pete1dart

Had 42 on ours when drilled then nothing big for months until they were cut. Had my pb on bank holiday Monday (88) old man had 57 on other side of field on same day. They normally hit them after a bit of rain has soffened them up. Birds still hitting them hard now but now partridge are out we dont shoot pigeon until feb now!

I have a localish club down the coast but never been. just looked it up and I travel 369.6 miles to the Solway from Southampton. Once sometimes twice a year for a week at a time. Thats 6hr 34 mins each way. well according to aa maps! Pete

Yeah I have just re-joined. A flight on the foreshore is sort of a last resort. I go to the Solway every year for the proper wildfowling. I just miss the inland as I dont have any farms with flight ponds and where I am a pheasant syndicate member we dont get any geese stubble.

Afternoon guys Just wanted to dip my toe in the water on this one. Slowly over the last 5 years I have seen my oppurtunities for goose and duck shooting slowly disapeer. Thanks to the National Trust and farmers moving on, I now have no chance of any such shooting this year. I am going to try and get down to my localish marsh this season but apart from that it will just be my annual trip to Scotland for any chances. I was just wondering if any one would sell me a flight or two? I dont mind if its over stubble, flight pond or flight line. It would just be nice to get out and have a go. Like I say, im not asking for something for nothing so if you think we can do a deal then get in touch. Im willing to travel most places down south. Cheers Pete

We have had our best harvest ever. Rape has produced bags of 157, 59, 28, 31, 27. Peas are almost as good 34, 20, 135 shot yesterday. Were near Winchester.

Thanks guys. Just finished and it's back to normal. It was the stock nut. A few turns and it's sorted. Once again thanks for all your help. Pete

Thanks for all the useful info. Do I access the nut by taking off the kick pad? Sorry to sound dumb! I havnt taken it apart before except to clean so it's all a bit new to me. I put quite a few shells through it each year and some real heavy loads when foxing and goose shooting. Would this be a problem I would get often if not tightened properly? Pete

Iv had my gun 4 years and just starting to get a problem with it. The past couple of months i have noticed that the plastic part/seal that joins the stock with the start of the action has started to perish or at least not joining the two together. This is resulting in the barrel dropping when put to my shoulder. Maybe 2 inches? Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem? If it is easily fixable? Or should I send it back to GMK with the guarantee? Cheers. Pete

The geese round here seem to like them more than the pigeons. Iv only had one good afternoon on oats. But that was when we had pushed them from a laid wheat field. Give them a go. You never know your luck!

Just come back from there now. Old man has been up there all day for 32. Said more said decoying but I had a walk around with my 2 year old nipper tagging along. I had 4 just walking along tracks and hedges. Had and seen alot of pigeon raising from peas, wheat and uncut grass on our side. Noticed alot on next doors barley aswell. The barley field is right next door to a clump of trees on our side which we had a record bag of last time it was the same crop. The little blighters are on everything round our way. Were just pushing them from one field onto another!

Had a look in my diary. Last year we didnt have any peas but the farm next door did. We had some good shooting on the flightlines early in June right up till when they were cut. This year has been backward for everything pigeon related. Peas are now podded up tho with only a few flowers left. The best day we have had on the farm is 136 in over 20 years shooting it. The average good day is any where between 20-40. So a good day for me is 20!

The past 3 weeks or so is the only time there have been any good numbers on the fields since they were drilled. We have 3 fields the only ones that I know of in the area, the field we were expecting to hit hasn't been touched since 3 days after it was drilled. It has been funny on peas this year and as I can't get out as often as I would like any chance I get is a bonus at the moment. Farmer is happy that they are not there tonightbut it has been very wet today. Even more than yesterday. So cant really judge if a late evening blast has pushed them on or not?

All day yesterday I was debating weather it would be worth going up the farm for a walk along the hedgerows after work. Stepped one foot in the door and the phone rang. Mrs picked the phone up and it was the boss from the farm. Hundreds of pigeons on the peas was the short conversation can you get up here. Me looking at her and her looking at me, I wasnt going to take no for an answer. Got up the farm at 1830. Couldnt see any flying, so I put a shot up. I dont normally do that but there wasnt time to spot any flight lines. With the shot around 300-400 lifted from inbetween my bale hide and a walnut tree on the far hedge. My mind was made up, bale hide it is then. The rain was still coming down but it didnt seem to effect the pigeons. Set up with just 8 shell decoys and a bit of bale lumping it was 1845. straight away the birds were coming back, with more or less constant shooting till 2000. Ended up with 21 which was an added bonus considering I wasnt expecting 21 shots. Only had 3 or 4 decoy, but they were floating over within range of the bale hide. Cant wait for a bit of decent weather and an all day session.

The way the field lies there is a road behind and this was where the birds were coming from. I managed to shuffle the bales around so that I was side on in the end. My old man had the same trouble yesterday ended up with 11. The way they are coming is right up the centre of the road and most the time they flop in 10 yards from it. Had to put the hide close enough to the road without breaking any laws but at the same time avoiding shooting towards it. Its a pain but its the best I can do in the situation. Pete

After 2 months of only shooting between 2 and 5 pigeons on my outings the peas were finally blue with pigeons. Things looked promising with the pigeons feeding right by the bale hide I had put out around 5 weeks ago. Was set up by 1300 in the bale hide, the wind was blowing right into my face, but with a bit of bale pushing managed to get quite sheltered. The wind was a problem all day, with more time spent picking the decoys up and moving them around than actually shooting! I was more or less right on the flightline but the pigeons would see the magnet and not commit enough for my liking. I have recently purchased a pair of decoys where the wings spin in the wind. Put one of these up onto the bale hide and it seemed to work a treat. The birds coming close enough for a bit of good sport on the wind. Managed 31 from 1300-1930. It was a better day than what has been happening but I think it could have been alot better if it wasnt for the wind!

