kitchrat

Correct!!

Thanks JD! As long as my right thumb can get the safety off.....

Fair enough!!

As you may (or more likely not) know, I have been laid up for a few weeks following a total hip replacement. During this time, as I laid in bed watching endless TV progammes about antiques, this pair of pigeons have taunted me, as they have the past 2 or 3 years. They sit on the same branch outside my window, wake me at 1st light cooing, cuddle up, groom each other's head and neck and make more pigeons. They go off to pillage the local rape, back to cuddle for a lunch break, back to the fields, then an evening cuddle and off into the cupressus trees to roost. In spite of myself I have grown fond of them, I took the photo only last night. BUT, today, only 1 bird!! He (or she), sat on the branch nearly all day, waiting and waiting, cooing for the partner. Now I have seen a pile of feathers in next door's garden.... Cat or sparrowhawk??? I'm gutted!! Am I going soft?? On another note, now I'm quite mobile on 1 stick, I can get down the road to see what is happening in my local rape field. There are a few dozen birds still on it, using the sitty trees then dropping into the wheel marks or areas where the crop is short. Those in the crop are well hidden in there, you have to watch for ages (I've got all day!!) Yesterday, as I came round the corner, a couple of birds in the trees took off, glided away from me over towards the feeding birds and did the warning CLAP CLAP of wings over them. All 30ish came out of the crop and away. The warning claps were done, maybe 80-100 yards from the trees, (120 yds from me) they didn't come out of the trees in a panic, I THINK THEY WENT OVER THERE TO WARN THEIR MATES!! I know you think I'm mad when I talk about scouts etc, but his didn't look like a coincidence to me. I saw it!! PS It's not April 1st!!

There are differences of opinion here! Get out as little as possible but I always clear up a wounded bird and put the upside-down birds right fairly often. Some people say it doesn't matter but I find it does. Flaring away is a good sign that something needs to be done. It also helps to keep the landing (killing) zone free of bodies. What usually happens is that you wait 25 minutes in silence, then go out to clean up and 10 birds come right into the pattern I expect they sit in the trees and wait eh Motty??!! Ho Ho (JOKE)

Wow, brilliant!!

Depends on how well they will decoy. If they want to commit suicide, OK you should get 80%. But if they are smart/wary/not committed and pull away at 60 yards then 31/75 is brilliant!!

That's pigeon shooting!

What about fishing?? Part of sporting rights??? I dunno, just an idea.

Same schoolboy error!!!!!

WOW!! Another different world I know nothing about. I'm usually squeezed into a rabbit hole by comparison, makes shooting difficult but it's the only way I can get ANY shooting. All the other guys round here who like more comfortable hides have blanked time and again.

Weird isn't it. Up my end of Essex, if they can see anything unusual, it's like the parting of the Red Sea, give it a wide berth, then rejoin. Maybe they are over shot?

Great report, good result! I still say my Essexi brds wouldn't go near your hide but clearly quite a few did for you. Well done!!

Excellent, good clean kill. This time the dogs are lucky, next time you will dine like a king!! Well done!

Too right, but it must get boring just nailing pigeons all the time. At least I get the "thrill of the chase"!!

Brilliant set-up!!

I know about the aged bones (just going through a hip replacement) but if there's 50 cartridges (only 50??) in the car and pigeons to be shot, drag yourself there and back!! It's so hard to get the shooting working that you can't waste the chance!!

Yes!

What went wrong then?? You had loads of starving hungry birds, don't need much cover, just chuck out a few deeks and away we go. Or am I getting too cynical?? I struggled too, big time, but I have loads of excuses!!!!

My guess is that they will have cleaned up by now...

Yes, it CAN happen, (once to me in a lifetime)

There must be a pocket in Norfolk where the birds are inbred, numerous, greedy and stupid. Too easy for me, I'll stick with trying outwit my Essex Birds!

Rotten luck. But how do you get the farmers to ring (even if it's duff info) Mine just complain when I wasn't there 2 weeks ago!

Addition to the above - Geography. I don't know where Motty lives but I'm led to believe that much of Norfolk is featureless "desert", with huge fields. Round here we have a heavy clay soil and the undulating fields, which could be down to 30- 40 acres are often bounded by deep ditches (which have stopped the fields being amalgamated.) The ditches are puntcuated with big (mainly) oak and ash trees, which provide an over abundance of sitty trees. These are in addition to roosting woods, cover copses etc. So MY birds have loads of places to sit and rest and watch what goes on. From here they can get a good picture of what is going on several miles away, by watching what other birds further down the line do. This may not be possible in Motty-Land, so they may have to dive straight in.

Exactly, the gas gun CAN be your friend! Better than flags, imaging how good 4 or 5 would be on an 800-acre block of rape in the winter!