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A 1st attempt at the pigeons & crows on fresh drillings yesterday (Saturday 16th April). Done a bit of spotting the few days prior to see a good number of birds building up on the fields, the area was pretty barron since November. Managed to get away at 11am, hit the field and watched for 30mmins to see if there were any definite flight lines. I eventually settled on a spot near the right side of the field with a large grazing field rising behind me. The birds seemed to be moving overhead towards a wooded area and other crop fields in the distance and into the wind. Setup the pattern of shell decoys and a simple flocked pigeon spinner/whirly at the head of the pattern. I also added half a dozen crow decoys to the front and right of the pigeons to match what I had noticed previously in the binoculars. Nice sunny broken cloud day with a fair breeze and warm. Nice to be out and and about. Setup and ready to go around 12:15 - ready to go in anger with my fairly new Kofs Sceptre SXE sporter O/U and 100 Eley olympic blues & Gamebore clear pigeon, bot of a mixed bag. Have to say I preferred the olympic blue 28g Eleys in the end! Clean kills with 7.5 shot at 28g even on the crows to 40 yards. The Gamebore also left the bores filled with residue and unburnt powder. A complete novice (not that I'm any expert, this will be my first full season) friend joined me, his Eley pigeon selects and 30 year old Lu Mar Scirocco 28" Game O/U were doing the job when he connected and were clean firing also. I got 2 crow and a pigeon on the floor before he arrived. after that it was a tad quiet for spells, then it would turn hectic for 5 minute stints. The Decoys were working fairly well, every bird down replaced a false decoy to try make the pattern more natural. We had crow and pigeon land in the patterns so definitely something was right, some work needed from our end for hte corws, they can spot the slightest movements a mile away! After a few hectic rallies we had approx 15 down, not ashamed to admit that there were some misses on difficult birds as well as the odd sitting duck that we should not have missed! After a few hours we had a total of 27 on the deck, 10 crows and 17 woodies. 3 not pictured below they were at the hide when clearing up. Hopefully get a few more days soon on them and keep the farmer happy!

Today was to be my next go at shooting left handed. I had spotted a rape field that had a good amount of birds going in and felt it would probably produce. I asked my brother if he wanted to join me , and he wanted too. I had booked the afternoon off so my brother set up on the field in the morning, on the way home I noticed a large amount of pigeons lift off another rape field I can shoot , so we decided to split up. I set up with a rotory straight in front with 8 dead birds in cradles with my back to a hedge/ tree line. The main flight line came from behind and some turned back and decoyed. I missed the first bird in , next one straight in and I nailed it , a pair next and I was feeling confident. I didn’t get any more pairs but I had busy spells followed by slow periods. The flight finished at 3.30 and I picked up 53 pigeons for 102 shots. I have a bruised cheek but I’m pleased with my ratio. I have to work on quick mounts as several birds went through that I was too slow to get on. My brother picked up 63 on his field so we made the right decision.

A few weeks ago I went decoying on some rape, as the birds came in I kept losing them in the background. I noticed my right eye had gone blurry in the centre vision. I shot 45 but I was very unhappy with how I shot. So Monday morning I went to the optician to find out what’s up. There diagnosis wasn’t great, it can be operated on but they won’t as your other eye is fine!! The problem is to do with scaring from a PVS I suffered a while back. So I’ve decided I needed to change shoulders and shoot left handed. Friday evening I changed my Beretta A400 to a lefty cast and the safety catch done, I asked my brother if he wanted to join me today originally to shoot on a rape, field but before we went to that farm we checked out some fresh barley drilling’s. We found several down feeding and plenty in the area, so we decided to give it a go for a couple of hours and see. We set up with the wind at our backs behind a conifer hedge, 15 dead birds and two on a rotary. The pigeons took a While to come back but they came to the decoys, fist go left handed I missed , next one in I shot. I was away, we took it I turns and I was struggling quite badly and getting very frustrated. I had brought my beretta SP3 with me and decided to try that. Straight away I improved with a pair,my confidence growing now, I didn’t shoot to badly I did miss some sitters, but had some nice ones as well. Probably helped by my brother who was shooting poorly as well, I managed 4 pairs on pigeons and 2 pairs on crows. More practice is needed and I will need to get my gun fitted to me. We picked 103 pigeons and 23 crows. For me I now know I can change shoulders and have the summer to get ready for next wildfowling season.

