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What's the strangest experience you have had decoying?


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As I sit here reflecting back over the years of pigeon shooting (no pigeons to shoot at the moment), it brought back memories of 2 weird events that occurred whilst out pigeon shooting.

 

The first was over wheat stubble on some fields very close to the edge of Northampton. The shooting was very slow with hardly anything about. It was a warm sunny afternoon with hardly any breeze. In the distance, coming over the houses was a hot air balloon. It was quite low and I could see several people in the basket. As it got closer it started getting lower and lower. The next thing I knew it had landed with a bump, right next to my decoys!!

 

All the people got out and I walked over to them (not carrying my gun). The pilot asked where he was and how he could get his pick up team to the field. I told him he was lucky as I had a key to the padlocked gates which I unlocked. After about an hour they had packed the balloon away and drove off.

 

I tried to blag a free balloon trip but all i got was a badge!!

 

Suffice to say I didn't get any more pigeons.

 

The second time I was out, also on wheat stubble and very close to housing, we were having a really good day. We had shot about 80 birds when I heard very load engine noise coming from behind the hedge. I got through the hedge and just in front of me was a light aircraft. He was running low on fuel so decided to make an emergency landing on the stubble. He made a couple of phone calls to friends and within the hour had refueled and took off again.

 

Anyone else had anything weird happen when out shooting.

 

CW

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I found a good spot on a meadow where the pigeon were on clover. I made my way with my gear to the gate on the hedgerow on a track that cuts through a small spinney.

As I looked up the hedge, I noticed something about 40yds up.

2 pairs of legs sprawled on a picnic blanket, with a pair of lily white buttocks perched atop, thrusting vigorously !

To be fair it was a picturesque spot for a romantic picnic.

I detoured around the little spinney to the top end of the meadow and heaved myself and gear over the fence. By this time, when I looked back down the hedge row, it seemed proceedings were concluded and the picnic was being hurriedly packed away. I was given a cursory wave, and responded with a big thumbs up. Just to confirm that, yes, you got busted.

Edited by wraivi
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we were out on a beaters day....it was windy overcast and we were walking over the field in a line....then all of a sudden there was this weird loud noise from behind us and it was an Apache helicopter very very very low....we all dropped on the ground and watched as this evil looking thing "lumped" over us with its gun wiggling away................i tell you now it was very nearly a brown trouser moment..............we all laughed nervously.........but we were not impressed................and if we had met the pilot in the pub later....he wouldnt have done it again !!

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Not maybe my weirdest experience but certainly one to cherish. Last September I was decoying drilling & I dropped a feral pigeon, I bent down to get another shell, heard a woosh & thump and looked over the hide to see a peragrine away with my bird. Caught it on camera about half way through the below video:

 

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Years ago while I was rabbit shooting one early June morning a helicopter apear and started to fly around me finaly landing in the field. The pilot got and walked over to me asking directions. He was suposed to pick someone up from a millionare's house a mile away.

 

My second strange encounter also involoved airplanes. My mate had a army green Suzki Jeep and when couple of A 10 " warthogs " appeared over the hill not far from a USAF base. My mate flashed the Suzki headlights at them and both aircraft peeled off and mock dive bombed us several times before flying away doing a victory roll. A bit unerving at the time. I guess the pilots thought we were guys from the base in our green 4x4.

Edited by anser2
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Not sure if its a common occurance but had a buzzard comme out of no where and try to grab my decoy a couple of weekends ago

Common in these parts.... One day in Feb I had some decoys setup around a tree and a big old buzzard pitched up in the tree alongside a couple of lofted birds..... I was trying to get some decent pics with my phone and it lurched down and grabbed one of my dead bird decoys lol it took one that had been defrosted for the session and none of the freshly shot ones. Was out on Sat on a shooting estate and shot a crow it came down and was feet up and wings were up etc it was there for about 30 mins with no movement then it dissapeared not sure what took it but the buzzards were kicking about for a good while, would a buzzard take a crow?

Edited by Andra
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During a quiet spell of summer decoying I watched a couple get out of a car no more than 80m from me. The lady sat on a tree stump and the man proceeded to perform cunnilingus on her. A shot into thin air ended their engagement.

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Iv had decoys dive bombed by sparrowhawks.

I was sitting in the hide and heard a sort of vibrating sound like when the wind gets into a vanetain blind and two hawks dived down at hell of a speed to about two feet above the decoys and sort of zoomed up into a hover about fifteen feet up. they kind of held there for a second and then flew off. They would have made a great left and right but I didn't.

 

I once shot a pidgeon ,put it out with my decoys ,head in a v shaped twig. When I was packing up about two hours later as I went to pick it up it flew away !!!! Strange but true

Yep I had this also. to all purposes I had shot it and added it to the pattern. Later I shot another which was on it's back so I decided to go out and have a sort out with the shot birds and the blighter took off, It flew off down the field in a sort of drunken manner misfiring on one cylinder went out of sight around a bush and was never seen by me again. It must have been out in the pack for over half an hour. A pellet must have knocked it out. Another time a mate shot a very high pigeon which was coming down until about six foot off of the ground when it suddenly stabilised and flew off until it was so small that none of us could see it. Again it must have been knocked out.

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During a quiet spell of summer decoying I watched a couple get out of a car no more than 80m from me. The lady sat on a tree stump and the man proceeded to perform cunnilingus on her. A shot into thin air ended their engagement.

I hope such things dont go on in your new part of the world :lol:

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Had decoys hit/ taken by buzzards, sparrow hawks , male hen harrier , peregrines and goshawks twice. Had a cockatiel fly over the decoys some years back . Shooting on some rape a few years back , I could hear a engine revving away and some young gypsies in a battered Peugeot 205 wheel spun by the hide,how they managed to not to get set I don't know, they came over to have a look at the pigeon magnet . Luckily I was shooting with a friend , I don't know how it would have went if I had been on my own.

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Loads of Buzzards in the south east now, they usually have a look when Im out, only once so far one rolled a dead bird over. I saw it fly off and didn't realise what it had done until a few pigeons chinked off, I looked over the set up and sure enough it had taken one out of the cradle and dumped it upside down. I was obviously wide awake that day not to spot the crime at the time!!! May be if I kept my eyes open I would see more pigeons coming in!

 

The Farm across the road has a small grass airstrip, when they are mucking about its quite good for keeping the pigeons moving about.

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During a quiet spell of summer decoying I watched a couple get out of a car no more than 80m from me. The lady sat on a tree stump and the man proceeded to perform cunnilingus on her. A shot into thin air ended their engagement.

Spoil sport!!

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Over the years I've had buzzards, kestrels , foxes attack my decoys . I've had pigeons mount my decoys and mate with them , I waited till they finished and then shot them. Deer , pheasants ,hares and dog walkers walk through my decoys. Adults and children go to the loo behind hedges not aware of the the hide .

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During a quiet spell of summer decoying I watched a couple get out of a car no more than 80m from me. The lady sat on a tree stump and the man proceeded to perform cunnilingus on her. A shot into thin air ended their engagement.

 

Cruel!!! what load did u use?

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