Cranfield

The fortunate thing with the control of wood pigeons is that the most effective method is shooting. There have been suggestions over the years of using "bait", that would make the birds that eat it sterile. The problem here is that other birds/animals could eat the "bait". I also suspect that as shooting does not cost the Government or the Farmer/Landowner any money ( in fact those parties can and do make money from pigeon shooting ) it is a very attractive option. What are the pigeons eating in the soya bean fields ? This is a crop I am not familiar with in my area. I know the plant has leaves, flowers and the actual bean, grows in a pod. Usually harvested with a combine harvester. Isn,t it possible to "ambush" the birds on their way to and from the field ? When you say that the wheat "is coming off", I assume you mean that it is being cut. Straight after the harvest, is a very good time for pigeon shooting over here. One field I shoot over is close to a largish pond. This field is always full of pigeons feeding on the wheat stubble, due to the close proximity of the water. It seems pigeons that eat grain need to drink lots of water. In my area the rape is being sprayed or "swathed", prior to being harvested, this turns the pigeons on to the crop right up to and after the actual gathering in process. Next will be ripened wheat that has been blown down by the winds and then the stubble shooting after the harvest. Then drilled rape and it all starts over again. Have you noticed that there are very few alternative words to "harvest" to denote collecting-in a crop.

I estimate that I shoot about 50 days a year. As lazza said, that doesn,t count reconnaissance missions and wash-out days. Are the guides shooting almost every day ?

I know they mature quick, but don,t you think that the neck rings take that bit longer to become pronounced ? Perhaps I shot some "early birds" without realising it. Any comments on the numbers being seen ? Is it a good breeding year ?

In an earlier post I referred to the number of days a year, the average shooter actually goes pigeon shooting. You can count half a day, or an evening flight as a whole day. How many "days" a year do you go to shoot pigeons ?

tim, the link to the RS site is not working properly. Where on the RS site are the "piggyback" connectors ? They sound like the solution. Thanks for your help. :thumbs:

One way of increasing your "status", is to ensure you are logged in when posting. "unregistered" visits don,t count in Williams Honours List. An addition to the "breeding season shooting" comment, is that, woodpigeons nest 2 to 3 times a year. Therefore, they are unlikely to become extinct. Up to about 20 years ago, pigeon shooting was the province of the farm labourer, country dweller and certainly at the "working class" end of the shooting spectrum. It is only because game shooting has become priced out of the range of most shooters, that it has become popular. I still believe that there are very few people that shoot pigeons 50 days in a year. More people shoot clay pigeons than the real thing. Many long time pigeon shooters will tell you that pigeon shooting is more interesting than game shooting. The targets are more variable and you are require to use fieldcrafts to ensure a good day. The only "statistics" available (to my knowledge ) are from 35 years ago. At that time the UK pigeon population was estimated at 10 million birds. It was estimated they ate 833 tons of crops per day (300,000 tons per annum). Farmings biggest "pest", long may it remain so, for "selfish" reasons. There is litle doubt that there are more pigeons now than 35 years ago, it is difficult to imagine the amount of damage they must be doing. Eley is still a respected name in the UK and many of my friends will only use their cartridges. Its much the same as only buying BP or Shell petrol, there are cheaper brands, just as good, but its a question of confidence in a "big" companys quality control. The US duck hunting is a much bigger, regulated, organised activity than our pigeon shooting. We have no organisations, federations or anything similar. Your turkey hunting is also on a more official level with similar seasons, limits, permits etc. Its easiest to shoot pigeons when they are feeding and that could be early or late, mostly depending on the weather and the crops. Thats why "fieldcraft" is so important. Shooting the birds as they come to roost, in the Winter months, is another option. Short days, no leaves on the trees and windy weather can make it very testing, but great fun. As I have said before, these are my opinions and others will have different ones. Are you being successful in your pigeon shooting ?

Some people believe that and some don,t. I,m one that doesn,t. There is no relationship between crows and pigeons. They don,t like to live near each other and they don,t feed together (as they eat different things). The idea that the crow is known to be "crafty and wary", by the pigeon and therefore a good "sentry/lookout", defies any kind of logic. Unless you believe in fairies and Watership Down. Believe in coincidence, it makes more sense.

