lakeside1000

Yes indeed, when sport is slow any chance of an extra bird is good, plus I love the stalking side of it, see how close you can get before they spook, they certainly move at a rate of knots once air born and give great sport 👍

Petrol will fetch bitumen off , then clean up after with some white spirit or similar, don't envy you the work, I just re-felted my workshop roof which was over 30 feet long by 10 feet wide, had to bitumen down all the edges and overlaps, then timber the edges , took me two days on my own and got covered in the black stuff, but at least the workshop is now bone dry, good for a few more years, 😁

Almost all traps will work as long as they are set correctly, it took me a while to gain the knowledge to catch the little blighters but once you have it they become fairly easy to control, might pay your friend to get some professional advice on how to use the traps correctly, don't forget to save the mole hills, they make good potting soil for plants and are also great for mixing with ground bait when fishing to get feed down to the bottom quicker, 😎

Very nice video, and some extremely good shooting, I wonder if it would be more productive with a shotgun and some decoys or are the crows too well educated, I have never shot over open land like the moorland farms so have nothing to compare it with, on the marshes of Norfolk we get a fair number of crows but they often come to decoys reasonably well. The sight of the poor lamb makes my stomach turn, I worked on a sheep farm in France for a while helping out through lambing but never saw anything like this, so keep up the good work,

Well done JDog, nice pictures as well , just proves its always worth a look around , you never know where that sweet spot might be waiting for the right man with his gun, Just like Marshman I spent a few hours on the peas Tuesday evening, but only managed 4 pigeons and 2 crows, very hot and frustrating as I could see a few in the distance but they were not coming to my end of the fields. The keeper phoned me with reports of around a hundred birds on there the day before but as usual they had moved on by the time I got there, As for sticking ones head above the net and spooking incomers , that's one of the reasons I like to shoot alone, I even go to the trouble of putting a roof on the hide in case I have birds coming from behind and seeing me before I see them. Plus I find I hit more if I can get them in close .👍😎

In the 70's my wife bought me my first springer pup from a local game keeper, she cost the princely sum of £35, in the 8 years I had her we bred her twice , all puppies were booked before birth , 9 in the first litter and 10 in the second, all were registered , had full health checks and inoculations, they went to both pet and shooting homes , many kept in touch with us after the pups grew up, we achieved the grand price of £50 each which covered the costs of vets, sire etc,. We never looked to make huge profits from the pups but enjoyed the experience of producing high quality pups , 'Domino' my springer worked for the whole 8 years but had to be rehomed after I had to move home and job and as a result lost my shooting, as she lived for the sport I found a game keeper friend who gave her a new home where she went on for several more years working at what she loved, I missed her more than I ever imagined I could, but my friend would send me photos and updates on her life and progress , I am now in my 70's and would love another pup as I am back into my shooting in a big way, but the cost of a pup is so far away from what I could afford on my pension I cannot even consider it, but every time I see a bird drop at long distance or disappear into thick under growth I curse that I have to 'go fetch' myself , but also the companionship a dog gives when out in the hide for several hours at a time. Lets hope the price of pups does indeed crash and stop these farms and breeders from producing pups for profit.

I keep trying to 'slim down' my kit but always end up shoving the whole lot in the car 'just in case'. If I have to walk (which is very rare these days) I have a converted fishing trolley with wheelbarrow wheels fitted so I can get as much gear as possible to the hide site. I obsess that if I don't have that one piece of equipment with me it will drastically affect the outcome , truth be told it probably makes no difference but on a slow day I look for any reason as to why the birds dont come, and like all sportsmen I always blame my equipment or lack of it, I think my head needs looking at

I would have to agree, I watch all Mr Crows pigeon and crow videos, and he was indeed shooting with another friend , they were just covering each other in case of a miss etc, and I believe Mr Crow would be the first to appreciate the humour in this moment, especially taken out of context like this,

Yesterday, despite the forecast of rain I just had to get out of the house, after being stuck indoors for the last week with all the rain and high winds, the sky was blue and the wind southerly and light, so I loaded the car and headed off to the rape fields. Conditions were perfect when I arrived, setting up under some trees with the wind at my back and a nice big bald patch of rape stretching 50 yards out into the field, Just 12 dead birds , the magnet and 2 bouncers were enough to get the first birds interested, 4 down with just 4 shots the day had started well, from 2.00 pm they came straight into the decoys and kept me busy for a couple of hours. I had taken the precaution of setting up the hide with my large fishing brolly as the main windbreak, something I was about to be very thankful for, the light began to go , the sky got darker by the minute, I checked behind me and there it was, a huge black storm cloud headed right at me, within seconds the sky around me lit up with an enormous flash of sheet lightening that struck the ground about 300 yards away, the wind picked up throwing my nets and brolly around, I pulled all the gear into a heap and reset the brolly above me just in time to hear the torrent of water sweep across the field and over my head, everything was soaked within seconds. I sat tight through the worst of it , watching pigeons fly into my pattern , land then take off again for the shelter of the trees, impossible to get a shot off as I was hanging on to my brolly and hide to avoid having to chase it all across the field, finally the wind dropped and the storm cloud moved off down the marsh leaving me a little bedraggled and somewhat damp. Another 20 minutes to reset the hide , dry off all the decoys, my gun and various other bits of gear, I decided as it was only 5.00 pm I would stay on for another hour just to add a few more to the bag, it turned into a beautiful evening, the sun came out again, the pigeons came back in small numbers , just enough to keep me busy and around 6.30 I finally called it as the damp had now gone right through 5 layers of clothing, my feet and legs were soaked and my boots weighed down with mud as I tried to clear up , the final tally was a decent 38 with one or two down but not found, no photos of the birds as everything was just too wet and muddy to bother but got one or two of the storm as it passed over. The 4 x 4 came into its own as I slithered my way back to the road, the rain had turned the surface of the lanes into a greasy skid patch but no problem for the very dependable Vitara, then it was home for a hot meal and attempt to dry and clean everything, the things we do for a few pigeons.

