Decoy day

[N1ck8]

Has anyone been on a payed decoy day?

 

I have noticed a few people advertising this on fleebay, i was just wondering if anyone had been on any and if so where is good.

[CZ550Kevlar]

nope, i do however give them away free, that makes me super cool. i would go onto say that i think charging people for this is wrong but i`ll probably get flamed, especially as i know very few people who pay for shooting rights.

[kippylawkid]

nope, i do however give them away free, that makes me super cool. i would go onto say that i think charging people for this is wrong but i`ll probably get flamed, especially as i know very few people who pay for shooting rights.

I think it's all about market forces. If you have a service that people are willing to pay for - that's what makes the world go round.

I can't see the difference between this and paying for a days stalking or pheasant shooting.

 

Provided a good service is provided and a fair price charged = everyone is happy.

 

My personal opinion but I realise it's an emotive subject.

[motty]

I had a day yesterday that was paid for by the old man as a christmas present. I went to Besthorpe estate (near Attleborough in Norfolk). I wouldn't normally pay for a day on pigeons myself but there you go.

I had a bad time of it, really. I was set up by 8am on maize. The pigeons weren't coming so i sent the keeper a text at 10.30 to see if i could move elsewhere. It took him an hour or more to text back. He said he would take me to a different spot, but not till 12.30 as he had to pop to see the dentist!!! The bag by 12.30 was 7. Four and a half hours for SEVEN pigeons.Normally i would have packed up and gone home.

I then went to a rape field where the shooting improved. I finished with 33 pigeons but i wasn't too impressed with the service. I wouldn't go back......

[Sprackles]

I have, when you have nowhere of your own and you want a day out shooting then its that or nothing.

There are those who will never pay because they think its wrong but with the right guide it can lead to some fun days.

[N1ck8]

I agree as far as its not great to pay for shooting but i am bored of the politics involved in rough shooting around my area.

If a good days shooting was on offer id be happy to pay.

 

I have seen a company Bristol way not sure ill say the name but they are on ebay.. Looks to be a good set up.

 

I am would be happy to accept any free days tho....

[Sprackles]

I would be wary of flea bay offers.

Have you tried the wanted section making clear you want a paid day ....... otherwise you get blasted by the get knocking brigade.

[CZ550Kevlar]

i didn`t realize paying was so widely acceptable, hmmm maybe i should/could start charging a modest fee.

[alfiem01]

I had a day yesterday that was paid for by the old man as a christmas present. I went to Besthorpe estate (near Attleborough in Norfolk). I wouldn't normally pay for a day on pigeons myself but there you go.

I had a bad time of it, really. I was set up by 8am on maize. The pigeons weren't coming so i sent the keeper a text at 10.30 to see if i could move elsewhere. It took him an hour or more to text back. He said he would take me to a different spot, but not till 12.30 as he had to pop to see the dentist!!! The bag by 12.30 was 7. Four and a half hours for SEVEN pigeons.Normally i would have packed up and gone home.

I then went to a rape field where the shooting improved. I finished with 33 pigeons but i wasn't too impressed with the service. I wouldn't go back......

 

Was this norfolkgame on ebay, tony the keeper he only wants your money and dont give a toss if you dont shoot anything. can be nasty if you want to move. Wont be going there again.

[yickdaz]

I had a day yesterday that was paid for by the old man as a christmas present. I went to Besthorpe estate (near Attleborough in Norfolk). I wouldn't normally pay for a day on pigeons myself but there you go.

I had a bad time of it, really. I was set up by 8am on maize. The pigeons weren't coming so i sent the keeper a text at 10.30 to see if i could move elsewhere. It took him an hour or more to text back. He said he would take me to a different spot, but not till 12.30 as he had to pop to see the dentist!!! The bag by 12.30 was 7. Four and a half hours for SEVEN pigeons.Normally i would have packed up and gone home.

