kitchrat

Same here, just sit in the trees for hours, then drop for a mass feed.

Result!

Funny how things change in a few weeks, not long ago you posted: Now I can hardly buy a pigeon!

That's OK,then, carry on! Cheers, and all the breast!

I think very stubborn describes me better, I don't like to be beaten by birds with a brain the size of a pea. Anyway, what else does life hold now?

As long as it's only my legs!!

Yes, I must be bonkers! Still, I did get 25 odd.. ???????

Now he's dangerous!

Glad somebody gets the joke!

At least you get no BS from Kitchrat! OK, luck then...

Rick Onissance and I have watched this field for a while and always seen pigeons there, so I sorted out to go there today. Yesterday was a beating day, I usually take Rick and check on a few things on the way out but yesterday was so bad (wind and rain) that I left him at home. Mistake No 1!. So it was a nasty surprise to find today at 7.45am that the normal, best end of the field with the fine bunker in the field (best except for the 500-yards carry!) was under water, with most for the rest waterlogged. A few groups of birds were going right on by, towards the smaller, 2nd field, better drained but frequented by (trespassing) dog-walkers. There is usually a decent number of birds come from that direction so I headed over. Mistake No 2. Only 400 yards carry, downhill and still frozen, so not too bad. Found a nice ditch, only 3 inches of water, wind on back, sun on back and I can monitor the big field behind. Very few birds turned up so I keep looking behind (cue pigeon!) and suddenly up the far end there are loads of blue lights and police/fire/ambulance. A dog walker tells me the road is a sheet of ice and closed off both ends. So here I am, inside a police cordon, with a gun and several 100 rounds of ammo. I keep my head down! Lucky I'm not up that end, I wouldn't dare to fire a shot. The police action all calms down in a couple of hours but pigeons start to drop in up the top far end of the big field, next to a very busy (now open) road. Shots don't shift them. I pack all my stuff up and head about 150 yards towards the truck, them dump most if it and take the bare minimum, (mistake No 3??) only another 250yards downhill to a 2nd bunker, on the edge of the field but providing some sort of cover. I take just the magnet, a few plastic shells, an ammo belt plus a pocket of ammo. When I get there it's a nightmare, waterlogged field. (see picture, NB most of the green "crop" is not rape but charlock , funny how the pigeons don't seem to like it.) Not much cover but by kneeling beside the bunker I can keep reasonably out of sight. Trouble is, it's sun full on face and I can't see incomers until there are there, and then they can see me. They have not read the manual about coming upwind and whizz downwind and swirl about . However, I would rather have some difficult shooting than no "easy" shooting, so persist. I try standing behind the bunker, I can see incomers but lose sight of them until they have swirled. To add to my troubles, they are well flocked up and arrive in dozens, if not more. I hate scaring loads at once, my normal plan is to let most of them pass, as they don't usually decoy anyway, then see if any greedy ones turn back and get shot when the main group is not too near. The lead birds of this lot, however, dive straight in and swirl about, which confuses me no end. I have to shoot at them and with the swirling and the sun, sometimes get a "Left and Right" and some times a double miss. (hate it!). I start to get low on ammo, so drag myself up the field to my dump and bring back a couple of boxes. I build a bit of a hide from stuff that has come down the river, move the magnet down a little bit and think "The sun will soon be going round and out of play". (Mistake No 4?) At this point, of course, the supply of birds dwindles to a trickle. The sun has not yet moved far enough. I get a couple more shots then decide to quit. I pick up another 22, with a couple lost in the river. By now, the frost is coming out of the ground so it's a nightmare, uphill slog, glue on top, ice underneath. How I didn't have a heart attack, I'll never know! Maybe my dirt-bike career saved me. Try again tomorrow Kitchrat! Cheers!!

Can't go OVER the crops though!

This is what I need, straight over the crops to the hide location, back with the fallen, no problem!!

Sadly, I don't do Xmas.Please use this to buy yourself a drink - Cheers!! NB I am beating tomorrow then doing the 500-yard slog again on Tuesday, wish me luck!! Cheers and Happy New Year.

Exactly!