I decided that I needed to deal with some pigeons that where massing in big numbers on one of my permissions. I asked a friend to join me who has been house bound for 3 months due to a ankle Surgery. He is in his 70s and I promised I would get him out. We arrived at the rape field around 9 o’clock to be greeted with probably 1000 pigeons down and more joining. The only problem was he couldn’t walk anywhere, luckily the farmer allowed us to drive down the tramlines. I set up with our backs to clump off trees with a rotary and 8 birds on cradles. We had a steady flow off pigeons all day and I did my best to let him shoot. The only problem was he was very rusty and it was catching 🙈I have never shot so badly and the bag should have been near 100 shot but we managed 55 picked, but he was absolutely buzzing to have been out. So it was worth the effort. The next Saturday the birds had moved on mass to the other end off the farm and I asked my brother to join me. The plan was to have separate hides each end off the field. The birds where there but the two problems we were greeted with was a gas gun my end and then the fog descended. This messed things up and after two hours we gave up with 10 each. Today on the same farm they had lifted a large beet field and were ploughing and drilling it. The pigeons moved onto this straight away and the numbers are incredible. Unfortunately they hadn’t finished the field and we calculated they would be another two hours at least. I had spotted a field on the way over with birds down on a lifted beet field, so I called the farm manager to see if we could shoot it. He said that was fine, please do. We set up in the middle by a electric pole at our backs. 8 dead birds and 2 on the rotary. The birds came well , some decoyed great others came for a look and we both shot well taking some nice birds. The bag was building nicely when a truck came down the field, and it was the game keeper not happy we were there. I tried to explain to him that we had spoken to the farm manager but that didn’t seem to pacify him. I called the manager and explained the issue and got a resounding, carry on. So we did. Apart from this sour note , we had a brilliant day and ended picking 122.

I have been out fowling a lot this last week, and with a big tide this morning I thought I’d look for a few pigeons to try my new gun out, and give some hide time to my young dog without my older experienced dog. I had a field in mind off fresh drilling, but when I Arrived it was devoid of any quarry. So I went for a drive and found a large number of pigeons on a maize stubble the only problem being the size of the fields, which to chose? I decided to set up on the flight line on a freshly lifted sugar beet field with my back to the strong wind and sheltered by some thick dyke reeds. I put a rotary out and 8 shell decoys and sat down just before 10 o’clock. I soon had a pigeon coming in and I duly missed it and the next one. I wasn’t shooting well with the new gun. I adjusted my hide and seat and practiced my gun mounts. I started to hit a few and the bag slowly increased. I had misjudged the flight line which now was quite a way to my left and nearer the farm buildings, but I decided not to move. The young dog(Lucy) was sent for the odd bird and retrieved well to hand, even a few runners as well, she picked with confidence. I started to shoot better and had some nice pairs in the wind curling back. Around 1.30 ish it slowed down and I decided to pack up, I picked up 48 for 115 shots for a nice morning out.

Monday afternoon I had a call of Motty asking if I could get the afternoon of on Tuesday, of course I can. He said he decided to ask again if we could shoot the maize that he was asked to stop on due to a noise complaints. The farmer agreed after Motty said we would only use huspower shotguns. The field is along side a river and is long and quite narrow so Motty set up several hundred yards down and I went down towards the end of the field. I set up with my back to a thorn bush with the wind towards me going over my right shoulder, not ideal but the only option. I put the rotary about 20 yards out to my left and set 10 plastic shells out from the rotary in a line to help funnel the birds in from the right. I was using a 410 huspower with gamebore 18 gram 7.5. The pigeons decoyed well and I had regular customers but I was struggling to get to grips with the strange sighting of the huspower. I replaced the plastic decoys with dead birds on cradles and and had to keep the area tidy as soon as birds started to drift wide. I could just about hear the odd shot from Motty up the river and he rang to say he was doing ok with his 20 and 410. At 5 o'clock we called it a day for some of the most frustrating and entertaining shooting I've done in a long time, having to be so constrained to let them decoy and let others go that you would normally fold with a 12. I finished on 105 pigeons 2 ferals and 5 crows picked, I lost a few behind me in the brambles. Motty picked 97 pigeons.

