getthegat

Barley is not mine unfortunately. Think I may only be able to use tall floaters and shells balanced on top if not too windy.

Cool. The particular field I'm watching was hit hard some months back, but recovered very well and in some places is a good 6 feet tall. There are some good size tram lines through it and a nice line of trees on one edge. As all the sewn crop of wheat is well out of the ground after the rain and sun, there's not much else around so I'll keep a close eye on things. Theres also a really good field of barely (not mine) next to the osr, which is well in ear, so that may help pull them to the area as it ripens.

Roughly how long after losing the bright yellow flowers does OSR attract pigeons. Very little on my perms at this time, hoping for some action on a nearby OSR field whilst lock down continues and my work is slow. Cheers. Hope you're all staying safe and sane

Cool. Thanks guys

I had an email from my MP saying I could pest control shoot to protect crops. We had similar numbers on drilled wheat, typically I was working, one guy got over 150 birds one day, talk about hot barrels. By the time I could get out a couple days later, most were gone, I got 6 in 3 hours. Always too late for the party. Cant wait to retire.

,.I'm sure this has been done to death, but in this months Sporting Shooter, it was put forward that one should see the rib of the gun going away from you "like a gradual ski jump". My semi auto fits so that all I see is the bead, apparently this is where the fit is "flat" and as i tend to have the bird in view, so possibly a little above the line of sight, I figure I'm shooting low. If I were to still shoot this way, ie bird in sight, but add a little height to the comb, so that I see a bit of rib, therefore lifting the point of aim slightly, does this seem feasible? My outings can be a bit erratic, some days not bad others pretty poor and the trouble with the poor days is I don't know what is wrong. Any help very much appreciated. Hope you are all keeping safe and staying sane.

My MP said pest control can continue as long as social distancing is adhered to and limited travel. My workshop is in the middle of my perms, so I'm all but there anyway. Got this in an email ie writing. May vary from person to person so can't say this would be ok for everyone

I've emailed my MP now, will let you all know the answer

Well done. Bit of self isolation in the field

They've been drilling by me today and pigeons were on it whilst the tractor was still working in the same field

No, just on the phone. Will try and get in writing

Local MPs office says in theory it's ok to continue with crop protection. It potentially counts as your once a day exercise and in the fields is self isolating.

👍😁

So is crop protection an essential job making it legal to go in the fields by ones self? We're closing the workshop and the missus wont want me around the house while she works from home.

What with some fields down to grass and now some so wet for so long that the farmer is talking about leaving some to fallow, I'm not hopefully of much shooting this coming season. The best I can hope for is a few days on the one and only rso field and maybe some corvid action when the grass is cut. I've also lost one perm due to a change of farmer that rents said land. On the plus side, the fields have an abundance of birds and animals, especially skylark. One field although more like a marsh, has dozens of these lovely enigmatic song birds, that delight in heading skyward like some tiny, colourful, beautifully tuneful helicopter, hovering like no other, dancing and courting and generally showing off their skills. We have foxes in a bale stack, that is also the favourite viewing platform for buzzards. Meanwhile my trigger finger itches and Soph has nothing more interesting to retrieve than a frizby and the last outing ended up as a major ramble, carrying nearly all my kit, moving 4 times and getting one woody for 4 hours of effort.