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kitchrat

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Everything posted by kitchrat

  1. I hope you are right, round here the cultivator is in the field at the same time as the combine.... The stubble won't be stubble in a week!
  2. So I have the only 3 fields of barley stubble (3 days old) for 20 miles around near my house, lots of pigeons about, nice woods to breed/rest in, but ZERO pigeons on the stubble. Stubbles don't seem to work like they used to. WHY? My guesses: a)Chaff cutters cover most lost grain (not the case in above fields, they are baled and carted) - pigeons can't/won't scratch the stuff off - hence, a badly cultivated stubble seems to work better. b), short straw crops don't have the laid crop that leads to lost grain c) combines lose less grain, they are better machines and the short straw doesn't choke them up - try looking for spilt grain.... d) the lack of laid crop allows the combine to cut higher. leaving longer stubble. Pigeons then can't land without getting a bit of stubble up their ********s! Just watch them, they prefer to land where the combine wheels have flattened the stubble. So, all in all, is it more attractive than "helicoptering" down into the wheel marks of standing wheat?? They can do that anywhere and the grain right now is softer for their chicks. Anyone got any thoughts?
  3. So I have the only 3 fields of barley stubble (3 days old) for 20 miles around near my house, lots of pigeons about, nice woods to breed/rest in, but ZERO pigeons on the stubble. Stubbles don't seem to work like they used to. WHY? My guesses: a)Chaff cutters cover most lost grain (not the case in above fields, they are baled and carted) - pigeons can't/won't scratch the stuff off - hence, a badly cultivated stubble seems to work better. b), short straw crops don't have the laid crop that leads to lost grain c) combines lose less grain, they are better machines and the short straw doesn't choke them up - try looking for spilt grain.... d) the lack of laid crop allows the combine to cut higher. leaving longer stubble. Pigeons then can't land without getting a bit of stubble up their ********s! Just watch them, they prefer to land where the combine wheels have flattened the stubble. So, all in all, is it more attractive than "helicoptering" down into the wheel marks of standing wheat?? They can do that anywhere and the grain right now is softer for their chicks. Anyone got any thoughts?
  4. Or, round here, the ********* farmer would have ploughed it up - no consideration that dead pigeons don't breed and don't come back later to eat his crops.... If you can keep the plough off the field....
  5. I wish I was shooting over laid corn!! These new short-straw crops don't get laid easily, I've been looking all day - nothing despite the storms. Pigeons are still feeding on wheat, they "helicopter" down into a wheel track and pull a stalk with them. Unfortunately, they can do this almost anywhere, you need to find a field they have got into the habit of visiting and get them there.
  6. They don't go under or through them when it's windy, otherwise no problem.
  7. I was once at a clay shoot, using some ammo with clear plastic cases. As I went to load I noticed that the cartridge only had 9 shot in it, AAA or BB or something. Should have been 9s. So anything could happen.....
  8. I agree, round here peas used to be the Holy Grail, but in recent years, a big yawn. Rape is King, but there are millions of acres of the stuff so the choice for the emeny is endless.....
  9. Good day, well done! As for your choice of load, when I have trouble getting them in close enough for a good shot ( round here they are "magnet shy", I think and tend to pull out at 40+yards) I use 32 gm of No5 shot. That knocks them down and they stay down!! 1/4 and 1/2 choke in my s/side so I have the choice. can even load no6 shot in the 1/4 choke for birds that do decoy well. Anyway, keep up the good work!!
  10. In my area (Essex), peas used to be the Holy Grail, but nowerdays it seems the pigeons can take it or leave it, mainly eating OSR with side dishes of tree buds, clover in paddocks and anything else where they are hard to shoot! Even pea stubble is a big yawn to them. Good luck!!
  11. Agreed, but why is it legal to shoot a rat or rabbit with lead where ducks etc will dabble up the pellets but you can't shoot a duck flying over a ploughed field or a wood with lead? Also, non-toxic stuff is harder to kill cleanly with, so more birds will die later from rusting steel shot in thier body. The law needs to be sensible before we can respect it.
  12. There's not enough flags, rope bangers or shooters round here. Rape is grown on almost every farm, in blocks of 500 acres at a time.
