chris o Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 hi all dont know if anyone else is having trouble on rape at the moment. since the snow has melted around here and the pigeons have left the rape and want decoy is any one else getting this? it is winter rape seed that i shoot over.any help would be great or advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrightchopper Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 :unsure: im having the same problem, going out tomorrow on some new perm, the pigeons have hit it really hard, they sit in the trees nearby and drop in, hopefully i'll have a look later, and hit 'em early in the morning, trouble is there's so much rape about they can pick and choose, its damn frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 The vast majority of Pigeons in my area are back feeding on Barley stubbles again now. I've seen around 4,000 this morning on 3 different fields while on my travels, without specifically looking for them. The problem is with the stubbles, we have so many of them the birds move from one to another too easily and are hard to pin down. Much better trying to get under a flightline than actually decoy them. Lots of farmers have been out ploughing during the last few days so once most of the stubbles are gone they will soon move onto the Rape again. Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Barley stubbles...?? What are they.....:unsure:?...ah......I remember, one appeared on our patch on 28th July, it was ploughed up on 29th July, it lasted all of 24 hours. I wish we had ANY stubble left in our area, there are literally none left to over Winter nowadays, which is a great shame because they are a good draw for birds. :unsure: Numbers appear to have declined in our area since the snow, we had 8" prior to Christmas and more after, I'm convinced that good numbers of birds took off to other parts of the Country with less snow cover, what do others think..?? Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 We have a lot of spring barley drilled in this area and most of the farmers don't plough the stubbles in till later in the winter or early spring. My dad spoke to a shooter from Northern Ireland today who said he shot his first ever hundred plus day after years of shooting in Ireland. He said he lives on the coast and has been watching big flocks of birds flying over the sea from Scotland. Cheers, Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookiemonsterandmerlin. Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Barley stubbles...?? What are they.....:unsure:?...ah......I remember, one appeared on our patch on 28th July, it was ploughed up on 29th July, it lasted all of 24 hours. I wish we had ANY stubble left in our area, there are literally none left to over Winter nowadays, which is a great shame because they are a good draw for birds. :unsure: Numbers appear to have declined in our area since the snow, we had 8" prior to Christmas and more after, I'm convinced that good numbers of birds took off to other parts of the Country with less snow cover, what do others think..?? Cat. I with you Cat birds have moved from here and I have found dead birds also now the snow has gone. Mark what are they feeding on in the stubbles there cant be alot of seed left???. I have some wheat stubble but the birds stopped feeding there in late nov and still some maize stubble but not alot birds on that. Regards OTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 OTH, Mark what are they feeding on in the stubbles there cant be alot of seed left???. There is litterally tons of barley left on the ground. Whole heads all over the place and lots of flattened tram lines where they were sprayed off before cutting. Some fields can be sparse but others you wouldn't believe the amount of grain on! Cheers, Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danddo Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 :unsure: im having the same problem, going out tomorrow on some new perm, the pigeons have hit it really hard, they sit in the trees nearby and drop in, hopefully i'll have a look later, and hit 'em early in the morning, trouble is there's so much rape about they can pick and choose, its damn frustrating. Hope you have a good day tomorrow, would be interested in how you get on, I am out a couple of times next week in Northants, and your right about the rape it's everywhere, only thing I find is take some time watching a get under the flight- :unsure: lines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 iv got one farm that is all stubble,and the pigeons dont show any intrest in it.it will all go two wheat and barley and other stuff in the spring, so hope there will be some thing round then.soon be time two go in the woods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris o Posted January 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 there are some wheat stubble fields which are right next to the rape seed. is it worth decoying them on that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Chris, Go to where ever the birds are feeding, if their not feeding on the fields your going to struggle no matter what the crop is. It took a bit of finding but here is a picture I took late in December 2004 of birds on a Barley stubble. If I get the chance I'll take some this week of the big flocks we've got at the moment. Cheers, Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookiemonsterandmerlin. Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Chris, Go to where ever the birds are feeding, if their not feeding on the fields your going to struggle no matter what the crop is. It took a bit of finding but here is a picture I took late in December 2004 of birds on a Barley stubble. If I get the chance I'll take some this week of the big flocks we've got at the moment. Cheers, Mark. Amazing mark for the time of year the combine driver cant have his seives setup very well to have that much going over the back. Regards Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 A lot of these farmers combine and drill their own ground, with contractors mainly doing the spraying. One of the good things about tight Scottish farmers is that the combines and drillers are often older than me! Cheers, Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the pelt man Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 (edited) Barley stubbles...?? What are they.....?...ah......I remember, one appeared on our patch on 28th July, it was ploughed up on 29th July, it lasted all of 24 hours. I wish we had ANY stubble left in our area, there are literally none left to over Winter nowadays, which is a great shame because they are a good draw for birds. Numbers appear to have declined in our area since the snow, we had 8" prior to Christmas and more after, I'm convinced that good numbers of birds took off to other parts of the Country with less snow cover, what do others think..?? Cat. Cat They are still just a stones throw from you, down here Still large numbers, i posted earlyer last week that while the snow was on the ground they were feeding on the tall Coriander but as soon as the snow thawed they were straight back on the rape and still going strong Between two hides in the same field last Saturday, we had a bag of just over 110. I have also noticed this year that the Pigeon aren't flocking up so big and when a large number are on the ground and you take a shot at them they are splitting up into smaller flocks and going of in all directions, which is making it easyer to get larger bags as they come back to the field at diff times. But we seem to be lucky compaired to the rest of you lot. They are also feeding right up to about 4pm now, i think this is because they need to put weight back on before we get another cold snap IMO. PELTMAN Edited January 21, 2010 by the pelt man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Have been out over OSR today and yesterday. The birds have been mainly in large flocks, moving together when spooked, from one field to another. However, they seem to have been spending most of the time in the trees. Got some small groups (4 or 5) coming into deeks in the morning, but very little action after midday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rattzzz Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 hi all dont know if anyone else is having trouble on rape at the moment. since the snow has melted around here and the pigeons have left the rape and want decoy is any one else getting this?it is winter rape seed that i shoot over.any help would be great or advice. Hi we were out this morning on the rape.We watched the field yesterday with plenty of movement,turned up first thing this morning and not a bird in the sky persivered for two hours for nothing,packed up moved to another area plenty of pigeons walked them off but they don't seem to come back.We ended up with 9 for the day.On opening there crops there is nothing inside i would expect signs of rape but nothing really.We have also noticed they seem to stop feeding around 1pm.Then you get the odd bird passing between 3 and 4pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 The biggest attraction on the barley stubbles at this time of the year is chick-weed . Pigeons just love it and if the barley has been sprayed off earlier to allowthe stubble to over winter , then you could have a good growth of the weed on the stubbles . Harnser . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gutter Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 The biggest attraction on the barley stubbles at this time of the year is chick-weed . Pigeons just love it and if the barley has been sprayed off earlier to allowthe stubble to over winter , then you could have a good growth of the weed on the stubbles . Harnser . I had some roosting the other night and had a look in the crops to give me an idea of what there feeding on. Not many had OSR most had barley in the crops and few had un-recognisable seed in the crops??. As this is the end of the pheasant shoots they some may be feeding on the excess feed left over or in deed on the stubble. I have seen plenty over the rape and flag this out or put out bangers to keep em moving. I have not seen the vast flocks and that’s good as the smaller flocks can be more frequent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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