culchie123 Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Is it just me or does anyone else think that pigeon numbers are down this year,having been out 5 or six times this year with dissapointing bags,i am convinced that the birds are not there,and that a lot died last winter with the very hard weather that lasted so long,also will there be any snipe this year because it completly wiped them out in this area,any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr D Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 where abouts are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
culchie123 Posted August 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Meath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docholiday Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Meath ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_R Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) Ireland..probably Edited August 18, 2011 by john_r Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Is it just me or does anyone else think that pigeon numbers are down this year,having been out 5 or six times this year with dissapointing bags,i am convinced that the birds are not there,and that a lot died last winter with the very hard weather that lasted so long,also will there be any snipe this year because it completly wiped them out in this area,any thoughts? Considering you have only been out a few times, you can't really make such an assumption. Most pigeon shooters go at least once a week. I have seen no evidence of a decline in my area. There seem to be more, if anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proTOM1 Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Considering you have only been out a few times, you can't really make such an assumption. Most pigeon shooters go at least once a week. I have seen no evidence of a decline in my area. There seem to be more, if anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 seeing more birds than ever near or on our perms in the last 3 years or so, its just that half the time they are on neighbouring farms that won,t allow shooting on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclemicky Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Was shooting yesterday and there were 100's in the next field dropping in all day , suffice to say we don't have permission on that particular bit of land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodyPopper Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 (edited) Very quiet near me. Set up at 8:15 this morning, left at 12:15. Result, two shots, one dead pigeon. In all that time, I didn't think "oh, should have set up over there instead." Everywhere was equally quiet. The only positive points were that the two I shot at flew exactly on the line that I predicted after my recon on Wednesday evening. One of them actually landed in my pattern. And that's an OK average! I've only been pigeon shooting since March and I've been looking forward to harvest. I've been very disappointed but I've been assuming that my lack of pigeons is down to my lack of field craft and experience. But it does seem that there are very few around. Each day I drive past fields of rape, wheat and barley stubble and I haven't seen any significant pigeon numbers anywhere. This site seems to be split between people saying "where have all the pigeons gone?" and people saying "plenty round here - more than ever". As I said, I've only been involved since March. Can the "old hands" say whether this argument comes round every year. Or is there actually something odd happening this year? Edited August 20, 2011 by WoodyPopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 Chances are they will be spread out this time of year as they have so much choice to feed from. Unless you have a particularly messy cut or very attractive food source then don't be too concerned if there aren't big numbers visible on the field. I shot a ton a couple of weeks back on a field that was just under a strong flightline and didn't have ANY birds feeding on it when I arrived. FM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrispti Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Shot a few 100+ bags recently, it doesnt appear to have made the smallest dent in the population what so ever :blink: You just need to drive about and find them, get up early, find a flight line and try to follow them and see where they are feeding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proTOM1 Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Shot a few 100+ bags recently, it doesnt appear to have made the smallest dent in the population what so ever :blink: You just need to drive about and find them, get up early, find a flight line and try to follow them and see where they are feeding Spot on did just that this morning follewed the flight from a big wood to the rape they were feeding on and will be on later today for a few with a bit of luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
culchie123 Posted August 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 Thanks lads for your thoughts,yes Im from Ireland,and Im a farmer,I live,work everyday in the countryside,when I say out a out few times that is 7 or 8,but not only that,everyday Im watching as I move around with my work and Im still concinved that there are smaller numbers around this year,last winter was the coldest winter round here that anyone can remember -20 some nights but along with that it lasted nearly 6weeks,the birds were starving,one of my friends a farmer also told me that he went to one of his rape fields that pigeons were attacking to shoot a few and scare them away,but when he got there he had not got the heart to shoot them,he said that a lot of them could barely fly and it was very evident that they were starving,and he thought it was a fairer to leave them,and now he had as good a yield from that field as it ever did before,also they were very easy targets,no reconn needed,just go to any rape field and they were pouring in,I heard of one group of 3 men shooting 1000 in one day,all these things I think must have factor on numbers now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdubya Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 more birds about this year than I have seen in a while, huge amounts in the air at the minute, lots and lots of young birds coming to the deeks, makes me think they have had a spectacularly good breeding year. KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jez28 Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 Ilive next to a roosting woods and it seems that there are fewer in there at the moment. Maybe due to the vast ammount of food available all around but defo less in the evenings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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