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Showing results for tags 'and pigeons on the rape'.
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Hi all Saturday I went out early morning foxing as my partners had deserted me (lol) to go beating on a fancy estate. I left at 5.30am and arrived at the farm in Stratford on avon about half an hour before first light (I think) as when I got there the fog stretched for miles. Ouch!!!!!!!! I sat there debating what to do as my visibility was only 70 yards but fortunately about 8.00 it lifted slightly and I could see about 200 yards. I sat there calling and squeaking for a couple of hours but nothing showed. I then drove to the other end of the farm where i had seen some pigeons and blackies hitting some wheat stubbles. After 4 hours I had shot 34 and then it went dead so I moved on. An hour or so later I found a few more on another field of wheat and shot 42 blackies before packing up. On the way home I got a phone call from a farmer saying his fields of rape were being hit hard by a large flock of pigeons. I shot over to have a look and there were about 300 lifted as I approached. The rape was very advanced, almost looked like cabbages and I decided to leave them till Sunday. When I got back I rang the boys to see how they had got on. they told me 187 pheasants and 139 ducks had been shot by 7 guns. I thought very nice but very expensive day for the shooters. Sunday Only the two of us out today and we headed to the rape fields at first light only to be met yet again with blanket fog and visibility down to about 40yards. We set up the magnet and a dozen decoys and then sat in the jeep watching. The odd ones kept coming in and out and finally about 10.000am after an hour and half watching ,we set up the hide. By 11.00am the fog lifted a fair bit but the birds were coming in very sporadic. We packed up at 2.30 for 29 pigeons and nearly everyone had nothing but berries in their crops or totally empty. We moved onto a field of linseed that had been left untouched by the farmer and there were 300+ lifted up. We set up and had a steady couple of hours for 32 pigeons and yet again most of the crops were full of berries. A hard earned bag but some nice testing shots. 7 birds I had plucked and crowned and popped into my freezer bag.(Just for the nitpickers out there) Total 76 x blackies 61 x pigeons Dave K