Wilts#Dave Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Well it's been a fair old wait to get out again since the spring drillings, so I'm pleased to have something worth reporting once again! After an 'ok' winter on the rape, we were looking forward to a particular farm planting a 90 acre block of peas.....so were pretty gutted when at the last minute it ended up going into oats and spring barley. We managed one outing on barley to give the new hushpower .410 pump its second outing and managed a great bag of 58, but that was the end of that and we were left thinking it would be a long wait till harvest or maybe the chance on some laid corn. A chance trip to the wholesalers for some bits and a single pigeon diving across the road and disappearing down the valley on a farm we shoot occasionally caught my eye and was enough to warrant me stopping on the way back for a closer look. This farm is only small and they rarely plant any arable crops due to them being sheep farmers primarily, but we have shot bags in the past on the fodder crop/clover and this was exactly where that pigeon had obviously been heading. A quick scan through the binoculars and I could see a good number feeding on a field of clover with others joining, so a quick call to my reconnaissance man (Dad) and he was to check it out properly. It turns out he'd checked the fields a fortnight previous and there hadn't been a pigeon on it so he was a little surprised but sure enough there was plenty there when he looked too. Upon asking the farmer though, it turned out two guys had already shot the field just a few days earlier and in his words 'they were going hell for leather at them all afternoon' haha. This dampened our spirits a little but the next day they were still on it so I finished early on the Friday and we decided to give it a go. The field is surrounded by woodland which usually holds good numbers, and apparently the estate on the top side of the wood where we don't have access to had a 100 acre block of peas in that had been shot heavily, so more than likely drove the pigeons onto the clover. Day 1 I was at Dad's for 10.30 and we were at the farm and set up for 11.30 with the magnet and ff4 flapper. In less than 5 minutes the first bird swooped down across the field which was shot, with 4 or 5 more in quick succession. For the next 2 hours the action was steady with few lulls for more than 10 minutes but dried up until around 4.30 when the birds started to move again when the shooting picked up eith another 30 or so shot between then and 6 o clock when we packed up. The final pick up saw 88 pigeons in the bag along with a lone carrion crow and Jackdaw. A smashing day in the sweltering heat, I shot pretty well, hitting out some crackers which were all easily picked with a grass ley behind meaning I could take on anything within range. After a couple of months off I was so chuffed with the bag, even more so given the field had only just been shot (farmer wasn't sure we'd get much) Day 2 Well, the following week (Thursday just gone) we had gone to farm after work to check out shooting a few crows around the farm the farmer had asked about but with none there we decided to check the clover again just out of curiosity. This was 7 o clock and to our surprise there was 100+ happily feeding away, an almost identical picture of the week before! Dad checked it again on the Friday and sure enough still there so we said we'd give it another go on Saturday.....only we couldnt' set up until 1.30 this time as they were holding a function over lunch. Still, we often don't start till after lunch so off we went and got to the field for 1.30 as promised.....couple of hundred feeding and plenty joining and in the air, apart from the wind direction things looked good once again. We decided to set up on the other side of the field in a much better concealed position with shade from the sun, albeit with the wind quartering at us from in front. Magnet and flapper set up again and hide built, Dad was parking the 4wd at the field entrance and I hadn't even got the semi auto loaded when the first pigeon was on the decoys, luckily taken with one barrel as I only had time to get one up the spout! The difference today was Dad had brought the hushpower pump .410 for a go so the plan was to shoot some and get a good decoy pattern out then any closer decoying birds would be taken on with the .410 . It didn't take long for me to shoot 20 or so and get the cradles set up with some decoys and the pigeons started decoying a treat, better and better as the afternoon wore on. The first time Dad had used the .410 properly and he shot great....they really are great little tools when you get the hang of them, and he accounted for between 20 and 30 pigeons no problem at all. I took advantage of the 12 bore and took the longer shots to make up the bag, once again there was grass behind us so plenty of overhead shots were taken and picked no problem. They kept coming with no real lulls until we shot the last bird at bang on 6 o clock. Another fantastic day, and it felt like it had been busier than the previous week......which the count up confirmed, 104 pigeons picked with only 3 or 4 at most lost in the hedge/ditch. Couldn't believe it, what a day and all from one small field of clover that has been shot 3 weeks on the trot! Dad's now on the lookout for some laid barley to give the .410 another go...... Thanks for reading, Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Enjoyed reading about your two excellent days on clover shared between you and your dad ( a perfect partnership ) , on a crop I haven't shot for a few years now as we now have less and less cattle to graze on it . but when we did I enjoyed the amount of shooting it offered . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kippylawkid Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Nice one. Great report. Birds must be really set on the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 I enjoyed reading these detailed and interesting reports. I'll look forward to the next one. Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Well done on some good bags and a good report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenholland Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 are those hushy's as quiet as they say w#d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShropshireSam Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Thanks for report. Something very satisfying in finding a a good days decoying you weren't expecting. A chance sighting of a bird on a flightline. Makes up for all the days you keep watching fields you expect good sport that never happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveyg Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Cracking report,pics and results. Well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted June 29, 2015 Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 A great read Dave and nice to see your back out on the pigeons. Long may it continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted June 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Thanks for all the replies....my Dad and I certainly are a great partnership when it comes to pigeon shooting, We've been going together for over 20 years and rarely go on our own these days. I have to be honest and say I reap the rewards of his reconnaissance especially now he's retired! There's usually at least one field that rewards us with more shooting than we expected every year and often when you least expect it....guess that's why I still love it as much as I did when I was a young lad, never get bored of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted June 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 are those hushy's as quiet as they say w#d We've only used gamebore magnums in it so far and fired around 250 shots. When you're stood next to it/firing it there is a crack but it's just that and no 'boom' like a non moderated gun....more rifle like. Certainly no need for ear protection which is nice and if you're stood down wind the other side of the hedge or something you wouldn't notice it go off. Will definitely give us opportunities to shoot in places we otherwise couldn't or wouldn't because of the likely hassle it would cause from the noise! Try one I'd say, but be prepared to take a bit of a hit in the kills/shots ratio especially when you start stretching the range or the birds are flaring away.....I've only used it twice so far but managed 58 on the second trip and can honestly say i haven't been so chuffed since first shooting a decent bag as a youngster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenholland Posted June 30, 2015 Report Share Posted June 30, 2015 look's like that's the way to go then I will see what's about thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted June 30, 2015 Report Share Posted June 30, 2015 A great read and pictures, well deserved due to good Intel . Looks like you will continue to get some good sport off that field. Well done Dave and Dad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted June 30, 2015 Report Share Posted June 30, 2015 An excellent report. Experts can be relied on to make the most of situations like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted June 30, 2015 Report Share Posted June 30, 2015 Great write up and a couple of days to reminisce over in years to come. Cos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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