I then went to a rape field where the shooting improved. I finished with 33 pigeons but i wasn't too impressed with the service. I wouldn't go back......

well hes in the wrong buisness then its (his job) to make sure your looked after your paying for it for christs sake, so after an hour he should have sussed the situation whether or not your on for a decent day, then leave you where you are or have somewhere else planned to take you too and not do it 2 hrs after you contact him. to me it sounds like he plonked you in a spot and left without monitoring the shooting or lack of it.

[fenboy]

I had a day yesterday that was paid for by the old man as a christmas present. I went to Besthorpe estate (near Attleborough in Norfolk). I wouldn't normally pay for a day on pigeons myself but there you go.

I had a bad time of it, really. I was set up by 8am on maize. The pigeons weren't coming so i sent the keeper a text at 10.30 to see if i could move elsewhere. It took him an hour or more to text back. He said he would take me to a different spot, but not till 12.30 as he had to pop to see the dentist!!! The bag by 12.30 was 7. Four and a half hours for SEVEN pigeons.Normally i would have packed up and gone home.

I then went to a rape field where the shooting improved. I finished with 33 pigeons but i wasn't too impressed with the service. I wouldn't go back......

 

I was thinking of a day on this estate but spoke to somebody who is in the know about them and was advised to save my money , seems that they are only really interested in taking your cash rather than interested in you having a good day ,I know pigeons are often unpredictable but if your paying they should at least do there best to get you on the birds.

[alfiem01]

well hes in the wrong buisness then its (his job) to make sure your looked after your paying for it for christs sake, so after an hour he should have sussed the situation whether or not your on for a decent day, then leave you where you are or have somewhere else planned to take you too and not do it 2 hrs after you contact him. to me it sounds like he plonked you in a spot and left without monitoring the shooting or lack of it.

 

Tony terry is his name ripping you off his is game.£49.99 per shooter.

[N1ck8]

the one i had my eye on was A1 pigeon, its on ebay and says its in the bristol area. It seems a good set up but cant find any reviews etc of people who had been.

 

The norfolk one is too far away from me and i sent them a email asking for more info on the day, to which i had a reply saying we are a working farm what do you want to know....

 

If anyone knows of any other places which offer this or if you have some land and want some cash i have a few friends who would also be happy to part with some cash to be able to shoot.

 

Thanks

[N1ck8]

i didn`t realize paying was so widely acceptable, hmmm maybe i should/could start charging a modest fee.

 

I would be happy to pay you for some rough shooting...

 

 

Can you please pm me if you have anything available

 

 

Thanks

[motty]

Was this norfolkgame on ebay, tony the keeper he only wants your money and dont give a toss if you dont shoot anything. can be nasty if you want to move. Wont be going there again.

Yes, his name was Tony. He was full of excuses but tried to be friendly.The pigeons also seemed like they had been harrassed too much.

[Alexbb]

There is a place called Thames Valley Pigeon Shooting nr Oxford that I went to a couple of times. The chap running it was very capable and really knew his stuff so you always saw a good deal of birds. I would say the only thing that has stopped me going more is the price. It was £150 a day in the high season but all you had to do was turn up with gun and shells. I've just looked him up again: Will on 01869 277534 or 07831 195736.

He does do his job, driving around the surrounding area flushing birds out and kept in contact throughout the day. All in all a good day out.

best of luck.

[dougall]

Thames Valley is Phil & Will Beasley(also own Shoot warehouse the site sponsors) based north of Oxford.

They have a lot of land.still think it is £150 per gun/day.

If you are happy with £150 then these are as good as any.Expect a 9 am meet, to be in a hide from 11ish til late p.m. On the right day/conditions you will get good shooting.But with pigeon as we all know you could spend £150 and have 10 shots.....

[gjj]

My Father and I rarely get chance to shoot together with work commitments etc, so we recently bought a day in Attleborough off the internet. I have to say, we were unsure what to expect, having never payed for shooting before. But The small area we do shoot has been so quiet lately we thought we'd give it a go. We were banking on the fact that with 3000 or so acres to shoot on at Attleborough there must be some chopped maize to have a go over.

