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So far this spring on the first of our Assoc Charity Pigeon Shoots pigeons have been scarce. Our second shoot on 13th Feb on an estate well known for its pigeon shooting saw an abysmal 48 in the bag. This estate has mainly large blocks of softwoods interspaced with decidious trees all of mature nature and not the easiest place to shoot. The 13th co-encided with pretty windless day which meant that pigeon could mainly drop into the centre of sitka spruce plantations virtually unmolested. Even so here there are usually birds flighting around from 3pm until 5 but not so on this occasion. Pigeon were in a word scarce. What a difference a week and a few miles makes for the shoot on the 20th Feb. It was apparent driving there that there was a mass of birds about thanks in no small measure to at least one un cut bean field adjacent to the estate venue. Fingers were crossed to draw a good roost wood but alas my draw gave one of the most difficult on the place. A wood of mature scots pine with an abundance of elder undergrowth on a very steep riverside bank makes it one of the most difficult places to pick shot birds ever seen. Stand at the top and as sure as anything you will spend a lot of time and energy running up and down this bank to retrieve dead and wounded birds. Stand on the ride seven eights of the way down then the birds topping the bank and trees are at extreme range. Albeit anything shot should land at your feet but it takes a better than average shot to achieve this. Three pm and two of us are at the woodside. I take the down stream section and decide to have a spy out around the margins to see if any flight lines are established. With a strong west wind I would have thought that birds would have sought the river valley and its shelter rather than face the wind. Ten minutes spying tells me this is not the case. There is a steady trickle of pigeons coming across the field on a broad front the width of the wood. Not that there is a flight line, if it is its 200 yards broad. Decision time I opt for a sheltered corner in a natural hide on the wood edge and hope that I shall be under and in range of at least some of the birds. There are birds in view approaching the wood from the start, and eventually one comes within range to be missed handsomely with both barrels. The next pays the price and falls wounded in the field. Like the next three oncoming birds it is downed with a broken right wing so methinks time for some examination of gun mounting and fit. All shot birds are placed out as decoys on the winter grain. it does seem to draw some birds closer, one dropping in to the dead birds and another actually landing. Its been pretty slow on the whole but plenty of gun fire from all around suggests that members are having plenty shooting. I pick up 7 for 20 shots which pleases me, my fellow Gun has four but several lost in the tangle of elder within the wood. Time to book in and there are plenty double figure bags, some into 20s and 30s. One member struggles in with 45 making him equal to my own record on the largest bag trophy which has stood since the milenium year. The count is 289 when we leave with at least one Gun to book in. So its happy days all round and especially as a couple of our new members have enjoyed good shooting on their first Charity Shoot Outing. Blackpowder