Cranfield

Never had any good tips then ? Or just shy ?

Wether it was 4lbs of corn a day , or 4lbs over the 4 days, that is hardly enough to be called "baiting" a field. In fact, I would be suprised if it made any difference to the numbers of pigeons visiting the field.

What was the best tip you were given ? It doesn,t matter how long ago, or how obvious it was, lets hear it. I was a lad just starting shooting (with a shotgun), I must have been about 11. I use to go with George, who was a farmworker and responsible for pigeon "scaring". He would spend a long time watching the fields and the birds, before deciding where we would set up. He always picked the best field. When I started to go on my own, I was too keen to get shooting and would set up in the most convenient place. It was never the best place and I always had to move eventually. This didn,t have to happen too many times for me to realise the good sense of reconnaisance. If its the only lesson I have ever learnt, its the best one.

Aha, thank you O,Wise One from the Desert. The Webley .410 was chambered to take the 3" Eley Fourlong cartridge. The bore was fullchoke. If William put "spellchecker" on here, I wouldn,t be able to understand a word BigDave posts.

Idon,t have a clue what the "camber" of the Webley .410 is. I don,t have a clue what the "camber" is. The bolt action was a basic..... bolt back, chamber opens, drop cartridge in, push bolt forward and turn. Fire gun, lift and pull bolt back,cartridge ejects. The safety, is the rear of the bolt action. After the gun was loaded, to diengage the safety it had to be pulled back against a spring, twisted slightly anti-clockwise (I think) and eased forward.

Secondhand .410,s use to be very common, but I don,t see so many in our local Gunshop. 1)I have owned a single shot bolt actioned Webley. 2)A very nice s/s, ejector model,Spanish gun. 3)A 3 shot automatic, bolt action, American gun. 1) Nice gun, but all the problems of a single shot gun. 2) Far too nice to use, should have spent its life hanging on a wall. 3) One of the most useless guns I ever acquired. After firing the shot in the chamber, the "feed" would jam and you couldn,t fire the second (or third) shot. Following numerous trips to the gun repairers, the conclusion was that the action was incorrectly aligned. After I sold them all onwards, I realised that I never really had a need for a .410. I did shoot a spectacular "tower bird" partridge with the Webley .410. I was walking around the edge of a wood, next to a cabbage field, looking for rabbits. I flushed a small covey of partridges and shot one. It flew straight up in the air until it was almost a dot. Then its wings folded and it fell down, stone dead. Apparently, this happens when a piece of shot hits a certain part of the birds brain. The upward flight is all reflex action. Really weird to see.

Are you building up a private arsenal, or selling a few guns as well ? You always seem about to/or just have, bought a new gun.

HH, the camel sick again ?

Happy Birthday Tim, I think lazza means "lucky" enough to survive the day.

I should point out that our multiple catches were not made in a true Laresen trap. These are quite small in generl size. Our traps were very large, walk-in designs. 12ft.long x 7ft.high x 8ft.wide. Similar to a chicken run with a roof, which had a funnel entrance in it.

HH, no problem Old Chum. :( Its all lazza,s fault, getting married and having birthdays, its all too confusing. :( :(

I,ve helped oversee a few traps over the years, not always "Larsens", but cheap copies and variations. Its amazing how many corvids can be trapped in quite a small area of land. Up to 10 birds was quite common. 10-20 birds every now and then. 35 in a day was our best effort, this was in early Summer and was probably 6 or 7 Magpie broods from that Spring. We use to leave the traps in one location for 2-3 days and then move them to another part of the farm, or on to an adjacent farm. When we had finished the circuit, we would start all over again. As we cleared an area, birds from around about, would fill it up again. "Nature abhors a vacuum", is a very true saying. Its the same with fox clearance.

Ere, I have already posted this.........you got sand in your eyes again ? :D

The traps are checked a few times a day, but work automatically and so, you don,t have to stand near the trap all the time. It is usual to trap a number of birds at a time, the first bird attracts the others. It is also common to use a "call bird" as a lure to the other birds. A well placed Larsen trap can catch more magpies in a day ,than most people see in a week. Sorry for the leg-pulling, the Devil made me do it. :thumbs:

Another milestone lazza, you will soon be catching me up. :( Have a good one, Mate. :(

The Magpies,Jays and Crows use to be sent to Rehabilitation Centres where they were taught not to eat songbirds and gamebirds eggs and young. All the "cured" Magpies,Jays and Crows then became vegetarians. Unfortunately, this meant we had to shoot them to protect the farmers crops. Over time, we have cut out the Rehabilitation Centres. :thumbs: The "serious" answer is;they are humanely despatched.

Tony, Magpies, but sometimes crows and jays will enter them as well, especially if you use bait and not a "calling bird". Deako, Why wait until Spring ? They have the traps out all year round here.

I agree that most of us amateurs will only shoot over 100 pigeons a day, a few times in our shooting lives. Whilst the professionals probably shoot these numbers more often,(only on the basis ,they shoot more days than we do),they also have a vermin control responsibility. One assumes that they can,t ignore the landowner/farmers requirements for crop protection. In the USA, the dove shooting is often "managed" by professional Guides. Crops are planted deliberately to appeal to the doves, fields are shot in rotation and frequently additional food is spread around to attract the birds. The Guides sell, so many birds, days. Rather like an English Game Shoot (without the beaters). If our woodpigeon shooting was like this (artificial/sporting), I can imagine calls for bag restrictions, as there is in Game Shoots. I think the article in Sporting Gun was not particularly helpful to pigeon shooters.

They probably were this years late young, the rest of their plumage markings are usually, also indistinct. The positive means of identification is that, they decoy easier than the adult birds.

I,m glad to see that many recognise it as both a sport and a method of pest control. The "pest control" element is very important, this is what enables us to shoot them 12 months of the year. In parts of Europe there is a season for woodpigeon, in USA there are seasons for dove shooting. We should be alert for "thin ends of wedges", a season, could be the first.

I don,t think it does, but I do like to introduce variety to my layout. I have already mentioned that I will totally change a layout if things go quiet. I just thought that different speeds might be another "change", I could try. I do like my N&S Floaters.They have become the most important part of my spread. Being made of fibreglass, they are light to carry and move very realistically, in the slightest breeze, but are stable in the wind.

Keith, is he allowed to do that legally ? I would have thought that is considered "hunting with dogs", even though his dogs don,t catch the fox (I suppose), they do "hunt" it. There was a good article in todays Mail on Sunday about rat hunting with dogs. It showed how difficult it would be to enforce a blanket, "no hunting with dogs" law. You would need a policeman behind every tree.

Its been written about in the Shooting Press and mentioned on here. Do you consider Woodpigeon shooting a "sport" or "pest control" and why ? Don,t forget, its your opinion and so you can,t be wrong.

How easy is it to fit a speed controller on a rotary device ? Does one gadget suit all makes ?

This is a classic example of where clay pigeon shooting can help. Get down to your nearest Clay Shoot and shoot a round of clays. If you miss them all ,its not important....... unlikely,...... but not important. You will learn more about the "gun feel" this way. I,d rather miss a clay than a pigeon or rabbit.