kitchrat

Don't know yet, one's crop felt lumpy so I would guess at berries.

Yes, good point, but they won't eat any rape tomorrow or the day after or the day after or the day after ..... Roost shooting was very challenging in the wind but no rain. A bit quiet but I managed 8. Did actually see more red kites than 8!

No prizes for guessing what these had been eating, (although some were also full of hawthorn berries). Made it almost impossible to de-breast them without cutting into the crop and having acres of rape leaf explode all over the place. (The picture has gone upside down again, but the message is clear, I hope!) Trying a different wood this afternoon, not expecting much as there is no rape handy nearby and I usually see as many red kites as I do pigeons. Cheers,

Yes, by "tradition" roosting round here is every Saturday in February, after the game season. (6 Nations rugby has messed that up - I say that is why Sony made VCRs!) This particular farm has no shoot and is keen to get the pigeons off his land at any opportunity. Happy to oblige!

Yes, I had a little go, challenging stuff in a very tall wood - 40 acres so I'm usually in the wrong place (and I'm a bit slow and wooden really) but interrupted for a while by a downpour at prime pigeon bed time. Managed 10, which I'm happy enough with. Cheers, Drowned-rat

A hard day's beating, a day of rest and now high winds and rain have led to a ceasefire this weekend. I hope for a brief bit of excitement in the woods this evening. Next. when cleaning my gun, I found the foresight had gone. That explains how I missed the odd sitter? Finally, Does this sort of excitement happen at any of the game shoots you go to? Happily, none of mine!

Hmmmm, getting a bit complicated for a simple Kitchrat..

Ha Ha, no beer for Rick tonight! I think the dip in the field was a bit more sheltered, but real birds are always best, of course. You will notice the wind dropped before my roost shoot, so they were high above tall trees but I guessed right a few times and got lucky. Shot 5, which improves the day's bag!! Sort of a cross between a static flapper and a floater? Could be good, cheers

Nothing wrong with being hopeful! If you don't want me to report honestly when it doesn't work, please tell me, just don't put me down as being negative. We all have days when it don't happen. I have a couple of flappers but have never got good results from them. More often or not the flapper has kicked in as a bird is coming in and spooks it. Or do you leave it running full time? You could be right about the men in white coats!!

But they couldn't come until next week! I asked the Met office for some wind to clear yesterday's murk and drizzle, they sent gale force winds! I was going back to the block of rape that I got 70+ off, 10 days ago. Rick said they were back, so did the farmer. Very windy so I get into a nasty little ditch where I only need a little screen of a hide, back to a big willow tree to keep the wind off and to give me a great back stop. Magnet and decoys out. A few pigeons show up and try to get near my pattern but seem unable to handle the wind - they don't try very hard. One tries to land in an adjacent sitty tree, really struggles but 32 gms of No 6 shot make it irrelevant. A few manage to land in a dip in the field behind me, this soon becomes a good sized flock. About this time I figure out that a magnet in this wind is not realistic, no pigeon would turn downwind as it lands. So I get up, walk the flock off and go back to the truck for a floater. I make one arm of the magnet into a floater, the other bird on the real one. Soon, the flock come back for a look but are not impressed. I manage to down a high bird. Then, NOTHING HAPPENS, except the wind gets stronger. My hide suffers, the decoys get blown away, my hat gets blown off and the willow tree starts to sway. I start to think it may not be a good idea to have my back to a tree. I don't see a pigeon for an hour so I pack up and move on to Plan B. This is to go roost shooting in the wind tonight. I know this is not normal practise in December but the farmer wants action, so action he will get. We never get enough help in February anyway, shooters don't have the spine to sit out evenings when it doesn't work and they don't show up. Cheers!

And I've failed in some fantastic places in Canada!

