the hitman

Been at work (school) all day with chainsaw clearing the drive . So much damage to houses its unbelievable. The school has no power so we have had to send the boarding student out to guardian and day student parents. I was shooting beside 5 beeches yesterday- now only 2 remain. I have 2 garden fences damaged but otherwise I got of lightly.

Good shooting- thank you for posting. We don’t grow maize in N Northumberland so we’ll done finding something other than ORS.

JD - it’s absolutely awful here now, I ha be a 6ft north facing garden fence and I have just had to reinforce it with garden furniture and wooden poles as it’s swaying a bit too much. Also the rain is horizontal.

Yes indeed- we have a red weather warning 80-90 mph winds. It’s blowing a hooly now.

I have been watch a field of OSR all week and today the weather was to be a gusty Northern wind with a risk wintery showers. I was set up at 10.30am in what was a perfect day for the job. The wind was stirring the birds up and I was under the only sitty trees in a big acreage of OSR where they had been feeding. No need for a magnet today as the sillosocks were twisting and bobbing and the pigeons were coming in like driven partridge just off the ground. I got off to a good start knocking down a dozen in the first 20mins all of which I added to the pattern. The wind gusts increased and the sillo’s were doing a crazy dance which did not deter the pigeons in fact it definitely helped. I shot a few high birds coming over the trees which was fantastic sport. The decoying birds were coming in in tight groups of 10+ and on 2 occasions I shot 2 with one shot- pure fluke of course. By 1pm the wind was too strong and some of the sillo’s were pulled of there mental pins. The sky behind me turning very dark and the first hailstones began to fall- so I quickly pack up. 62 pigeons all shot with 27g superfasts through 1/2+ full choke.

Nice write up- thank you for posting. You can’t beat a decent wind at this time of year even if it is bitterly cold. Nice shooting nothing wrong with 17 at least you got out there and enjoyed some sport. Decoys look good 👍

Nice write up - an enjoyable read. Glad you had some good sport in the windy conditions.

Nice write up Sounds like a cracking day out in good shooting conditions. Its usually when I open my flask or my zip that pigeon appear rather than lunch.

Where are you getting the Bio Ammo from ?

Nice write up- sounds like an enjoyable sortie. As much I enjoy shooting over decoys, the shooting that you described is fantastic sport and can result in some memorable shots.

Having recced a field for a couple of day and a decent wind forecast I decided set up on a field of OSR for the first time this winter. I put a good number of birds off the field and a similar amount from the 5 beech trees where I was setting up. The wind was S/Westerly and was blowing leaves from the beeches towards my sillosock decoys and beyond. I didn’t have to wait long before the first one came in - more to the trees than the decoys and was dispatched. Then a group of 6 came in again to the trees- and I shot another, and set up the magnet. Pigeons were moving about but not showing a great interest in my set up - but I was getting some shooting. While I was out in the field retrieving a shot pigeon I spotted a flock of at least 100 pigeons flying against the wind towards me- a brisk walk back to the hide, I watched as they all dropped into the decoys. On this occasion I decided not to shoot but to quietly made my presence known rather than educate so many pigeons. After almost 3 hours of sporadic shooting and with rain beginning to fall I packed up with 11 pigeons- however I shot really badly and should have had 20. I have been using my sxs recently and went back to my O/U today, I had a thicker jumper on under my gilet or perhaps it was the 5 pints of Hertog Jan that I had from my PD machine last night. I didn’t disturb them too much so a return visit to this field with be sooner than later. Hitman

Spotting first pigeons on OSR locally this morning. It’s windless so they are sitting up high then dropping straight down to feed. It the wind picks up I might have a go later in the week.

Nice write up Muncher - thank you for posting. Good bag and it would seem that the magnet pulled a few off their chosen line. Nice to see the young dog getting a run out.

Stubble & Beechmast here- I have a couple of rape fields this year which historically have been very productive, however they are untouched so far.

Yes is the easy answer. I like no7 for decoying- they just pattern better, in my opinion. Not sure which make they are - however they will be fantastic over decoys, and with tight chokes they would be great for roosting high birds.

Do you think they are young pigeons travel south rather than migrating birds? In my part of north Northumberland I have not personally witnessed any large influx of pigeons during the winter months-I just thought they would prefer the warmer counties. I have in the past shot some smaller wood pigeons which perhaps have been foreigners.

Agreed With experience I became more selective about if and where I set up - and if it goes wrong on the day it’s a case of packing up and go looking for them. When I first began shooting independently I would set up where I thought pigeons would be or if I had seen half a dozen feeding in the corner of a field and in all weather. Had pigeon watch existed then- my bag reports would have been plentifully if rather short on shot birds. PW is and should be regarded as a useful source of information for the novice shooters who have experienced shooters only to happy to give advice.

Could be almonds or pine nuts from a bird table?

