pigeoncatcher Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 have not shoot a pigeon since oct 2010, shoot over bracicas frist lay clover grass for 35 years , this is the worse year i have had ,there decline in the pigeon populacion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorsey Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 Where abouts are you from pigeoncatcher? the farmers around you must be very happy if there are no pigeons about at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZ550Kevlar Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Pigeons are around, their habits have changed though, especially noticeable around my permission and neighbouring land owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Duncan Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I've noticed a lot splitting off and roosting individually and in small groups of half a dozen or less. I just out it down to preparation for the mating season. Duncan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foghorn Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Pigeons are all over the place, but totally inconsistant, i have watched them for days in one field only to go set up and have one shot at a passing bird !. Got a call from the farmer the other weeks, OSR being hammered, set up 2.1/2 hours later, one crow. Anyway going out tomorrow to try again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckaroo23 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 ive seen alot in town centre just latley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyR Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Shot 20 yesterday whilst Roost shooting. Dressed them today and they were full of Ash seeds, Ivy berries, Clover and some rape. Am going to try decoying again on Weds/Thurs where we have seen a lot but I am not hopeful they will stick around. cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpowder Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) Yesterday one of my farmers phoned to say there were hundreds of pigeon sitting in one of his woods and dropping down to feed on a neighbours OSR. Went for a look and it was true, it looked like water running from the trees to the field a constant stream of birds. So off this morning for a try, trouble is no access other than a long long walk with all the gear so I opted to try a sure fire wood in the middle of a grass ley. The wood roughly 50 yrds by 100 was stuffed with birds who promptly took off on my approach and hopped over the boundary for another assault on the neighbours crops. More in hope than any chance of moving the pigeon from osr to clover I set up a dozen decoys on the shelterd side of the wood and while , no birds came to land near them the pattern did seem to pull them to my side of the wood. After some disasterous shooting to start with I finished up with a dozen birds having shot at a ratio of roughly 3 : 1. Interstingly at about 2pm the entire flock took off from the distant field and headed my way, had there been a buzzard strike among them? I dont know but a buzzard had been flying about all day causing the pigeon little or no alarm. These pigeon behaved like a flock of starlings diving and soaring the flock ever changing shape until with wings set and a might rush of air they all dropped en mass into the centre of the wood, my two despairing shots were no deterrent to them arriving. Now all was quiet you would not belive that this small wood was stuffed with birds. Setting of to walk the perimeter pigeon were flushing all the time, eight shots and picked up three. But once back at my hide there were no birds on the distant rape and none came back to the wood until I was loading the car 2 hours later when I saw the first of the pigeopn return. Straange behaviour indeed. Blackpowder Edited February 21, 2011 by Blackpowder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koikeeper Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I went decoying today, first time for 17yrs!watched the fields for two days,been caning the osr,set up early this morning,fired 5 shors all day! Three were trying to get them moving,no discernable flightlines,small flocks of twenty or so birds. I know the weather wasnt great but very frustrating. Could have decoyed more in my garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookiemonsterandmerlin. Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) Crumpets do you want to sell your gear its not getting much use Have you any in your area not ireland by any chance. Cheers OTH Edited February 21, 2011 by Over the hill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeoncatcher Posted February 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Where abouts are you from pigeoncatcher? the farmers around you must be very happy if there are no pigeons about at all! Hello, Dorsey, Southampton Hampshire, the farmers are happy but I am not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrikirkby Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Not seen any big flocks for a while around here either ? loads of small groups but thats it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 You are not alone pigeoncatcher in your lack of pigeons. For the second week I toured all my rape fields ( 22 ) and not a pigeon on any of them. Two flocks found , one of 200 on a uncut maze strip , but cant have a go at them as the farmer does not want them pushed onto the rape and another flock of 500 just sitting for an hour in a wood I cant shoot , close to some rape , but showing no interest in it. This is the second week I have not bothered to get my gun out of the car after looking around 7000 acres of shooting in Norfolk. I have a draw prize winner down for a days shooting soon , getting worried I will have none to show him. . Most years I would be looking at shooting 2000 birds at this stage of the winter. This year my bag is 52 since September ( 10 of those roost shooting ) . Very few birds about and what there is are not interested in rape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 You are not alone pigeoncatcher in your lack of pigeons. For the second week I toured all my rape fields ( 22 ) and not a pigeon on any of