Wilts#Dave
-
Posts
994 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Calendar
PW Shop
Posts posted by Wilts#Dave
-
-
I wouldn't put shot birds in any sack before I was packing up to go home....they will get far too hot bunched up in a sack all afternoon in my opinion. I always try and lay them out somewhere near the hide in the shade, face down and not piled on top of one another.
-
Bags of 61/37/27 on flattened barley over the last month. Bags of 106/101 over this weekend on rape stubble
New total 6,804
-
Thanks for the replies already, and Stuy.....fingers crossed for you tomorrow let us know how you get on, the sun comes back out!!
I might even get out again tomorrow too all being well, can't beat stubble when it comes to pigeon shooting...makes a change not having to lug gear for miles!
-
200 pigeons before lunch time....amazing bag mate, very envious too!!
I've never tried the 5-6am start, especially at at this time of year as always found the best sport to be had after midday (that and I don't like early mornings) so very impressed!
-
If space allows you need to be looking at buying a decent sized chest freezer that will hold 2-300 if needed. A game dealer is unlikely to want to come and collect 50 unfortunately but if you saved up a couple of hundred more likely to do so, hassle free then
Pubs etc tend to want them fresh and usually breasted or plucked in my experience. -
Hi guys. Not posted on here for a good few months now but finally back with something to write about at last!
I'd written my first couple of reports back in march/april time when pickings were really slim on the drillings, and unfortunately following an eye operation in April I was unable to shoot for the following 2 months which was bloody frustrating to say the least. Anyway, a temporary pair of 'special glasses' later I gave clay shooting a go and was pleasantly surprised to be busting them pretty much as I used to so all that was needed were some pigeons to shoot at again for the acid test!!
The first opportunity was gained over some flattened barley with dads 20 bore which we always use on that crop, killing them closer than we normally would so as to give us the best chance of picking the birds. 37 was the result, with another field less than a mile from home a couple of weeks later yielding 61.....confidence back, I'm now firmly back in the saddle and thinking about the next opportunity as usual and the thought of stubble and the 12 bore again (having free reign to shoot at more birds)
The barley where I shot the 37 was cut last weekend, and a chance to get on the field on the monday afternoon left me feeling hopeful that we'd be knocking up a decent bag. Sadly things didn't go quite according to plan, with the baler in the next field when we arrived and subsequently tractors and trailers turning up to follow behind him picking up the bales! Despite that, they'd told us we had a good few hours before they'd be in our field so we stuck it out and ended up with 27 and some cracking long shots to get even more confidence back....the flight simply dried up due to the machinery all around but was just nice to be out on some stubble again!
This brings me on to yesterday with another hurried morning at work so I could get back and head out with Dad and the gun again in the afternoon, this time on rape stubble for the first time this year. Dad had seen the two fields cut on the Tuesday and a following visit on the Wednesday saw some traffic using the field (but only in the distance on the next field over). Anyway that was enough for us to decide to load the kit up and make it our first port of call yesterday afternoon hoping no one had got in there first!
WOW....finally what I was waiting for, turned into the gateway and it was immediately obvious the pigeons were there in good numbers and after watching for quarter of an hour there was a good flight emerging so a quick phone call later and Dad could give the thumbs up. Picking a spot just inside the second field over where the bulk of the birds seemed to be favouring, annoyingly the wind direction wasn't in our favour for wind our back so we ended up picking a spot with the wind coming across the right hand side of the hide. With no dead birds defrosted the trusty hypaflaps were loaded onto the magnet and 5 flock coated shells out, Dad did the usual drive round to put the birds up before parking up.....was shocked to see how many birds were on the fields undisturbed by us in the first place, and I brought down 4 pigeons in quick succession before he'd even got back! The hypaflaps swapped for birds and following another couple the decoys replaced with dead birds on cradles I was hoping to get the birds coming in better. Frustratingly though the birds just weren't keen to commit, despite several attempts at pattern alterations etc but plenty of flighting shots were there so made the best of it and pulled down some belters!! As the afternoon wore on and 3.30 passed more birds started to decoy and the bag started to grow, with the last hour (5.30-6.30) bringing 25-30 birds down in a final flurry.
In my opinion, with the amount of birds in the air, the bag would have been significantly higher had the wind been different and the birds decoyed better early on but even so I was over the moon with the shooting I had with the sporting shots and was so relieved when I counted that 100th bird into the sack, finishing up with 106 thus giving us our first tonne of the year
It's been a really lean year in terms of numbers round here but fingers crossed there's a few more days like this to come over the next month or two. I can't finish off without thanks to Dad once again, as in all fairness I really am so lucky to have my own 'guide/spotter', we make a great team!
