pigeon controller

B_B had one in his bag yesterday, report to follow when time permits.

Well done, it helps if you can move the birds to each other . Looking at the size of fields you have the curvature of the earth comes into force a bit of a change not our pocket size Warwickshire fields. Again well done and thanks for posting.

Not sure but that was the request.

Following Bunny_Blasters return to the UK his farmer contacted him regarding my previous visit asking could he shoot on Tuesday as the birds were still on his seeded pasture. As he was at work he asked if I could step up and attend on his behalf, not one to refuse an excuse to shoot I agreed before the words came down the phone. His only stipulation was that he had a request for ten to fifteen carrion crows. I arrived at the field at approx 09.00 and it had a nucleus of approx 100 corvids all bunched in the centre of the field, the wind was a cold north-easterly so I set up at the far end of the field with the wind coming over my right shoulder. As we had a few pigeons flighting the field but no alighting I put out six thawed birds on spikes and twelve corvids to my right into the wind and waited. The corvids came back quiet quickly and I lost a good number to the field behind me which was tall meadow grass but not my permission with a footpath running behind my hide. The pigeon frequency increased but they would not decoy but followed the tree line down the edges of the field. As this is Bens shoot I did not target the birds but concentrated on the corvids. Ben popped in to see me after work and collected the requested carrions , I’d managed to get the 15 his customer had requested. At this point the amount of pigeons increased flying over the field and he went off to investigate the local area ,I settled back in the hide but the number of birds reduced just as if they had been lifted off one field and they had now returned. I packed up at 17.00 with the total for the day being seventyfive corvids ( including the 15 BB took) six woodpigeons. Thanks to Ben for another interesting days shooting.

Great result from a farmers request, I understand the reason for the lay out well done. Still no numbers in the Midlands, DB delivered ten to me tonight from just walking round a farm and shooting birds breaking from trees spooked by his dogs.

No problem, thank you.

While walking the dog along the canal yesterday and with him running up and down the banks he disrupted a few nesting pigeons which I hit every one in my mind. I then had a text from Bunny_Blaster who is on holiday in Spain. A farmer had contacted him regarding some direct drilled barley and peas which are being hit by the local corvids, he requested if I could contact the farmer and help out. It was 09.02 so we walked back the two miles to sort the gear out. First job was to find some corvids and pigeons and put them out into the sun to thaw. Rushing around in the garage to sort out cartridges, no magnet or flapper so no battery just back to basics. Ben text me the field to be shot and I had a look on Google Earth so I had an idea of where I was going ,drink and off. I arrived at the field at approx 11.00 phoned the farmer and left a message as it would appear that he had three fields all sprayed off and direct drilled but not a bird on any. I parked up and walked the field , it had green clover, drilled barley and peas on the surface. To me it was an ideal pigeon field, but nothing . As I walked back to the car a tractor came down the lane and turned into another field. I walked across and it was the farmer. We walked back to the field I had parked in and he said it was covered this morning when he took his son to school but nothing now. I agreed to set up as I had seen a couple of jackdaws flight between to Oak trees and he left. It was very hot with a slight breeze in the centre of the field but nothing on the edges due to the trees and hedges. I put out six frozen pigeons at about forty yards out towards the centre of the field to catch a little wind and six corvids fifty yards to my right at the base of an Oak tree, the idea being that they would concentrate on the decoys and pass my hide without spooking. I was shooting 28gram 71/2 steel in case the pigeons came but realised in my haste to leave the house had take 32gram 5s Fiocchi which have a habit of not ejecting from my Beretta I did have some Proper Cartridges 32gram 6s in lead for the corvids. First birds in were jackdaws and flew exactly where I wanted them to be out of the sun, this went on for the first hour ,all corvids. Then high pigeon came over the first shot hit the tail the second did the business, he went out on a flying frame as did the next carrion crow. After about two hours the farmer drove up to see how I was going on and took half a dozen birds to lay out on the other fields, he seemed happy with my results so far. The day progressed well with the exception of loading lead in the gun and then seeing a pigeon make for the decoys and having to swop to steel and then shooting two Fiocchi carts and having to ram rod them out with a fibreglass rod. I got to about 17.30 and did a mental count up and thought I had shot 90 corvids so I had to make it up to the ton this took me to 18.10 and the farmer turned up with his son to see the result and they helped me collect the birds to lay them out . The total for the day was 113 corvids 10 bonus pigeons and a dove which must have caught a ricochet from a hit bird!!!

I had a good drive around on Tuesday and did not find a flightline. I managed to find approx 100 acres of peas about four inches high, no birds but lots of gas guns!!!!! I found another large acreage of direct drilled peas completed on Monday and all over the surface, no birds and with the very hot weather I doubt they will germinate on the surface. The barley on some farms is very tall with large heads so I’m hoping we will get some heavy rain to knock it down but still no birds visible. I managed two pigeons last week and four rats in my cage traps under the wife’s bird feeder.

