nagantino

Nial, Binos are a great subject. I have had lots of them and love them. Scopes for rifles and binoculars are made in China for little money. They all work. Many of the best optical products use Chinese parts but dont tell you that. Those Binos look fine. The lightest and most attractive set I have now are......Opera glasses complete in a silver purse!

I was set up in a field yesterday hoping to bring in some winter wood pigeons. As I walked across the field I put up 100 plus birds, pigeon and crows. Oh well. I set up having observed the field for some days. There was no action for a while then some woodies came into my pattern. No joy. I was using a new gun, Benelli s/a and it was taking a while to get used to. Been to a sporting shoot but this is different. No birds untill around 3.30 lots of crows began to show an interest and I began to take some good kills. One crow fell winged in front of the hide and I went out to dispatch it. I had turned down a leg of a beech table for the job. As I approached the crow it began to run. As I caught up it dropped "dead". I dispatched it but knew it was still living. Funny that. Later I hit 2 birds, 1 falling stone dead, but the other was a runner. Boy did it run. As I caught up to it doesnt it fall dead. Head to the side wings out. It was playing possum and very much still alive. Has anyone noticed this phenomena/ Found this site also. /www.ted.com/index.php/talks/joshua_klein_on_the_intelligence_of_crows.html

You wont get anything for it at a gun dealers. Your best bet is to keep it and start using it for fun or sell to another shooter. I was in the same position a few months ago and was tired of hearing dealers tell me that they did not want the gun even for trade. Someone will take it of you but you will pay full price on the new trade. Try dismanteling the the wood from it and cleaning up the woodwork. Its easy and good fun.....many of these old guns used really attractive timber , far superior to a basic gun today.

Different shooting disciplines require different guns. Down the Line needs a rock solid mount on the gun and this a heavier gun usually. Sporting usually needs a lighter O/U but some heft is still needed. Shooting woodpigeons from a hide would require a light gun but many people can use an old trap gun.....its horses for courses. And dont forget that a light gun can give a kick that a heavier model wont. The heavy gun absorbs the recoil but the lighter gun gives that recoil to you. Dont worry you will find a gun.

QUOTE (kennym @ Nov 25 2008, 05:16 PM) Thanks mate somtimes you dont like to ask questions on here, some people, who obviously know everything forget they once knew nothing!!! it spoils things sometimes because i'd rather help someone than put them down for not knowing Well said that man.

Family is always first. On old hand gave me this 30 years ago. The birds will always be there but not the kids at 4yrs. Enjoy man.

38 birds is a good bag. Well done!

I have been keeping an eye on this field and had thought it was OSR but its still uncut. The photo was taken today. During the early summer this field and others near it, were bright lemon/yellow in colour and I asked and got permission to shoot over them. I thought and hoped it was rape but I am unsure now. The yellow colour is still there. I have never seen a woodpigeon alight into this crop or any bird. Can anybody say what it is?

I also have been giving this problem some thought regarding my own "mising technique". I am quiet a good DTL shot and regularly earn a little prize money but shooting over decoys is different. Its in the comfy warmth of the sofa that things seem to crystalize and you can analyze why you missed. You are to be admired for admitting a miss rate of 1 bird for 25 carts. I doubt you are alone there......most just don't admit it. My own problem is not moving the barrels through the bird and thus missing behind. I am certain of it. I began to apply this "swing through" to DTL and it, works eleminating the odd lost bird makes all the difference to the final score. I cant find a Sporting shoot near me unfortunatly to simulate field birds.

Thats a good philosophy. I have only ever shot 19 or 20 birds in one session and this includes crows and magpie, so big bags have not been a problem. To be truthful , if the birds were coming in and I was hitting them , I would keep on shooting just to see how far I could go.

I thought come back with how I got on this week. I was all set up for a good days shooting and had checked the weather forecast endlessly. Bright sunshine and windy. As i was driving up to the field I was going to shoot over, I could see the crows and pigeons flying at great speed and the crows were perfoming the most fantasic acrobatics and this was over a grass field and not stubble or the like. I set up on the edge of the field and had to be careful about shot direction as the farmer had told me he had complaints about hail falling on rooftops. First bird in was a feral pigeon cleanly killed then an impossible shot at a fast magpie....down it went. I thought I was in for a red letter day but it was not to be. Crows predominated for the next few hours but the hell could I hit them. They were flying fast and high but were interested in the pattern but the way they were jinking and weaving was beyond my ability. Very frustrating. About 2 pm woodpigeons began to show up but flying very fast. I ate my sandwich and crisps and got the odd bird and gave up at 3.30. I was freezing by now and the wind had given the hide a real battering. A tiny kill of 5 birds or so. When I thought back the magpies I have hit lately are winging fast and were shot on instinct...when I stand up and try to aim the gun at hovering crows or interested pigeons I miss. As I drove away I thought ...Thats it untill Spring but today I thought Well I might get out again next week. Its a bloody drug....more more

I will be out tomorrow and have checked the area out for birds...its ok, with mixed pigeons, crows and loads of magpie. I will post on progress, good, bad or indifferent.

tweddledee, I hear what your saying. I have one field that might give some sport this week. I intend to check it out tomorrow and if there is no activity that will be me for the Winter. The rain does not bother me really as where I build my hide is sheltered but the cold for 3- 4 hours would be too much. If he has ploughed it, I wont be crying.