I have a nice cherry tree in the garden which is loaded with fruit every year, I have never had one to eat yet, if the pigeons dont get them the blackbirds will, also my wife has declared the garden as a 'No Shoot Zone',

My advice would be to walk your permission taking note of where they sit, droppings and feathers under trees, also where they feed usually easy to spot from the damage to plant tops , and bald patches particularly with crops like rape, watch the sky above your perm for pigeons moving from one area to another, they tend to have favoured routes we call flight lines, these will vary depending on wind direction and available food sources, Keep your expectations low to begin with until you can read the signs and develop an instinct to get under them, even then things will still go wrong, my good days will be 60 or 70 bird bags, but many outings will result in single figures but don't be too disappointed as these days will happen to almost all of us. Some important things to understand is the way the birds will approach decoy patterns or sitting trees , almost always head into wind , so set your decoys out on windy days with all heads into the wind, keep the pattern tidy, don't leave out any dead birds laying on their backs, try to make your hide blend into the back ground, and don't move when birds are approaching until they are well within range giving you the best chance to pick a target and get off a good well placed shot. Good luck.

I cannot believe the lengths the police go to to offend the general public , the people who pay their wages, from coffee on a park bench, persecuting presenters on you tube, taking the knee to extremist movements, plus many more disgusting occurrences, many filmed by bystanders in full view of the public, my wife and I are in our 70's but would defend ourselves and our home rather than rely on a police force that cannot be trusted and would probably not even turn up if you called them. If I ever get stopped or questioned by them I am in total fear of being arrested on trumped up charges with little hope of proving innocence, even when I am not actually doing anything wrong. As a lad growing up in Wiltshire we knew all the local 'bobbies' some by name , almost all would stop for a chat , even when we were hanging around in groups, they were friendly , helpful and always willing to give good advice without prejudice, I personally respected anyone in a uniform, both my parents were ex RAF and also taught us to respect authority, My boys both mistrusted the police , growing up in the 80's and 90's only seeing police in cars hunting the local area for a chance to bang a ticket on someone, now thankfully we never see any police , in cars or otherwise , My grandchildren would run a mile if approached by police and distrust all of them, regarding them as the enemy and something to be feared. in my opinion a very sad state to be in,

I have always tried to save money on things like decoys , nets etc, but since I got older and began to creak a lot, I had to buy a seat that was comfortable, adjustable legs to sit level on all terrains, adjustable height , swivels 360 degrees, a good strong backrest, and folds down to an easily portable size, I found the answer in my Bergara Quake industries 'stag'. all terrain seat. It was around £80 but after trying it for a few outings I got back in touch with them and bought another, I often have a friend or my son coming out with me and its handy to have a spare anyway, its now 2 years old, has never broken or caused any problems. I bought the first one on eBay but the second direct from the importer and saved another £5. The only thing I found was the seat cushion was a bit firm so I had the wife knock me up a small foam cushion to give me a bit more comfort as many of my sessions will last 5 to 6 hours with a lot of sitting waiting. They are still listed on eBay but have gone up a little in price , now £89 listing number 330846514737 and are actually being sold by Pigeon Watch.

If you are able, try the Witham at tattersall bridge ( but not till the 16th June sadly), 12 feet deep, slow moving and full of roach and bream plus some good pike, permanent peg 101 upstream of the bridge used to win most of the matches with a large bream holding place, if you like still water ( closed season ) the gravel pits all around tattersall are great sport, My nephew is a tractor driver on 10.000 acres of brassicas just outside Spalding,, pigeons all over it, I have had one day out there but we missed out on the big numbers but still a good day, no good for me as its 2 hours drive and I have plenty of perms on the doorstep, Good luck with the fishing.