Thanks for reading!!
-
good write up,fingers crossed your Dad nails a few soon...
I hope he does to or I'll be forced to start sharing the shooting with him when we're out again haha, but our next day out I'm going to insist that he uses his gun as well! He always brings it but tends to just say 'there's not enough coming in for both of us, you carry on'. We've been shooting together for 20 years and he's never been selfish in the hide (even when I was getting a ####ing for missing too many), hopefully I'll have a son of my own one day and carry on the tradition!
-
Once again, really chuffed to get the replies I am from you guys.....I've not got many friends that are 'shooters' so to speak so don't get to bore many people with the details of my main (and favourite) hobby! It's great to be able to share my experiences with fellow pigeon shooters and subsequently read about other peoples days/experiences/tips etc
-
Nice bag there, enough to keep you going for the afternoon!
I must agree with JDog's comment above too, don't think I've ever had a ratio of that for the amount of pigeons you shot and I consider myself a fair shot....great shooting mate
-
Hi again everyone!
Another afternoons pigeon shooting on Saturday so thought another write up in order, as whilst we're getting a few I better make the most of it!
After last weeks modest bag on some newly acquired bean drilling, dad thought it worth checking again prior to the weekend in case the birds were still feeding on it, and to our delight there was still enough activity to warrant defrosting 2 pigeons for the magnet on Friday night.
05/04/2014
Another breezy day so that was the first bonus, and secondly the wind coming from the right way to be in our backs when we set up so onto the field for midday again where there were birds already on the field, albeit not in big numbers but I'm yet to see a proper 'blue' field this year where birds are pouring in and you get that feeling 100+ might be on the cards (annoyingly) !!
We'd already decided last weeks spot was still looking favourable so out went the magnet and time to sit and wait. Less than five minutes saw a pair of birds down, but the action was very slow for the first 2 hours really with us both thinking we may have pushed our luck thinking we were going to get into double figures even.
As 3 o clock came round though birds just seemed to appear and a steady flight right up until 4.30 brought us some good action, with a mixture of decoying and flighting pigeon to keep me on my toes.
Dad had let me do all the shooting once again (for which I can't say how grateful I am), fingers crossed he gets a good day midweek very soon when he goes out on his own as the last two visits for him have only produced a 1 and an 8 (very unlucky)!
There didn't seem to be anything like the number of pigeons around as last week but when I counted up to my surprise there was 37 in the sack so almost the same as the previous outing...result!
Still only modest bags I know, but all good practise for the next red hot opportunity which I keep wondering where will be.
Several of our permissions how now drilled their peas over the weekend so they will be the focus of our attention next, 2 fields of which I did a quick recce on the way home tonight to see a large flock on one and a handful on the other.....maybe they'll build up, and maybe we'll get there first (everyone and their dog will be looking on them though) haha!!! There's also a 'guide' that seems to appear every year for the peas/stubble with an army of foreigners to ruin at least one or two days we line up which is frustrating to say the least, but must happen to everyone at some point?!
Anyway, thanks again for reading
-
Another 37 off the same drillings as last week!
Total 2802
-
Sounds like a great way to spend the afternoon none the less, 20's not so bad either! Sounds like you were just a little unlucky someone else had got in there beforehand and had the best of it.....happens to everyone!!
Nice offer from JDog too
-
40 on drilled Beans last saturday
2626
-
As already said there is differing opinions on this one.....personally I find more often than not dead birds on their backs can make some birds flare off as they come towards the pattern so will pick those as soon as there is a lull in the action.
But as also said some days they'll come in no matter how many dead birds are strewn everywhere, belly up or not so very much depends on the day and how they're decoying to decide what's best.
I'll always go out and replace the decoys with the first dozen pigeons I shoot though, as I find the dead birds make a big difference to how confidently the pigeons decoy.
-
Good effort. Remember that bean field for next October.
Yes definitely be keeping an eye on the field when the beans are cut, especially as there are very few fields of beans in the area, hoping the rape surrounding it will produce some sport when it's harvested too!
-
Thanks for the positive replies once again guys....I've been shooting with Dad for nearly 20 years now so we're a pretty good team when it comes to pigeon shooting!!
Waiting for the peas to be drilled now and keep everything crossed we get a bit more sport over those
-
Great afternoons sport there mate, I'm not too far from you but no one's drilled their peas yet where I am.....be well happy if the numbers you saw turn up here as we had two cracking 80 odd bird days last year on pea drillings, not sure it will be the same this time!
