Wilts#Dave

I was referring to your initial post about the farmer saying the pigeons weren’t doing any harm eating the grain on the surface so didn’t want them shot.

What the farmer really means by saying that is that he doesn’t want you out there but would rather say that than just tell you ‘no’. They’re an odd breed at times, I’ve known them say no to asking for permission to shoot on winter rape being hammered even, to then see a banger out in the field and no one ever shooting……but it’s their land and their prerogative at the end of the day!

Always thought they looked awful, and this isn’t any better (I guess I just prefer the more traditional look)….i’m sure it’ll be a well put together gun though!

I feel that poor decoy may be for sale for some time at that price 😂

That’s a large cost to employ someone who may have little or no skills as such. I can’t see how it can’t negatively affect employment, for small business's in particular it’s just getting too expensive to employ people! I’m in trade and there’s a reason a lot of builders etc only use sub contractors (self employed folk) and have no one on the books.

Hull High Pheasant 25g, cracking little shell and not too thumpy. I use the 23g in my 28bore a lot and they don’t half kill well and barely any recoil (silver pigeon), light gun.

Further to my points, you can’t always be out shooting pigeons 12 months of the year even when you’ve got access to plenty of ground…..they just won’t be there all the time, that’s how it is! Winter is always a lean time of year for me, and many others so I do spend much less time out looking during the lean times as it’s a waste of time. After a few days on spring drillings I managed to get out most weeks from May up until the end of October and a record for me averaged over 100 per trip when I did the sums. That’s not to say I’ll do it next year, I almost certainly won’t but they were there to find and I made the most of it. However at this time of year through to April again I know I won’t shoot the numbers but there’s no point getting disheartened about it, they’re simply not there to find on numbers and most likely why you seem to be struggling. I must admit, I find winters long and boring without the regular pigeon shooting I enjoy so much and can’t wait for spring to come round again!

I think my post was fairly constructive to be honest, certainly not taking the p***. My point was and still is that sometimes there just isn’t any definitive answer, every situation is so different but broadly speaking you’ll want to be out in the morning at this time of year to stand a chance of catching the main flight/feed. And as I said, give it a go…..I’ve had many days where I’ve shot great bags from doing just that when I’ve had little choice of location and fancied getting out!

There’s not always going to be a set pattern of birds feeding somewhere. I come across lots of situations that I’ll watch/keep an eye on and decide not to shoot due to no real pattern / lines in. That’s not to say I’ve never set up and been amazed at how things change once you start shooting, but sometimes through experience you get a feeling of what is / isn’t going to shoot well. If you’ve no other options and fancy going, just give it a go and see how it goes!

I think there are a lot of people who like the idea of sitting in a hide shooting at pigeons all day, but quickly realise it’s not quite as easy as that and don’t pursue it as such. I certainly come across plenty of butterfly shooters at times, but none consistently (on the ground I shoot). Which is good for me if I’m honest, as I’m as keen as ever and never tire of it.

Agreed, my parents are both in their 70’s, my Dad nearer 80 but drive locally 99% of the time and are well aware of their limitations so to speak. Making them do a test full of roundabouts / motorways etc would be unnecessary and not a good way of ascertaining them being ‘safe’ on the roads. Whilst I have witnessed older peoples poor standard of driving on occasion, I also witness equally poor driving from younger folk daily (those who can’t reverse / drive erratically etc etc), yet they managed to scrape through their driving test somehow!

I guess that’s probably true MM. There are certainly people that go out in my area but not many that I know of (thankfully) as keen as me or my keeper mate, and he shoots different ground to me albeit not that far away really. Outlet wise, he takes a lot of my pigeons in the feather fresh that I have to drop off after a days shooting and I sell a lot to someone with a lot of ferrets to feed. The keeper processes them himself and gets £1 per bird (2 breasts vacuum packed) so a good little sideline for him really. I went out with him on the same ground this afternoon and between two hides (me and him and his mate in another hide) we accounted for another 250, after which we plucked the feathers off the breasts in the field ready for him to process at his leisure. Not many realise how much work goes into shooting good numbers of pigeons regularly, it’s not just a matter of setting up a hide and away you go is it. As well as the cartridges / time off work I spend a small fortune in fuel driving round looking for them!

They do seem to turn up here occasionally, usually when I’ve been watching a decent field and get there before me. I rarely know who they are so wouldn’t comment on exactly how keen they are, but often don’t see them again. I go out as often as I can and am always looking, the lad I know who’s mad on it is only 30 so not an old boy or anything. He’s got a very large estate to himself though so in a perfect position to be keen and shoots a lot of pigeons. The lack of outlet is a definite issue, and would put a lot of folk off shooting a lot regularly.

Rape acreage down here too, although have seen a fair bit on my travels. What do you put the number chasing pigeons reduced down to, cost? I’ve shot more than ever this year, a keeper invited me out last week and we shot 450 between us……he phoned to say there’s more there than ever still (wants to hit them again). I must admit I don’t know of many others who shoot them in numbers but do see various butterfly shooters from time to time.

The little 28 bore certainly got warm that’s for sure! I’ve not shot that many in such a short space of time before, didn’t really pick up in that time either apart from setting 8 up on cradles as there was just no let up! It’s rare for me to be shooting over old barley stubbles so late too, but these were late combined as such due to wet weather and had gone over in places so more grain left than usual to. Cover crops are more common here now than they used to be, so they spray them off and cultivate those crops ready for spring drilling where you are?