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One for the memory banks Big Al. I've said before that I love to see your dog work...you can see he looks forward to it. A dog in his prime.Good species count by the way. Glad to see you've sorted the battery issue out.

Plenty of acorns around here,although they don't usually get onto them until well into late October/Nov. Good timing for a few windy days.One of my favourite pigeon shooting times of the year as numbers are often boosted by migrant birds for a week or two.

Man & dog in harmony once again. Changing guns is always going to result in lost rhythm , although I think we all do it from time to time for no good reason. I was surprised you did not drop two teal from the pack we saw you shoot at in the video! Good watch as usual. Make sure your remote is not connected when filming off your headcam..I expect you know that runs the battery down rapidly. Thanks for posting.

A day to be savoured;Plenty of pigeons,shots from all angles and you had a good rhythm going . Days like that are the result of years of pigeon shooting experience by the look of it. A very watchable video, thanks.

It's difficult to be dogmatic about anything to do with pigeon shooting;This year is different again in so many ways with dry weather accelerating the harvest & so much choice for our quarry within a short time frame (in our neck of the woods anyway). I certainly think that rape stubble gives you better chances the sooner you can get onto it. I shot one stubble 8 days ago (one day after it was combined) & the birds decoyed reasonably well considering there were 3 or 4 other rape stubbles within half a mile. I shot the same field yesterday when a lot of the seed had germinated and of the 60 I shot only a dozen or so decoyed at all , the rest were passing trade as it were.Better shooting in a way but not such a bag as you might expect from the birds around.I can see the wheat harvest finished within a few more days & so will be looking at winter beans & spring barley over the next week or so as I would expect them to be more productive? But who can tell; As our Guru Archie said reconnaissance is probably the key.

As Above; Did you just find those quail on your tailgate one morning? How did your new young Pointer perform on this hunting trip?And is that an old English side by side you were using? Good to hear from you all the way over there.

Such symmetry in that shot. No matter what the species! You haven't lost your touch despite the recent stress.

You boys are still on form! At the end of a horrible day's work it was so pleasant to come back & find your two videos on the the ,what has become a much underused site these last few weeks.Quite recharged the batteries...thanks for the effort. (My rolling mean on the pigeons over April & May = nil).

Two master craftsmen putting in a 12 hour shift.Just shows they are still focused on the rape in some areas, although there might be some drilling done later this week? Sunday breakfast in front of the laptop reading your reports is now a routine I look forward to & I'm rarely disappointed!

Mutual respect & trust will go a long way toward gaining permissions , add honesty ,tidiness & a bit of skill at killing pigeons (eg: PC &DB) and the refusals you get will be few & far between. 'Slowly slowly' as they say. But it is such a good feeling when you gain a new area like that!

I want Woodie..a touch of the athlete there;He reminds me of Big Al's dog Ted.Same determination & athleticism,& they do it all for your praise. Five doubles in a row should have lifted your heart after being ousted from your first choice & then had to work hard for your shooting.This wet weather makes any moving of hides & gear a daunting prospect,trudging through cloggy mud. I hope you had another 'double' back in front of the fire after such a good day. This weather is driving me crazy as far as getting out is concerned

10/10 for realising there was a bag to be shot...but once again 3/10 for presentation;I think you only do it to annoy some of us on this forum. I was sat having a coffee yesterday afternoon watching one huge flock of pigeons going over very high.I have no idea what they were up to but still flocked up in my neck of the woods?

Always look forward to your report which I read whilst I eat my Sunday morning cornflakes.Yet again your determination has lead to another enviable bag.It looks like we might be in for a wet week in this neck of the woods which was making me inclined to postpone an outing on a very promising looking rape field, but you have shown that it can be done on a wet day. So I might give it a try earlier. You guys must be pretty fit carting all those 100+ bags week after week!

Hats off to you.To shoot that neat little bag from your knees or sitting sounds like true dedication...you must have good knees & a bonus of not needing a wash tonight after Jasper's attentions.Were you not a boy scout ? Carrying a penknife would have allowed you to cut a couple of hazel sticks to thread between the pig wire & raise the height of your net?Very clear picture & gives a good sense of the set up.

I am lucky enough to have a couple of lifelong farming friends in Hampshire ;We have fished & shot together for many years & one of them runs a shoot on his 1500 acres.Every Feb/March he phones me when the cover crop maize is flailed or when spring drilling has started & I make the 2 + hour journey to see what I can catch up with.Like an excited schoolboy I pack the truck the night before,make my packed lunch,buy expensive cigarettes as a treat & set out at 'sparrow ****' to get there by 7.30.Usually these trips are worthwhile as he knows his pigeons& I've had a good average down there over the years. And so this year's trip came yesterday.There was still some drifts of snow left but most of the 5 or 6 strips were snow free and the forecast was dry but with no wind to speak of & quite mild after the conditions over the last week. JC (the farmer) was busy all morning loading grain after the backlog due to the snow, but he had had a look around the day before & directed me to the strip which seemed favourite. As I drove up there were 150 or so pigeons in the trees along the strip which looked promising!I had a look at the other strips before setting up but they were all bare. Back to the original strip & I was set up by 10am..... by 12.30 I was packing up.Whirly in/out flapper in/out ,changed the pattern,all I could think of but still the few birds that were in the air were very spooky & I managed one bird at extreme range.At this point JC arrived on his Mule between loads.He was apologetic for dragging me all that way & I was saying I was enjoying myself anyway..you know how it is.But rather than call it a day we went back for a cup of tea & I said I would try one of the other strips after lunch. With little hope in my heart I drove to the other end of the farm to the smallest strip in quite an exposed position.There were perhaps 30 birds in the only Oak tree in the hedge.I set up with a slight breeze in my face ( which I did not like),& as it was a low hedge I hung a thick net behind me so that I could stand up & shoot behind me if the came in that way.No flapper or whirly to start with as I was not sure if they had spooked the birds in the morning.It was now 2pm. & nothing came in for the first 20 minutes although there were a few very high flocks floating over. In frustration out went the flapper & magnet.Bingo the next flock dived in from an incredible height & I opened my account.By 3pm I had texted JC who arrived with dog & 20 bore as the sport was continuous until we both ran out of cartridges at 4.45pmish (I know)! We picked up 138 pigeons.Don't ask me why they suddenly turned on. I had a text from JC later that night after I got home.He'd been told in the pub that the keeper had shot the first strip on Sunday.JC is quite deaf & had not heard any shots.

