Gas seal

Hi Sweet11-87 the daily routine of pigeons in the summer months will be breeding. Feeding time will be when they change over sitting eggs the same as other birds. When I shoot pigeons in June and July there must be many thousands of pigeons sitting on eggs somewhere unseen and not counted. When they change over sitting eggs or squabs is when you will see pigeons flighting straight to one field to feed, just like a racing pigeon flying home. This is the time you will notice a lot of pigeons have gone from the area as they go back to the nest to take over the nest. No decoys or gadgets will deter these birds flying back and to the nest from their flight lines. This is the time of the year a large percentage of woodpigeon won’t be seen at all , one of them will be sitting eggs. When I kept pigeons I’m sure it was the hen birds that stayed with the nests the longest and at night. The pigeons will be with the nest until the squabs have enough feathers, about six weeks in total before they will be left alone. I’ve shot woodpigeon for over sixty years and I don’t think anyone has asked about the routine of woodpigeon before. It’s the right question . I’ve been asked many times where have all these pigeons come from or where have they gone.

Hi spanj . Woodpigeon are protected by law. A wildlife management license is required to kill them or destroy the eggs and or nests. The Secretary of State will issue licences as (recommended ) by English Nature. The licences were revoked not long ago, so they must exist.

Hi Old’un I think it’s relevant how many people were shooting, how many guns were confiscated , gun license and ammunition. If paying or taken who is responsible . I didn’t say it was illegal to sell pigeon shooting. if paying it’s business . The owner can sort it. If it’s recreational and they are members of a shooting organisation they will ask them to sort it. The GL is a license to kill pigeons. Without the relevant licence they would have been arrested. If any pigeon shooters in the country were ever taken to court for killing pigeons they would have to rely on the relevant licence. I couldn’t see anything to say that the police were in or out of order. Hi manthing the GL is a license it says so on the top of the first page. Pigeons can’t be shot without a licence. As a pigeon shooter I am very interested in the facts of what happened in the field along with a lot of shooters who use a license. Hi scully yes it would be a nightmare. I shoot over farms in a very urban areas and I get along without calling police stations in different district’s to explain where I will be shooting and at what time from and until.

Hi maybe the film makers would know what happened in the field. A man was pigeon shooting with his friends, how many friends, where they paying for the shooting if so who was in charge. They need a license for the guns and a licence to kill the pigeons, a complaint was made and the guns were taken from them. If the law was broken ignorance is no excuse. The film maker says that they were legally shooting pigeons. The question I would ask is when did this happen and are they still legally shooting pigeons if not why. A solicitor would soon sort it out for them.

Not a lot of information just police stop (legal ) pigeon shoot on a u tube film. No reason why the guns were confiscated. Was ammunition, other guns or certificates confiscated. Did they borrow buy or use another shot gun to carry out the legal pigeon shooting. The field looks out in the sticks to me away from the public.

Hi Holloway I’ve been phasing out plastic wads in 28 gauge for about four years now. I made my own wads for non lead cartridges. I have loaded non lead in 12 gauge with commercial cardboard wads and my friend made cardboard wads for his muzzle loader for bismuth shot. Single use plastic will soon be a thing of the past along with lead shotgun pellets. None lead cartridges are available in other countries for all gauge of shotguns and all gauge of shotguns are available in steel proof. Cartridges are going to cost more including reloading if some shooters won’t shoot steel because it will damage the gun barrel or it’s not good enough the alternative cartridges will cost them a lot more.

Hi Fargo thanks for the information on your steel cartridges. The wads I use to reload will hold 15 grams of steel number 6 shot or 19 grams of steel 6 shot.(I weighed the shot. ) I also use 20 gauge steel cartridges with bio wads the price is now about £400 per 1000. Bio wads for non lead cartridges have been used for about 20 years in reloaded and commercial cartridges. The cost of shooting is going up for all of us.

Hi squirrel and muncher try Gemini chokes Italy . They make Baikal 20gauge chokes. I have bought 20 and 28 gauge steel chokes from them about five years ago. I’ve not had any problems with them using steel pellets.

