cumbria Bill

Anybody owt to say about "GOOGLE EARTH". Cumb Bill.

There are two dealers in Carlisle, "Fosters" at Kingmoor Park tel 07971111299 and "Bells" at Kingstown Ind Est tel 01228 542924. They are both currently paying 30p a bird. Cumbria Bill

I had a problem with fly blown pigeons last summer. I read an article in "Sporting Gun" which mentioned covering them in a net curtain. I then came up with the idea of using a 1 ply stealth net which i had ordered from SWH only to discover upon arrival that it wasn,t leaf cut. ( I was not told this at the time of ordering i had expected it coming leaf cut minus the black mesh hence 1 ply) Not very good as hide material. Those of you with stealth 2 ply nets will know that the outer camo has tiny perforations rather like a teabag. I folded it over and had a "tailor" stitch up the 2 longs sides which created a big bag. Laid on the ground beside the hide with the open end nearest the hide, It holds 70 or 80 pigeons 1 pigeon high because of its size so reducing a build up of heat and the tiny holes allow the bag to breath and are fly proof. Worked for me with all birds being acceptable for the gamedealer. I ordered a second net a short while later as backup from SWH the last one i was told presumably because it was no good as hide material, but it certainly keeps the flys off. Cumbria Bill.

So are rats but I'm sure you wouldn't afford them the same guilt twinges. What are you man or mouse! Get stuck into them. There's way too many and farmer will certainly thank you for getting the numbers down. There's no restrictions on when you can shoot them, they are designated a pest and can be shot all year round. If your hearts really not in it perhaps you should look for another job! I always shoot rooks when i am in a pigeon hide. I also shoot the young on the outside of the nests in early May with a .22 rifle. They are an agrigultural pest. However i once approached a farmer to shoot a rookery he turned me down stateing he also used to shoot them following the plough carrying a shotgun in the tractor. Upon shooting two one day he discovered there mouths where full of "wireworm". He hasn,t shot any since. So they don,t do all bad.

yes, I added more birds as i shot them. Due to my location on the feild ( on line of flight ) 6 decoys was enough to start with. The flapper was just to ensure it caught there eye. On the subject of flappers i always run one through a controlable timer and i set it with short times on and off. 3 flaps on 2 flaps off, or similar. I think that this is more likely to attract attention as the bird enters the feild. To finish off i shot the same feild 4 days later and ended the day with 42. On the days in between i had another 42 and an 87 on drilled barley. Its nice to have a good run i have had many days earlier in the year for 5 or 6 on the rape. Thats pigeon shooting. I,m off to shoot a rape feild today. A well hammered corner. Don,t forget the rape. Cumbria Bill

Shot a field of drilled peas Saturday 31 march on NPPC land. Started with 5 dead birds + 1 on a flapper. Packed in at 6 pm with 96.

Try cabelas.com from the "states" they do some very useful patterns. As well as your usual greens they have "mossy oak shadow grass" "dead duck" "max 4". During the winter and early spring the main background i am backed up against is hawthorn with long dead grass in the bottom, or hardwood trees.Apart from the odd ivy, holly, gorse, or conifer green camo is not needed in winter. Max 4 is excellent in winter. The experts tell us that light colours are best i am inclined to agree. The cream coloured stripes in max 4 break up the hide when veiwed from 50yds out. The bottle green scrim sticks out like a sore thumb. The nets from "cabelas" are 8ft x 20ft more than big enough and around 50 quid.

You say that the wing bar rods are the same length. Try measuring the distant between the pockets that the rods sit in. I spoke to "shootwarehouse" about this I was told that the pockets where sown on by hand and everyone was different lengths. Try shortening the bar of the one that flaps the least a little.

WANTED ****-IC Beretta Mobilchoke flush fit. I am prepared to swap a **-IM ( improved modify ) three quarter Mobilchoke. The flush fitting type.

Anyone know if these are on sale over here in the Uk yet and who has them for sale ? and how much they are ? Cheers Hesky Edgar-Brothers.co.uk are the UK distributers RRP £1634 Bywell Shooting Ground Felton Northumberland have a 105 cti in they want £1120 Sportsman Gun centre quoted me on the phone £1038. The biggest let down is the wood, it is not as nicely figured as the Remington 1100 ("SEMI FANCY" american walnut). But still a lot better than Beretta,s standard Urika. ( fence rail wood) Sorry for the delay in reply. Just spotted the article.

The steel rod is better going straight up the corrugation, it keeps the decoy at right angles to the rod allowing maximum movement. To prevent the rod going through, glue in a half inch peice of matchstick in 2 or 3 0f the holes directly under the ringneck. Simply drop some spots of glue into the holes and push them up with the rod. ( the household long matches in the big box are best as the are thicker in diameter and a good fit in the corrugation. Also do the same to a couple just behind the yellow beak and the same at the back in the front of the breast. Mounting some at the back, middle , and front makes them swing differently in a reasonable wind. Finally mark the side of the holes you have plugged with black marker pen.

Hiya Men. First goe at them this year today, been abroad since before Xmas . Picked up 27 not bad for January (oilseed rape) Very pleased considering the weather forecast this morning. Inspected the crops of some afternoon shot birds they contained acorns. So they ain,t out of the woods totally yet. Shooting again tomorrow on rape. cumbria Bill.