Cosd Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 A rare day out shooting for me yesterday as I managed to nick a day away from work and the wife's long list of things to do in the new house!! Now this field isn't the luckiest for me in that the last time I was there I got a flat tyre on the Landy, and on entering the same field yesterday, one of the bags on the air suspension decided to pop Determined to have a shoot I set up at sunrise on a large rape field with my buddy Xplor. We set up two hides which were at a good distance apart and gunshots from one wasn't affecting the other. There was a steady light wind and the rape was healthy and up to 7 - 8" high. Not much showing when we got there but having watched the fields (thanks Mark), we knew the birds were around. I set up with 10 dead birds on tall cradles standing about 4" above the rape, and a magnet at a reasonable fast speed. Within a minute of settling down I could see my magnet was working itself loose in the soft ground so I went and moved it another 6 yards further than I would of liked (was being lazy not wanting to move all my decoys again) and onto a tram line where the ground was firmer. Back in the chair, load up and as I look up a woody decoys perfectly. Rusty or not, it was a pretty bad miss with two shots On the bright side though, I saw what looked like well over 1000 birds lift from all around us. My second shot was better than my first in that I still missed but got closer Anyhows.........I did start shooting better and the birds were steady. My day was broken in that I was on the phone and internet trying to arrange sorting my car; Sod's law says as soon as you look down at the phone and look back up again, you see birds leaving your decoys!! I missed out on many opportunities to take a shot. Packed up early as did Mark and we finished on a not too shabby 96, of which Mark accounted for 58. It's a shame on my part, because if I wasn't so rusty, concentrating on my shooting and didn't have to pack up at lunchtime, I think we would have been on a very respectable bag. Hey ho, leaves more for next time I suppose. As Always, massive shout to my mate Mark who cut his day short to make sure I was OK....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 A great report and very respectable bag off the winter rape. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dad Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 nice one cosd, you need a watcher when you work. my mate doesnt work and he does all the watching, if he cant resist it and has a shoot between monday and thursday they are never there for friday and saturdy when i am off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshMike Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Sounds like an enjoyable day and a good bag. Sorry to hear that you broke your vehicle yet again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 I think that is a decent bag on rape at any time of year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Great result on the early rape, sorry to hear about your airbag, I popped one in the summer. I had a look at my rape farms today at 14.00 and could not find any birds . Again well done good result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 That is good for early season rape especially as it is so tall. I have seen no numbers on rape feeding consistently this winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xplor Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Good write up mate. And a good session.Pity we didn't hit the ton. As I was packing up I had the tail gate of my jeep open parked next to The hide and I still had birds landing in the decoys. How does that work ? Do they know the gun is slipped. You can be in the hide perfectly still and they jink away At 50 yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deny essex Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 A nice day Cos,I didnt see much on the multiple fields of rape while driving back and forth to papworth cambridge, not that I could study the fields that much at 70 on the M11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Hi Cos, Good to see that you are picking up a few birds, I was out early on Sunday on the rape near where you work, but the weather was too kind, most of the birds were flying high due to the lack of wind and I only picked up 19 when I packed up at around 11.30, I had a decent bag of 43 from the same spot the previous Sunday, but the weather was very wild and windy, exactly as forecast for this coming Sunday, so, we will see..? I must admit I am surprised to be decoying birds over rape this early, as there are loads of acorns about this year, which they normally favour in advance of hitting the rape, it just goes to show that the feeding habits of the birds may change from year to year..? All the best, Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columba Grey Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Hi Cos, Good to see that you are picking up a few birds, I was out early on Sunday on the rape near where you work, but the weather was too kind, most of the birds were flying high due to the lack of wind and I only picked up 19 when I packed up at around 11.30, I had a decent bag of 43 from the same spot the previous Sunday, but the weather was very wild and windy, exactly as forecast for this coming Sunday, so, we will see..? I must admit I am surprised to be decoying birds over rape this early, as there are loads of acorns about this year, which they normally favour in advance of hitting the rape, it just goes to show that the feeding habits of the birds may change from year to year..? All the best, Cat. It's the same where I shoot. Within 5 mile radius I found five separate fields of rape each with a good 200+ birds on rape. Last year to was well in January/February before they hit the OSR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dad Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 A nice day Cos,I didnt see much on the multiple fields of rape while driving back and forth to papworth cambridge, not that I could study the fields that much at 70 on the M11. hi deny. go out of papworth north to r/about go over r/about rape field on the right had pigeons on it since it was drilled they have just started going on big field on left too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deny essex Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 (edited) hi deny. go out of papworth north to r/about go over r/about rape field on the right had pigeons on it since it was drilled they have just started going on big field on left too That would make me envious, and i dont think going to the hospital in shooting kit on the chance of getting permission to shoot it would look right somehow On saying that I saw much more bird movement yesterday (wednesday) in the area of rape fields along the M11 and Thaxted Edited December 3, 2015 by deny essex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dad Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 That would make me envious, and i dont think going to the hospital in shooting kit on the chance of getting permission to shoot it would look right somehow On saying that I saw much more bird movement yesterday (wednesday) in the area of rape fields along the M11 and Thaxted papworth are easy going they dont care what you wear, my shooting buddy is under papworth waiting to have his lungs chopped about he always he always goes in his togs and gets an early appointment so he can go shooting after. i cant get on them either never seen anybody shoot them though, permission is hard to come by in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deny essex Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 papworth are easy going they dont care what you wear, my shooting buddy is under papworth waiting to have his lungs chopped about he always he always goes in his togs and gets an early appointment so he can go shooting after. i cant get on them either never seen anybody shoot them though, permission is hard to come by in the area. with those prairies they call fields out there I would have thought they would be only to happy to have free bird scarers on them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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