Friday Motty rang as usual and asked if I fancied a go at some stubble Mallard, of course I do. So we met up at the said field jumped in a dyke, put out a spinner and waited. Well it wasn't long before the first ones came in and we missed 😀. We decided to work them with our calls and get them in close and this worked a treat and we soon had a frantic few minutes, we finished with 15 beautiful Mallard. Saturday morning I had to go and get measured for a suite for my youngest daughter's wedding. When I was done I went home had a bit of dinner and went out looking, Motty was unavailable 😭. I found a field of bean stubble that had been ripped up,with a few down and a few flighting over. I set up in a low dyke with a very strong wind over my left shoulder so I put the rotary to my left when I shot a couple to put on it. And 8 shells . Soon had a couple for the rotary, but it was obvious that I needed to move further down the field as the fligh line was further down. So I moved the rotary and left the shells. The time was one o'clock. The pigeons just poured over and at 2 o'clock I had 50. I was shooting well in the conditions and I had a fantastic triple with the birds curling back on the wind. The next hour produced another 50. My brother joined me and he went 80 yards down the field from me, he was soon taking some cracking high birds coming back on the wind ,with some 24 gram Evo 7.5 . Still they kept coming, in fact pouring out. About 4.30 my brother ran out of cartridges and we decided to pack up as the sky was looking rather ominous. We picked up 214 for a very memorable afternoon.

Friday evening I checked out last week's pea stubble fields and found about 200 down feeding. I wasn't that sure it would produce and after a conversation with Motty we decided to spilt up, he would shoot some laid barley and I would try the pea stubble. I set up with the wind in my back between two fields spilt by a dyke. I decided with the expectation of a hot day I set up at 9 with the intention if it got to hot to pack up. I set up with a rotary and two dead birds, with the rotary slightly to my left. The problem I had was the main flight line was from behind me and I often let birds go thinking they would decoy , only to watch them fly past. So I decided if possible to take these if I saw them earlier enough. I had 50 by 12 and Motty called to say his was not happening so he came to join me. The birds were very testing at times and easy at others time . The heat got to me at 3 o'clock and we packed up with 124 on the clicker, picking 116.

Today as I was driving around for my job, I spotted a decent amount of pigeons on some drilled barley. I decided to ask for the afternoon off and thankfully it was granted. The only issue was we're to set up as there is four fields scattered around in a block. Picked a spot in a dyke by a culvert so I didn't need a hide. Now I only had 6 plastic half shell decoys which kept blowing away in the wind. First pigeon in I shot,great need one more for the rotory 7 shots later I managed to get the second. I set the rotory up behind me and to my right . The birds started to decoy and I added a few to the pattern and removed the shells. The wind was a real pain as it kept blowing the birds of my rotory. My shooting was quite poor to say the least and I was getting very frustrated with myself,and as the pigeons kept going wide of the pattern I moved along the dyke so the rotory was now to my left and. In front of me. This helped me no end and I started to shoot a lot better and now I was scoring doubles regularly,no triples like DB though! Then the wind started to die down and the pigeons piled in I ran out of cartridges at 4 o'clock having took 200, I picked up exactly 100. There is only 99 in the picture I found one on the way up. https://ibb.co/RHPTn1y https://ibb.co/PtKrc2s