Our day went like this:-

We arrived at the keepers house around 8am where Tony met us. Tony said to leave the truck at his and we went off in his Landrover to have a look round a few fields.

There were clearly loads of pigeons about (alot more than we are used to anyway). Tony had his bino's and we soon found a couple of fields of rape with loads of birds on. Tony left it up to us where we wanted to go, but said we could move later in the day if we wanted. We picked a small wooded pit in the middle of a rape field with chopped maize around it.

We had asked for a hide and decoys to be supplied, just to see if we would learn anything from someone elses set up really. We had bought all our own gear to. Tony helped set up the hide and he put out the decoys and magnet. After parking my truck in the next field Tony gave me a lift back to the hide, and told us to give him a ring at any time.

The first hour or so was hectic with lots of birds swirling around and coming into the trees in the pit and some into the decoys. We started to replace the plastic decoys with real ones throughout the morning but once we had taken in all the plastics they seemed to be alot more confident to come down to the decoys.

We heard Tony throughout the day blowing his hooter to move the pigeons from neighbouring fields and he popped across at lunch time to see how we were getting on. We were more than happy with how things were going so didn't want to move.

Things slowed down during the afternoon but there was a steady amount of birds moving around to keep us ocuppied. We decided to call it a day at about 3.30pm having picked up 71 birds. Tony came to help pack, up and my father and i left having had a lovely day.

we were really happy with how things had gone, and we agreed that we would deffinetly go again. I know you can never guarantee what the birds will do from one day to the next, but i have to say that the service we recieved from the keeper was first class.

[motty]

My Father and I rarely get chance to shoot together with work commitments etc, so we recently bought a day in Attleborough off the internet. I have to say, we were unsure what to expect, having never payed for shooting before. But The small area we do shoot has been so quiet lately we thought we'd give it a go. We were banking on the fact that with 3000 or so acres to shoot on at Attleborough there must be some chopped maize to have a go over.

Our day went like this:-

We arrived at the keepers house around 8am where Tony met us. Tony said to leave the truck at his and we went off in his Landrover to have a look round a few fields.

There were clearly loads of pigeons about (alot more than we are used to anyway). Tony had his bino's and we soon found a couple of fields of rape with loads of birds on. Tony left it up to us where we wanted to go, but said we could move later in the day if we wanted. We picked a small wooded pit in the middle of a rape field with chopped maize around it.

We had asked for a hide and decoys to be supplied, just to see if we would learn anything from someone elses set up really. We had bought all our own gear to. Tony helped set up the hide and he put out the decoys and magnet. After parking my truck in the next field Tony gave me a lift back to the hide, and told us to give him a ring at any time.

The first hour or so was hectic with lots of birds swirling around and coming into the trees in the pit and some into the decoys. We started to replace the plastic decoys with real ones throughout the morning but once we had taken in all the plastics they seemed to be alot more confident to come down to the decoys.

We heard Tony throughout the day blowing his hooter to move the pigeons from neighbouring fields and he popped across at lunch time to see how we were getting on. We were more than happy with how things were going so didn't want to move.

Things slowed down during the afternoon but there was a steady amount of birds moving around to keep us ocuppied. We decided to call it a day at about 3.30pm having picked up 71 birds. Tony came to help pack, up and my father and i left having had a lovely day.

we were really happy with how things had gone, and we agreed that we would deffinetly go again. I know you can never guarantee what the birds will do from one day to the next, but i have to say that the service we recieved from the keeper was first class.

I don't suppose you recall what date you went. That sounds like exactly the same maize as i set up on. If you went a day or two before me, no wonder the pigeons were jumpy!

Edited February 29, 2012 by motty

[highland]

ALL PIGEON SHOOTERS ARE DOING THE FARMER A BIG FAVOUR DONT PAY AT ALL NO WAY .