Big Dave, put that glue bottle down, you will go nuts sniffing that..............Oooops too late.

I shot last week and commented in my report that I only killed adult birds, not one juvenile. Is it a bit early ? Anyone else seeing any ? Even though Spring time was a bit wet, do you think it will be a good breeding year ?

First time I sasw this item on the Forum front page, I thought poor Big Dave had been evicted or thrown out by his parents. "I have changed my home.." Live up a tree now then Big Dave ?

How complicated is it to run two items from one battery ? Do you have to splice wires and stuff, or are there gadgets that you can buy ? I don,t want it too complicated as I,m not too bright. :thumbs: I,m pretty confident that my 12V battery could run my rotary device and a pecker or flapper.

Mine came with the rotary device and is a 12V rechargeable. The longest I have used it non-stop with dead pigeons on it (weight factor) is 10 hours and it was still going strong. Before I went away for a month I decided to run the battery right down and then recharge it completely, this is recommended. Without the arms on, I placed it in a vice in my cellar and turned it on. It took 80 hours to run down. Now I stress that this was not under any loading at all. Its not really heavy, about the same as a couple of boxes of cartridges. It comes in a waterproofed canvas bag with a shoulder strap. No Problemo. :thumbs:

Thanks Deako, I will have to ring him about the Floaters. You are right about the Oxfordshire boys prices. If I read their advert correctly, they want £35.00 for 5 shell, flock coated birds. N & S Shooting Supplies sell excellent ones for £24.95 for 5. It certainly pays to shop around.

Are the mechanics/moving parts inside the decoy, or stuck on the outside ? Have you seen his Pigeon Floaters ? He advertises a one piece for £9 and a two piece for £10. Do you know how long they are?

kevin 15, just in case you ( or anyone ) don,t know how to submit a report.... Go to homepage, click on Pigeon Watch, click on bird nearest your area, scroll past reports to the bottom of the page and fill the form in. You may already know all this, but I didn,t and had to ask before I could submit my first report.

I mentioned recently that I had submitted my shotgun certificate renewal form and today I had my Police inspection. The Officer was a nice bloke, very chatty and friendly. Checked the gun cabinet, gun serial numbers against my licence and commented on my "nice guns". We had a chat about shooting and fishing, he does both, over a cup of coffee and the whole procedure passed very smoothly. Its fashionable to "knock" the Police, but he did his job efficiently and pleasantly. My new licence will arrive shortly.

Sounds like a seriously good day kevin. You ought to put a report in the area report section on the homepage. When I have to shoot in a field of laid cereal, I enter by the tractorlines (like you), I take a couple of cut open sacks and some bamboo canes. By setting up near some standing wheat and using the sacks I can make a reasonable hide. I then kneel or sit alternatively on an old chair cushion. There are a couple of the new camouflage designs out now that could blend nicely with laid cereal, they only have to be light coloured.

I try to avoid "high" crops as they are dificult to move in, without causing damage. When they spray the rape it sort of collapses and is no longer "high". Although it is better to decoy on the lower areas. When they cut and turn it (swarfe/ swathe it ?), the gap between the rows of "turned rape" is usually 5-10 ft. Set up in the rows, it works for me. Oh, happy days are here again... :( :(

Dead-Eye, I had a good day on Wednesday, a report has been filed with William and will probably appear (next month). I was shooting on a recently mowed hay field, next to a rape field. There are a lot of pigeons about at the moment. Check out any set-a-side fields or meadows. In our area the farmers are either spraying off the rape or cutting and turning it. This kills the plant which is necessary prior to harvesting. This will bring the pigeons in,before the actual combining. Keep your eyes peeled.