Hi not only the numbers wildfowl allowed to be shot but the number of wildflowers allowed to be out shooting them. Pheasants kept in a pen are livestock, to be released or if they escape within 500 metres from the boundary of European sites a licence is required because they are classed as none native animals under the 1981 wildlife act. In the wild they are covered by the 1831 game act. If caught from the wild it’s back to livestock. The Secretary of State is to review the operation and effectiveness of the license and is required to publish a report before 30th May 2024. Will his report cover none native animals, livestock, or game birds. The license to kill game has been abolished should the game laws be changed or abolished.

Hi I’m not member of an effected shoot I have no interest in driven game shooting.I know that game birds are livestock when they are kept in pens. It states this on GL42. If hundreds of thousands game birds aren’t released into the countryside it will have a major impact on the wildlife predators and scavengers that feed on them . No roadkill as happened overnight when rabbits disappeared. I noticed less magpies in the fields and more corvids around farmyards, and more in town. Predators and scavengers will only breed when a food supply is available. Or move to another food supply. One in four game birds are lost each season .hundreds of thousands not released is a lot of food for other wildlife one way or another. It’s not just the shooting effected it’s also the environment.

Hi yes what are the illegal actions. Game birds in captivity are livestock not wild birds. Will they be protected under the 1830 game act in captivity as well as the animal welfare act . How many birds could be culled , who would cull them. How long are they allowed to be in captivity for.

Hi would it be against the law regarding the 1831 game act for killing game out of season,

Hi I have loaded steel in 28 gauge for many years. The load I have used is 15 grams of 6 shot or 16 grams of 4 shot . In .410 10 grams of steel 6 or 7 shot. 21 grams of steel shot is a lot for a 28 gauge l couldn’t get 21 grams of steel 4 shot in any wads that I use for steel in 28 gauge . 21 grams of steel 4 will take up more space than 21 grams of 6 shot. More steel shot cartridges are now available with bio wads in 12 gauge and 20 gauge. The US have different types of non lead cartridges in 28 gauge and.410 .

Hi the “quite lovely English gun “ should have instructions regarding cartridges stamped on the barrels, the cartridges should have instructions on the packaging. Guns made in the U.K. and elsewhere are now available steel shot proof. Some guns are stamped with read the manual before using. I’ve seen gun barrels damaged before steel cartridges were used . I don’t know anything about the man who wrote the story but it’s the man in charge of the gun that broke it. if someone was injured when using the wrong ammunition it would be the user who would be responsible not the gun or cartridges manufacturers. A cartridge not suitable for a gun will damage the gun and anyone nearby, it’s common sense , myth busters have done lots of testing with firearms showing this in slow motion. We all use guns, lovely or throw away, most of us know how to load them correctly. Yes it’s reads like another advertisement. Anyone know what a throw away gun is.

Hi l loaded cartridges in 8gauge itm with the cardboard wads from Ian Charton about 15 years ago for a friend. The power l used was AO and blue dot and CSBO . I have data for hevi shot with cardboard wads but with A-381 l don’t think it’s available now. You can have the data if it’s any good for you. I only loaded bismuth in the 28 gauge.

Hi l know it’s going of the topic of 22 bullets . The oldest ringed woodpigeon was 17 years 8 months 19 days in 1999. I have shot ringed woodpigeons from 353 days to 1476 days from ringed in the nest. There is a non lead alternative for 22 bullets and pellets on another topic, the name doesn’t sound non toxic but it looks promising. I hope they do well with the new material.

Hi we have 5 million pairs of woodpigeon that’s 10 million birds with a 3 year average lifespan. How many are found dead. 50 million game birds released in a year 25% 12.5 million disappear before they are old enough to shoot how many are found apart from the ones squashed on the roads, and they are gone in an hour or so, cleaned up by corvids that die in large numbers each year. How many other birds fall dead each year .If ingested lead isn’t deadly to birds why is anything shot with lead never fed to birds of prey. I’ve asked this before and no one has answered. Maybe the falconers I know are just fussy about what they feed to their birds.