Yes its Hellebores MANTONATUREGETTY IMAGES Hellebores, also known as Lenten roses, are super low-maintenance plants. Their quiet beauty is best noticed when viewing up close, or try snipping blooms to float in a bowl of water, as their pretty blooms grow downward-facing. Plant Type: Perennial

Spot on my friend, I bought him a motor cycle to renovate and then I couldn't get him out of my shed 😏

I can only hope the birds will re-establish quickly and successfully , I couldn't believe someone would destroy such an important nest site, I hope they catch those responsible and give them what for. They would be better off helping to control the carrion crows killing lambs, and attacking helpless ewes that are lambing. There are a lot more predators taking pheasant and partridge chicks than a few raptors and as far as I am aware the Osprey normally prefers a bit of fish, madness

The peas are through already despite the fields being rock hard, but today we had the first day of showers, no sign of the deluge and gales predicted but lots of gentle drizzle, more forecast for every day this week right up to Sunday with winds increasing so not great for the shooting, but looking good for any new crops coming through,

My crow decoys came with these slots for the leg sections but never seen pigeons with them, I just use the standard full body decoy with a hook ,they have a round peg fitted that plugs into the ground peg fitting on the decoy. sometimes a bit wobbly but they do the job ok

I do all my photo resizing in windows 10, just right click on the photo, select resize, change photo size to pixels, reduce by a substantial amount and click save, it will replace the original photo in your file and it should be small enough now to upload to any online platform, easy 😁

The battery pack was 254781685214, the vest / waistcoat was 174523009670 but I dont think this one is available any more, if you search 'heated vest' you will get plenty of options, 👍

The waistcoat was listed on eBay, my wife bought it as a birthday gift for me, its obviously Chinese but great quality , it was £67 and that was without the battery pack which was an extra £17, again from the bay. there are cheaper ones but this one is very good quality and the electronics work well, there are 3 separate heated panels, shoulders, lower back and stomach, each one is controlled individually by a switch with 3 different heat settings ,from fully charged the battery lasts about 3 to 5 hours depending on the heat settings used , I just use the shoulder panel on full heat, its still hot after 5 hours, so very nice thankyou, The battery pack has two USB outlets so I can charge the phone at the same time, very useful 😁

Lunchtime today, the wife stuck her head outside then quickly retreated back into the house, we were supposed to be going out socialising but the bitter east wind made the air temperature about 3 or 4 degrees, " I'm not going out ,its too cold " she informed me, you may as well go out after the pigeons, "really, do I have to", as I reached for the gun and cartridge bag. I don't need telling twice , that's for sure, so a quick lunch, packed the car and filled the flask and I was off. I have been watching a decent bunch of pigeons building up on some very damaged rape , 4 large fields with some huge bald patches, but very limited areas possible to shoot due to neighbouring property , after a look around I found a small hawthorn bush in the corner of two fields with good sized bald patches in both, separated by a large ditch but with a crossing point just 10 yards away, ideal for two separate patterns and a good spot under the bush for a hide. with my back to the wind. It was just 2.00 when I got started, I only had 8 dead birds and 3 full bodied plastics, so I set the flapper and 4 birds in one field about 30 yards out downwind, hung the 3 plastics in the bush on branch hooks (just above my head) and the other 3 dead ones out in the other field again around 30 to 35 yards downwind, I cut back the bush on one side to allow me to get right in under the branches and set the nets up to mimic an extension to the bush , Parked the car 100 yards down the lane and legged it back just in time to catch the first customers arriving, 2 down for 3 shots , a quick reload and another one down within a couple of minutes, I grabbed some cradles and set the 3 out with the other 3 to even up the patterns, just back in the hide and in they came, I dropped another 8 in less than 10 minutes which all joined the patterns , from then on they came , mainly in small numbers which is how I like them , I was shooting well, better than my norm , still missed a few and had to double tap several but they just kept coming, all added to the patterns , after 4.00 it went quiet for an hour and a half with just an odd bird including some unlucky crows passing overhead on route somewhere else, but after 5.30 ish, it picked up again and they kept coming until I packed up The plastics were about 2 to 3 feet above my head, but during the afternoon I had 3 birds attempt to land in the bush , two bolted in the wrong direction as soon as they realised I was there but one made the error of flying out over the decoys , giving it 30 yards and dropping it with an up the backside shot . most of the birds decoyed in perfectly passing either to my left or right and making some great passing shot practice. very few high birds as they were staying low to avoid the cold easterly wind, most coming in just inches above the rape, but with the odd high bird for those satisfying over the head birds that send a puff of feathers out on the wind before crumpling and dropping . By 7.00 the sun was going down and the air temperature was dropping, I switched on my brand new heated waistcoat with just the back panel on full heat, brought the car up and cleared away, a few birds were out in the rape and took some finding , but most had fallen in the clear patches so easy to locate and gather in. The final tally was 38 woodies, 4 carrion crows and 3 jackdaws, possibly another 3 or 4 pigeons out in the rape but I left them as I don't like walking through standing crop, so something for the local foxes to enjoy. Many time through the afternoon I saw large groups of pigeons way out in the distance just circling and dropping into the rape , but as is usual on these large areas many never came in my direction , but a very satisfying session with a total bag of 45 picked, that'll do for me,

Too many of these going on, I get at least one a week on email , text and phone calls, why do people think someone is going to give them something for nothing, in my experience it never happens, don't even think about it, just hit delete , if I don't recognise a number on my phone I just don't answer it, if its important they will ring back.