Cranfield

Its amazing how the average person completely believes everything they read in a newspaper. But, if ever you are involved closely with something that gets reported by the press, you will be amazed at the inaccuracies and the slant that occurs. The most common example, is to go to a football match and then read the report, it will seem like a different game. With the approach of The Big March, there will be a focus in the papers on Country Sports. Unfortunately, not much of it will be supportive. If the March is a big success, the Government and the media will have to take notice. Be there !!

Nice work Deako, :( So thats what a decoy bag and seat look like ? A bit like a porta-loo. :0 :thumbs: Is there any more detail to be added, like prices and the rest of his range ?

I would agree with sutty, Vary the shape and number of decoys in your layout. I will do this during a days shooting, if things go "quiet". Also, position the rotary device to one side of your hide, so that the pigeons sight is not drawn to the hide, via the rotary device. I think this is a common cause of pigeons appearing to shy away from the device.

Late August, is when I expect to see lots of this years broods, making up the bags. There were quite a few around earlier than usual, this year. It seems to have been a good breeding year for pigeons.

Welcome falcon. Hey dead-eye, I was going to book my ScoobyDu in for its service next month and be abusive to you at the garage. Another little joy of life denied me. :cry:

Any sort of "team" shooting only works well, if it is properly organised and everyone understands, what to do and when. Classic example is driven days. The drives either work like clockwork or (as happened to me once) all the guns are facing one way and the beaters are driving the birds towards their backs. :0 I would not shoot in the same hide as anyone else. I don,t even like being in a hide with anyone, wether I,m shooting or not. Over the years I have shot over large fields with good friends (I emphasise "good friends") and we have worked well together.Letting the birds get in to the field and then, usually, every one gets a shot as they try to land or are exiting the field. Takes some working out and a bit of experience.

Thats over £100. They must believe they can sell them, but I don,t know anyone who would buy one at that price. Any news yet on N&S Shooting Supplies version ?

Nope. :thumbs:

I think if you drop down to 30gms you won,t miss any more birds than usual when you are using half choke. 28gms (1 ounce) is the load favoured by some of the high pheasant specialists, fired through three quarter chokes though. See how it goes, you have nothing to lose.

I rarely use anything above 30gm No 6 and occassionally I use a 28gm load. When decoying most of the birds are going to be inside 35 yards. That is quite a long way away when you pace it out. I would be satisfied with a quarter choke for decoys. Or stay with the half choke and drop your load down a notch or two and see how you get on. A lot of people ignore the relationship between shot size, load weight and choke.

Welcome back, long holiday ? :(

Its what "feels" right, that works. People swear by the "single barrel" sighting of automatics, over and unders and of course, single barreled guns. There may be a lot of truth in that, as all of the Olympic clay shooters I,ve seen use O/Us. Its "nice" to use a side-by-side, its traditional. I have one and enjoy using it, with some reasonable success, but I shoot better with the O/U. Spend some time "dry firing" a few different types and weights. If you can put a few shots through them , so much the better.

The other component you haven,t mentioned is, cartridge choice. What make, shot size and load cartridges are you using ?

It doesn,t take long to change a choke, just a few minutes. What I use to do was use half choke for almost all of my pigeon shooting. Use three quarter choke for rabbits and foxes. Use Improved cylinder or quarter choke for all my clay shooting. The Baikal cartridges were one of the first Eastern European cheap cartridges. They were all the things that have already been said, but they were reliable. Sellior Bellot were as bad, but also mis-fired and sometimes would not fit in the chambers. Another Czech cartridge ?? Imp (can,t remember the full name), was awful. A very loud report, lots of smoke and the shot often dribbled out the end of the barrel. Using ?? Imp , was the only time I have ever had a wad stuck up the barrel. I only knew it was there because I couldn,t get the cartridge out and had to poke a bamboo cane down the barrel to push it out, all the wadding came with it........very scary.

daveman, No real "experts" here, but we do have some experienced shooters and some professional guides that are worth listening to. Don,t hesitate to post any question. This is a very friendly Forum (unlike some) and we don,t ridicule people. The more people that use the site, the more chance it has of succeeding. My airgun experience is a bit dated, but there are others on here that will come to your rescue.

There have been quite a few posts in the past on chokes. Basically, full is tightest, three quarters is next to tightest, half is in the middle , quarter is more open and improved cylinder is the most open. I suspect your Baikal is three quarter in the bottom barrel and half in the top barrel (mine was). If you look, the hole at the end of the bottom barrel, will be slightly smaller, than the hole in the end of the top barrel. The advantage of buying a multichoke weopan , is that you will be supplied with the four main chokes, which are screwed in to the end of the barrel,giving you greater flexibility.

"Nearly new". Alternatives: "Shop soiled" "Well worn" "In need of modernisation" The list is endless.

I would buy a Beretta 12 bore multi-choke, model does not matter too much. If you buy from a gunshop, you have more "customer rights" than if you buy privately, thats worth remembering, as there is always a risk with "used". EDIT>>I forgot to recommend 28" barrels, I think size does matter. There are loads of cheap secondhand rotary devices for sale in the shooting press. A gadget worth having, in my opinion. Once again you have the risks associated with "used". Go for it........you know you want to.

When I use to lamp foxes, the farmers would not allow any shooting with shotguns after 9 pm, because of the noise nuisance. They would not permit us to lamp rabbits with shotguns at all, for the same reason. Eventually , it was all done with silenced .22s I,m not suprised the armed response unit was called out on Kevins outing. Over 100 rabbits shot, it must have sounded like World War 3.

No, I saw William refer to it on a post he made on the Anglers Net forums. I,m nearly new, Malc.

I have seen three (better not mention the others ) and bought the Pinewood. It seemed to be the most stable and professionally made of the three. I have had no problems with mine.

kevin, where did you get them from and how much did they cost ? Are the wings detachable ? Cheers.

When lamping with shotguns,until what time do you shoot ? Do you use silenced rifles at all ?

In fairness to the decoys (don,t want to hurt their feelings :cry: ), it was very, very windy. I superglued the tabs back on and they won,t be a problem again. I will use them in future until I get "the real thing" and then relegate them to the floaters, where they seemed OK, even in the wind. Somebody needs to invent/design a hardbodied pigeon decoy with fixed, outstretched wings to fit rotary devices. Why do they have to be made of foam ? We all have room in our "cammo sack" for a couple of decoys of this shape.

Yes, the strap/stiffener is in place. The "tabs" it slides under came unstuck at one end on them both.The whole thing appeared to be trying to take off. What I can,t understand is why they don,t fit on the Pinewood properly, a real pigeon does.