The lunatics have taken over the Asylum , it’s historical, are we going to rewrite our language seek damages from the Italians (Romans) and other nations who changed our culture and Language

Well done, I like your policy of " See them ,Shoot them" but you must keep secret the beet decoy on your magnet?? A good report of a good days decoying. thanks for posting, I'm hoping that once they leave the buds we will start to see some bags being shot all over the country.

We have so many illegal plates in Brum, just not spaced correctly to spell names.I’m sure you could employ a number of people and they would be self financing.

Well done B_B well worth the time you spend looking at fields and the temptation of rushing on to the field. You spent time looking for the point the birds wanted to be and set up and achieved the success you deserve. Peas as you know can be a draw to pigeons during their entire growth so fill your boots.

We have had two broods on the canal so far this year.

Interesting concept, silent and deadly

Nice to see that you have been able to venture out between showers?? A great result with your limited cartridges, well done. Thanks for posting.

I have always stood to shoot from the hide.

I had a further invite from Bunny_Blaster to shoot the same field of rape I shot last week the area that the pigeons frequent is a thinly seeded section close to one edge of the field. I set up with just two thawed birds for the magnet which was a gamble, it was now 10.30 and within thirty minutes birds had started to show interest. When I arrived about 80 lifted off the field. At this point just like last week the wind changed and started to blow in my face so the birds were coming over my shoulder and away. I could hear B_B shooting on the other fields but he was in a difficult position as the birds wanted to land at the rear of some new build houses and he had to be careful in his shot decision. I packed up at 17.00 and picked up 31 birds I’d lost a couple in the field behind me but I had enjoyed the day thanks to B_B.

Well done for getting out, far to wet around us at present. Thanks for posting.

That’s my next project!!!! I’ve got the wife scanning all the second hand marketing sites for more future bargains, while I’m ordering the camo paint and PC logos!!!!!

My wife bought my barrow when I was confirmed to be ill, this was a reaction as she knew I had started a project to convert a normal barrow with a starter motor and battery. The Canal Trust recently used petrol driven barrows on a recent repair.

It will fold completely flat, but I load it empty in my truck and load it on site. I have constructed a ramp ( plank) so I can drive it into the back of my truck loaded if I want.

Yes it carried the whole load back to the truck no problem. According to the blurb it will carry 110 kilos over 4/5 miles.

It’s a Nash trax power barrow with a 24 volt motor, the trick I believe from watching the internet is to load the front wheel which has a tread . I believe you can obtain a mud tyre for these barrows if you require.

It’s not clogged yet but I’m going over fairly solid ground and I’ve fitted wheels on the back legs so it has very little rolling resistance

Last Saturday I had to deliver 200 birds to the north west of Birmingham , this area is known as the “Black Country ” due to its industrial past. During the journey up the M5 motorway you pass a lot of urban wastelands and also pockets of wooded areas . All these contained pigeons in various numbers. After the delivery I drove down the Motorway to our furthest permission at Droitwich with the intention to weave my way back through the country to try and find birds to shoot. I passed various fields of rape with zero birds. On Tuesday I made another delivery to the north east of Brum using the M42 again saw birds on the edge of the motorway but nothing on the flowering rape fields. I returned using the “ Roman Roads” , A38 again birds on the verges and trees. On Wednesday I had decided to go out and find some birds after a frustrating morning looking I could not find any number of birds. Bunny­_Blaster had offered to let me use his permission again as he had seen some birds on a poorly seeded section of rape. So I gave him a call so he could inform the Farmer of my presence. It had been raining all day so far so I knew it would be a soggy day. I arrived at the field and lifted approx twenty birds off the area I was going to shoot , I loaded the barrow and pressed the button and walked behind the load to my required shooting position. The wind was from my right so I positioned the brolly to protect me from the steady drizzle and positioned my decoys to my left , two on the magnet four flyers and six on cradles on the taller rape on the edge of the lower section. All set up and first bird came in from my left perfectly and paid the price. After twenty minutes not much happened then the wind decided to change into blowing into my face. So changed the position of the brolly to being in front of me and then extending the hide so I could step out and shoot. I had to move all the decoys out into the taller rape to give room for the birds to swing round in front of me or come over my head to allow them the access the decoy pattern. This type of shooting is not my favourite due to the fact the birds are dropping and also you are shooting at the back of the birds with the head shielded by the body. I had a steady supply of birds for the next two hours and built up a good decoy display. I continued until 17.30 and picked up fifty birds. I must publically thank Bunny_Blaster for his kind gesture for it certainly made my day.