Looking at my post from my now helpless perspective. I wonder why I bother. But I am and always have been, a scrapper. So....The thing is I have been trying to get hold a a couple of decent Wood Pigeons to pop in my freezer, with the intent of eating them. Six weeks ago I was told that I have a mere three months to live. Not something I can argue with when I look back at my rather ragged medical history. But what raised my hackles up most, was the fact that I have been trying to get a couple of decent stoggies to make myself a lovely meal with and just haven't been able to locate one, never mind two. Does any of our illustrious members live in or near to my home town. HULL? If so, is there any possibility of one of them getting me a brace of these naughty, but so tasty birds, so that I can indulge my dream meal whilst I still have time to do so. I am not looking for the proverbial free meal, but will pay the going rate as expected. Love to hear from someone out there. Regards and respect Cypher000

Two experienced 63 year olds seeking long term permission to assist with shotgun corvid and pigeon pest control. Have all the required kit. Fully insured. Can attend weekly, pm me in the first instance. Arable land preferred

Motty phoned me on Friday and told me of a old rape field that looked very promising,he even said I think A ton is on the cards.I had a job to do first thing in the morning so I didn't arrive until after 11 to find he had set up with a lot of plastic decoys out and a rotary to the left of the hide which was situated on the edge of a reedy dyke.he had 8 on The clicker . The pigeons came in little flurries with some long waits in between. The promise of a ton looked a long way of an 50 looking the more likely. The birds were not decoying for the most ,so we had all types of shot in the book with both of us shooting very well. We decided to remove the hide and make a ledge in the dyke to try and give the birds more confidence. This ploy worked well and we then decided to share and pairs that came in, I took left and Motty took right this helped us up the score as now we were making the most of any chances. I remarked to Motty how well I was shooting,only for the wheels to come of in the last half hour,that'll teach me to brag. The clicker had 112 on it and we picked up 105 plus a crow and a feral with a few lost in some standing wheat.So promise kept Motty, a great afternoon thanks for the invite.

This week has been a bit busy in regards to pigeons, I shared a big bag with Motty on Wednesday, and a bag of 75 on Thursday afternoon. I had to work today and said to me old mate take my brother and I will have a go on a small rape field near my house. I had checked it out but felt that 50 was probably the best I could hope for,but worth an afternoon .when I got to the field at 1 o'clock a few birds were already down with a nice flight line. I set up with a rotary to my left with the wind coming over my left shoulder with 8 shell decoys. I positioned the hide on a bend of a dyke hoping to hide myself a bit from the pigeons coming from the right hand side of the hide. The pigeons we're not very happy with this set up and I decided to add another rotary to see if this helped,but it soon became apparent the hide was the problem. So I dropped the hide down,and made a ledge in the dyke side .This paid dividends straight away with birds committing nicely, but in the strong wind it was tricky to be consistent, at 5 o'clock I used the last cartridge that I had in the hide (175) with 115 on the clicker ,I picked 109 I didn't take the dogs today as I'm not a fan of dogs and fresh rape fields. Sometimes it just works out well.

Wednesday evening I received a call from a farmer about some pigeons doing damage to his greens,so I quickly booked the afternoon of for the next day to try and eliviate the problem.i knew Motty couldn't get a day off with that short notice,so I asked my brother if he wanted to join me to which he agreed.The next day was quite windy with a strong north west wind so we set up close to a drain with rough cover behind.and the rotary in front slightly to out right and about 8 shell decoys in the greens. The first customer came straight in and was delt with,after that we had a very steady stream coming in , several would have a look and pay the price ,I was clicking every bird shot and noticed that we were shooting around 40 an hour. I did keep asking my brother not to shoot to many behind due to the difficulty picking up,but he couldn't help his self and as I had left my dogs at home his two would be busy.at around 4 o'clock it slowed down so we decided to pick up with 193 on the clicker. We packed up and hadn't picked as many as we liked so we went back to mine unloaded the gear and layed the birds out,then went back with my dogs and his and picked up another 30 by now it was 8 o'clock .The next morning early I dropped them into the game dealer with 177 picked and a Carrion crows,so worth a afternoon off.

