Jamie Chandler really is one in a million he was born with no hands.
Why?
- Who knows, but it's all Jamie's ever known, and because humans are extraordinarily adaptable
he lives life his way and enjoys his airgun shooting his way.
You see i have theory, that we should rename disability, adaptability because everything,
magazines, tins, gun, the works is all designed for people with five fingers, five toes two
eyes - there you go look at that beautiful.
I shoot a right handed gun, left handed with absolutely no things and it's simple determination
and as i say adaptability.
Today he's invited us pigeon shooting over the stubbles on his in-laws farm in Hampshire,
it's something the recruitment consultant has been doing for decades but first he wants
to check he's bob on with the zero.
And then when I was free handing there's that little group there.
He loves his second hand BSA R10 and he's happy with his grouping.
Jamie loses the pink polo shirt in favour of the Jack Pyke.
Concealment is going to be key today and although we have hide poles, he knows of a spot in
the hedge line which should be just right for us.
So how often does he get a chance to go shooting?
As often as my wife Pips will let me,to be honest, every Saturday, every Sunday if i
can force Debenhams to shut, every at the moment Tuesday and Thursday evening.
It's beautiful where else would you want to be.
Jamie's pretty keen then and like most of us has come up with his own ways of making
kit work for him.
Some see scrap we see decoy bling.
Don't know if it is of any interest but I invented these little wire holders from some
old electric wire or electric fencing wire holder that I found in a shed that my father-in-law
kindly said I could have, but as you can see it adds kid of a bit of a bounce to full bodied
decoys, it just gives the impression that maybe they're more real than they are.
With a birdless sky above us Jamie's gets his excuses in early.
Obviously I have learnt most of the decoying that I know from Fieldsports Channel so if
they don't come in it's actually your fault, or Andy crow of course, it goes without saying,
he might be a damn good shot but not with an LGV ..or that Marchington man who seems
to have done rather a good job at killing everything in his garden.
So, Mr Crow is to blame for the decoy pattern and, just for Jamie, we'll have more J Marchington's
backgarden antics later in the show.
With the decoys out Jamie gets himself in the groove by testing zero on a stubble stalk,
good shooting, but that's left him short of pellets.
Reloading his new magazine can take nearly 10 minutes.
The old magazine used to have a ratchet system so you'd be able to go to the next hole and
take your hand off and it would stay on that hole, now with this new pellet holder which
is brilliant, it goes straight back to that one, so yesterday and i only bought this magazine
yesterday, it's a new magazine from BSA which has been out for a couple of years I was putting
pellet into mouth and basically kissing it, which isn't ideal stomaching lead...and a
lot of health and safety experts would have a fit.
Just then as I was talking to you it becomes a little bit like one of those ball games.
So no more lead sweets for me.
As you're probably now aware, Jamie has no prosthetics, he just does stuff.
Including driving, riding a motorbike and shooting shotgun...so why does the BSA work
for him?
They've got a massive trigger guard, and it means for people like me you basically use
their wrist joint to pull the trigger with there's plenty of pull there or plenty of
scope to pull.
Unfortunately the birds are not dancing to our tune so we go for a wander and set up
closer to the action, although, with 100 acres of field to play with it's going to be tough.
This time we do get some interest but it's fleeting.
So with a lull in the "action" we ask Jamie how does Jamie rate his shooting.
I've been around an HFT course but I can't actually take part in proper HFT competitions
because I can't lie down, I can't shoot prone because my arms are too short.
But I'm confident in shooting out to 50 yards certainly with this R10 that I absolutely
love and with the Hawke airmax scope I absolutely love it with that and their chair gun app
you can't really miss that easily.
I don't think I'm the best shot in the world but I think I can hold my own and to be honest
out here on my own or with a friend and, or David Wright there's no one else to prove
to apart from me.
Eventually we had to leave Mr Chandler without a bird hitting the deck but that wasn't good
enough for Jamie.
So he offers to do his own filming to show he can bring home the bacon..
That's dinner for you look at him, quick selfie.
Thanks Jamie.
We know you can shoot.
Not sure you've mastered filming....yet!