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I had eyed up one of the first barley fields to be cut in the area. It looked very much like it would produce a good shoot. I didn't have my normal shooting buddy to call on (work gets in the way sometimes), so I was going to go solo. Just before I left the house on Tuesday I asked my eldest son if he would like to join me. He has recently left school and is awaiting an apprenticeship. Surprisingly, he said he would come. He hasn't done too much shooting, but has killed clays, ducks and pigeons in the past. It has long been a wish of mine to have my sons interested in the shooting game, so I was now quite excited at the prospect of what the afternoon might bring. We loaded extra drinks before we departed. Upon entering the field, only a few pigeons took flight. I was not worried. I have shot this field before and didn't really expect too much until later. I picked my favourite spot on the field, which I am sure would be one of the bests spots whatever the wind direction. It is also the best spot regarding shot fallout. In other areas, it is unsafe to shoot in all directions. I got the boy to help me set up the decoys. It was particularly difficult trying to get the pigeon magnet into the rock hard and stony ground. He got sat down with his borrowed ear defenders and gun (my Silver pigeon IV game gun) and a box of Trust 24gm 7.5s. I was to his right, to make sure my spent shells from my auto wouldn't be walloping him in the head. He shot the first pigeon to decoy properly. Good start. I would try to take the more difficult birds and I would leave the easier ones for him. This worked ok and he did pretty well. He still missed several and was disappointed with himself for doing so. I reassured him that he was doing fine. I had to shoot a few that he missed or pricked and I think he was glad that they hadn't got away. I think he was enjoying himself far more than he would admit to me, but he seemed to be getting engrossed in the whole affair. He was spotting birds in the distance, ducking down in the hide - almost acting like a proper decoyer. He had even wrung a few necks by the end of the day. We were also making sure we kept count of his confirmed kills. I shot far better than I have done of late, which pleased me no end. I was starting to think that maybe I had something wrong with my eyes! We saw a lot of pigeons. We never had to wait too long for a customer/victim. I could have easily shot over 100 on my own, but I would much rather have had this kind of day with my son. Hopefully he will now come out for further shooting forays, and perhaps shoot his first goose in a couple of months. The final tally was 86 pigeons. 27 fell to Ryan (not too bad for about 90 shots).