Whitetail

I was put in the same position as you a year or two back. The peas were well up and the pigeons were hitting one end hard and I was told to shoot them and leave them . My clicker said I had shot 140 but the only ones I picked fell on or round the magnet. The farmer is a family friend but I didn't then and don't now feel it's the way things should be done, how do you retrieve wounded birds ? This weekend past I shot 38 pigeons out of a sitty tree with my air rifle all picked, the birds were feeding on milky wheat . At the end of the day it's down to you , but if it was me I would be trying to shoot them in the trees or coming to the trees at least you will pick them and all you will be trampling down will be nettles and cleavers.it can be frustrating this time of year ,there will be rape stubble in a few weeks that's what I'm looking forward to

Two winters back there was a unharvested field of sunflowers near Spalding , I travelled by it most weeks and there were hundreds of pigeons feeding on it. I've also seen pigeons feeding on sunflowers in cover crops so you might get a shoot if your farmer harvests them late

I think a accurate lazer rangefinder is a excellent piece of kit, what's the point of having a mildot reticle or the like and not knowing the precise range ,your back to guessing , is that rabbit 40 or 45yds oftentimes it will make the difference between wounding something and killing it . For me on your average range shot a rangefinder is not needed, on the longer shots you often have a little more time and a using a rangefinder is just as quick as eyeballing the distance . Get a rangefinder that's reliable is the key , I've used a couple of low end makes that were less than accurate under different light conditions , they ended up in the bin , what's the saying buy cheap buy twice

I started decoying in the fens over thirty years ago and the pigeons now are still using the same lines of flight as they did back then. They roost in the same areas and when the crops in a certain fen are right use the old flight lines to get there.

As side note be aware that farmers tend not want you shooting plaswads over grasing land, if your using a shotgun you would be as well to use fibre wads

Is there no way you can shoot the fields safely ?i think you might be surprised how well they will decoy .I'm going this afternoon on grassland that's got chickweed and clover on , there's cattle on there but only twenty or so and they tend to leave me alone, famous last words. It's a super spot with a couple of sitty trees and one of those areas that always holds birds this time of year. I've shot some really good bags there over the years with my air rifle, I went out last evening and shot ten birds to start off with. I've been watching the field for a week or so and there's two hundred birds feeding there most afternoons,

Maybe just take a step back and have a break from pigeon shooting will do you some good , there have been times when I couldn't get out as often as I would like through work or just having my fishing head on . The enthusiasm will return no doubt , there's nothing worse than keep riding around looking at fields with no pigeons on ,I've been there . It's too late now but if it was me ,earlier in the year I would have watched the woods where your local birds roost and just followed the flight lines out , they are feeding somewhere even if it's not your shooting

Where abouts are you? This winter I've seen thousands of birds north of bourne, they were feeding on acorns and beech mast . The same when I'm working around the Spalding area there always seems to be pigeons there in good numbers, maybe you need to start travelling further afield just what you need with fuel the price it is. I know what it's like to have to share land , I tend to go in the week but it's difficult at times when the other shooters seem happy with very small bags, and fair play to them, I can't sit there knowing I'm not going to shoot anything , some of the local guys starting up are just happy to be out and if they get a shot or two that's a bonus. Think outside the box , what I've found is as pigeon shooters we tend to get fixated with certain crops and to a lesser extent certain fields , and will drive by fields with birds on , looking without seeing. This year has been bad with black grass and what the local farmers have done is sprayed the winter wheat off and drilled direct , I've had some super bags up to 170 with no compertion at all , everyone is looking for drilled fields or patchy rape.

