Cranfield

All you Yorkshiremen have to do, is sell a whippet pup or two and you will be able to afford as many hide poles, as you,ve got flat caps. Ee by gum, ecky thump, as like !!

I am not sure about these foam decoys for floaters or rotary devices. I had mine on a Pinewood Rotary Device today. They don,t fit this Rotary very well, but I am use to that. The problem today was the wind. There was a lot of it and the foam decoys didn,t like it at all. They started to come apart at the seams. Fortunately, I shot some of the real thing very quickly and the foam decoys got substituted. Any tips from you other "foam" users.

I was having a quite productive afternoon on some wheat stubble this afternoon, when the action was interupted by a ladies voice , seemingly ,out of mid air. I had set up my hide in a wide hedgerow/tree line, between the stubble and a half harvested bean field (not my farmers). The pigeons were moving between the two fields and the wind was making things very interesting. Back to the "voice from above". The lady was behind me,on the other side of the hedge and was drawing my attention to the fact she was stood on a bridleway. I unloaded my gun and left the hide. We couldn,t see each other through the hedge,stinging nettles and elder bushes. I put my empty gun in the hide and worked my way through the undergrowth until I emerged on her side. The "bridleway" was an overgrown single lane path at the edge of the field. The lady said that she walked her dog along the path every day and did not think I should be shooting so close to the path. I very politely said that I was shooting away from the path and in fact my hide was 50ft away from the path, which is the minimum distance required by law. I also pointed out that if I had been able to see her coming, despite the 50ft rule, I wouldn,t have fired my gun until she was past me. Unfortunately , the hedge stopped us seeing each other, which is why, when I fired she jumped a mile. I told her that when I shot this field, my car would always be parked near the gate. If she saw it there it would pre-warn her. She said that she didn,t know about the 50ft rule, but was pleased that I had been "understanding" and she would look out for my car. We parted on friendly terms and at no time was there raised voices or any bad language. When I got home I had to check my little book. I honestly couldn,t remember if it was 50ft or 50yds.

BigDave, same as lazza on this one. By the way, the "hip" is at the back of the animal, the "shoulder" is at the front. However, if they are running backwards you could be right.

Cheers Kevin, I,m just off to have a word with a Game Dealers Agent.

Well today, its like a greased ferret up a drain pipe. Weird this pooter gadgetry, I,m glad I don,t understand it.

Deako, I have done that from Day 1. It seems OK now, but earlier it was a real pain. I have broadband and I,m not use to hanging around waiting for sites to load anymore. It must have been worse on a 56k modem. :0

I use a 12bore shotgun with Maximum 4s when deliberately going to shoot foxes. I have shot quite a lot using standard pigeon loads. Its just a question of knowing the range limitations of your ammunition. Most of the foxes I have shot are running and I have had no problem getting clean kills. Most foxes aren,t as big as you think. Its not a lion you are trying to shoot.

Since they have cut most of the cereal crops around here, I am seeing a lot more foxes in the daytime. I mention it because I haven,t noticed quite so many in other years. There are strong rumours that foxes are being trapped in London and brought out in to the Kent countryside and released. Local lampers are seeing groups of three and four together on the stubbles. I have seen two together before , but not small groups. Any comments ?

Whats next on your shooting shopping list ? I am looking for a light waterproof camouflage jacket. At the moment I have two cammo coat and leggings sets. One in traditional "Army" green/brown and one in Advantage. I need something a bit lighter in weight, for the warmer days. Could be on my list for the Midland Show.

Its still a problem. I can get to the Home page, but I keep getting Gateway Timeouts trying to get to the forums. Its taken me 15 minutes of continous trying to get in. Perhaps all the reports he put on the other day have overloaded the Server.

Something is definitely wrong, I can,t get in to the subject forums before the screen closes out. Very frustrating. We need a mechanic, or William .

lazza, it seems to be spasmodic, I got in OK eventually and then had trouble moving round the subjects. I have just spent 20 mins, on and off, trying to get back in. If there is an answer, William should know it.

