Andrew86

Had a call from my friend saying the farmer had cut some of his winter barley. The crop just gets used for cattle field so being still a bit green doesn't matter. He only managed a few laps before it started raining again but enough to get out anyway. I took along a friend and gave him the majority of the shooting but he was missing far too many so i took over again. Finished with 151, picked 125 with birds falling in the thick grass behind. Will work the dog in the next few days to try and pick these. I shot this field last year and got 276. Had i been on my own again i reckon 200+ was on the cards. What do people think about sharing a hide? Do you think it works better or worse?

Where abouts in Edinburgh and the Lothians have you been asking? East? West? I have a contact between Edinburgh and the borders that should be able to sort you out if you are flexible with days of the week and it can be either DIY or guided.

what did you shoot these over? Fantastic bag. Crow shoting can provide some great sport.

Thanks guys. Hope to get back on the field again when they do a second cut. Lots more of them around the farm. Spoke with the farmer at the weekend and he was delighted.

Had a call from a friend saying his farmer was cutting a few silage fields this week. The field was cut on the Monday, lifted on the Tuesday and we shot it on Thursday. This might have been a day late but still a cracking day out. Got there at 7am and straight into the hide as we had set it up the night before. Placed 10 half flocked shells out and a dead crow on a bouncer. Corvids began decoying straight away with some even coming in as we set up. We shot around 50 in the first few hours and then the wind picked up. Was meant to be 10mph but was nearer 25-30mph so prodvided some tricky shooting later in the day. We took a few hours off for lunch, came back later in the afternoon and finished with a picked bag of 101. 92 Rooks 8 Jackdaws 1 pigeon (the only pigeon we saw all day) Went back again this morning to work the dog in the longer grass and found another 8 rooks. Great day first day out since breaking my jaw a month ago. Thanks Andrew

Got a call from the keeper where i shoot during the game season saying they had started drilling a few fields with plenty crows about. Started off for a few hours on a rape field until they had finished off one field with the spring barley. Set my hide up in a strip of old cover crop and threw 8 flocked crow shells in front. Once i had a few dead crows in the pattern it really started to pick up with crows dropping in from the roost on top of the hill most of the day with a quiet hour in the middle. Ended up with 41 crows and 3 pigeons. Had we been on this field from the beginning of the day the bag could have been much bigger. Thanks Andrew

Sounds like a good day. Where abouts in Northumberland? I was out myself near Morpeth the other day. Lots of pigeons but staying in big flocks still and not yet breaking up. Had a decent day but the weather wasnt great for it.

Thanks for the help with this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-7AH-12-VOLT-PIGEON-MAGNET-BATTERY-SPADE-TERMINALS-SLA-SEALED-RE-CHARGABLE-/190728130425?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c68484f79 Same as this one. It appears to actually be rechargeable. What is the best way to recharge these? Sorry for what is probably a fairly trivial question.

I am needing a new batterty for my rotary as the current one is almost dead. Can you get rechargeable ones? If so which one is the best? Think it needs to be a 12v 7amp one. Thanks for any help

The only overage/underage quoted was the possibilty of going over and if we did then that would be free. Nothing saying to possibly expect half the bag thats for sure. We figured the ratio for the day to be 1/3.5 which is an acceptable level, if not slightly better than some places i have been before. So if he is a knowledgeable keeper he would realise we shot what we got presented. I don't see how he can say it was a legally binding contract either. He will get what we think is reasonable and if he wants to name and shame my shooting group that is fine. Thanks for the info

It was meant to be 150 bird and we got 70 birds off about 8 drives. We went four drives with nothing seen at all. That to me is slightly odd.

Just looking for some general info or similar experiences here. So 5 of us went to a fairly unknown shoot to us at the start of Jan with the promise of a decent day out. However the bag achieved on the day was far below expectations, over 50% less, with some drives producing no birds at all. Two drives from 8 actually had any birds and even then it was thin on the ground with only three large flushes occuring. More pigeons got fired at than game birds so our shot ratio was miles off. We told him a price we thought reflected the day much to his annoyance. He is now claiming we entered a legally binding contract and must pay the full amount. If we did this it would be putting a value of 65-70 for a phesant??? Has anyone got any advice on this or experienced similar? I have shot a number of estates throughout scotland and the north of england rarely being let down and if i have it has been give or take 10-15 above or below. Thanks for any advice. Andrew

As said before the guy Rob up in Orkney is very good.

Have space for one gun this Monday, 1st December, on an 80-90 bird day in East Lothian. Elevenses and Lunch included. One of the usual guns has pulled out so looking for someone else. £240 ono PM for more details

If you are willing to travel a little from Elgin then Novar Estate might be an option. As said before contact Aberdeen Wild Wings. I'm good friends with the owner and highly recommend him. Some cracking ground for geese and possibility of some pigeons maybe also.

26 last week on barley stubble and then 58 yesterday. 8028

The rotary certainly worked wonders as it was pulling in birds from all over. Don't think pigeons up here have been shot at as much as down south which helps. The birds coming in occasionally dropped right into the rotary and a few even landed on the bouncer poles. Heading out again tomorrow

276 yesterday 7343

After recently coming across an old friend of mine up in Aberdeen it turned out he was starting to offer some pigeon guiding along with his usual goose days etc. He called me the other day as one of the farmers had just harvested the barley and pigeons seemed to be flocking to the area. We got set up and started at about 7am and shot all the way through until 7.30pm. It was a long day but well worth it with birds coming in all day long in 2's and 3's with the occasional group of 15-20. They all decoyed in with only one bird flaring all day long from the pattern. Had a magnet, 4 bouncers and a range of flocked and full pigeon decoys. My previous best day had been 76 crows so i was hoping to beat that and join the 100 club. Managed 100 by lunchtime and the shooting kept getting better and better with no stopping or lull in the day. Ended up with 276 pigeons and 2 crows. Cracking day out and can't wait to do it again.

Thanks for the different ideas

76 crows last week over decoys 4271

Thanks for the advice. Shall try and get out at first light this week and have a go at them. Does anyone know why they behave like this? Is it a territorial thing?

Shall have a look into the Bergara seat as that seems very good. Many others used that? Have seen a few people using the office chair but if i have to walk in then it's just not that easy to carry. Thanks for the tips.

8 rabbits last night on the game crops using the shotgun 1160