my area of Wales, had already been around for a few weeks. The colder weather
