ShropshireSam

I use the stealth nets. One is fine if hide is in shadow of a good hedge, but any sun on the hide and you need 2 stealth nets. I use some cheap nets on tops, back or side to create as much shade as possible

I would try out a range of guns. My semi-auto can give my cheek some damage (must be when I mount wrongly), but never have this problem with my O/U.

Farmer called me out as the pigeons were hitting his barley. Had a drive over the next day and not a large number and hitting several small flattened patches in the middle of the field. Nowhere to set a hide without making a mess and considered trying to shoot from a sitty tree but several trees in use round the field margins. Set off with half a dozen shell decoys and set them up in the biggest flat patch and knelt down in an adjacent tramline. Tried to keep low and still and wait till the last second to kneel upright and shoot. Most pigeons saw me as I got up and took evasive action so some challenging shots. Shot 16 with close to a 3:1 kill ratio. Not a big bag at all, but a lot of fun. Farmer saw me as I was leaving so he was happy I'd made the effort.

Had two quiet but good sessions on peas. First on Monday afternoon had a drive round and finally found a few pigeons feeding on the corner of pea field. Most of peas are about 8 inches high but this corner was thinner and lower. Went back to get my gear and should have not bothered setting up as when I returned there were no pigeons in sight....(I know I should be looking at the pigeon traffic rather than the numbers feeding) ...but not been out for months so I was desperate to set up ....half an hour later and beginning to realise shouldn't have bothered when four pigeons came from behind me and circled, the first flared off and the others followed. I dropped the second and last bird, stone dead, at 40 and 30 yards....my best double by far. Only had another three shots and packed up...but worth it for the double. Watched another pea field on Tuesday lunchtime and about 20 pigeons feeding and another 60 sat in surrounding trees. Decided to set up Wed morning.....a difficult day to decoy as little wind which changed direction during the day....but rain forecast for the rest of the week. Pigeon traffic was slow with pigeons coming in about every 10-15 minutes. They came from all angles and some decoyed well while some circled and flared off so had a diverse range of shots. Took awhile to get my lead right on the distance shots but had some good shots for me, finished with 22. This field has a large area of thin crop on it...about 4 acres so expect this may get hammered in the months to come. This part of the field is bordered by two roads and some houses so limits the options.... I will keep an eye on this field and see what time of day the pigeons hit it....I saw in a recent posting that there was a busy feed for an hour around 6:30 PM.

Well fed up. I have a week off work and thought it ws nicely timed as one local permission has three large fields of peas which were drilled about 3 weeks ago and are now nicely emerged. Last year I had several steady days of about 30 birds on the peas right through the season. This year I have shot one field when newly drilled for 19 birds and not seen enough birds to justify setting up since. I keep checking fields every couple of days and at various times...but no pigeons feeding or on the flight lines. No other crops on my permissions are attracting the pigeons.....so where are they all??? What few I see are still feeding on ivy berries.

I have an AA one, and no problems with it, but not had any other to compare to.

Had three pea fields drilled 2 weeks ago. Few on the surface to generate much interest. Found more at the bottom of one field on some heavier ground. Few pigeons had found them so set up on Saturday and had a quiet day, finished with 19...but fist chance to decoy this year. Went for a reccy today and found a gas gun on each field. Hopefully when they start to emerge the pigeons will be used to the gas guns and I will get a few more chances to shoot these fields....thye are all large fields so expect the gas guns will only move them to the other side of the fields.

I've had an AA flapper for over a year and used it numerous times all day with no problems and very happy with it, the magnet stays in the car on most outings now.

I have always cooked meat for the dog as chance that they associate raw meat with raw game and you end up with a dog eating game when they get a chance. I usually save livers. hearts and any damaged breasts for the dog......chop, microwave for 2 mins, cool and add to dogs dinner or use as treats when training....dogs really respond better to training when getting "real meat" treats.

I was set up by dawn and soon had plenty of pigeons coming into the field but they did not decoy for over an hour. They were looking to sit in the oak trees and unfortunately this field had 26 trees in and around it. Had only a couple decoy, shot 10 and packed up by mid-day......but farmer was happy for my efforts.

Good to hear you have gained the confidence as this is the main factor once you have the right gun fit and mount. What I find is that I can have a cracking lesson on the clays and then not continue so well with the pigeons. The important thing is to keep practicing on both and the more variety of shots you get then the better you will get.

I have a similar situation. Numbers have built up nicely over last 2 weeks on a neighbouring farmer's field next to one of my permissions. Went to see him today and he was about to put a banger on there.....said I could shoot it first if I get on this weekend. This is the first decent number I have seen on rape in our area and a new permission....so will be out before dawn. Hoping they will come in the morning as a steady stream rather than as one big flock.

