andywiles

As some of you have seen, I am a tad new to pigeon shooting. I am constantly watching the land but i was wondering if any of you use the google map type products to help give you ideas as to where the birds are hitting. The reason i ask is that i have found an old map from June 2009 and it shows quite obvious areas that look like they have been hit by birds. I understand that the crop may be different, the weather maybe different etc 4 years on and maybe these areas could have been affected by flooded areas, failed drilling machinary etc But do you think these area's might be worth a little extra effort in keeping an eye on I've highlighted what my very untrained eye is sort of wandering toward.

All, Thanks for the advise so far, I have had 2 trips to the farm so far. The first an evening wander with the gun to see if i could spot flight lines as they head back for the woods. Well to be honest they seemed to be a bit random, There are woods on 3 sides of the farm and i could see no real patterns. Then on weekend gone i had a look for them early to see if i could get them coming out of the woods. I set up on a field of wheat stubble which has been recently drilled with rape. Behind me a hedge and a massive field of maise behind that. Well in a nutshell, I decoyed 2 mukjaq all the way into my pattern before they realised somethign was up and turned and ran. The wind was blowing from me straight to them, So i am surprised they didn't spook before. I ended up only doing the morning and didn't shoot any, But i am pleased to say that i did get 4 or 5 come into the pattern, I was just not expecting it and was too slow to get on them. So moral of the story, A lot to learn i know, But its a start. There are loads of partridge running around in the maise, so am wondering if the numbers just weren't there as they were perhaps in the maise ? I had a U shape pattern out with a flapper and also bouncers. I dont think a magnet would have made any difference as the birds just simple weren;t there. Location wise i dont think i was far off, Given the spend cartridges that were on the deck where i sat up (bad shooters, I took them home)

The good thing is, I have a team of gundogs that i train on the land, So i am there all the time, Even if not shooting, I am working the dogs, so should be able to notice when the birds start changing what they are up to. I am in Bedfordshire, 8 miles or so north of Luton.

Love the idea and agree completely, But having only just secured the permission, Its too early to start adding people onto it to be honest with you.

Brilliant, So travel light, expect the unexpected and have the decoying kit in the car so that its there if needs be. Now something i haven't thought about,, Camo,,, but not for me,,, I am all geared up and ready to go, So i'll blend into the hedges no worries, Will the birds spook off the 2 yellow labs i will have with me ?

Thanks for the reply, So based on that, Would it be a waste fo time to try to decoy them down until it gets a little colder ?? and instead just try to intercept them on their line ?

Hi All. I hope you may be able to answer a question or two for me. I have recently been granted permission to shoot 800 acres of farmland. It is currently drilled winter rape i think, and a few weeks back was wheat stubble. There are also areas of lush grass that are grown for hay. There is a huge wood at one end of the permission and many hedgelines that separate off the individual fields. Now having read about pigeons until my evening routine is now counting pigeons jumping fences rather than sheep, I know i need to find the flightlines. What i am thinking is the correct way to do things, is to first go out a good few times nice and light and do a lot of watching at first light and last light to map out where the birds come out of the wood in the morning, and where they go back into the wood in the evening. I have several maps printed out so that i can map out these lines. Is this generally the best way to find the birds when you get a new permission ?? I have said to the farmer to let me know if a certain area is getting hammered to speed things up, but if not,, is my dawn and dust plan anywhere close to being correct ? cheers all Andy