I starting to feel like a batsman, getting scores but not pushing on. Last Thursday I was out driving from job to job when I spotted a freshly drilled barley field getting plenty of attention,a quick phone call to book the rest of the afternoon off and have a go in a very strong Westerly wind. I only had 8 plastic shell decoys to start with and I set up next to a hedge with the wind in my back. First pair in delt with, so I had a pair for the rotory. After half an hour I only had 4 birds down and the flight line had moved to the other side along a dyke edge, so I upped sticks and moved and got down the side of the dyke no hide ,I just made a ledge to stand on. That did the trick and the pigeons came straight in ,it was now 2.30.I was getting a lot of customers when the drill pulled back into the field to finish the headlands,so I had to move all the decoys etc out of the way then set up again. Great that all done and birds dropping in nicely,when they decided to roll the field,I called it a day at that point with 37 in a couple of hours. Saturday I had the usual conversation with Motty, he had a good field of beans to shoot .I must say I wasn't keen due to the amount of rain and it was still raining.Well he persuaded me and we set up under some tall poplar trees with an umberlla.Well it rained all day the field was so wet we couldn't walk on it ,so we only used the dogs to pick any birds we shot and yes we had several customers come mainly to sit in the trees . The birds fizzeled out and we manged a very wet 53. Sunday is not a day I normally go shooting but the wife was busy studying,so out I went again with my brother to look around. We drove around several fields and found nothing of any interest.Motty called and said I might have a field worth a go ,so we met up and watched a drilled bean field for a while and it did have some birds down but not enough in my mind for 3 shooters,so I said I will look elsewhereleaving my brother with Motty. I went to a poor rape field I had asked my brother to check out but he said it was void of pigeons,but I found a good amount down feeding. I loaded up my rucksack and four dead birds and trudged over to the corner of the field next to a small hedge where the birds had been feeding, the wind was coming from my right and very strong too. Almost immediately birds dropped in and I felt that I might be on for a big bag,but it slowed down and I would get busy for a bit with spells of quiet, the shooting was quite difficult in the wind and several just passed wide of the decoys for long shots. Slowly the activity died down and at 4 o'clock I packed up with 41 picked up. I now am starting to feel like a English batsman getting scores but not pushing on. Monday I was on my way home from work when I spotted a massive cloud of pigeons,so I investigated and found a drilled barley field with about 700 feeding hard. So I phoned Motty to see if he felt like a day of shooting pigeons,yes was the answer the only problem was I couldn't find a single grain of barley on the top, I felt we might of missed the opportunity. Tuesday morning we arrived at the field at a bout 9.30 to see 1 pigeon down and nothing joined for an hour,so we decided to have a drive round and look for alternatives. After a while we arrived back at the bean filed we shot on Saturday to find a lot of birds feeding hard. So we thought it's worth a go. We set up in a shallow dyke with the wind coming do the field from oveour right shoulders, 10 shells and a couple of dead birds on the rotory. Some birds decoyed well while others were shying off the pattern,we tried several changes but the result was the same ,some dived in others came and then spooked giving us some testing shots . The flight slowed up and Motty went under the same trees as Saturday for a while to try and stop them going in there and pick a few fly dies that had just made the trees. We stayed untill half five to just scaped the ton with 102 and a Jackdaw. Prehaps my place is secure in the team now I've made a big score this season,well for a while!

Friday arrived, and late afternoon saw Motty and I speaking on the phone. I went for a tour round to look for suitable fields to shoot. I found a couple of likely options one rape field that I shot last week for 41,with a lot of birds down feeding hard and a peas fieled with around 100 feeding on it. Motty found a couple of very promising rape fields and after a conflap we decided to spilt up with the option of joining each other if either field was not producing. I went out at 9 o'clock to the pea field to find not one bird down,so I watched for a while ,still nothing then the farmer came down for a chat after half an hour of chewing the fat a few pigeons had started to arrive, so I loaded up with 150 cartridges a rotory and four dead birds . I walked down one side to a dyke edge about 200 yards away from the roadway. I had to set up in the field as the dyke was too steep and deep to consider shooting from there. I set up a four pole hide with the wind at my back and sun behind me, two on the rotory and two on sticks. Almost immediately pigeons came straight to the decoys and gave some very easy targets I soon had ten down and I propped their heads up on sticks . They mainly came in small groups and decoyed very well . Twelve o'clock I had 50 on the clicker. Motty phoned to say he was just getting into some, so he decided to stay put on his field. After a lull I spotted a feral coming into the decoys,but it didn't look right , blimey that's a woodie so I upped and dropped it just beyond the decoys. The pigeon had white ish wing tips from the pinions onward.I kept picking up birds but it was slowing up and I would have a wait before another flurry of birds would appear. I just got over the ton about 3.15 but it was now very quiet, I decided to give it until 4 but after picking up a couple more a large spayer came into the field, so I quickly packed upwith 102 on the counter, I picked up 101.

