JDog Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 After quite a few miles and some hours effort I gave up on decoying today. The only pigeons I saw in any numbers were on lawns, roadside verges and fields which were being grazed by sheep, none presenting shooting opportunities so I returned home disappointed again without a shot being fired. Four Easter eggs and an Easter Bunny later I decided to go out for a roost shoot. This was to a long thin wood no more than 1km from the wood in which I shot 22 pigeons on Saturday (19 of which were full of clover). It turned out to be an exceptional flight. There was a strong wind from the east and the wood was a mix of mature conifers and hardwoods, none of which was less than 50' high. The first pigeons came in at 5:45 and the shooting was difficult (for me anyway) as most of the birds were skirting the tree tops either upwind or downwind at some speed. I had runs of three kills in a row then five misses in a row but overall I was pleased to kill some pretty good birds at decent ranges but as is normal when roost shooting I fired at quite a few which were out of range. The flight stopped at 7:45 and I spent quite a while picking my birds. I had 28 on my clicker but I only picked 25, one of which had fallen into a grass field outside the wood and which had been picked clean by a buzzard. I shot 100 cartridges. I emptied the crops of the birds and was surprised to find that 18 were full of Ivy berries exclusively, one had gleaned barley and the rest had a mixture of clover and Ivy berries. With Ivy berries being the main part of the diet of these birds anyway it is hardly surprising that I have not seen many birds feeding on the numerous rape fields in the area. Roll on the drillings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 good result they can,t make there mind up around here wether to feed on rape or drillings, found them on both today and out the 34 we shot today on drilling a few birds had barley,and rape in the same crop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted April 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 good result they can,t make there mind up around here wether to feed on rape or drillings, found them on both today and out the 34 we shot today on drilling a few birds had barley,and rape in the same crop This is the strangest year I have ever known for 'mixed diets'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNS Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 Roll on the drillings indeed - I'd been offered shooting on 150 acres outside Shipston but the entire lot of rape failed so I've currently got more pigeons in my back garden ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsdad Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 I shot one pigeon as I walked around Chedworth wood yesterday after squirrels, a cracking 50yds crosser and perfectly retrieved by my young cocker so I was very pleased with that. It was a very scrawny bird though, obviously struggling for food though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kxkirk Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 I saw 250 birds sat on a half harvested field of sugarbeet yesterday but local farmers have started drilling spring barley so hopefully some good shooting ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 I had a couple of hours driving around yesterday and came to the conclusion it was not only April Fools day but also see who can ride their bicycle on the road in the most stupid fashion. Loads of groups out riding around, some 3 or 4 abreast and just wouldn't move into single file to let the paying road users past. As others have observed, the pigeons are getting stuck in to the clover now with very few on the rape. I did find one big farm with about the best looking rape I've seen this winter and a good few pigeons on that so will nip back during the week and see if anybody is attending to them. One farm with peas to go in so might see a day off that although with the modern drilling gear they use there ain't much left on top as a rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 Well done, we have a number of woods but none are good roosts. You stuck at the roost and reaped the reward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 Well done , there must have been plenty showing to get through a 100 cartridges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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