Yes, I've been retired for 17 years believe it or not. Initially I spent a lot of time being a playboy in Canada, dirt biking, skiing, snowmobiling, ATV riding, goose hunting etc etc. As I've got older, the things I could do at the level I wanted to, have disappeared, so I came back to the UK the get old and die! (not yet). I don't know what the future holds but I;m sure it isn't good, so I'm doing what I still can, whilst I still can!! Hopefully, entertaining you chaps is one thing I can still do!! Cheers, JK

I've had my moments this year! Actually, I am finding I get the most enjoyment not from the mega days but those with a decent supply, not lining up to get shot but fairly regular. The anticipation is far greater that way, seeing something near, will it, won't it, yes, no etc.

That's not the Rick I know. He spends ages sitting in the truck with the binoculars glued to his face, says he's watching pigeons flying about. He does have a nice pair of planks which he bashed together to spook birds from far and wide so he can see where there were hiding or feeding. So he's quite smart but not very good company or very talkative. Drinks too much!

Good thinking, I'll suggest it to him!

Don't be depressed, I'm not. Tomorrow will be different. (Or Sunday, or next week....)

This is what happens when you get 1 (or more) of the vital pieces of the jigsaw wrong- I needed to shoot this field again, lots of birds use it and they usually decoy quite well. Had 150 when it was stubble and about 45 off the rape 13 days ago. My mate Rick Conissance told me they were using the field straight after that, so on Sunday, Rick and I stopped by on the way to a family thing and pigeons were pouring onto the field. Yesterday, I was beating, so, on the way I took Rick over to check again. About 8.45. Sat there for 10 minutes, only 1 pigeon showed up but he swung round on the wind and dropped straight in, just over the brow of the hill. Change of viewpoint and the hidden part of the field was covered with pigeons. Decide to hit them today. Rick says they are up early, so I leave the house at 7.00, sun just rising in the East. Weather forecast says cloudy, may be sunny breaks, may be a spot of drizzle. Last time they said that I needed sun glasses! Arrive before 7.30, still dark, drag all my gear over 500 yards to a WWII bunker in the middle. (A gas gun at either end of the field has concentrated pigeons just where I want them.) It's a long carry but downhill (don't think about the uphill return with all the dead). Last time I was here a skein of Canadas flew right over during set-up, this time I am determined to load up with bismuth on arrival, just in case. Reach for the bismuth, DAMM left them in the truck, WITH THE GUN!!) Try to run back uphill, have to settle for a quick walk, get the stuff, come back, no geese to be seen. Still setting up and a few groups of pigeons fly over, high and never look down. The weather opts for the drizzle choice. Long pause. A little group arrive, have a look from a height and carry on. Another little group look by, 1 greedy one thinks about having a closer look but decides to stay with his mates and pulls out. I have a very speculative shot at him and get a few feathers. And then...... NOTHING HAPPENS! I do not want to blank! I am like a gambling addict, thinking a jackpot will happen soon. WRONG! The drizzle stops and a tiny number start to move but are totally unimpressed with my magnet and decoys, if they can see them in the murk. Even Nobby No Mates pulls out about 500 yards away. An occasional group will turn up and either have a look from a safe height before saying "thanks but no thanks", no panic or flaring away just "thanks but no thanks", or else they look from a safe height, fold winds and dive bomb through the pattern before saying "thanks but no thanks". Whilst these bombers get very close, they are generally swirling way too fast for me to get a bead on them, let alone pull the trigger. Anyway, after nearly 4 hours I have 3 birds down, call it a day and slink off the field (at least no number of birds to carry) and get ready to do it all again tomorrow, elsewhere. I hope you enjoy this narrative more than I enjoyed my morning! Cheers!

Ha Ha but it's not me, it's Rick Onissance that finds the pigeons. All I have to do is fund it, carry it and shoot it! Lots here, not many cats..... 2+2=4?? Unusually good numbers of pigeons round here, quite a lot of rape, which may account for it as many farmers elsewhere seem to be giving up on it. Flea beetle, pigeon damage and poor price to blame.

