Wilts#Dave

Same, I really miss my pigeon decoying through the winter…..does mean I end up working five days a week though 😂

I only really shoot pigeons 6 months of the year nowadays but still seem to shoot similar numbers overall. It used to be a much more year round affair which I actually preferred over larger bags condensed into a shorter timeframe

You and me both Daz. I drove round for two hours with my little lad in the back, he fell asleep in the end 😂 I’d love maize strips to go at too, one of the easiest situations to decoy as they’re so concentrated into small areas. I found a few on my travels today but not worth setting up for, smallish flocks with no lines and you just know when you’ll be wasting your time so didn’t bother. I had a bumper summer, last time in the hide in October shot 191 and haven’t had the decoys out since (kept an eye out but very little to find)! Drills have started to roll though so hoping a few may turn up before long.

Watching that video would make any pigeon shooters mouth water, you’re lucky to have those strips to go at! I managed to average over 100 a day last spring/summer on peas, which isn’t the norm for me but purely due to having peas grown in prime fields that attracted good numbers of pigeons throughout…..this year it’s very very unlikely to be the case due to where they’re being planted and the smaller acreage. Make hay while the sun shines and keep at them before they hoover up all the maize on those strips, hope you get plenty more before they do 👍🏼

That’s a crying shame but the walk can certainly be a killer…..not sure how high the rape is there but no chance of driving the tramlines?!

It’s nice to look back sometimes. I shoot much bigger bags on average now than we did back then but go out less often. There are lots of reasons I can think of for this, but obviously all we can all do is make the most of the here and now. If I can manage to provide my children with half the pleasure I’ve had from pigeon shooting in the future I’ll be happy!

My Dad has said the same, he’s been retired for over 10 years now and says how things have changed so much over the years when it comes to where/when we shoot our pigeons. Drillings as you say used to offer some guaranteed shooting but not so much now, as you say due to the modern drills being so much more efficient and burying all the seed. The same goes for the combines in many instances leaving less grain behind. We still shoot good numbers and bigger bags if anything, but much more condensed to 6 months of the year with very few through the winter/early spring. I remember as a young lad some 20/25 years ago shooting lots more on winter rape and drillings but this just doesn’t happen where we are nowadays which is a shame! All largely down to area though as I still see some with good numbers on winter rape and bumper bags on drillings, but not as nationwide as it once was.

If you’re lucky enough to have chopped up maize covers to go at it certainly draws them at this time of year. Nice bag, I’d love a 100 bird day at the moment!

Calling it a hobby doesn’t make it any less important, but that’s essentially what it is for most shooting folk. Certainly agree with the first paragraph, and budget will often dictate what you can and can’t do when it comes to shooting (I mean I’d love to be able to go pheasant shooting regularly etc but just can’t justify the expense, or find a local syndicate as they’re just all closed books / clicks). It’s definitely the hobby that’s has the biggest impact on my life though, I’m never happier than when I’m enjoying time in a pigeon hide and wouldn’t give it up for anything!

Cracking bag Tom. My favourite shooting of all, although I’ve limited opportunity to do it on the farms I shoot over sadly. Great to just turn up with gun and cartridges and get into the action for an hour or so!

Very unlikely they’ll sell off existing stock at old prices! They really shot up at one point, and have continued to do so ever since with no let up…..but it doesn’t seem to deter people which must be why they keep climbing?

It’s a profitable crop to grow if you can grow it and a good break crop so as you say some that haven’t grown it for a while are giving it a go! Hopefully it’ll keep you busy with plenty of shooting. What is strange though is we always used to get reasonable shooting through the winter on rape but now even though it’s still grown, albeit in smaller acreage it just doesn’t attract the pigeons here like it used to. I think they just leave the area through the winter and return in the spring, but obviously I’ll never really know!

Rape crop seems to dwindle year on year here with plenty of failed crops pitting farmers off growing what is a really expensive crop to grow! What I have found is that the fewer fields doesn’t result in more pigeons concentrated in a smaller area, they just mostly disappear through the winter and turn up again in the spring.

A good session under the circumstances, and well done for going and sticking it out! I must admit I’ve had plenty of mornings in the past where I’ve set up in similar conditions and never had a bumper bag, but sometimes when time is limited that’s you only option so better than sitting at home 👍🏼 I’ve yet to get the decoys out this winter, sadly!

Agree, as well as finding them other factors need to go your way. I’ve never shot with anyone else until last October when a keeper I supply with pigeons offered me a day. We had to go when the weather was right, and there was a large number of pigeons using a large block of late cut spring barley stubble so plenty concentrated in an area. It seemed very odd having to set up in a spot I’d not chosen or watched and I was sceptical of the shooting I’d get when he directed me to the far end of the block with no birds on or visible lines in compared with where he set up, but he assured me he thought I’d get some sport there and I did. He did have a lot more shooting than me for the first few hours but I plugged away and had some great sport in the latter part of the afternoon where it tailed off for him and hotted up for me and finished on 191 and him/his friend in their hide 245. He’d done his homework and knew there was a large volume of birds with no other choice at the time than where we were, and it worked a treat. I shot with him a week later in the same hide together and his friend shot my hide position, with him shooting 145 to our 100 which just goes to show how every day is different. It’s a hobby like no other in my opinion, and certainly requires a lot of time / experience if you want to shoot good bags regularly.