Wilts#Dave

Great stuff. I’ve enjoyed a similar summer where I’ve shot more than I ever have one one particular farm, constant big bags and in general really. I don’t expect to repeat it next year.

Agreed, one of the reasons some of the other chaps who have permission to shoot the ground I do don’t shoot the bags is as you describe they just put a few decoys out and stand in the hedge or behind a bit of net for a few hours. Which is absolutely fine and what they enjoy doing! As you know my Dad is around your age, and he certainly wouldn’t walk half a mile with the kit and carry back 150 pigeons on his own (where like you he would have done 20/30 years ago). He seldom goes out on his own now, but is always with me when I go and enjoys the day as much as the shooting now (and still enjoys driving round scouting for me).

I didn’t, and certainly didn’t intend it to come across that way. You said they don’t decoy here in Essex, to which I responded that I didn’t consider it a poor area in general for pigeons as some shoot thousands there, and said the main reason would likely be what you’ve described at the end of your post, you probably don’t have access to the prime pigeon land that he does. I don’t shoot the numbers he and Paul Payne do either but do make the most of it when there’s plenty to go at, and at the end of the day it’s much easier when there are a lot of pigeons in an area! That said, there are other guys that shoot the farms I do who don’t get the results, for which there are probably multiple reasons. You can only shoot what’s there, so as long as you’re making the most of what’s on offer there’s not much more you can do other than venturing further afield in hope of finding ‘better’ pigeon shooting farms. As you probably know, it’s not an easy sport to pursue and achieve consistent results, I’ve certainly never stopped improving. Over the years my bags have gone up, largely due to the continued growth of knowledge of the ground I have access to where I know pretty much all the best spots/ fields / flightlines and where they’re likely to be and when. I also still get it wrong / get low number days! Primarily for me, it’s down to cropping and when particular crops are grown in certain fields I get much better shooting.

On a busy day, with the exception of drilling they’ll often keep coming regardless of birds on their backs etc. As you say, with lower numbers you’ll have to work a lot harder to get the few there to commit……every day’s different though! Small numbers and harassment/over shot fields are often the biggest factor to them being really wary.

Grouse shooting is a very exclusive bird to shoot and not really comparable to anything else (some seasons they don’t shoot any if the numbers are low), they’ve always been shot by the rich! I must admit, I don’t think of Essex as ‘poor’ pigeon country…..why do you think the likes of Peter Theobold shoot those thousands but you don’t? They’re the same pigeons and get shot at the same. There could be multiple reasons but most likely you just don’t have access to the prime pigeon farms that he does and smaller numbers?

Cracking day! I had a similar one yesterday afternoon and shot 139 in 3 hours with the 28bore and packed in with them still coming. Lots of young birds coming to the decoys also.

To fire the sort of shells I do on a busy day would cost me far more than I could ever afford at driven long tails 🤣 I do enjoy the odd driven days I’ve had, invites mostly but it’s a completely different experience where pulling the trigger and filling the bag like I do on a pigeon day is not the main priority. I wish I could afford to do more if I’m honest, as the winter is often a long one for me with very limited opportunities to get out decoying but it’s just got so expensive now with a young family I just can’t warrant spending the money on it.

Nicely scraped together 👍🏼

They can be really keen to feed on any late cut stubbles you’re fortunate to find / be able to shoot over at the moment…..much less choice now with most fields cultivated! Well done on a very tidy bag, similarly I could have shot more on various days this summer but knew it was pointless as I couldn’t get rid of any more than 200 in one go.

Nice work Daz, found the same here, surprised there’s still pigeons about! Shot some old pea stubble last Friday expecting 50 max and ran out of cartridges on 180!

Hull High Pheasant in 25g 5/6 are a great little shell in the 20 bore, use them in my 28 bore as well and they’re deadly! I also love the RC Sipe 26g for a bit more thump. I must admit I do enjoy using a light small bore gun, totally different to using my heavy 12bore.

Great to hear you’re back in the hide and on form again PC. That shot to kill ratio is more than respectable too, not that it’s a competition and always depend on what you take on / how they commit on the day. I had a similar average yesterday afternoon, a few left in the 150 capacity bag for exactly 100 picked, having to take on testing birds to get the bag. I can only imagine how good it must feel to be back out in the hide after your spell of ill health, long may it continue!

Kind of what I was getting at, I can’t see it being the case and never heard of it being an issue but if so would definitely put me off!

Get yourself a lithium battery, under £100 on eBay with charger and light as a feather. Same size as the 7ah ones but 20ah so lasts a whole session easily.

I’m amazed that it should be ‘standard practice’ to have to surrender your guns/license just because you’re getting divorced, without reasonable grounds to do so.