Look on the bright side...at least you were not paying for the privilege. My mate was loading on an expensive shoot last year. He was loading for a guy who had paid for the whole day (ie himself and 8 guests). The guy had just under 500 shots for 5 pheasants. Apparently he really enjoyed the day!! I think if I had paid a lot of money to shoot quality pheasants I would be well p******ed off is I missed too many....at least with the pigeons its only your cartridges!! :good:

I had three pea fields last year and had a couple of "steady" days of about 30. I eagerly waited for harvest and some big days and the **** never bothered with them...plenty of peas visible on the gound but not found by the pigeons before ploughed over after about a fortnight. So never anticipate a big day...just keep a regular watch on activity and get out when you can.

Decided to give it ago despite the weather. My chosen spot was a small gap with small trees in the centre. Birds flew over too quick and then swung round into other trees near by...I didnt have time to mount, swing and give the large lead required. Moved into a cluster of ivy covered trees and had much more luck luck with 12 pigeons for 21 cartridges. Every shot was pure instinctive and great sport. Would have expected more pigeons but only heard a couple of other shots in other woods early in the evening....shame that more people did not get out....combination of the weather and rugby kept some folks in front of the telly I assume.

Thanks guys...Tinnitus has now gone but need to heed these warnings!! I'll arrange a trip to Emtec...not far for me to travel.

No I'm, the only one decoying both permissions. I owe a few favours so hope to be able to repay some debts with some offers to share the hide.

Shooting season finished on Saturday and farmer chopped a large square of forage maize left as game cover on Sunday (and even left me 2 small squares of standing maize to put hides in). Had a look at lunchtime and already a few pigeons have found the maize. Problem is there is so much maize they are only on the ground a few minutes then off to the wood with a crop full - so not long for other pigeons to spot them and join them. I'm away until Friday so hope by then that numbers have escalated. I will have a reccy on Friday and then shoot Saturday depending on numbers. Hopefully will get a few good days before the farmer wants to drill the field at the end of February...then his neighbour will be drilling a few fields of peas......hopefully will be in for a busy couple of months. :yes:

Looking at improving my ear protection as I end up not wearing them all the time and now suffering from tinnitus (hopefully only temporary). Looking for passive moulded inserts...so either Emtec or Cens as the main contenders. Emtec are local to me so I can call in for a fitting and they are cheaper. Any reviews for Emtec - good or bad. All I have seen are good reviews so far.

I have a Beretta 301. Would recommend it as never had a problem with it...certainly built to last. The older 300 series should be in the £300-£400 price range dependin on condition...and don't be afraid to haggle.

I'm right handed, left eye dominant. For most shots I close my left eye as I raise the gun to the shoulder.....so I have both eyes open to start so this should help me judge distance, but I then have a "clear picture" of the bird with my right eye as I mount. If I keep both eyes open I can be OK but I often get a blurred vision mid-swing and lose the "picture".....this happens more with a right to left swing. When I have a quick swing/shot I don't know what happens but I don't have any issues and hit more with these instinct shots. You can get some aids to help your less dominant eye with patches to fit on glasses to create a blurred image of the bead from your dominatn eye, so your brain switches to the better image from the less dominant eye,,,but you still have vision from both eyes. Another aid is a flourescent bead which is bright green when viewed straight down the rib...again this tricks the brain into accepting the better image...which is the one down the rib. I tried this on a friends gun but did not find it to work with a practice swing...but may be different with a target in the picture. Have a google search for eye dominance to see the aids available.....or just try to shut one eye as you mount....cheaper and easier if it works for you.

I had a much smaller beaters day. We all shot badly and only managed 10 birds! I had several shots but could not hit a pheasant but had one shot at a high fast partridge (flying with the wind)...best shot of the day if not the season which made up for all the misses.

Apart from a few extreme examples I think we all try to balance keeping the farmer happy and maximise the sport we can have. I would wait for numbers to grow before shooting a field of rape, how long I wait depends on that balance. But if the farmer rang and said he wanted me on it I would be there as soon as possible. I think the farmers on my permission are happy knowing I will go out on rape fields in mid-winter in freezing conditions to keep the birds moving when the sport is limited. Where we can, we can all maximise numbers when we shoot stubbles, as the only crop protection on stubble is reducing numbers rather than keeping the birds off a growing crop. Each to their own...we all have to keep the farmers happy and do it as we see fit.

If the shooting dries up over lunchtime I pop home and have a roll with the wife !!!

I live and work in the same village and have all permissions within 3 miles.....it means I can always pop out for a reccie to monitor pigeon activity. This has the benefit that I regularly meet the farmers so they see I am regularly keeping a look out for pigeons and if I see an unexpected opportunity I can grab the kit, get out and have a shoot. If I had a 2 hour drive I would be well p***ed off with a poor day.