motty

I too would leave it as it is.

G is a thoroughly nice chap. I tried my best to get him properly stuck in the mud on his first outing, which he seemed to enjoy. We had those three flights on fairly big tides. As I predicted, the bag was to remain empty, but we both enjoyed the experience. I plan to get him under a few birds next time. J, you are welcome to tag along. I would prefer it if you were there with gun in hand. It was reasonably quiet, as is the norm for the start of the season. We only had a couple of shots at mallard in the half light. I will sort out when I am taking you out very soon.

I heard the volvos were not too great off road.

Posts from a very small sample of people means very little. I have seen plenty in areas where I shoot. Even if I didn't see any, I would be sure that there would be many big congregations of pigeons in other parts of my county. There is absolutely no way that you know what the pigeon situation is in the whole of Leicestershire!

You are wrong. Non lethal methods do not have to have been tried.

Sorry, but I disagree with this. How would anyone ever know where a pigeon is going to feed?

A great bag, utilising your vast experience.

You can say "there are no pigeons in Leicestershire," but that is simply not the case. You obviously haven't checked all the fields etc in Leicestershire.

Relying on anything other than another experienced pigeon shooter to do recon, in my opinion, is a bad idea. It might be ok in a certain way, but recon is not all about how many birds are seen on a field. You have to gauge how the pigeons are using the fields and several other things. Having any old person saying there is 500 plus pigeons on a field doesn't necessarily mean much.

I am using a 20g o/u. This isn't 100% correct at all! For a start, no-one's teeth are going to "explode." I have bitten on lead and steel. There isn't much difference between biting into either!

Great gunning, Supertash!

Agreed. I had a good look around today. I saw a few fields of beans and barley with a decent amount of pigeons on. I will wait, though. They are unlikely to be shot by other people, but may get cultivated. As we all know, this doesn't necessarily mean that the pigeons will be finished with them. I have started to see the pigeons get more concentrated, as more and more stubbles are disappearing.

Some of the fields I shoot, i am sure i am the only one that goes, but not the case for all of them. I saw a barley stubble that I can shoot, that was absolutely covered in grain. If it is left, it is only a matter of time!

I have never had a gun fitted to me. It would be a good idea, and my shooting may improve if I did. However, most of my guns fit well enough not to worry too much about it.

I still have a hell of a lot of stubbles to shoot. One in particular I am expecting a big bag from, if it is left for a week or two more.

When I spotted these I though TC would have already been over to collect them! 😁

I will take the cartridges off your hands.

Crows need a good thinning out. Good effort.

I have no real answer. Without spending some time there, it is hard to give advice. I would try to find the field that the pigeons really want. I am not keen on setting up when the odds aren't in my favour and the chances of a good bag are slim. I haven't set up much recently, preferring to bide my time.

I'm intrigued. What kind of information are you looking to glean? I am a fairly experienced decoyer, but I still learn a thing or two from reading these pages.

Top bloke!

70mm is 2 3/4". Also, it is you that is pricking the birds, not the cartridges.

I understand if people want to lay birds out in rows, but many of us probably can't be bothered. If I had only ever shot a couple of ton bags I would probably present the birds differently for a photo, but after a good day I generally want to pack up and get gone.

😆

I think you'll find they do.