Hi thanks for the information regarding your new shot it’s very interesting . I didn’t mean that you didn’t do any testing of your shot.

Hi well done with your shot development. If the shot and commercial loaded cartridges perform better than similar cartridges it will sell itself. Yes this is a pigeon shooting website as a reloader it’s very interesting, considering not long ago we had (no )alternative to lead pellets. It’s all about testing and facts and figures. If it’s available for reloading l can see wildfowlers putting it to the test 50 meters + as they do with any new shot. Could you please give information about the shot size in mm and a shot count for 28grams . It would be a bit expensive for pest control shooting and I’m not sure if pigeons would be taken by the animal feed industry. It seems that you have the answer to non lead and non plastic wad cartridges. Good luck with your new product.

Hi the same questions and uncertainty about killing pigeons 10years on. We have the GL42 it’s issued by the Secretary of State (to prevent serious damage) .That’s the only reason it can be relied on in a court of law. in the late 90s it was the open general licence issued by the department of the environment, transport and regions for England,under the 1981 wildlife and countryside act, different departments for the rest of the country. Not many people new of the license, just thought pigeon were to be shot anywhere anytime. A lot of shooters still think like this and there is the problem. The police may not know of the General Licence but if they receive a report about firearms they will investigate. It will be the cps and wild Justice lawyers that will know the law . We have a licence and we don’t have to apply for it, as often said we don’t know were we were born. All the questions seem to be about the conditions of the licences and not the reason for using the licence. If the licences have any grey areas or loopholes wild Justice would be challenging them in court. Even BASC wrote of the grey areas of the old licences in the BASC magazine’s , that would have been the time to change them before wild justice were even thought of.

Hi Graylag I just noticed I wrote that we got a five pounds reward for the pigeons, it was five Bob a half crown each. There must be a lot of lost racing pigeons out there.

Hi Graylag defra will have legislation regarding racing pigeons and having pigeons and other birds together.l know that they were allowed to fly for a short time each day. I see what you mean about releasing pigeons and game birds. I kept racing pigeons in the early 60s and sometimes lots of pigeons got lost in bad weather some valuable birds lost. We had two in the loft that wouldn’t leave and my friend reported them a man collected them and gave us five pounds. We were told to give lost pigeons food water and rest and release them away from the loft. This is why some pigeons arrive days after they were released. Some big prize money in pigeon racing. Any pigeons with metal rings are someone’s property. It’s even on BASC website. Hi dichman it may have been a different story if it was Armando the Belgian racing pigeon you shot . The owner wouldn’t be happy. l wish I had birds like that when I kept them. My friend from Southern Ireland would go to auctions for pigeons. Some of them cost a lot of money. I wonder how many feral pigeons in town have blue blood and were worth a fortune at one time.

The man broke the law and was fined a lot of other people would have been fined on the same day. He didn’t have a licence to kill the woodpigeon so he got fined for the offence. It would be under the wildlife and countryside act. when he pays his fine that’s it just like any one who got fined. I was shooting woodpigeon on standing wheat fields this week I used a licence and I didn’t break the law .with the game bird release licence revoked and the firearms consultation to complete it’s not good timing. A lot of things to do regarding all types of shooting .

Hi he wasn’t prosecuted for killing the birds of prey, for possession of them. He was prosecuted for killing the woodpigeon. He pleaded guilty to 19 (counts) including firearms offences. He didn’t have the book thrown at him he hit himself with it. Last year another game keeper was convicted from the same area for killing birds of prey and firearms offences. These people aren’t made of Teflon and anything wasn’t thrown at them to see if it would stick. Well done to the people who brought them to justice. I bet no shooting folks were involved in catching them.

All the reasons to kill a woodpigeon and a man was prosecuted for killing one. It wasn’t one of our local air gun lads sneaking along the hedges after rabbits and shot a pigeon it was a game keeper and his lawyer who couldn’t give any of the reasons that have ever been talked about on this website.