them. Two flocks found , one of 200 on a uncut maze strip , but cant have a go at them as the farmer does not want them pushed onto the rape and another flock of 500 just sitting for an hour in a wood I cant shoot , close to some rape , but showing no interest in it. This is the second week I have not bothered to get my gun out of the car after looking around 7000 acres of shooting in Norfolk. I have a draw prize winner down for a days shooting soon , getting worried I will have none to show him. . Most years I would be looking at shooting 2000 birds at this stage of the winter. This year my bag is 52 since September ( 10 of those roost shooting ) . Very few birds about and what there is are not interested in rape. And these comments are from somebody who knows how to shoot pigeons. It'a a similar story in my area I'm afraid, they were hitting the rape in some numbers before the cold snap in December, they then vanished throughout the cold spell, (back to the woods, feeding on nuts and berries), but now there are more birds feeding on the grass verges of dual carriageways around here than there are birds on the rape. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Rape is not their food of choice, (unlike in Scotland, so it seems), as soon as there's a hint of something different, they're off. There will be some good shooting on Rape coming up soon, as soon as temperatures rise a bit the farmers will fertilise the rape, then it'll grow like a rocket, the birds will then usually concentrate on certain areas of the fields around the margins where it's been grazed off, if you spend time doing a recce you can have some good sport. Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookiemonsterandmerlin. Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 It just shows the huge diffrents in areas from week to week here in oxfordshire we had a real lean time.now we have tens of thousands all on rape and only switching if we have some drilling then there back on the rape. We shot alot last week over wheat drilling and there back on the rape next to it ,but we have alot of clover leys and if we get the warm weather predicted for the end of the week withthe rain a flush of clover and rape will happen. Cheers Cookie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 good numbers next door to 2 permissions on the rape around 500 in both areas and 300 on another patch; tried decoying them on the boundary with a bit of success;but its not the same as decoying directly on the crop...but on our perms we have a lot of stubbles left which are soon to be sown in the next few weeks so i think we can tempt them off the rape once it goes in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironhorse Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Hampshire There has been a marked drop in pigeon over the past ten years where I shoot. Rape grown more and more and as said pigeon do not favour it, only when other supplies are short do they hit it. Pigeons flocking has decreased to smaller numbers, the increase of available rape fields just means one shot and they move to another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocker3 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 1000s up here still on the osr tho sowing will start up here in the next 2_3 weeks then it will be game on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookiemonsterandmerlin. Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 My mother in law lives in fawley in hampshire there a farm with maize stubble there it was full of woodies and the forest was full of birds still on acorns . Strange you boys from southhampton are reporting so few birds. Cheers Cookie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete1dart Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Although my profile says Winchester, I am now living in Southampton. October I started to see alot of birds flocking up and heading over the Itchen towards the Forest. Must have been alot of Beech Mass and acorns out there for them. There are plenty of birds around Winchester where I shoot. No rape on our farm just a few cover strips. The two estates that border us have plenty of rape. The beaters from there shoot those fields tho, so no hope of me getting over there. The birds seem to be using our wood for digesting and roosting. I also have a farm out Sherfield english way. The farmer always has alot of rape up there but i havnt had chance to get out and see what is hitting it. But i bet there are a few. Loads of pigeons in Hampshire still, just not where i am!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAMMER BURT Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 not many birds in and around ely cambs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 not much about on rape,but one of the farmers i shoot for has called me to say he is drilling beans this week if the weather is ok .That might bring them on a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proTOM1 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Not got to many on rape but thousands on maize and any drillings been watching a drill this afternoon well over 3000 hitting it ,ment to be wet tomorrow but i may have a try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrikirkby Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 I am gonna have a go tomorrow morning nice and early on the cover crop but cant see it being to productive but there are plenty of rabbit warrens surrounding it so if iam quite i may have a bunny or 2 !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Sarakun Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 not many birds in and around ely cambs We have plenty here in the south of Cambridge RAMMER BURT, though getting them to decoy on the Rape is fruitless and there are plenty on it. Last week we tried something different. Instead of putting the decoys on the Rape under the flight path, we put them in the Wheat NEXT to the Rape under the flight path. They decoyed nicely. It was late in the day at this point so next time we will have a full day doing it this way, just to see if it was a one off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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