kitchrat

Cat, I think it's too many rockets making them spooky and never allowing them to settle. And Yes, I think they do sit in the trees in the morning as the birds I do manage to get later in the day always have empty crops. There is no such thing as "conventional wisdom" any more, all rules are out of the window!! Kitch

Once again Cat, I admire your wisdom and dedication!However, on the farm I have real problems with, (2000+ birds,8 fields, 500 acres rape), there are NO BIRDS there in the morning at all!! (Well a dozen or 2) They start to arrive about noon. Which field they decide to hit has NO relation to which field they were in yesterday. Magnets are a NO ENTRY sign to them. The farmer should dump his gas guns and rockets and buy magnets!! Although I too am Hertfordshire-based my shooting is in Essex, it's amazing how pigeon behavoir can change so much in a few miles. Yet, only 10 miles away, on another permission, the shooting is just as you describe, arriving at 1st light is too late. On Fieldsports TV, I see films of hides set mid-field, big enough for 2 guys to stand up in, head and shoulders visible, and they seem to get 100's of shots. You could die of boredom trying that in Essex!! As to getting my mates to cover other fields for me, I'd need a lot of friends for one thing but I'd also lose all my permissions. Rope bangers or gas guns don't move these birds more than 50 yards. That's part of the problem, the pigeons are never allowed to get to favour any 1 field and are used to being mobile until they find peace. I spend ALL my time looking for/watching/shooting pigeons and I'm not winning!! Essex Birds!! It just keeps getting harder!!

The age-old problem! I have it just the same, but with 2000+ birds and only 500 acres of rape (8 fields in a block). You turn up and they are flooding onto field 1, so we set up 2 hides on that field. Thereafter, the birds will only feed on fields 2-8, however many times I walk them off. They won't even overfly field 1!! Yes we are well hidden!! I know birds are getting magnet aware but I fear this lot are flapper and decoy aware too. All the gas guns and rockets the farmers use just make them more mobile and happy to find a field they can see birds landing on and feeding in. They never get to build the habit of feeding in any particular place. I think that if I had 3 guns on each field, they would simply move onto the next nearest 500-acre block.So don't beat yourself up!! Wait for the late drillings....

Thanks for this Cat. As you say, what is wrong?? The hide is tiny, well hidden (I can't find my way back!!) One 1 magnet, 1 flapper, about 12 flocked shells. Yesterday's dead birds in cradles. Good landing zone. Banger ropes and flags IF allowed by gamekeepers - usually not allowed anywhere near game cover. Killed birds added on cocktail sticks to keep the head up. I know I can't cover all the other fields, there's loads of rape for them to choose. It's just the way their reaction changes that gets me. Initially they are STRAIGHT in, soon they start pulling out at 40-50 yds, then they become TOTALLY indifferent to my setup. I've tried pulling the plastics in, changing layout, but all to no avail 10-15 is all I am able to get. Are they using Facebook??!!! Now what?? John

Yes Cat, there's plenty about, it's getting them in the bag I'm struggling with. Good fields, lots of birds have been there for days, nice wind, invisible hide. I get set up and the first few groups come straight in, Left & Rights, magic, "here we go". Then the next few groups head straight in but at 40-50 yards they just drift out, not spooked but not happy. No more L&R's, just tricky long shots for a while. Nothing has changed. Then, COMPLETE INDIFFERENCE, no more shooting. I usually end up with about a dozen from really promising fields. Swapping the pattern about doesn't help, it was perfect to start.......Are you finding it any better?? PS I LOVE your Cat image.

You can't buy the kit anymore, but a gunsmith can do it OK. Cost me £70.

No they just turned up "to check my security". To be fair this was a long time ago and since then, nothing but good service.

But how could I get it on my new ticket?? Sure it's a different scenario but just another way they can catch you out through no fault of your own.

Where are you? Sometimes one part of the country is devoid of birds (like here last year), sometimes it's better. BUT it aint easy anytime!! 100 bird days are rare, that's why people post them. I had 50 on Moday and was well pleased!! 700 acres is OK IF you have the right crops, in the right area, in the right weather etc etc etc. My group has 12000 acres, most of the time most of this is useless!! So, keep at it, 34 is good!!