I went out for a look around Friday and Saturday afternoon , I didn,t see much. A few birds moving around, not many on the rape or wheat stubbles, just a few ferals and doves. Where have they gone ? What are you finding ?

Did anyone else have problems getting in to the forums today ? I had "Gateway timeouts" from 9am to 2.30pm. I wonder what causes that, it can,t be my pooter, because I have had no problems elsewhere.

Hi Keith, my price varies throughout the year, its normally between 9p and 12p each, it has been as high as 15p. I freeze mine until I have 50 to 100 birds to take in. The chap who takes mine is not a Game Dealer, I think he is an Agent who collects the birds for a Game Dealer. If I could supply the Game Dealer direct, I might get a better price.

kevin, my wife is not that understanding and so I don,t keep loads of dead pigeons in the freezer for decoys. I keep 3 or 4 , for my rotary device and my floaters, although I have recently bought 2 foam decoys, that can be used with either gadgets. I like the standard horseshoe shape decoy layout, positioned according to the wind. I place my floaters about halfway along each "side " of the horseshoe and my rotary device at the end of it. Since using the flock covered decoys, I haven,t bothered to replace my decoys with dead birds. I am very impressed with flock covered decoys.

Hi Arty, nice to see you. I haven,t seen a portable fixed hide for years. I can remember one that was four sides ,about 4ft-6ins tall and each side was about 4ft wide. It was a very fine mesh cammo net fixed on poles and you rolled it up. I suppose they would be easy enough to make, if you really wanted one. The best method is the camouflage net and 4 or 5 poles,then you can build a hide almost any size and shape you want. Its also easy to carry. Army style cammo suits most of our UK foliage for most of the year, the lighter cammos are better in Winter. Ring Mike Newall at N & S Shooting Supplies 01925 728057. I have his green/brown hide net 15ft by 5ft cost £12.50 + carriage. His adjustable hide poles are £9 each. Or check out your local gunshops.

Welcome PaddyMc, The answer to your question can be long and very complicated, but the basic point is, observation. The only way to find the preferred flightlines of the pigeons where you shoot, is by observation and you really have to put the time in. I take one field at a time, there is nothing to stop you setting up a hide and decoys and doing some shooting, while you observe. You will notice that (over a time) birds enter or cross the field from a certain point to a certain point. The lay of the land is an influence, as is, where have they come from and where are they going. The pattern is there , you just have to find it. If you have any spare time, even an odd hour, its well worth sitting in a good vantage point, with some binoculars and watching for the pigeons. Cracking the code, will certainly improve your shooting. Good Luck. :thumbs:

I have Sporting Gun (probably the best Shooting magazine in the World", delivered to my door. (Crawl,crawl,crawl). Fortunately, I didn,t blink as I turned the page, or I might have missed the mention. Still, any publicity is better than none and we may gain some more posters, that would be good.

I,m thinking..........rabbit shot with..........probably a rifle........probably a high powered rifle.............CASSEROLE JOB :evil:

PC, sorry to hear about your mate, things like that tend to put everything into perspective. Lets hope that next year is a more cheerful birthday.

I think William would be happy to be sponsored by anybody. I posted this item under "New Pigeon Shooting Gear" because they are new items of pigeon shooting gear to me. If you wear prescription glasses, its not as simple as putting on a pair of sunglasses when the sun shines. The sun doesn,t bother you, but not being able to see properly does. I think its of interest to prescription glasses wearers.

Did you get "time off for good behaviour" ? Or were you overseas on a secret mission with glamorous female spys ? You can tell us........we won,t tell anyone. What do you think of the personalised Avatars ? Much better than those other gruesome things.

Paddy, A Dealer takes my pigeons and I never have any problems getting rid of rabbits, but everyone wants them gutted and skinnned first. :0 Foxes I bury. EGNWT, I use Eley Maximum No5 shot, but I have killed many foxes with a "Pigeon load", standard No6 shot. Range is usually 35 yards or less. Most don,t even need the second barrel.