indio

Thanks. Kind regards

I think Penelope has hit the nail on the head really in so much as if you're not seen in your hide you could sit in your shreddies BUT I personally use ex army dpm pattern cam stuff even though like you i have winter and summer cam nets. In the summer you can get lightweight cam patterns in both regular dpm and also now dessert cam if you are in wheat/corn fileds. Google ex army clothingor similar and there are loads. good luck

Just wondered if anyone shoots with a 16 bore ? if so, at what sort of range would you expect to use them for pigeon decoying? And of course the old question.....................what cartridges do you recommend? all advice welcome. kind regards

Morning Dan, what sort of set up are you going to be using? Will you be building hides or shooting from the edge of the wood or ?? Have you got yourself some cam nets etc? What are you hoping to shoot over in the summer......corn/wheat/stubble ? if you got some answers to the above I'm more than happy to give you some of my ideas . kind regards

More experienced shooters will give you the best answers but if it helps , i bought some shell decoys which were not flocked ( they do shine in the wet/sun) so to remedy that I painted them with matt grey paint that you can get from any of the DIY stores in little sample pots at about £1.50/2.00 a pot. I also made sure the white on the decoys was clear and bright.The whole thing takes about threequarters of an hour a dozen and they dry quickly. Do them in the morning and they're ready to use by lunchtime. Don't know how easy or messy it is to flock them yourself but painting is a doddle. Good luck.

will do. Thanks for the reply. Ok. thanks for the advice

I thought that was a normal set up for a sbs but I appreciate assuming isn't the answer. I'm going to my local gun shop later this week so I will ask them to tell me (they should be able to do that shouldn't they ? Thanks for your answer.

Ok thanks for your help

Had a morning scaring some pigeons on some osr ( i say scaring 'cos i missed more than i hit ) on Saturday. Now here's my question I was using Eley pigeon 32grm 6.5's in a bog standard sbs 12bore which although i haven't had it checked i assume it's a 1/4 and 3/4 choke. Despite hitting one or two birds (hooray!) and feathers/dust coming off them, the birds carried on their merry way ( Boo). I would estimate the range was no more than i usually try and shoot at something between 25/35 yards. Is that about right for those cartridges ? I also had a shot with an Eley "first" 28grm 7.5 and that dropped the bird stone cold before it hit the ground. Same gun, same distance . Anyone tell me why that may have been (apart from the fact that bird may have taken pity on me ) ? As usual, all advice comments / tips welcome

Read somewhere on here a post that most pigeons haven't got a set square or tape measure on them. I think the U or V is for ease of preparing your "killing" area so that the birds drift into the centre and not necessarily to the sides. From my observations when you watch birds feeding they tend not to be in lines but in "bunches" so I prefer the "coma" style where you put 4 /5 decoys within a 2/3 yards area and then 1 or 2 just a little away from the bunch. I then repeat the same thing in 2/3 other places all within your range.I tend not to have them all facing into the wind but put them equally side on and facing into the wind so they are not "regimented" . As others will tell you and you will find yourself what works in the morning might stop working a bit later in the day and what worked yesterday might not work today but will be successful tomorrow. If you don't go out to shoot against the clock but are prepared to take your time and experiment you'll enjoy it more and maybe not get stressed by it all. it's meant to be relaxing and if it isn't remember................you didn't have to go !! good luck

More experienced guns will give you better advice than me but for my two penny worth, I bought a stealth net from A1 decoys (have a look on the website). Mine was green woodland and not harvest (too yellow at the moment). It's quite thick ,black lined and seem's to work ok as long as you don't get the sun on your back. Briars will snag it but that dependes how and where you set it. It's very light and folds up to a small size. unless you get heavy ex M.O.D netting all the easy carry ones will blow in a wind. Use tent pegs or similar to peg the bottom. I agree the see through nets are just that but i use one on the inside of the heavier net so it is about 6 inches higher so you can see through it and catch sight of the brids coming in. Test your hide by taking a carrier bag (JS are good) hang it on the tree/bush behind you and walk 20yds away from your hide. if you can still see the bag you need to make adjustments to your netting. I can normally get the hide about right ,...........i just can't hit the birds........then again if you haven't got a sense of humour you shouldn't have joined !! Good Luck

More experienced guns on here will be able to give you a better answer, but I have been surprised that on the pigeons I have shot (NOwhere near as many as I've missed) seem to be pretty uniform in their colour and pattern. New shells seem to be a bit light in colour whne you put them alongside actual birds. It's easily remedied , pop into anyone of the Diy stores and get some sample pots of matt paint at about £1.50 / 2.00 each. If you can't get the exact colour you want they mix easily. 1 pot does about 10/12 shells easily. Added bonus is that it stops the new shells shining when they get wet or sun gets bright. good luck.

I've seen army cam nets for landies for lorries and even for tanks but I've never seen any for donkeys either !!