Try this one then... My old license was due to expire so I applied in good time and the new one arrived promptly. All well and good, BUT I decide to buy another gun, dealer has to stamp the old (but still valid) cert as the new one is not yet valid. All well and good, BUT I decide to take the new gun abroad. Try explaining to Customs that the gun is not on your new (now valid) cert but on the old (now invalid) cert. ( I did show them both) I missed my flight because of the Jobsworth who insisted that I should have had the new cert "Updated" by the police. Of course there is no way you can do that and if there were, sending it off to them would put you in a difficult position too......

Same thing happened to me a couple of renewals ago. Then they asked to come and check my security, saw I had guns so they cautioned me and confiscated the guns. Three weeks (?) later I was told there was no case to answer and I could reclaim them. So watch out, it's a real risk, lodge your guns with a local gun dealer until the new license arrives. Good luck!!

I'm out decoying a "busy" field on Monday but they are very wary and don't really want to know and it became very quiet. Then it started to rain, the decoys were soaked with water droplets all over them. Traditional wisdom says that's no good but it changed my day and I ended with 50 in the last couple of hours. So, don't give up if the weather changes! Traditional wisdom also says "They've got to eat every day", but that's rubbish too, they are so fat these days that they can sit it out and wait for better weather. The game is ever changing.......

Makes a change, last year you couldn't buy a pigeon over here (Herts/Essex). We never had an invite to the Midlands then..........

I think I've worked it out now!! (and I CAN do Smileys!!)

Sounds good to me, but what is this PM thing?? I'm an old 59 years and not up to modern jargon!! ???

It's OK for you guys, round here the farmers seem obsessed with getting the stubbles ploughed up, often whilst the combine is still in the field. Plus, what stubble there is, doesn't seem popular with the birds, is all the food covered by material from the chaff-chutters?? You are so lucky.......

I think this gets complicated! If the field is very well ploughed, the seed will be covered and you are snookered. However, I have found that poorly ploughed or just cultivated fields are BETTER than pure stubble. I THINK this is because the chaff cutters on the combines tend to cover lost seed with a layer of chaff, and pigeons cannot scratch (don't ask me why not!). So a light cultivation actually uncovers more seed for them. Of couse, a few weeks of wind and rain and some seed germination makes for a good combination on a stubble, as well as letting the birds "find" and become accustomed to using that field. However, in my area , Essex/Herts border, the farmers are obsessed with getting the ground cultivated ASAP, again don't ask me why, they then do nothing for weeks. So, hope your ground isn't well ploughed but poorly cultivated....... JK

You LUCKY, LUCKY B*******d to quote The Life of Brian (Monty Python) Quite the reverse in NW Herts Kitchrat

I agree with Cat, numbers in my area, NW Herts, seem to have fallen overall in the last few years. This early winter, they were almost non-existant, which I put down to the lack of cold weather on the continent. When Europe did finally get cold birds did arrive, but I was abroad by then. (Damm) Also, as Cat says, feeding habits seem to have changed here. Peas used to be a dead cert, now they take it or leave it. Beans are so much better drilled these days there are none left on the surface for the pigeons. (I blame the farmers!)I also blame then for poor stubble bags - initially any grain spilt is covered by stalks spread by the chaff-cutters on combines, plus they cultivate the fields 10 minutes after they are cut. THEN, when the rape is under attack, they call you out, then fire those Intercontinenal Ballistic Missile sized rockets over you and that's that. It's getting tough!! Kitchrat

WOT flocks???

When I say "snack", a couple of dozen berries take 5 mins to eat, then back in the trees. Not "feeding" like we need to be able to get a decent bag.

Many thanks for this Cat, I'm still feeling my way around this forum! I don't know about your area but here the small improvement in numbers when we had the frost has melted away!! Cheers and think SNOW!!

Cat, as a fellow 'ertfordshire ,edgehog" I have to disagree with this "Established Wisdom" that pigeons have to feed each day. When it's warm like it is now, if they fluff up a bit and don't fly much, the odd mouthful of berries or rape will do them just fine. I've shot a few (very few compared to last year) and NOT ONE has had a crop FULL of anything, just snacks. We DO need it to get cold, then the need for fuel will increase, just like us OAPs!! THINK SNOW!!

Saw a flock like that round here 10 days ago but it was here today gone tomorrow - big zero now, didn't even take the 1st shot to send them off!