Cranfield Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 Subject to the weather, the Farmers where I shoot are planning to harvest barley this week. Some rape has already been "swathed", but the pigeons seem to prefer the cereal crops and peas. We need a bit more wind to improve the shooting. I,m blaming the still , almost windless days, for my lack of success. It certainly makes the pigeons cautious. It all seems to be happening at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
number 1 Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 the harvest is still a long way off the first thing to be cut will be the rape and that aint been sprayed off so its still 3 weeks away and the barly is to be cut after the rape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.223 Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 the first rape field have been swathed today but there has been quite afew sparayed all ready. one farmer said he will be thinking about harvesting the barley in about a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc Posted July 9, 2003 Report Share Posted July 9, 2003 Swathing of rape started up here yesterday, although a lot was sprayed last week. No sign of cereals being harvested yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markadams Posted July 9, 2003 Report Share Posted July 9, 2003 This is the first year that I have been able to shoot over Rape so please excuse my ignorance as I normally shoot over Peas or clover. I am just wonder what the process of harvesting Rape is, from what I read on hear it seems like it is sprayed and then Swathed (cut?). When is the best time to shoot over it, I have been unable to shoot over the rape for a while due to it being to high. Thanks Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted July 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2003 Some farmers swathe it first, leave it for a week or so and then harvest it. Others just harvest it. The pigeons will visit as soon as its swathed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Pudding Posted July 9, 2003 Report Share Posted July 9, 2003 guys Swathing- the rape is cut and layed in long row's . This "kills" the rape and therefore drys this drying time usually takes 2 weeks depending on the weather Desication - the rape is sprayed off to stop it growing . The rape stops taking up water , so it drys. It is then direct cut by the combine. all the best yis yp :ph34r: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted July 10, 2003 Report Share Posted July 10, 2003 I work part-time on a farm in the village.We are hoping to cut barley on sat if it doesnt rain.its next to a 1000 acre wood so we might have a decent day sunday.I've put the battery for the magnet on charge, the decoys have been sorted ,cartridge bag filled up now the WAIT if that fails a new farm ive just got has got some rape he re- planted last year just starting to show.He said he was going to leave it to set a side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdbogie Posted July 11, 2003 Report Share Posted July 11, 2003 Just checking in to see how you fellas been. My old screen name "20citori20" and password didn't work! So I decided to use my e-mail name. Pigeon "season" is close at hand here. The wheat is brown, but the rain doesn't seem to want to let up. Found a group of about 150 birds feeding in what looked to be a standing oat field but with no seed heads. I don't recognize the farming practice and have never seen pigeons landing in such high vegetation. I made a dozen and a half pigeon decoys this past week. Pigeon supplies are a rarity over here. I plan on taking a gas grass trimmer to clean out a shooting hole to place my decoys. Should be deadly, I hope. I found a honey hole just before I left my past residence and moved to this new location. I didn't get a chance to shoot it so I put my two pigeon partners on to it. They shot a whopping 310 birds!!!!!!! I plan on returning soon to shoot with them. Hope all is well and wish you all the best of luck with your shooting adventures. We plan on shooting the field next Wednesday. I'll let you know if it works out. Later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everygoodnamewastaken Posted July 11, 2003 Report Share Posted July 11, 2003 The barlry up here is still green and not formed yet. Looks like i'll not be shooting another pigeon for a long long time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJ Posted July 11, 2003 Report Share Posted July 11, 2003 I'm still having a great time on one particular field of clover. It was cut for haylage a couple of weeks ago, and since then the pigeons don't seem to be able to leave it alone. The farmer seems to think they're going for it for the moisture content. Any views? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 In Fife we are getting some big bags on blown barley and have just started shooting over swathed rape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergame Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 In my area ( West Lancs ) the winter barley is being cut and the pigeons are showing interest although we could do with a few more. A few birds have been showing on laid oats. I managed 40 a week back and last friday i managed 24 on Barley. The birds had only the tramlines to feed on as not much has gone down due to good weather. Until recently the majority of my sport has come from clover crops and Brassicas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunterswind9465 Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 I have never seen the rape swathed in Fife so early 14th July we have several fields of Barley cut already and 2 fields of rape sown. Today 5 guns had 876 Pigeons this is one of our best results for years lets hope they didnt shoot all the local Pigeons !!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 HW This is the earliest I've seen the rape swathed too, its normally a couple of weeks yet, mind you its only one field out of 60 farms. We haven't got any barley stubbles yet but there are several fields very close. Had some good bags on laid barley and on the one swathed rape field. :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philapper Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 shot 25 pigeons in 2 hours over swathed rape on monday. they seemed to be in a feeding frenzy either that or they were deaf and stupid. seemed to be alot of young birds!! I guess they learn!! (too late for some I'm afraid ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted August 6, 2003 Report Share Posted August 6, 2003 The harvest is well under way up here now. There are lots of birds using the rape stubbles, but one thing we have noticed this year is that a lot more of the rape has been sprayed instead of swathed. Has anyone else noticed this in their area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernyha Posted August 6, 2003 Report Share Posted August 6, 2003 Non of the rape fields we shoot over have been swathed for several years now and this year only one of the farms sprayed it first. The others have just gone straight in and cut it. Shot one such field today that had been cut on Saturday, on arrival i put up plenty of birds and had seven in as many minutes.Unfortunately they soon got fed up with the banging and went to feed on one of the many other stubbles in the area. I ended up with twenty five which was probably not too bad considering the hot sun and lack of wind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergame Posted August 12, 2003 Report Share Posted August 12, 2003 Had a superb day on saturday. Set up on a Pea/oats sileage stubble ( stacks of peas left on). Started shooting at 1pm and finished at 7.15pm with 115 pigeons and 8 jackdaws. Considering the temperature ( mid 80s) it was a truly fantastic day and I shall return to the field this saturday. Seems to be a lot of birds in my area showing interest in wheat stubbles. I should think sport will be relatively consistent for the next few weeks. All the best Stuart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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