I had my eye on a field of rape that was getting plenty of attention. I nearly shot it on Friday but thought I'd wait until Saturday,much to my disappointment two shooters were already in situ at 9 o'cock. I drove to several other fields and no joy I nearly went home but I decided one last field to have a look at ,a field that has been mostly destroyed and I thought the pigeons had lef it be When I arrived a few birds were down and a few joining, oh well better than watching telly so I lugged my gear over to the far side and set up after 2 hours I had about 15 and the pigeons decided they wanted the other side of the field so I packed up and moved over to the other side. Straight away the pigeons came decided nicely .I had 50 cartrdges left when I moved and when I shot the last one at 3.30 I packed up with 50 exactly in the bag. The highlight of the day for me was 5 doubles on the trot as I've been in a bit of poor form recently.

1 gun for Sunday 30/07/17 must own gear and insurance meet for 7ish shoot untill about 1 pm or later . Dave

I spoke to Motty on the phone and the usual conversation took place ,have you found any? Motty has been busy at work and hadn't had much time to go scouting and I have several laid barley fields in productive areas but no pigeons on any one of them. Then by chance a farmer rang me and told me that his pea stubble was quite busy with pigeons ,so I went for a look and thought that it would probably produce about 30 plus as there were birds scattered over four fields. Saturday morning I went for a look around and found nothing so at around half ten I went to the pea fields and watched for about half an hour and thought, nothing about I will go home. Motty came to mine and after coffee and a chat decided to have another look at those pea stubbles to find a few birds down. We set up with a rotary to our right and the wind at our backs against a tall hedge, we didn't have any dead birds so Mottys hyper flaps had to do the business and not to long later a pair came in and we had one each to put on the rotary. Slowly birds came in and were very wary but some came close enough to give us a chance and we slowly added another rotary on our left hand side and a flapper seemed to help bring them in a bit better but many veered off at the critical moment making the task more difficult . Pigeons started to come in from both sides and to be honest our shooting was quite poor at times and the pair of us had to calm each other down as we got grumpy with our poor display. We decide to pack up around half five as Motty had a hair appointment, so the last hour we tried to pull back the quality of the shooting and we did manage to pull it together, we picked up 105 and 1 Jackdaw ,not bad for a day I thought would be a slow afternoon with me mate chewing the fat.