I have been hearing about Scottish pigeons all my shooting life and loved the sound and the idea of pigeons from the wild Scotch fields and mountains. I wonder has anyone actually tagged birds scientifically to be able to call them such. No matter, I just hope they come.

Its been said before on the forum, but in the North of Ireland, we don't get massive flocks of birds but you can get plenty of shooting. My best hope for next week is a field I have shot over e few times now. Its a small field that took a real battering over the summer. The barley was poor even to my eye but it was good for mixed decoys during this. When cut it gave better sport but the farmer seems content to leave the hay ungathered. It was giving good shooting opportunities last saturday although too many guns about. I have kept a close eye on the rape fields but can say I have never seen a single bird in there. Soo, a question from a city boy. After a field of barley or wheat has been cut and then reploughed what does the farmer do next? When is it likely to attract birds again?

Im up for anything that will work but I have trouble shooting with mask,gloves and ear protection already. Are those the flying decoys on youtube? If you work with a mate maybe, but you would be busy between everything.

This is closer view. is it a jackdaw?

I had been watching 2 or 3 fields of cut barley near my home and had permissions on them all. One looked very promising on Thursday evening with pigeons,crows and magpies aplenty. I ckecked another field and found the farmer had ploughed it but when I walked over it I put dozens of wood pigeon out of the trees. I thought that this was a good omen so I set up there on Saturday morning at 9.00am. No luck. I shot a magpie, a wood pigeon and crow in 3 hours. I went back to the field I had planned to shoot and set up. Lots of shooting from nearby fields but I think they had a trap or something. When it quietened down the birds came in steady. I shot a few and missed stax but I noticed that the birds all came into the decoys with the steel Wobblers. Even when I put the dead birds out in the pattern they still came into these 2 decoys. They were very realistic and this must prove something about them. I had only 2 boxes of 6's so I was down to a handful of cartridges by now. I have always been interested in the Maintained Lead style so when a woodie flew away from the pattern way high over me I gave it a try. I put the gun the lenght of a car in front and fired. I could not believe it when it crumpled and fell. It must have taken 4 seconds to fall and hit the ground in front of the hide. I laughed. I have attached 2 pics for vanity. Look at the second one. Its a pity its not better focussed but the bird still has a piece of brown bread in its mouth.

great stuff.

Sounds good.

A lovely bird to see for sure. We keep an eye on one just outside Lisburn. Its there very often on top of a lamppost. Last Christmas morning we were doing the family rounds when it dropped off the lamppost and landed on the ground were it proceeded to pull the inerds out of something dead. I slowed the car and we all watched it. We were no more the 10 feet from it. last month in Castle Gardens a guy was displaying hawks and owls and he said they ate worms, beetles and carrion.

seb, please try again with the pics. I am sur loads of members want to see.

The idea has been knocking around in the North of Ireland for some while now, and I know lots of guys who have a suitable shotgun for it, but the reason always put forward regarding "Why doesnt hit get off the ground" is that the ammo would be very dear. What size of cartridge is normally used 4's or smaller?

I read your post last night and admired the pic...I noted to myself that i had not seen a jay in 4 to 5 years. Today i walked out of work for breath of air and there she was just flitting into the trees. Lovely.

Its a professional job but if the gun is not an heirloom or a fine gun it can be done. I was within a hares breath of doing it in early summer but didnt. Your first job is to find a decent piece of timber. If you find a good bit of hardwood that will do. Dont worry about matching the grain as I have seen a number of extentions that dont match. Watch out for Prince Charles in any newspaper when he is shooting and you will see an extention that does not try to match. If you do wish to blend or match the extention then you need an artful hand. This is done by using Indian ink to match the lines of the grain and needs a careful eye. No, your real work comes when you attach the extention by wood glue,clamp and screws if it were me. The extention must be too big all over. Then you begin the careful job of wasting the extra wood off. A band facer as used in schools is good or a spokeshave. You dont want to hit the existing butt. It requires skill and patience but by no means impossible. Mine was a Spanish "Ebor" and was no financial risk but 20 years ago they put some lovely timber into them old "worth nothing guns". Half an inch is not a lot and i bet it can be done by yourself. Wales's gun seems to have at least 2 inches added. Good luck.