Lee Posted September 13, 2002 Report Share Posted September 13, 2002 I shoot in the vale of glamorgan south wales and i am concerned about the lack of pigeons about. the oilseed rape has been cut as well as the peas and still no sign of pigeons, has anyone got any ideas as to where thay have gone as there were plenty around at the begining of the year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigie Posted September 13, 2002 Report Share Posted September 13, 2002 The crop situation is the same her (north Hertfordshire) but the cut pea fields are still drawing the birds. The fields were cut over 3 weeks ago. Go and have a look and spend time travelling round. You will find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdowns hunter Posted September 13, 2002 Report Share Posted September 13, 2002 They have probably gone on holiday, to sunny England Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted September 13, 2002 Report Share Posted September 13, 2002 I have been away for a week and have spent most of today looking around my farmers fields. Pigeons were spread thinly on rape stubble, wheat stubble, bean stubble and meadows. As its quite a warm, sunny day , I found quite a few in the woods. They are still there, scattered about a bit and not concentrated on any specific crop or field. They may also be feeding early and late, if it is a particularly warm day. A dull, windy day may focus them on to a sheltered field. Thats what I am hoping for next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigie Posted September 13, 2002 Report Share Posted September 13, 2002 Dull and windy sounds like me after a few pints the night before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
columbus Posted September 13, 2002 Report Share Posted September 13, 2002 Lee You want to come to west wales, i've never had such a good year.But as Cranfield says its pretty warm try first light i was out this morning on the field by 6.45 and there were already birds there, the flight had finished by 9 o'clock. So if i was you i would go early in the morning or late afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim Posted September 13, 2002 Report Share Posted September 13, 2002 i went on a recon this afternoon birds were feeding all the time , the temp was 24 , tomorrow (wait for it ) they wont be there at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil Posted September 13, 2002 Report Share Posted September 13, 2002 There seems to be a few around here (deepest Cornwall) but not in the numbers some of you guys are used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.I. countrysports U.K. GARY Posted September 15, 2002 Report Share Posted September 15, 2002 Early September can be a fairly lean time as far as pigeon shooting goes. A few factors dictate why: 1. untill the ploughs get really underway, the pigeons have food available on many fields (just about all of them that have not been ploughed) This spreads the pigeons out. It is difficult to find any concentrations of birds on any field. Split a crop open on a shot bird. I did one today, it had beans, wheat, rape and a few weed seeds in it. 2. The young birds of the season are starting to move now, but they will not fly very far from the main woods (they are not strong enough to fly any great distance) When this happens the adult birds begin to moult, and we tend to lose these for a week or two. During the next week or two bigger concentrations of birds will be seen on the last remaining stubbles. The young birds will get stronger, flying further distances, and the adults will have fully moulted. Expect the best shooting of the year by the end of this month and the first couple of weeks of october. Magnets will work their best during this period due to inexperienced young birds piling into them. This draws birds and they tend to decoy well. Set your stall out to do a fair amount of pigeon shooting during the next few weeks, you should find it really productive. My totals (with clients) for this period last year was 2,500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted September 15, 2002 Report Share Posted September 15, 2002 Welcome to the Forum Gary, The point you mention about, "losing" the moulting adult birds, has always intrigued me. An old Pest Control Officer friend of mine (long dead, unfortunately), always made this comment about September time. Where do they go ? Do they stay in the woods with limited flying requirements ? Can they still fly ? How long does the moult last ? These are all questions I wished I had asked him. Does anyone have any theories on this subject ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim Posted September 16, 2002 Report Share Posted September 16, 2002 i was wrong they were there until the railway gang started felling trees so i shifted onto another field of barley stubble and shot 24 that soon dried up teh the crows wanted to flight so i swapped the pigeons for crows and shot 30 of them. sunday i thought the railway gang wont be working - wrong i shot 31 in two hours then they moved right beside me so i had to pack in , they stayed all day ! had my dinner then went to a bean stubble shot from 2.30 till 7 30 ended up with 37 as i couldn't get directly under the line as a house would have got the fallout so not a bad weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Keith Posted September 18, 2002 Report Share Posted September 18, 2002 Its still quite good up here in "Bonny Scotland" there are still pigeons on rape stubble, saw quite a few on Monday. The farmers are just starting to plough the rape stuble fields now making it that bit easier to channel birds into fields that have not been ploughed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted September 18, 2002 Report Share Posted September 18, 2002 I went for a few hours today. The pigeons were all over a small, sheltered wheat stubble field. They have shown no interest in this field since it was harvested, but the wind today probably made it the most "comfortable" field on the farm. I shot 24 pigeons and 3 magpies. We need more wind and cloud !!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstopper Posted September 18, 2002 Report Share Posted September 18, 2002 I've noticed recently alot of pigeons around the electricity pilons in one of my fields, there is about 300-400 pigeons in a 60acre field, it was packed solid James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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