Bet you went away well chuffed
-
Cracking bag and read mate, bag of 80 can't be bad especially at the moment....nice one!!
-
Nice bag
! -
Hi again everyone!
Having only recently joined the forum and doing my first write up soon after, I was chuffed at the prospect of being able to do report number 2, obviously needing to find a few birds again which has still been proving difficult!
Anyway, with a fair bit of drilling already having been and gone with no sign of pigeon activity Dad had been keeping an eye on a block of rape that seemed to be drawing a few birds...although last weekend he mentioned there was a fair few pitched on the cultivated ground next to it (with no visible seed apparent assumed it hadn't ye been drilled). However the 2 fields turned out to have been drilled with beans, which was obviously why the birds had been drawn away from the neighbouring rape. This was last Sunday so we were hopeful there might still be enough activity this weekend to make it worthwhile setting up.....a reconnaissance (again by Dad) visit on Friday and with pigeons still in the area we decided to give it a shot the next day
29/03/2014
With a nice strong wind blowing conditions were good, and on arrival at midday with 50-100 birds lifting from the 2 fields it was time to reach for the binoculars and work out the favoured field and subsequent setup position (the hardest part in my opinion).
The furthest and smaller field won out, and with the wind in our backs hoped the birds would cross that field anyway even if they were on the way to the field behind.
Travelling light due to the walk we took just the magnet with 2 dead birds for our initial setup with the trusty 10 cradles to set up a pattern if things went to plan and we actually shot any!
After knocking down 2 early visitors the initial flurry of returning birds weren't about to decoy so a few hurried shots brought no more birds down.....however as we hoped, as we eventually managed to build up a pattern and get all the cradles out the birds behaved much more amicably and the bag grew slowly but surely, with more birds arriving as the afternoon wore on. After calling time and emptying the gun I spotted a lone pigeon floating straight into the decoys so a quick fumble and just one shell loaded was enough to give me one last bird (thank god I hit it)!
Hardly a red letter day but we were well chuffed when close of play at 4.30 there was exactly 40 in the bag with one dropping out of reach in the far hedge and 3 rooks/one jackdaw paying the price too! Empty cartridge count was 83.
Some cracking long crossers, birds flaring away on the wind and two doubles it wasn't just suicidal 20 yard pigeons dropping in like stones which always leaves me going away quietly satisfied that it's been a real sporting day
Once again I have to give the biggest praise to Dad who never fails to come up trumps in finding the opportunities in the first place, I'm very lucky in that respect as whilst I sometimes spot initial birds/fields, due to my work restraints just don't have the time to do proper reconnaissance.
That just leaves me wondering, as always, where the next bag will come from?!
Thanks for reading, and as always comments welcome!
-
Thanks again for the replies everyone, I enjoyed writing the first report so just waiting for an excuse to write up another now
!!! -
Dave, you did well on finding some pigeons, not that many in North Wiltshire were im at.
Thanks, pickings are slim on our permissions too in all fairness.....these have been our only days this year so far and were hard earned days in a spot you wouldn't expect to shoot any! Dad had a somewhat modest bag of 8 yesterday on a field of drilled beans that looked promising the day before only to be a letdown on the day so fingers crossed another decent opportunity arises soon eh!!
Have you been out lately?
-
Sounds to me like they're just too young and not physically strong enough to be clayshooting properly, and whilst it's fun having a go as they are I wouldn't waste too much time and money finding a gun that they can manage just now, as before you know it they will have grown out of it! What they're doing now with assistance is all helping with their gun handling skills anyway.
I was using my dads beretta o/u 020 bore when I was 12/13 and before that a bolt action 4.10....only my opinion but I would wait till they can manage a lightweight 20bore with light load/shorter stock, I could never hit anything flying consistently with the 4.10 as they are so hard to shoot with but the very first time I used the 20 bore was hitting close decoying pigeons with some regularity, and being that bit heavier the recoil is negligible too with a 21/24 gram shell.
-
After setting up on wrong field then moving finally setting up at 12 managed to bag 70 .And a nice day to be out shot terrible to start with lack of pigeons recently my excuse should have been a ton.But just nice to have been out with the weather so good for a change
70 on rape setting up at midday, fantastic bag mate
!!
Plastic or fibre wad
in Talk From The Field
Posted
Fibre wad for me, used to be sceptical of their performance over plastic but since making the swap realised it's made no difference whatsoever to the long range kills I get!