True contenders the pair of you! Backs against the ropes for a couple of weeks earlier on , but back on top now.We never doubted you for a minute.Terrific bag on rape. What you did not mention was the number of backbreaking journeys to the Disco you had to make?Always the worst part of making a decent bag at this time of year I always think.I have this mental image of the mysterious DB (who never appears in any of your pictures), who is not only a crack shot on pigeons but also is a giant of a man who can carry a bag of 50 pigeons on each shoulder & still chat about Aston Villa's chances of getting back into the Premiership as he walks back to the vehicle? I too used to fish the Delph for pike (along with the 20 & 30 ft. Drains the other side of Ely) back in the 70's. All I really remember about it was the bitter cold & our attempts to keep warm.We were driven by Barry Rickards' record breaking pike at that time but never came anywhere near to his fish.

Been having a bit of bother uploading this...a bit like the mess I made of the day( see previuos post ) .If this doesn't load I give up!

Had to pacify farmer on some OSR but thought it would be a matter of making an appearance not having watched the field.Could not get there before midday & had an appointment 30 miles away at 1500hrs. Bad mistake & should have done the recce' & I would have realised it merited a full session.Oh well mistake after mistake these days. Lower Barns pigeons..wlmp

You two must have been knackered by the end of all that...but well worthwhile; Good to see that old smile back.Keep up the good work.

Stanley..robust & contents still hot at the end of the day.Small 503ml. one fits in your pocket/game bag & takes up little room for shorter outings.

A pleasure to see a new pigeon shooting post,they have been thin on the ground just now. I am also certain that that one 'triple miss' was well diluted by some scorchers if previous posts are anything to go by? Single colour dark green hide was invisible but both hides blended in well, not that it seems to make much difference sometimes.Now turning to the rape in Herefordshire with a few prospects for Feb.

A frustrating day again & at the start of a day dedicated to our chosen pleasure, it is often easy to lose sight of the reality that a couple of hours in the right place at the right time is always better than getting set up early (with the intention of at least 5 hours shooting), in the wrong place at the wrong time. But we all do it. I am kicking my heals until the end of the game season when a lot more ground comes into contention. By the way if you gave me a look like that I would have to call you MR. Controller sir! Not a bad bag nonetheless sir.

...but as he was free today I thought I would try to alleviate my guilt by finding him a decent day. After a surprisingly good roost shoot on Tuesday evening ,it was evident that the majority of birds had been feeding on rape;Thereby destroying my theory that they would not be on the rape yet.Anyway I just had to do the tour within a 5 mile radius of that roost wood & eventually I found what looked to be the probable field ,just behind a big conifer wood which used to be part of an estate shoot but had been sold off 2 years ago.I got the all clear & set off 9.30ish this morning with Dave. On arrival about 11am there were 200 down & 50-60 lifting out of the wood;Looked promising.I set Dave up on the corner of the wood where they had been grazing & I plodded over to the far hedgeline about 200m away.It worked OK with birds going to both patterns & some bouncing from one to the other after shots were fired.The tap was turned off at about 2.30. Dave killed 21 & I picked 44. We were all back at the car by 3.15 & the obvious decision was to roost shoot the conifer wood,with one at each end of the wood.Surprisingly this turned out to be good as well.A lot of banging & a roost bag of 21 between us;Dave also shot a squirrel which drove my terrier mad.I made him carry it back to the truck with the terrier hanging off it & tripping him up.We had to hide it in the end to avoid further psychological damage to man & dog. I don't feel so guilty now.

Yet another ace.Your understanding of photographic techniques must be a bit like going out & finding pigeons every trip for us addicts. TFP.

Had to make a trip to stock up on cartridges this afternoon & it was only another 7 or 8 miles to drop into a roost wood that I haven't shot since this time last year.That time I had taken my mate Dave but I knew he had to visit his poorly Mother today.A year ago we had stood in this wood from 3 to 4.30 pm & only saw two pigeons land at the far end of the wood.Tally for that outing was zero. So today I was not too optimistic;I filled both pockets with shells & set off with the dogs to walk 1/2 mile to the spot.It was cold with a very light wind but there was a small flock of birds in the distance which rose out of some distant oak trees & headed straight to the wood I intended to shoot.A good omen? On entering the wood there were droppings & feathers all over the place& birds lifting off further down. Settled into my chosen position & my first fag on the go & nothing moving.Ten minutes later a flock of 50+ drifted over ,banked into the wind & I had my first birds. From then on until I ran out of cartridges at about 4.15 the action was pretty steady.At that time there was little point in running back to the truck for more squibs so had a pick up.24 picked. I had not brought a game bag so there was a dilemma, two journeys or improvise. I can carry 8 birds in my left hand & 5 in my right & two in my pockets.In the end I took my shooting jacket off, tied the sleeves together, loaded the pigeons into it & over my shoulder.Fortunately I had taken my gun down in a slip which went over the other shoulder.Made it back in one journey. I don't think I shall tell Dave but rest it for 3 weeks & ask him over there then.