Cheers for the replys. Had a look at the set ups on another thread, and I'll give the each side a try. When I have used just 1 magnet, the birds seem more attracted to landing on the magnet rather than in the decoy pattern I use. So I'll make sure I'm somewhere in the middle of the 2. The lumping of the battery shouldn't be too bad as I will be shooting from a bale hide but can get fairly close to it from the motor. All the other pea fields have hides in the hedges so it shouldn't be too bad. Iv had trouble with battery life from smaller battery so car battery lasts but does get heavy after a long day sometimes on the more inexcessible fields

Right guys I need some advice on my new magnet. Im going to use it Saturday with my old one as I have used two, once before, and had a few more birds coming into the pattern than with just a single magnet. I have been using my old car battery for the magnet. I have three questions. 1) can i run both magnets off one battery? I have no dog so wires are not a problem. 2) would the battery last the whole day with two magnets running off it? 3) Where should I position them? I have been thinking one at the front of the pattern and one at the back? All thoughts welcome. Pete

Pigeons finally started feeding at 1730 untill 1945. Ended up with 11, Most of the birds were hitting the field in the middle with only a few being pulled over to the magnet. Going up Saturday to put a bale hide out as the main flightline is coming over a road. So hopefully this will improve my bags!

I had heard Friday that the pigeons had finally started to hit the peas in some numbers after a month of nothing. Managed to get up the farm Sunday as the plan is to shoot Monday after work. Drove to the first field and there around 100 in one corner. Went round to the second field and there must have been 500 on there. Things are looking good for this afternoon! Had a quick chat with the farmer on the way back. Me and my dad have been shooting for him since 1989, and over the past 6 years we have been invited to join his pheasant syndicate. Got talking about how many pigeons have suddenly appeared, then he mentions that 2 guys have asked to shoot them. These two guys have more land on one farm than I have over 3 farms put together. One of them used to shoot on his farm but as he didnt want to do any beating he was not invited to shoot the pigeons any more. We have a rule that if you beat for us during the winter then you are more than welcome to shoot pigeons during the year. The farmer was asked the question to which he said no. The two guys tone of voice then starts to become more aggresive. So no hope of them ever getting an oppurtunity up there any more! He has stayed very loyal to me and my old man which is very pleasing as I have been reading the stories that some of you guys have been putting on here recently regarding other shooters turning up on your farms. So all farmers are not looking for just anyone to come and jump on a field and bang away. Well chuffed with him as we are now more or less the main guys doing the pest control and hopefully we can get some good bags up there this year! I will post results of tonights shoot if all goes according to plan.

Nothing on the rape up at my farm, all on the winter wheat drill. Can't shoot them cos of our shoot day next week. There is a big spinney outside my house, saw 40-50 swing round and drop in to roost earlier. This time last year they were doing it was when the pigeons started flocking around here. Could be a sign?

Wish I did! How I wish we would get some in Hampshire! I havnt heard of many from my mate in Scotland yet on the Solway. Last I heard there were only 500. In one day and gone the next! Probably getting a good feed from Morcombe now.

Hope they go allright mate. Not enough greys around, its like we have been invaded by the french down our way.

good work fella! a good fox is a dead fox in my book.

Cheers Lads. Was a good day. Going to try one of the new farms tonight. See how the geese are flying!

After putting out the partridge yesterday morning I decided to have a little look around for some pigeons. I wasnt expecting to see much as there is so much stubble around our area. I saw a few birds using there normal flight line along some trees heading towards a wood. It wasnt a steady line but i thought i might as well give the barley stubble a go. Set up and managed 8 in 2 hours. The field I was hoping to shoot was wheat stubble but the college were bailing it. I could just make out the bailer going up and down the hill in the distance. As not much was happening I decided to go over and have a gander at how much was left. It so happened that he was just finishing the last 3 lines of straw. I got set up on the old black barn. There is an old hide on one corner so gave that a go. Set the decoys out in a horse shoe, with 2 flyers and the birds I had shot from the barley. Got tucked in the hide, loaded the gun and one dropped in straight away. A good start, but like others this has happened before so wasnt to hopefull. I had a steady line coming past with the odd few dropping into the decoys. The majority were going to another of my fields, but I needed a net to shoot this, and it was left at home in my shed! At times the shooting would go mad for 5 mins, then dead again for 20. I managed to end the session with 29 in the bag and a magpie that decided one of my dead birds was going to be his last free meal! My old man got 16 on a flight line on the other side of the farm. Not a massive bag but an enjoyable one. Dont get out much these days due to family commitments now. Left the farm and stopped to get some diesel, bumped into a farmer who has taken the farming on at a place where i used to shoot. I have been meaning to see him for ages but always when i pop my head in he is busy. After a brief chat managed to get my old ground back, this can produce some good flightline shooting and the geese are always flighting over all season! And two other farms that he has recently taken on. A good day just turned into a great day! Pete