JDog Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 (edited) Three times this week at different times of day I have pushed 300-400 pigeons off a rape stubble and they never returned. The first time I was stupid enough to set up, the other two times I just watched for an hour or so. Today I believe that I worked it out. There is a wood I now call 'pigeon central' which has a huge population of birds in it. On three sides there are three farms all of which are shot heavily. No one shoots my side I know for a fact but I now know that the flock I saw came from the wood. Those birds will have been shot at many times before and that is the reason why they spiral high into the air when disturbed never to return. Brains and ingenuity have never been my strong points but I reasoned that I could probably shoot the lines returning to the wood as an alternative to attempting to decoy them. All I took was a gun, cartridges and two floaters and I hid in a hedge along which the birds were flighting. About 50% of the birds flew over the standing wheat field so they did not get a shot (it was too hot to take Jasper) and the remaining 50% flew over the adjacent rape field. Only about 10% of the birds flying over the rape field were in range. This was flight line shooting at it's best. The flight started at about 4pm and lasted until 6:30 when the wind got stronger and blew most of the birds off the line and over the wheat field. I picked 36 pigeons and passed up a great many opportunities. One picture shows the skinny hedge I had to align myself with, the other shows the view to my hidey hole with the floaters in view. Edited August 22, 2015 by JDog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 Nicely done JDog , hopefully the field will give you another chance once the wheat is cut and you can take on more of your chances . 37 flighting is a decent and no doubt enjoyable bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 Similar situation here with good lines crossing over wheat fields, so frustrating but hopefully the combine will be out tommorow. Your motivation created a lovely afternoons sport and those 36 birds were worth 100 docile squabs shot over decoys. The bird on the floater in the foreground is missing it's tail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 You done well as ever J. It was so hot today, sapping heat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted August 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 Similar situation here with good lines crossing over wheat fields, so frustrating but hopefully the combine will be out tommorow. Your motivation created a lovely afternoons sport and those 36 birds were worth 100 docile squabs shot over decoys. The bird on the floater in the foreground is missing it's tail It was the first one I shot and I had to run and catch it amongst the rape stalks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 (edited) A good imformative post..............now that you are settling in to your new county....how much different is your approach and stratergy as opposed to your forays in the Cotswolds ? obviously the bird is the same....but do they act differently....have your had to alter you approach ? Edited August 22, 2015 by ditchman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 It was the first one I shot and I had to run and catch it amongst the rape stalks. Oh i see, you mean you **** ended it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 It was the first one I shot and I had to run and catch it amongst the rape stalks. Now that would of been good to watch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted August 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 A good imformative post..............now that you are settling in to your new county....how much different is your approach and stratergy as opposed to your forays in the Cotswolds ? obviously the bird is the same....but do they act differently....have your had to alter you approach ? There are a lot less pigeons and a lot more pigeon shooters. I am going to have to rely on flight line shooting rather than decoying where adjacent farms are heavily shot I can see that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 Good report JDog, we've found the birds to be very decoy shy at present . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 Very much enjoyed reading your report of what was obviously a good few hours. As has been said previously, flighting pigeons are far more satisfying and achieving your bag of 36 quite an achievement given the circumstances. It shows that sometimes lateral thinking can achieve results. You post has given me food for thought, so thanks for that and well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 In todays heat and humid conditions shooting 36 pigeons flighting was quite an achievement , Where there is a will there is normally a way and you had the will and you found a way . .......... Well done Mr JDog. What I did notice with the pigeons I shot today ( apart from the amount of flies buzzing around the bodies ) was the young ones were nearly as big as the old ones , I cant see them putting that much weight in a week so they must have been hatched out earlier than the small ones about last weekend , just seem strange that the dozen or so young ones were all the same size with the first sign of the White bars coming on there necks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggysreels Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 Great read JDog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 good fieldcraft and a nice flighted bag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Nice to hear that you are getting a bit of shooting in your new location, nice descriptions of your day to. But it does look a bit ---------- FLAT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Nice to hear that you are getting a bit of shooting in your new location, nice descriptions of your day to. But it does look a bit ---------- FLAT. In norfolk...we dont say flat we say "blast boh it tak yu 3 days to lus yer dawg"......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshMike Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 In norfolk...we dont say flat we say "blast boh it tak yu 3 days to lus yer dawg"......... Dont have that problem in Wales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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