I try to post on Talk from the field as often as possible- and respond to others posts, although I must admit that I am not on the forum every day. It does seem to be the same members who regularly post reports of there pigeon bags which I really enjoy reading. I am fortunate that I have been shooting on the same farms for 30+ years and know which fields are most productive and where established flightlines are. I also have a game dealer willing to take pigeons- although it is over an hour driving to get there and back. I don’t know of anyone else who shoots locally and seldom hear shots when I am out. There is a shooting agent who was/is operating but the travel restrictions ( he had many continental guests) due to covid will have damaged his business. Pigeon shooting is my only hobby and I take regular detours to spot flightlines. My wife of nearly 30 years is great at spotting pigeons when I am driving- although she is yet to join me in the hide. The number of serious pigeon shooters is declining for a number of reasons already mentioned- perhaps it’s just the fieldcraft that is required to shoot regular bags even during the less productive months that is being lost. When was the last new pigeon shooting book published to arm new shooters with the advice about how to go about decoying pigeons.

Agree about the juvenile pigeons being easily pulled in by the magnet or static decoys for that matter . I took all the shot pigeons to the game dealer today and only one was what I would consider juvenile- so my shooting discipline worked. I could have doubled the bag, but I have no interest in shooting under size juvenile birds not long out of the nest - plus my game dealer won’t take them. My preference would be to leave them for another day.

Absolutely- I would have had to up sticks and move. I use a golf buggy battery which is not exactly light weight. The magnet seems to work best if I am in the generally not to far from where they want to be- however you soon know if it’s putting them off or they just have somewhere else in mind.

I am not sure of it’s choking but it’s fairly tight. It’s an old gun- possibly over 100 years. I just can’t swing it the way I can my O/U’s. It’s a fun to shoot, especially over decoys.

I did another recce yesterday and followed the flightline from my recent mixed bad report- and found a big stubble field pulling a good number of pigeons. I was in the car glassing the field at 10am - not much about but a cracking westerly was blowing and I was fairly confident of where the hide needed to be. I was set up by 10.30 tucked under a high hedge which was giving me protection from a cold wind. First group came across the field and headed to the top end of the field about 150 yards to my right, followed by more and more heading to the same place. So I was in the wrong place and had 2 options- move or rig up the magnet ( I had dead birds from my last outing) - being lazy I rigged up the magnet. The pigeons continued on the same line, but spotted the magnet changed direction and came sliding in. I was using my late father’s BSA sxs non ejector, what he called the pigeon leveller - I shoot better with my Browning O/U but just wanted to give it an outing. There was so many juvenile pigeons about that I had to really concentrate and pick out the birds with obvious white neck bars, which was possible as they were coming in low and almost head on. By 3pm the action was slowing down- and I was happy with a respectable 55. 2 images from today that everyone will recognise- First is that split second when you shoot a high pigeon dead with a plume of feathers 6 ft behind against a clear blue sky. Second is when a pigeon comes in low and you slowly raise to prepare to shoot- then through your eyebrows you spot 20 high birds with wings back 50 yards out- and you freeze in that crouched position letting them all come in.

Some shocking defending - Maguire looked so nervous and didn’t organise his defence. Klopp is a master tactician and set out his team perfectly. All a bit embarrassing really to have your most fierce rivals kick your backside in your own back yard. Ole just lacks managerial experience at this level - he might survive this one but if they lose away to Tottenham next week he could be on his way.

Yesterday with a couple of days to myself I went for a recce around my patch. After 2 hours of driving around and looking through binoculars I finally spotted a line of pigeons going to a drilling- and on closer inspection I realised a day might be possible. The wind today was nowhere near as strong as yesterday and although there were pigeons about they seemed to have found somewhere else to feed. I set up my 20 sillosocks and hoped for the best. First visitor was a carrion crow searching the hedges - who fell stone dead with a 27g superfast. I left him where he lay in the field and straight away he was catching the eye of other crows who cackled in for a closer look and paid the price. I don’t normally decoy crows, however with the absence of any pigeons I just kept shooting them as they came in . A trickle of pigeons began to leave a distance wood and a high line brought them over my position. I was desperate to get 2 for the magnet, and after about 10 shots I had 2 ( they were very high). The crows kept coming along with the occasional pigeon - who were really beginning to flock up. I left my hide to get under the pigeons flightline which was coming from a wood on the same farm and heading somewhere in the distance. Realising that they were just too high I went back to the hide for a cuppa- just as I was pouring from the flask I spotted a magpie looping over the pattern of crows- double shot and he was down. By 3.30 it was all quiet on what had been a glorious day to be out - if only the wind had blown harder. 13 crows 8 pigeons and a magpie- and an invitation from the farmer to roost shoot the wood on the perm which is home to heck of a lot of pigeons. Hitman