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Showing results for tags 'And an amazing flight line.'.
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Last Thursday. I recently got permission to shoot a few more rape fields. I decided to go to one of them on Thursday. When I arrived I put off a few pigeons. It was clear that the field had been severely damaged by pigeons. I hadn't done any previous recon on the field, so I got what I deserved when, after 3 hours and as many pigeons, I decided to pack up. I looked elsewhere for a more likely spot. That spot was soon found. I came across a field with well over 1000 birds feeding and many more arriving by the minute. The only problem was I didn't have permission to shoot it. So, I found out from another farmer, who owned it and where he lived. He wasn't in when I eventually turned up at his house, but I left my number and went back to the field. Soon, he came along and gave the thumbs up. I quickly took some dead birds and a flapper and set up. I put a small hide on the edge of an old orchard. The time was around 2.30pm by the time I was set up. The birds came in well, generally, and my shooting was up to standard, mostly. I enjoyed some exciting sport over the next 2 1/2 hours. I was put under a bit of pressure towards the end of the session, as someone else turned up who has permission to shoot there. He sat next to the hide as the pigeons still came in. Fortunately my shooting didn't let me down. I packed up at around 5pm, with 80 pigeons and a crow. Yesterday. I had to try and find some pigeons to shoot, as my mate Sam had been promised a day. He drove up from Chelmsford, so I didn't want him to have a wasted journey. I checked a few fields on a few farms and things were looking bleak. I simply had to find something worthwhile. Eventually we pulled up on a likely field with 100 or so pigeons on it. There was a decent flight line coming in and we took a chance on it. A phone call to the farmer confirmed that the field had been drilled with barley on Tuesday. There was also a smaller field next to it that had been drilled. We set up between the two so the wind would be on our backs. We put the hide in the ditch. The magnet was put out on the field behind us and fuds were deployed. We were amongst the action straight away. All the dead birds were placed out on both fields. A lot of pigeons were in the area and we enjoyed some good spells of shooting with some cracking left and rights falling. Later in the afternoon, the pigeons were ignoring us more. My hopes for my first ton of the year looked unlikely. A few more birds shot left us with just a few to reach the century. We set ourselves a time limit when we needed just one more. We were getting ready to pack up when a bird came over from behind. Sam turned and shot an absolute screamer at 55 yards. It was surprising as an ounce of No.7 (all we used all day) was used, and we all know that's an unsuitable pigeon load..... We were both delighted to shoot 100. Today After a trip to the game dealer I checked on some more freshly drilled land on a different farm. A good number of birds were showing and more joining. I invited a mate. I went home to get my gear and we set up. Pigeons were piling in before we got set, but despite plenty more coming they didn't want to commit properly. We changed the pattern a bit, but to no avail. The pigeons seemed to want to be elsewhere. The flight line was one of the strongest I've seen for a long time. I knew where they'd be headed and I have permission to shoot there. We set up once more and the birds moved again. We had a steady few come in, but the mass of pigeons that had accumulated on another field was too much of a draw. I estimated the flock was at least 3000 strong. We decided to pack up with 44 and a rook in the bag, safe in the knowledge that the pigeons would be there for another day. Pictures to follow.