Jump to content

Ten of the best.


JDog
 Share

Recommended Posts

Well I did find the destination of the hundreds of pigeons which I saw yesterday. The bad news was that they were going into beech woods on a shooting estate, the good news was that they were using a flight line over a wood and then a strip of woodland on the adjacent estate which I can shoot anytime.

 

Sometimes even some of the buffoons who post on pigeon watch get lucky and have a really good day. Most of us have to work at it and not many succeed on a regular basis. I had a day in September when birds flighted very late in the afternoon and without decoys or a hide I shot over the magical three figures. That to me was almost the pinnacle of my pigeon shooting career. Today was on a smaller scale but it was right up there with the best outings I have had.

 

The pigeons had left their roosting woods between 7:15 and 8:30 this morning and had headed off to the beech mast. By 11:30 some were returning and I could see decent numbers as I drove past. I was back in the wood over which they were flighting at some height by 12:45. These were really testing pigeons. None were below 30m and many were 90 to 100m up heading into the distance. I had to pick and choose my shots, the first five of which were misses. It was not possible to use my tried and tested system of 'up, mount bang' as advocated by PC but I had to give the birds a lot of lead, and by a lot I mean three to six metres at times.

 

In an hour and a quarter I used all of the cartridges in my bag and I have no shame in admitting that I used fifty cartridges for ten birds. I would have liked to have seen some of the hot shots on PW, especially those who can regularly shoot 'sixty yarders' have a go at these birds. I doubt that they would have done any better.

 

Edit. A word about Jasper who sat rock steady whilst I was shooting. If a bird fell within sight I made him stay for up to five minutes before asking him to retrieve it. If a bird fell too far away to see and I knew that he had marked it by the sound of it crashing through the trees I sent him slightly quicker. I have been very lucky indeed with my first spaniel.

 

All of the crops were full of beech mast. This one had a tiny bit of clover in it too.

 

DSC05783.jpg

Edited by JDog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

thank god there is someone else...who is cartridge rich and bird poor on occasion !!..............i have never shot a feeding frenzy on beech mast..........got no damn beech trees

 

 

greedy whatsits anrnt they...............it must be the "crack cocain" of the pigeon world............

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I walked through a beech wood near me the other morning stalking. I am used to seeing pigeons about in their hundreds the area is renowned for it, but I have never seen numbers like this, literally thousands lifting off the woodland floor.

If I hadn't been stood there gobsmacked I would have tried the video it, if it happens again i'll give it a go

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I did find the destination of the hundreds of pigeons which I saw yesterday. The bad news was that they were going into beech woods on a shooting estate, the good news was that they were using a flight line over a wood and then a strip of woodland on the adjacent estate which I can shoot anytime.

 

Sometimes even some of the buffoons who post on pigeon watch get lucky and have a really good day. Most of us have to work at it and not many succeed on a regular basis. I had a day in September when birds flighted very late in the afternoon and without decoys or a hide I shot over the magical three figures. That to me was almost the pinnacle of my pigeon shooting career. Today was on a smaller scale but it was right up there with the best outings I have had.

 

The pigeons had left their roosting woods between 7:15 and 8:30 this morning and had headed off to the beech mast. By 11:30 some were returning and I could see decent numbers as I drove past. I was back in the wood over which they were flighting at some height by 12:45. These were really testing pigeons. None were below 30m and many were 90 to 100m up heading into the distance. I had to pick and choose my shots, the first five of which were misses. It was not possible to use my tried and tested system of 'up, mount bang' as advocated by PC but I had to give the birds a lot of lead, and by a lot I mean three to six metres at times.

 

In an hour and a quarter I used all of the cartridges in my bag and I have no shame in admitting that I used fifty cartridges for ten birds. I would have liked to have seen some of the hot shots on PW, especially those who can regularly shoot 'sixty yarders' have a go at these birds. I doubt that they would have done any better.

 

Edit. A word about Jasper who sat rock steady whilst I was shooting. If a bird fell within sight I made him stay for up to five minutes before asking him to retrieve it. If a bird fell too far away to see and I knew that he had marked it by the sound of it crashing through the trees I sent him slightly quicker. I have been very lucky indeed with my first spaniel.

 

All of the crops were full of beech mast. This one had a tiny bit of clover in it too.

 

DSC05783.jpg

sounds like a quality session :good: but I,m going to be honest I wouldn,t be too sure about that there will a few who will :yes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cart ratios are great if your tight or can't spend much on your sport and need the birds to help fund it.For me it's the pleasure I get from shooting that counts. Know a fair few who only take a shot knowing they will hit it nine times out of ten.

 

I've been out with my mate and both of us shot around fifty carts for ten or so high flighted birds. Had a great time and some fantastic shots. I regularly shoot long birds be it game or clays and sod the carts, you get a big smile when you connect. We both had a laugh at the pockets stuffed with empties back at the motors.

 

Well done and good honest write up.

 

Figgy

Edited by figgy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...