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Went out early walking this morning ,it was a beautiful dawn . By 8.30 ish on the return leg I was passing 3 rape fields which are along the edge of mature woodland ,they all had good numbers down feeding on them in the morning sun with more sitting in the woodland edge.

Hi all, I’ve got a large permission at the moment with several very large rape fields that the farmer has asked me to shoot Pigeons on as the fields are getting hammered. I’ve shot over rape many times but only ever from the margins - these fields are each so big that once the pigeons get spooked they just move to the other end and the shooting dries up. I’m looking for tips/guidance on how to set up a hide in the middle of a rape field So I can cover more ground. Any considerations as I imagine you stick out like a sore thumb?? Thanks! T

I have several spaces remaining on some of my shoots - available immediately. Runs from 1st April to 31 March each year. You are supplied with personal & vehicle passes and can attend at almost any time without making bookings, shoot when you like. Good varied quarry. Please p.m me with your full name, email address and contact phone number. I will mail you back a set of rules for information & arrange to have you shown round ASAP. My bailiff will be showing perspective members round this Friday during the day & will call you for a chat. Now the light evenings are here, evening viewings will be available as well. I have four places available at a Rawreth/WIckford shoot priced at £400 pgpa. I have one place available at a Billericay shoot priced at £420 pgpa Just One gun available at a lovely Rennendon/Runwell shoot at £550 pgpa. Just One gun available at a nice starter shoot at Runwell for just £175 pgpa. If you are the sort of person that shoots anything that moves without caring what it is - this is not the syndicate for you. I expect members to be respectful, considerate & safe. I only supply the appropriate number of guns depending of the size/type of shoot, nothing is overshot. I have 27 years experience in this area & am proud of my reputation. I can provide all details via email or telephone. Look forward to hearing from you. Regards Gordon

1 Gun for tomorrow 18/02/2018 Decoying on Rape meet for 7 shot until 1 ish or late if day goes good. Must have insurance and own gear. Dave

The pigeon have recently started hitting the rape but I have noticed on a frosty morning they have a change in their feeding pattern. Today I decided I would sit in a small spinney and see what would come into it as there had been a few showing there a week earlier. I shot for the first 3 hours in the spinney and shot 21 as it warmed up the pigeon started to hit the fields of rape have others noticed this pattern of pigeon waiting to feed when it warms up.

I was contacted by one of my Farmers during the week to say he had been spraying the Rape and noticed a lot of pigeons lifting from bare patches in the crop, and he asked if i would be able to get up there and have a go. Of course i told him i would get up there as soon as i could. I was away caravaning last weekend so had a fair bit of work to catch up on and the wife has had prolems with her mum being ill this week so juggling things and the kids off on half term, getting up to the fields has been tricky. By lunchtime today i had some time to go up and have a look. There is a good wind forecast for sunday so i thought i would reccy the rape and also some chitted peas and a field of freshly drilled beans. Suprisingly the only crop that had any pigeon interest was the rape. While i watched today it was obvious that there was plenty of birds about but no really strong lines anywhere. As i watched a stiff breeze picked up and the rape was so patchy i was able to drive around the headlands to the far hedge where i have shot before and would be ideal for the breeze at my back. I was at a loose end i rang the wife and sounded her out about her plans for the afternoon and to my suprise she said all was fine and she was at her mums with the children. "you can go shooting if you like". She didn't have to say it twice and i was back home for some kit. I arrived at my chosen spot and it was clear the rape hasn't done well here, poor establishment, rabbits moorhens etc have all played part but of course the farmer swears it's all pigeon damage. I set up my home made magnet with two pre mounted frozen deads and it wasn't long before the first bird arrrived and paid the price. i added dead birds to the decoys on cradle and sticks. Sport was steady from here on and a much stronger line started up on the neighbours rape which i don't shoot. Never the less i had a great afternoon and pigeons that did come by decoyed very well. I tried some 24gm no7 fiocchi shells this afternoon and i have to say at 30 yds the killed very well and were comfortable to shoot in only a shirt. [& trousers of course]. I set up at 1pm and finished at 5.30pm and picked 38 of the 41 pigeons i shot. Not a huge bag but a truly lovely few hours in the sunshine. .

posted a few weeks back after a hard day in the wind and rain on some rape on one of our permissions. since that outing the birds have returned to the field and steadily increased in numbers. we have been to the land and flighted the odd few birds here and there and moved the pigeons off to keep the farmer happy. i drove around yesterday to have a look and get out of the house for a while. as i passed the field in the pouring rain there must of been 600 to 800 pigeons on the rape with more joining them. i spoke my shooting partner pw member Tan and although we thought it would be a waste of time due to the birds feeding in a huge flock and been shot at on this land a few times, we decided to give it a go if nothing else to keep the farmer sweet. as we arrived at the field in no rush at about 10am, sure enough the pigeons were there busy feeding. we decided to set up a oposite sides of the field around telegraph poles. not ideal but given the sw wind was our only option. unsuprisingly the rape had standing water on it in places,but never the less pigeons were feeding in the wet puddle areas? i set up around my chosen pole with nothing more than nets.poles magnet and three dead birds 2 for the magnet and 1 on a floater. the birds decoyed very well and responded to the magnet instantly. we had steady sport for 2 hours which was a lot better than we expected. we finished about 1.30pm i had 31 birds down for 41 shots for which i was pretty pleased. tan didn't have as much action up his end but managed a dozen. it was worth the effort and we was glad we went out. i dare say this rape will provide asome fair sport through out the coming year. i have shown a picture of my simple hide and my bag. you can tell the field is wet from the pictures. thanks for looking and a happy and prosperus new year to one and all on pigeon watch. aga man.

set out to shoot a rape field today as we had planned earlier in the week, as the weather had forecast north wind. the field in question is around 70 acres split into two by a private road. birds had built steadily over the past week. and as we arrived at 8 am around 500+ lifted and filled the sky in swirling mass, it was some sight. as we started to set up the rain persisted in a driving wind and it was cold and muddy. as we put the decoys out the birds where steadily sreaming back from nearby woods and seemed desperate to get back on the field. we got into the hide after some minor hiccups { broken flask and whirly not working} and was faced with a problem. too many birds coming into the decoys. we realised firing at big flocks of birds is a no no but this is how they wanted to come. we stood up and shot 3. this sent the birds back to the wood. soon enough they returned again in huge numbers again we managed 3. this happened a few times throughout the morning until the birds started to ignore the decoys and land at the top end of the field. being down wind not even a scaring shot would shift them. i decided to take a few floaters and stand in the hadge up there. the sight of pigeons streaming in a 1/4 mile trail from the woods was amazing. i shot some more birds, but eventually they moved a mile or so away to somone elses rape. the birds seem to have become used to feeding in mass even with two whirleys and several deads on floater the decoying was hard work. we finished early afternoon with around 35 shot and about 30 picked. we were wet, cold covered in mud and tired. we felt like we earned every bird shot. it was however better than been at work and the farmer saw us making an effort. we will return with plan b. thanks to PW member Tan for his company. certainly a morning to remember.