[gjj]

I don't suppose you recall what date you went. That sounds like exactly the same maize as i set up on. If you went a day or two before me, no wonder the pigeons were jumpy!

 

It was wednesday the 15th of feb that we went.

[Will Beasley]

To a paying customer whos looking to book a guide on face value and judge the guide based on the days results..... a Pigeon Guide is ONLY AS GOOD AS HIS LAST DAY. Thats the bottom line.

 

Having done this job for over 15 years now let me tell you...... it's ******* hard work when you take on novices, clients with "high expectations", young London city slickers who want birds "on demand" as they're accustomed to on daddies expensive pheasant shooting estate, and people who simply wont accept the fact that their "wants" on a days guided decoying are completely flawed by their lack of knowledge, skill and aptitude.

 

Some clients hit the right spot on the right day and to the client the guide will be the greatest thing since sliced bread.... and on the trickier days, - simply because money is involved, - the client can sometimes put in no effort in thinking/hiding/paying attention/being alert 100% of the time instead of reading a porn mag or Financial Times, and heres the buzz word.... "actively HUNTING", and thus the guide gets the blame.

 

I have no sympathy anymore with clients who want to put in zero effort, and will actively cull them from my bookings. Success in this game relies on effort not only from the guide, but also the client. The times when Pigeons sail into the decoys kamikaze style for "Tarquin, investment ******" from London who wants push button pigeons on demand" are few and far between these days. My apologies to anyone called Tarquin on this forum who's not an investment ****** from London who I may have offended :-)))).

 

Just because you book a days pigeon shooting with a guide makes NO Guarantee, AND please prospective clientelle.... YOU ALSO HAVE TO WORK AT IT SOMETIMES... no... in fact MOST OF THE TIME. These birds DONT want to get killed, EVEN IF YOUR PAYING FOR IT!!!

[motty]

It was wednesday the 15th of feb that we went.

As my post before showed, Tony the gamekeeper is an absolute joke. I was put on that same piece of maize on the 17th!!!!!!!!! He is a lying piece of **** also, as he told me that the people who were there two days before had shot on the rape further up the road.

 

So BEWARE, anyone thinking of shooting on the Besthorpe estate. They are simply interested in your money - NOT providing a good service.

[howzat]

Paid decoying.

Has anyone seen the recent advert in The Shooting Times

for pigeon shooting in Northhampton for £30 a day,is it

any good or is it just a money making rip off ?

Be nice to know if someone has any info.

howzat

[harry flashman]

 

Some clients hit the right spot on the right day and to the client the guide will be the greatest thing since sliced bread.... and on the trickier days, - simply because money is involved, - the client can sometimes put in no effort in thinking/hiding/paying attention/being alert 100% of the time instead of reading a porn mag or Financial Times, and heres the buzz word.... "actively HUNTING", and thus the guide gets the blame.

 

I have no sympathy anymore with clients who want to put in zero effort, and will actively cull them from my bookings. Success in this game relies on effort not only from the guide, but also the client. The times when Pigeons sail into the decoys kamikaze style for "Tarquin, investment ******" from London who wants push button pigeons on demand" are few and far between these days. My apologies to anyone called Tarquin on this forum who's not an investment ****** from London who I may have offended :-)))).

 

Just because you book a days pigeon shooting with a guide makes NO Guarantee, AND please prospective clientelle.... YOU ALSO HAVE TO WORK AT IT SOMETIMES... no... in fact MOST OF THE TIME. These birds DONT want to get killed, EVEN IF YOUR PAYING FOR IT!!!

 

You've probably had a whole load more young investment bankers who were perfectly understanding about the challenges of your job, but you would never know as they don't advertise what they do for a living. The sort of guy who would expect birds on tap is also prob the only guy who would bother telling you he worked for an investment bank.

 

I would like to meet some these guys called Tarquin whose dad's have pheasant shoots though, sound like much more useful colleagues than the bunch I have at the moment.