  13. It's like that here too, so many places for them to feed, you can't cover or flag them all. The enemy soon find somewhere safe and it's game over. There is NO pattern as to where they want to feed, all the gas guns and rockets keep them moving. So it's not your pattern. I have tried just getting the birds up off a field that's blue with them, then hiding back in the truck well away. Never saw another bird until I drove 2 miles up the road and there they were - did the same thing and they were off somewhere else. There are no flightlines, just "flock-strings" where a flock of 1000 birds just follow the 1st brave boy in. As soon as you disturb it they are off and try their luck someplace else. Wait for the flocks to break up and look for spring drillings, it should be a different ballgame. It's driving me nuts!!
  14. No skinny ones round here, much the opposite, except for the odd sick bird - either OD'd on rape or wounded?
  15. Yes, but they use HUNDREDS (literally) of decoys, with dozens of flappers, floaters, rotarys as well as amplified goose calls (no use for pigeons!) Oh, and you need a JCB to dig in with, deep trenches with pew-type seats and como covers. I tried it last year without all that stuff, just a dozen or so deeks and it was just like pigeons on rape in a big field but on a bigger scale, lying in the stubble covered with sacking. (no JCB about my person!!) The flocks are 1000's strong, the fields are 2 miles x 1/2 mile but the geese are not (quite) as educated as Essex pigeons. 3 of us got 13 geese in 4 days, after driving 1000 miles to get there. Still, a good experience.......
  16. I have another danger to announce. You know those little 7Ah batteries for a flapper? Well, it's JUST posible for the brass end of a cartridge to short the terminals out and THAT SETS IT OFF!!. I know 'cos it happened to me when driving home in my truck. I just emptied the catridges from my pocket into a box which had a battery in it. 20 mins later, 70mph in the middle lane of a 3-lane road - Flash, Bang, Wallop- lead rattled around inside the cab!!! Scared the life out of me but no harm done as the shot was not constrained after it left the hull. Now, if it had been in a pocket? ?? Take care!
  17. I think they get more cooperation from the farmers. Here, they cultivate the stubble ASAP, plough the game cover in etc etc, scare the birds and make them flighty with gas guns and rockets, then complain when they see a bird on their crops. A bird that has been scared eats just as much rape as it would if not scared (or more to fuel all that flying), one in the chiller eats ZERO!!
  18. That's a typical day round here I'm afraid, at this time of year. Too much rape to feed on, too many gas guns and rockets have made the birds move about until they find a peacful field with rape showing. It's not "flight lines" anymore but "flock-strings", a huge number of birds playing follow the leader. You can shoot the brave leader and scare the other 999. Then it's game over.
  19. The maize cover crops round here are so poor there is nothing in it for them to eat, no cobs at all. Average height 3 inches!! Really hurt the game shoots.
  20. Saw it! You would have to be Digweed to get a bird with that hide round here!! Stuck out in the field, silly Xmas hat on, STANDING UP!!?? No Essex bird would come nearer that 60 yards, and I'm struggling at that range!!
  21. They never got thin here. There's always berries etc and some rape somewhere they can find. Also, they were in such good condition before the cold spell that they never seemed to get really hungry. Roost shot some the other night and they were LOADED with rape they had found, others I tried to decoy over rape showing through (with little sucess) were empty-cropped but healthy. So shoot them!!
  22. I have another danger to announce. You know those little 7Ah batteries for a flapper? Well, it's JUST posible for the brass end of a cartridge to short the terminals out and THAT SETS IT OFF!!. I know 'cos it happened to me when driving home in my truck. I just emptied the catridges from my pocket into a box which had a battery in it. 20 mins later, 70mph in the middle lane of a 3-lane road - Flash, Bang, Wallop- lead rattled around inside the cab!!! Scared the life out of me but no harm done as the shot was not constrained after it left the hull. Now, if it had been in a pocket??? Take care!
  23. No good shooting the day after harvest here - you'll get ploughed in!! Sometimes the cultivator is in the field at the same time as the combine. What's happened to letting the birds build up so you can hit them hard?? Kitch
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