I have been watching a pea field for some time and I thought it was ready to shoot, as my brother hadn't been out for a while I asked him if he would like an afternoon break to shoot some woodies. He asked his boss for the afternoon off and the next day was planned. Then I received a phone call from a farmer, any chance you could deal with these pigeons on my greens, so I said I will have a look and see what I can do. The field was one of many and I thought, I need some help with this, so I phoned Motty and asked if he could get the day off, which he did .The next morning we arrived at the field and set up with the wind on our backs ,we set up two rotary as we felt we needed as much attraction as possible. The first customer was a crow ,duly dispatched and then a slow trickle of pigeons obliged. The problem was the birds decided to land all over the field but not many to our decoys, so I was volunteered to move to another part of the crop ,I had to set up with the wind in my face behind a elderberry bush ,just the rotary and a small hide ,the pigeons came straight in and I was soon building a good bag, I rang the other hide and asked one of them to join me , my brother came and took a few before we came to the conclusion that another hide was needed further up. so of he went with my bouncer and a couple of dead birds with the intention of intersecting that flight line. I was still getting plenty of action but Motty hide was slow, so after several calls and text I persuaded Motty to joined me in my hide and we enjoyed a busy afternoon. The combined collected total was 165. The following day I was due in work ,but I had spoken to the farmer and promised that I would deal with the pigeons ,so I asked my boss if I could take the afternoon off , which he granted . Work done I nipped home picked up 4 dead birds and my kit ,as I arrived at the field there was a decent amount of pigeons about but the wind had whipped up to quite strong , I loaded myself up and trudged across the field to the place I wanted to set up ,the dyke was not to deep so the hide was done away with and I stood in the dyke, after setting the rotary to my right hand side . The first one came in nice and confidently and was duly dealt with. The pigeons decide they wanted to feed next to the railway line and this was making it hard for me to attract the birds in and as a banger had been on the field for weeks firing shots over them made no difference. I walked them off a couple of times, but it kept happening and as I didn't fancy setting up next to the railway line I thought what can I do I have no bags or flags ,got it! I removed the farmers spinning bird scarers up to that end of the field . Bingo that worked to a fashion and I now had the birds coming in nicely ,even though they still wanted that end. I felt I needed more attraction, so I took a bouncer out and removed the extendable arm out and put that low into the strong wind , it worked a tread as the wind pushed it up and down now the pigeons came in nicely. The birds were not all easy in the strong wind. I just used my hundredth cartridge when I decided that it was time to pack up with 68 picked I was content with the afternoon fun.

Ive been watching a field for some time now ,i don't know what crop it is but its had a few on for some time .Well as i have just bought a new gun i wanted to have ago with it and this field looked like it might produce 30 plus ,so this morning I booked the afternoon off and as I had loaded the truck before I left for work, with 6 thawed out birds, but my labs decide that I would have to do with 3 and a bit . I set up just after 12 close to a B road with a ash tree at my back with the wind coming over my right shoulder at a 45 degree ,so the rotary was put out to my right after I had made my hide, as I went to get in pigeons were already trying to get in. I started very badly with a lot of misses in fact I shot about 6 for the box of cartridges, I realised that as I was swinging left to right I was losing swing so from then on I stood for every shot and only missed 5 out of the next box and I maintained that sort of ratio until it slowed down to a trickle.110 shots for 74.

Back on the sparse rape fields with Motty again, wind today was from the opposite direction so we had to walk to the far side of the field to set up. The birds were slow to appear and at times very jittery or came in from a great height with speed all in all making some testing shots all day. at 4 pm we just got over the Ton with 104 on the clicker after a long check around with the 3 dogs we picked up 100 exactly.

Hello I have been shooting clays and wingshooting for over 20 years, mainly in the US. Just moved back to UK and got my SC last week so I got myself a nice shotgun and I am ready to go. Looking to get into pigeon shooting and , since I don't have any contacts or permissions yet, I am willing to pay for some shooting as it becomes available over the next few months and depending on the local crops etc. I live around Fordingbridge- Ringwood and I am willing to travel perhaps up to 1 1/2 hours for a good place. I can be contacted here, but better at jmmartiherrero@hotmail.com. Cell is 0034 648 026 028 I would also consider helping out with whatever, in exchange for observing and learning, if you want to take me as a pupil Thanks very much. JM

Evening All, Been out decoying the pigeons today, shooting over oats. I have had some success on this crop on this permission in the last few weeks but today while there was hundreds of birds about they seemed uninterested or unwilling. I changed the pattern and toys around a few times, had a good hide - it all seemed like it could have been a good day but didn't turn out that way. The wind was quite strong and some showers about. Do you guys find these conditions affect the willingness of birds to come into pattern? They just seemed to want to sit in the trees. I'll add that i have never decoyed in such a strong wind before? Thankyou for your advice!

SYNDICATE MEMBERS WANTED We run a small friendly shoot in Northumberland. (Rothbury). This year we have half guns/full gun available. 800 pheasant released Shooting fortnightly on Saturdays (October to February) - 7/8 drives per day Pigeon shooting available, as well as Duck shooting over pond. Prefer members with dogs. Reply to Ad or Contact me for further details: Mandy - 07880573387. Email: Richardsonhogg@hotmail.com