Nice to be appreciated but you have also helped me with getting the fallen off the field of play, keeping them off the other field today and taking the dead to fill your freezer, thereby saving me a lot of driving for nothing except knowing they are going into the food chain. You can come again! Cheers, JK

I am eating some, giving away some (my new Pigeon Watch buddy has helped a lot here!) and I sell some to a game dealer. It's a 25-mile drive (ish) and I get 20p. So, I need about 50 to cover fuel costs.

As you may know (If you've been paying attention) this is the 1st summer I have not spent in Canada and the stubble shooting made me feel I had died and gone to heaven. Drive to the hide, lots of pigeons about. Prior to this year, it was only chasing them on winter rape for me, which you have to do to keep the permissions. Today, my Pigeon Forum pal and I had a decent day, (well I did!) and we picked up 45 again, farmer happy! Don't know why this year it's working better, no complaints! Cheers!

I'm Braintree/Dunmow area. This year does seem to be an exception. They all seem to have arrived on the autumn drillings and stayed on. Of course, it's early yet, they don't usually start on OSR before Xmas time (ish).

Yes, I'm very pleasantly surprised! Usually, in the winter, I struggle to get into double figures but this year there seem to be more about and they also seem to come back better. I'm used to one or two shots at a big flock, then all gone except the odd "Nobby-No-Mates". Long may it last!! Cheers all!

Promised to hit these pigeons today. Five fields, approx. 100 acres total, in a sort of E-W line. Strong wind from the NNE forecast, overcast, 30% chance of rain. The middle field has a hedge (a bit leaf free) which will give me some cover from the wind/rain and I can "control" the other fields. Use warm jacket! "Supply woods" away to the SE and SW, so they should come straight up to me, wind on my back. Hide stands out a bit from the bare hedge but that's life. Loads of birds there when we did the farm shoot. Arrived at 7.30, just as it's getting light. To my horror, large numbers already "flock-stringing" into the Western field. Set up ASAP, magnet, 5 full bodies and a few shells. Put up a shot and for a few minutes, the sky is full of birds, having a look from a distance and then heading off, to the N. I have a few speculative shots and get 2 for more decoys. This could have been a mistake as it must have scared loads. It quietens down but odds and **** are coming in, but not decoying well. Then, DISASTER! The sun comes out, full time, straight into my face. Sun glasses in other jacket, head to truck but other jacket is in my garage drying out! Hide stands out more in the sun, so do I when raising the gun. At this point I think of Pinball Wizard, cos I'm shooting blind. (Cue puns!) I move the magnet 30 yards to my right, incomers now, when they don't like it, can pull out to my right, in which case they are in trouble, or to my left, in which case I am in trouble with the sun. Pigeons approaching low because of the wind are hard to see because the tall trees across the field hide them in shade, as they pull up, the sun blinds me. Many a bird is missed. I build up a pattern and the decoying gets better but the sun moves round to my right and it's full glare again. Move the magnet to 30 yards to my left and plug away. At last the weather becomes part sunny/part cloudy. Fragments of the big flock return, from behind, swooping in and away on the strong wind. Some greedy ones decoy. It seems to me that most birds arrive when it's sunny and I'm struggling. This could be because the decoys show better in the sun, it could be my imagination or it could be that I just don't see them arrive and leave in the gloomy shade?? Your choice! Anyway, the happy ending is that I picked up over 70 birds, with some lost in an impenetrable copse over my right shoulder, where quite a few fell. I got 8 out of the less dense bits. Tomorrow will be a day of cease fire, I will go out with Rick Onissance, via Essex Gun at Fennes Shooting Ground to re-arm! Wednesday will be a 2-gun defence of 155 acres of osr. Cheers!

Good stuff! For a change, I was a Gun on a small friendly shoot where the farmer had gifted me a day for shooting all his pigeons. To say it was challenging would be an understatement! Standing out there, gale force wind on face with heavy rain, feet glued to the field with contact glue Essex clay. Pheasants coming down wind at Mach 2. Missed a few but also hit a few. In spite of the weather a good time was had by all. Saw a big flock of pigeons on his rape, so going to hit them on Monday, when I've dried out! I have a feeling they will just go elsewhere but that's winter rape shooting for you!