The cartridge price differential has been there for many years and my American friends continually moan about it, especially the clay shooters. Cartridges were "expensive" in the UK many years ago when there were only one or two manufacturers. Eley being the biggest, they also made cartridges for other companies, so even if you didn,t buy the Eley brand, you did in reality. Cartridges then started coming in from Europe, the early ones from Russia (Baikal) and Czechoslovakia (Sellier Bellot) were considered cheap and nasty. Rumours also circulated that they were prone to misfire, not sized properly for autos, could damage "good" guns, etc. Eventually shooters realised they wern,t that bad and bought them. That seemed to open the gates for a rush of imports and the start-up in the UK of a few smaller manufacturers (with foreign investment). The result was "competition" and the price benefit and consistent quality, that we enjoy today. I wasn,t sidestepping the Spring/Breeding shooting question. We have to remember that we are shooting a bird that is classified as "vermin". It feeds all the year round and therefore can cause crop damage all the year round. The farmers and landowners that give us permission to shoot on their land would not be impressed if we stopped protecting their crops, whilst the "vermin" bred in peace. I should also add that research suggests that one pigeon from a pair can raise the young (1 or 2 usually) successfully and both parents rarely go to feed together when they have chicks. The young also mature quite quickly, as is common with a lot of wild creatures. The only people who "respect" pigeons over here are shooters. Everyone else has similar views to the ones you mention. You didn,t realise that to move from a "Newbie Pigeon Shooter" to a "Dead Eye Pigeon Shooter", all you have to do is ramble on and on and on and on..........................?

There are not as many people actively shooting woodpigeons as you would imagine and there is a tremendous population of woodpigeon in the UK. Also, there are areas where the birds breed, feed and live, that cannot be shot. Birds from these areas will populate shot areas. "Nature abhors a vacuum", is a very true statement. If 25 cartridges costs you $5 (£3.50), then 500 would cost around $100 (£70.00). I buy State Express felt wads for £50.00 for 500. Accepting that these comparisons are very approximate, you are paying significantly more for your cartridges. Small bore cartridges are generally more expensive in the UK, also. Rape is a crop that is grown for its seed. It produces a green leaf that the pigeons eat. During the Winter months it is one of the few "green" crops available for pigeons to eat. Its rising popularity as a crop over the last 15/20 years ,has been given as one reason for the increase in woodpigeon numbers. In the past many birds died from starvation/cold weather during the Winter period. It was common to walk through woods after particularly cold nights and find lots of pigeons lying on the ground. If you do a "Google Image" search you will find pictures of its distinct yellow flower. Fly over the UK or Europe in the Spring and you pass over what seems to be a yellow country. I don,t know if any other Forum members load their own cartridges, I tried it once and it was too much like hard work. Its also fair to say that the financial incentive was not there to make it worthwhile.

Anyone who wears prescription spectacles all the time knows that one good thing is, that you eventually forget you are wearing them. When I,m shooting and I get rain on mine, any attempts to wipe them dry only smears the glass, I then become "aware" of them. This then becomes a distraction and affects my shooting. Does anyone use any sprays or other special stuff to keep the water off ? Do they work ?

The easy ones first. There are no seasons or limits for wood pigeon shooting. The crop seasons tend to dictate the best and worst months of the year for shooting. These can vary from area to area in the Country. I use a 12 gauge u/o or sbs and No6 shot in 30gramm loads. The number of decoys I use in a layout varies with the crop, season and shooting area. With short or open crops (first sprouting peas, rape or seed drillings) where incoming birds have a good "view" of the field, I use no more than 10 decoys plus a rotary device. Where the crop is higher or the "view" is nor so good, I use up to 25 decoys plus a rotary device. This is to ensure that any incoming pigeons will see at least some decoys. I hope other Forum members will give you their answers to your questions on equipment and decoy layouts. I was quite suprised that UK cartridge prices are cheaper than US prices. What would you expect to pay for 250 or 500 cartridges ?

Apart from thinning out rookeries in the past, I have never deliberately targeted rooks or crows. I did use a large teddy bear (big glass eyes) to decoy magpies once and was suprised at the amount of crows it attracted. I,m sure a large owl decoy would have the same affect.

I bought one many, many years ago, I think it was made by Debden. It was made of plastic, with a wheel and rotary arm on the outside,which turned and opened and shut the wings. They supplied it with about 30 yards of wire, so that you could sit in the hide and turn it on when you saw a pigeon. The battery was too small to leave it on for long. It wasn,t cheap, but it wasn,t strong. When my friend sat on my sack containing my cammo netting,decoys and plastic flapper, it disintegrated. I hope any new ones have "the works" inside. My old one was always stopping because a piece of grass, or something similar, got caught in the wheel. Look forward to your comments Deako.