hedge Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Went out to one of our regular permissions today. It is a dairy farm that my friend obtained and we help reduce the feral pigeon numbers when we can. Having been out a few times in the summer, we got the numbers down from 200 to about 20. Now they seem to have gone up again. They also have a few rats that the farm cats used to deal with but one of the more experienced (and quite frankly the most terrifying and wild/manky cat I have ever seen) is no longer with them. This seems to have allowed the rats to get a bit of a foothold. They are actvie in the feed store and we wanted to see if we could sort some out as well. We arrive at 7am (it's Xmas Eve for God sake....). Sadly the rats didn't want to play. We had the lamp out and 2 terriers bit only saw a couple. We moved onto the main cattle shed to see how many ferals were about. We approached from both ends with air rifles and were pleased to see at least 30 in and around the roof space. We both started to take out some ferals. Usually at this stage when it's daylight, the pigeons just leave the shed. But as it was still dark outside they didn't want to venture out and just flew from end to end. This made our life so much easier and between us in about 30 minutes we had shot 22 ferals. It got light and the rest were off outside to freedom. As we were about to leave the shed some of the local crows and rooks floated past and one very unwisely landed on the feed silo about 30 foot up. My mate took a fine shot with his HW and down it came. After much needed coffee and bacon buttie, we then got the bigger guns out. My friend with his lovely .410 O/U and my 12 guage O/U. The weather was dreadful and the rain was endless. We both had full waterproofs but it still felt really miserable. We bagged another 8 on the wing as they flighted back in to the shed - one was a passing woodie who got a bit of a shock. So we ended on 29 ferals, 1 rook and 1 woodie. Sadly no rats but they will always be around. We wrapped up at 12 noon due to various discussions about why we were stood out in the elements on Xmas Eve and most sensible people would be snuggled up at home (or Xmas shopping). We were getting cold and starting to get damp. It was a great morning, shame about the weather but the farmer was chuffed. On a another positive note - the farm shares land with a shoot and we very respectfully stay away from the wooden areas and the gamekeeper is very grateful. A chance encounter with him on his rounds saw our reward in an offer of pigeon shooting once the season ends on some of the other shoot land that we don't have access to. Just goes to show, be respectful, not too greedy and you never know what may come of it. If the photo link works the pic is of 20 ferals and my mates HW. The farmers black lab was very stealthily taking one pigeon at a time and `relocating` them to his backdoor step. We realised there are only 18 in the pic and that was futher reduced to 16. Merry Xmas to all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon6ppc Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 good shooting, good gun the hw 97, i have one the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remy 700 Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 Nice write up , cracking stock on the 97 , cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandmartin Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 Nice work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.