Just wondered after watching the you tube link if anyone else heard the cameraman say " I would like to assure you that no pigeons were harmed in the making of this video " I think a 12 bore, size 6, 30grm up the jacksie would do some harm.............

Started myself not long ago and bought gear seperately, some from internet and some from local gunshop. My personal experience with A1 was they gave me a good fast reliable delivery and the product I bought (cam net) I was happy with. Before you buy the pack you might want to find out from them what type the net is : see through ( the shops call it clear view but you can see throught it) or stealth cam net which is stronger / thicker . You also need to ask them the size of the net ie how long and how wide. You don't want to end up with a net that is the size of a tea-towel and about as much good as a candy floss door knocker. The other thing you want to ask is what pattern the net is in and colour. ie is it woodland pattern (green ) is it oak pattern ( light browns and deep orange) or is it harvest (yellow- ish) as the name gives you a clue. I would suggest you need a net big enough to be able a/ to do the job and b/ give you room in the hide. Mine are 4 and 5 metres long but there are more knowledgable guns on here who will be able to help on that score The decoys look ok , but don't forget to give them a coat of matt paint before you use them ( they shine when wet or if sun is really bright.....yeah does shine sometimes here in uk). You can get sample pots of paint from Homebase B&Q etc and they cost a couple of quid each plus a couple of kiddies painting brushes from the pound shop. Take you about an hour to do 10 decoys and that hour will be well repaid with results.Take one of the decoys with you to choose the colours and don't forget to make sure the white is kept nice and bright. As I have said my experience with A1 was just that A1 but there are other companies who are not good ( ie send you part of the order and not the other part for about 5/6 weeks as it's "out of stock) I had that with a company from Wigan ( look it up and don't get caught) I got all that I paid foe eventually but who needs the agro? Hope this helps a bit / good luck

Thanks for your encouragement.

Had previous experience with rabbiting/ferreting but not pigeons. maybe like some others, i've sat in the hide gnashing my teeth and swearing when they land about 70/100 yds further out than you want. sense of humour helps (sometimes !) Thanks , kind words Sir

I thought i might have been the only one who has either p'd down his leg , burnt his face on a fag or poured coffee in the sanwiches but I see i'm not alone as i thought. Helps me cut down on the fags 'cos more end up on the floor than i smoke ! Kind words Sir. thanks

Thanks for your encouragement I've had plenty days when i might have hit more by throwing something at 'em that's one i will defintely take advice on !!

Started pigeon shooting a bit more regulalry and thought i might pass on a few observations to other newbies. 1/read as many posts as you can on this site......loads of years experience will make your day more successful 2/ get some kit you can afford without going over the top ie shell decoys to start maybe seconhand camo net etc etc 3/ do your recce's and watch where you are going to shoot I've found that afew hours trying to get to know flight lines and feeding patterns helps 4/ don't get despondent if on the day you choose to go there are not as many birds around as you saw yesterday or will see tomorrow that seems to be normal 5/ when setting your hide remember shape/shadow/shine/silhouette/movement/movement/movement 6/ dress warmly.....when there is no action it always seems colder than when you do get birds around 7/ don't worry about the How the - - - - days. ie how the - - - - did i miss that or how the - - - - did I hit that. Sometimes i can't hit sweet fa and other days i can (mainly i can't !!) 8/ remember the Sod's law factors such as : birds will always arrive when a/ you light a fag b/ you pour a cuppa c/ you want a wee d/ you are adjusting your hide/clothes etc e/ when you re-arrange your decoys f/ your phone rings g/ you are setting up or more often when you haven't seen a bird for two hours, you're p'd off and start to pack up 9/ remember waht you take into the field/wood you take back out with you.fag butts/packets / litter / spent cartridges / birds and of course double check you have all your kit Lastly, remember even the best have bad days and if you can't take a joke find something else to do with your time . Kind regards

Good Day re cleaning gun I was always taught when you are finished shooting you clean : 1/ your gun 2/ your kit 3/ yourself. Always in that order no matter how cold/wet or knackered you are. Push through with a lambswool brush will do most of the time, use a bronze brush occassionally for a bit of scouring on dity patches in the barrels, keep an oily cloth in your kit and wipe the outside of the barrels over to remove any fingermarks etc then put away. Whole cleaning time will take no more than 5 mins from start to finish. kind regards

Thanks for that i will leave well alone. kind regards Thanks for the advice. i will . Kind regards

Thanks for your reponse. good Luck with the Euro....... I have customised my shell decoys as by using matt grey/black and white paints (sample pots from haomebase/b+q) and that has prevented the shine on the new ones (especially when wet). I try to make sure that I keep them clean and will take your adice re the white markings ( i note that a lot of people have commented that it is the white they seem to be attracted by and I'm on here to learn from experienced hands). Here's a question regarding new shell decoys : is it just me or do the yellow eyes seem excessivley large and bright ?? kind regards

Thanks for the response and advice. kind regards

Thanks for the response and advice. Kind regards