Fellside

I’m definitely not taking sides hear - but I think HantsRob was just trying to help you understand how it could be taken out of context. Helpful advice is the way I read it.

Indeed.

Unless there is a ‘derogation’ for the 410…..?! This has been mooted as a strong possibility. My crystal ball is a little bit cloudy on this one however. We’ll have to keep our fingers crossed.

They had a lot of trouble cycling when first introduced. Last I heard the importer stopped selling them. Weather it’s been sorted out or not I can’t honestly say.

I have the Seeland one recommended above. Very good indeed. None of them are completely ‘wind proof’ as such, but with a lining under the outer fabric, offer greater protection against a cold blast.

Precisely this. I’ve been shooting pigeons for more years than I dare to remember, but they still hold a sense of mystery and surprise at times.

Thank you 👍

Thanks for the comments folks - interesting to learn of other people’s experiences.

I’ve had them land right beside the flapper and just sit there looking at it. Honestly never seen them noticeably spooked by it. Had more variable reaction with a magnet, sometimes pulling them in from a long way off and they commit. Other times they almost come to within shot, then flare off like a scolded cat, seemingly terrified. So much unpredictable behaviour. Sometimes there are obvious answers and yet at other times this great enigmatic bird just baffles us. I suppose that’s all part of the charm and fascination. Why they were so committed to 2 heaps of dead birds…….? Who will ever know?

😆 No London.

My wand occasionally needs a little extra magic from Harry Potter.

🤣😂 Yes indeed - fairground in a field. Like it. I only use one flapper these days . That’s the nearest I get to a ‘fairground’.

Last week I set up on some late spring barley stubble. The last field in my area to be harvested. There was a great background for the hide - in the form of a thick riverside wood. It was shadowy and shaded from the sun, perfect. After quickly setting up the hide, I placed out my usual ‘starter’ pattern of 18 decoys arranged in a loose ‘u’ shape. This normally works perfectly well to get things going. I only had 3 hours to shoot as other duties would drag me away. After all the dashing about I settling in to my hide seat and stared out at an empty blue sky, a vast carpet of golden stubble and the high sides of a pretty valley. It was great just to be out there. After 5 minutes of anticipation a cautious first bird circled twice before finally presenting as a long crosser out beyond the decoys. Not committed but in range. Fortunately I hit him. I was keen to use it for my flapper - to get some movement going. With this marvellous little device working well, it pulled in a few more high passing birds. The birds weren’t decoying well however - lured but not really going for it. While I was certainly under a flight line, they had their long haul suitcases packed and were heading somewhere else! I didn’t mind too much as this made for great challenging shots when (and if!) they did turn off course to investigate. I certainly witnessed their best airborne acrobatics shall we say, helped by the wind. Half an out before the final whistle I had managed about 20 birds, which I was more than happy with, especially as the shooting had been exhilarating at times. Here’s the strange thing however. After bringing my car back from the far field corner, I started packing up and went through my usual routine of gathering the shot birds in to loose heaps of 10, ready to lift in to my vehicle. So I had 2 heaps. The ‘U’ shape of plastic shell backs were still out. There was also an odd shot feral lying about. Then suddenly as I was just about to gather the first few plastic decoys, pigeons began trying to land near me while I was pottering about in the field. With just a few minutes left before I really had to dash off, I quickly parked the car along the field edge, and jumped back in to the hide. In the few remaining minutes, I shot a further 10 birds. These weren’t the former long tricky shots at birds not decoying well. They were trying to land near (or even on) the 2 heaps of dead birds….! Some of these dead birds were of course randomly lying belly up, usually considered a big no no. It leads me to ponder, ‘are we overthinking our decoy layouts’? In all my years I’ve never seen such a sudden switch of commitment - especially to 2 heaps of dead birds…..?!

Not my view BTW. It’s just what the general opinion is outside the UK. Beyond our shores there doesn’t seem to be a perceived need for fibre…. which I have always found odd. Like so many here, I use nothing but fibre these days, for clays also.

Couldn’t agree more. If they were to observe a typical UK game shooting day - it would leave them in no doubt as to the efficiency of fibre.

The world outside of the UK has (mostly) used plastic since it was available. It’s only our precious little sceptered isle where fibre is so prevalent in the countryside - as we don’t like flinging plastic across our fields. This is often seen as a quirky Brit’ thing abroad - and there is often a view that fibre cart’s are ballistically hopeless…….?!

Fair point re various interpretations by different constabularies. This is clearly a broken system in urgent need of repair (or redesign). I think most would acknowledge that. However firearms use near roads is covered by the 1980 Highways Act if anyone is interested (?). The section on firearms is very clear and unambiguous - worth a look.

No, no you can’t rush things! There needs to be much more prevarication and vaguely related chat……😄 These are the interesting bits.

Good points re minimising suffering. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is picking up wounded quarry quickly. I find this to be extremely important to prevent unnecessary suffering. It is for this reason I always pick up flighted ducks as they’re shot and not at the end of the session. It also helps if pickers-up on driven shoots are placed well back where the pricked birds plane in, rather than just behind the guns. The dead stuff lying behind the guns can wait till last. There are many other examples, but essentially it’s important to pick up quickly with a good experienced dog and a handler that lets their dog work. I appreciate this is digressing from the OPs original question….so…..guns and cartridges for high stuff: for me this would be a 12 gauge O/U with 32 grams of UK 5 shot. For more ordinary birds: just about anything the user feels happy with, but UK 6s seem to work well. However, I’m sure there are as many opinions as there are shotgunners.

My experience: I have always had positive dealings with GMK.

Indeed.

There’s bias journalism - and then sometimes plainly divisive lying. This one is very much the latter.

Your friends didn’t know until you told them - now they know. That’s how single interest networks function and that’s how most people find out. Good on you - for doing your bit! As many of the gun shops are on it too, it’s difficult to imagine folk not knowing. Perhaps a few cave dwellers….. 🙂. I have told several in my personal network and some have / haven’t bothered. You can lead a horse to water……… etc.

Your little friend looks pleased with the result - nice looking spaniel. Well done.

Based on the generally acknowledged number of 600,000 licence holders, this represents a 13.666% response. Very good compared to the usual 1 - 2% survey response, but it beggars belief that over 86% have not got off their backside!!!