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A Pleasant Morning


Adge Cutler
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I don't post up my shooting forays very often but I meant to post this up a few days ago.

 

I have been watching a patch of waste ground bounded by farmland close to my home. I can’t shoot the main field.

 

Pigeons have however been dropping into the stubble on this field which has been direct sown with rape and it’s started to sprout in the last week or so.

 

Some of them have been spilling over onto the waste ground after first alighting in the trees in the hedgerow between the two.

 

The scouts in 2’s and 3’s have been arriving early followed by the vanguard in numbers of 12 -15 until numbers build up and then the whole flock some 700 -1000 strong lift off mid morning and disappear south, somewhere I know not.

 

This pattern seems to be repeated twice a day just around 3 pm and has been going on for about 2 weeks.

 

Today I decided to have a pop at the birds as a pre-cursor to shooting properly on Saturday.

 

The vegetation in the hedgerow is thick and a hide was unnecessary. I cleared a large patch of long grass, nettles and brambles and sort of fashioned a hide out of wild clematis and sat with my back to a Ivy clad oak tree.

 

12 shell decoys out, but forgot the stakes and as the grass and scrub was quite long decided to whittle a dozen quickly from a nearby hazel pollard, so as to lift them up a bit.

 

Lots of chickweed in amongst the scrub, so I popped up the decoys in a nice breeze. No particular pattern just chucked them out randomly and staked them where they fell.

 

The first pigeons arrived at 7. 20 a.m. just as visibility was improving, before I even got into position. In the makeshift hide, I sat back on the stool, I often shoot sitting these days as I find its more comfortable and I can conceal myself easier..plus I am a lazy ****** too. ! I haven't found it impairs my shooting either.

 

Soon after the first two.. three more arrived of which I shot one ( only using a 16 g single barrel you see) Then 2 more a couple of minutes later, shot one.. then a steady stream of twos, and threes for about an hour and then at 8 -30 the birds started coming over in 10’s 12’s 20’s just like they had for the last few days. Some of them pitched into the rape, some of them flew on, but at least one or two from each flight peeled off and buzzed the decoys.

 

By 9:45 it was all over the birds dried up and I called time.. I only took 50 cartridges of which I shot 32 for 28 birds.. That’s not representative of the number of pigeons which flighted, moreover my extreme composure and selective shooting. I possibly could have made a day of it and with the SBS could easily have got over ton if I had. Plenty of young birds came over but I didn't shoot them, too easy, especially the one which alighted on the oak branch not six feet from the bead of the gun !!

 

Highlight of the morning though was not the shooting but a Whinchat and a solitary Marsh Harrier (there have been several sightings along the Severn Vale in recent weeks and a ring tailed Hen Harrier too!) slowly quartering the ground as I packed up. Watched it for 10 minutes, made my year that has ….lovely ! Pan fried pigeon breasts stuffed with stilton and wrapped in prosciutto crudo and served with mashed spuds in a blackberry and red wine jus, for diner tonight it is.

 

 

 

 

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