I don't think your going to get much shooting asking on the internet I might be be wrong,but not many people are going to line a stranger up with shooting . There's plenty of shooting around Cambridge you just need to get out and get asking , something will turn up. Have you thought about going beating on a game shoot ? It's a real good place to meet local landowners .That usually leads to some shooting even if it's only rats on the pheasant feeders. I know that's not much use to someone looking for shooting in May and the game season is months away. Have a ride around the area and see if there is any rabbit damage on the spring barley or wheat , farmers hate rabbits ,that has worked for me in the past. A farmer is much more likely to give you permission if you can say there's rabbits /pigeons on a particular field. I know it's been a long rambling reply but the gist of it is you will only get out of it what you but in good luck

The best fac air money no object probably one of the daystates. If your on a budget I would think a rapid seven takes some beating, as it's been already said secondhand fac you will get a lot of gun for the money . There's several rapids on gun trader , just pick one that's not been butchered about . That's the good and bad thing with rapids they are easily modded or upgraded, get one that's been done properly and they are a excellent choice but get one that some monkey has tuned and it will work out expensive to put right . I have owned my fac rapid for 15-20 years and apart from having it reged it's not heavily modded and it still shoots half inch groups at fifty yds

Do you mean a laser like a beamshot ? If so I found in practise they were more trouble than they was worth . They needed to be mounted so high above the scope to allow accurate range finding I was forever knock them out of zero. If your asking about a laser rangefinder I think they are a excellent piece of kit, I use one for everything from bowhunting through to using a centre fire . For hide shooting they are ideal , I very rarely bother ranging a animal that can cost you a shot ,what I do is range various trees or wherever I think I'm going to get shot then I know if a shot presents itself I have a very good idea how far it is. I often take a rangefinder to work or just walking the dog and try to guess how far various objects are then double check against the rangefinder , you soon get quite good at it

Do you mean a laser like a beamshot ? If so I found in practise they were more trouble than they was worth . They needed to be mounted so high above the scope to allow accurate range finding I was forever knock them out of zero. If your asking about a laser rangefinder I think they are a excellent piece of kit, I use one for everything from bowhunting through to using a centre fire . For hide shooting they are ideal , I very rarely bother ranging a animal that can cost you a shot ,what I do is range various trees or wherever I think I'm going to get shot then I know if a shot presents itself I have a very good idea how far it is. I often take a rangefinder to work or just walking the dog and try to guess how far various objects are then double check against the rangefinder , you soon get quite good at it

I find it very hard to judge ranges while lamping ,rabbits that I thought were 30yds oftentimes were nearer 50 yds and for me a fac air rifle helped with the flatter tradjectory ,this was when I was walking around in open fields. If your laying up near a warren and know your ranges I think a 12 ftp is ideal

I've been using fac air rifles for twenty years or so ,and in that time have tried everything from a .177 running at 25ftp to a .25 at 45 ftp and for me and the ranges I shoot at a .20 at 28 ftp or a .22 at 30 ftp seem just about perfect, excellent accuracy with a flat enough trajectory out to 80 yds and a good shot count. For me over 80 yds I would reach for a .22 rf shooting sub sonics or a .17 hmr if the land was cleared to use them . I sometimes practise at 90-100 yds with the air rifles and it's amazing the groups you can shoot in still air , but a light almost impersevable wind is very hard to judge at these ranges

I don't think a car parked 300yards from where your shooting would effect how they would decoy, think about it they would be flaring away from every tractor, implement and car and that doesn't happen. I've tried in the past to use my truck to keep pigeons off a certain part of a field and for the most part it's been a waste of time,If there are two places on a field where they are feeding you would be much better bagging it off, but only do it on the day you shoot. I think your problem was going to early and in poor conditions

If the birds are not decoying and veering away ,I look at the hide is it providing enough cover especially behind the shooter . A branch or two snapped out of a elderberry bush or dead grass can make all the difference at times, think of the times you've walked away from your hide and the birds decoy perfectly to me it points to the birds seeing movement. If you watch someone decoying especially on a bright day more times than not you will see the gun barrels glinting as the shooter gets ready to shoot. If we could all start off with twenty birds at the start of a session ( I realise that's not possible for most of us me included) there would be less talk of birds not decoying well. On rape in the colder months I've found that you might only get a hour or two when the birds will come to the field before they get fed up with being shot at , so by the time you have enough birds down it's all over for the day. Magnets glinting can be a problem a few weeks back I was on a rape field with two flight lines coming to the decoys , one line would decoy the other nearly all veered away before getting anywhere near in range , I ended up walking out and looking back at the pattern from the direction they were coming from and the motor on the magnet was glinting, I ended up rubbing mud on it , problem solved . I ended up with forty but it could and should have been nearer sixty