THE MEK Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Spoke to the farmer yesterday and he says he's too late to set rape off now,so only barley and wheat going in due to this bad weather. Im just wondering if many others are in this predicament. It might concentrate the birds onto the few who have got their rape in. Anyway got my shooting cards in hand and away to knock on some doors, how is it where you are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegasus bridge Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 rape went in last week and the week before near me, i do hope this is just the fields i shoot though! ive got my eye in a corner of a wheat field that was waterlogged, with a 100 yard strip of wheat that was left uncut, if this can stay in situ all winter i could be in for some good sport, pest control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitsinhedges Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Rape in the winter is a pain to be honest, very difficult to get any reliable sport out of. I prefer the roost shooting with just a gun and cartridges and hopefully a full bag at the end along with a definite finishing time rather than sitting it out for hours, freezing, on the off chance that something will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Rape in the winter is a pain to be honest, very difficult to get any reliable sport out of. I prefer the roost shooting with just a gun and cartridges and hopefully a full bag at the end along with a definite finishing time rather than sitting it out for hours, freezing, on the off chance that something will happen. Totally agree All my farms had the rape in 2+ weeks ago. But I'm with Sitsinhedges on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Rape in the winter is a pain to be honest, very difficult to get any reliable sport out of. I prefer the roost shooting with just a gun and cartridges and hopefully a full bag at the end along with a definite finishing time rather than sitting it out for hours, freezing, on the off chance that something will happen. I concur with that. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of really good days I have had in the winter shooting over rape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegasus bridge Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 yes, but less winter rape would hopefully concerntrate the birds a bit more on the fields with it on, there is nothing more frustrating that seeing clouds of pigeons with the choice of thousands of acres of rape to choose from, clearing off after the first shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 few farms we shoot have put rape in last few weeks, also to note not a lot of acorns on the oaks this time after last years bumper crop of them in fact couldn,t see any on some oaks the other day, so they shouldn,t be preocupied this winter eating them in theory they should rely on the rape more this winter just a hunch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Spoke to the farmer yesterday and he says he's too late to set rape off now,so only barley and wheat going in due to this bad weather. Im just wondering if many others are in this predicament. It might concentrate the birds onto the few who have got their rape in. Anyway got my shooting cards in hand and away to knock on some doors, how is it where you are? no winter rape will generally mean a lot more barley. a lot of people here have had superb sport on barley during the summer months and if theres any spring sown barley corvids and pigeons will be on that. as for winter sport as sitsinhedges says get in the woods or under the flight lines. rape crops will probably follow the barley next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted September 24, 2012 Report Share Posted September 24, 2012 Plenty of rape in my area, which can mean good sport throughout the Winter if you know what you are doing. If there is a bad acorn crop this year I can expect good bags of between 80 - 120 birds in a session, any time from late October onwards. You've got to do your homework, and go where the pigeons are, not where you hope they will be, you've also got to block off other nearby fields of rape with other guns / banger ropes etc. Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 Some of our rape has been in for four weeks and is four inches high, most of the rest is in and growing. Acorns are varied some loaded and some nil. As our shooting area is dominated by the ancient Forest of Arden we have large areas of oak woodland ( not seen Robin Hood yet) we have a large amount of migrating birds travelling south during the winter stopping off in the woods. The clue is in the name Wood Pigeon, role on the winter whatever it brings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeh Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 I've all but given up on rape shooting around here, you'll see 2,000 birds come in and 1,998 birds fly away to somewhere else. it's a right old pain. I'm doing alright on the drillings though, so maybe you'll get some good shooting yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizza22196 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 only got one 40 acre field of rape this year and was drilled about 2 weeks ago, all the rest is going to be wheat i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 few farms we shoot have put rape in last few weeks, also to note not a lot of acorns on the oaks this time after last years bumper crop of them in fact couldn,t see any on some oaks the other day, so they shouldn,t be preocupied this winter eating them in theory they should rely on the rape more this winter just a hunch Thats my hope Daz. I was chatting to a keeper recently and we both agreed that its been a really poor year for seed production. The maize is dire round here, virtually no acorns or beech mast etc. We both feel that it was the wet summer affecting pollination, so as you say, perhaps the birds will be more concentrated on the rape. Even so, its a notoriously hard crop to decoy over. I have never understood why they are so twitchy in the winter and therefore difficult to decoy. I seem to have much more success flighting them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted September 25, 2012 Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 agree with you turbo i always find them difficult to get on terms with on rape,seem to get a good hour or 2 then thats it should get a few good days i,m sure, but the norm will be 10,15, 20 birds or 0 birds although we have 2 small fields of unharvested barley that might be left over winter if so that could be interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 I concur with that. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of really good days I have had in the winter shooting over rape. Winter shooting over rape can be very difficult and i don't normally bother to shoot on it much unless requested. I prefer to wait until Feb/March/April and have had many 100+ bags on rape in those months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeonblasterian Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 A lot of rape around me was sown at the end of August and is well up now. It is harder shooting the rape as there seems to be more grown and the pigeons seem to just move on if shot at. It is more of showing willing to be out and doing what the farmer expects by giving you permission to shoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 You've got to put the effort in to get results on Winter Rape. It's no good turning up mid morning on spec during January / Feb and hoping for a good bag, you've already missed the best time. I had a reasonable day in late Feb this year, did a good recce the day before so knew exactly where the birds were feeding on the field, was there in the dark at 6.15 the next morning to set up, shot the first bird bang on 7.00am, by 8.00am I had 59 on the clicker, packed up at 1.00pm having picked up 117. No pain, no gain..!! Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted September 27, 2012 Report Share Posted September 27, 2012 our rape has been in since late August and well advanced now, they are showing it some attention but no where near enough to make it worth shooting. The last stubble fields look to be the ones getting the attention at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl1959 Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 our rape has been in since late August and well advanced now, they are showing it some attention but no where near enough to make it worth shooting. The last stubble fields look to be the ones getting the attention at the moment. thares field of wheat the farmer cant get in yet and the birds are all ove it at the moment great for shooting but costley to the farmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 i have lots of farms that have it again this year, had loads last year but not very good sport on them , bad year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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