Close season for pigeon

[carpentermark]

I don't think the population of wood pigeons is at any risk, nor can I understand how an agricultural pest can have a close season.

However, I do accept that other people may have differing views, which they are entitled to.

Rather than post abuse, just smile and nod.

To '"smile" would mean i'm happy with what's being said and to "nod" would mean i'm in agreement with it......... I'll do neither!

It's not abuse, it's my opinion, it's valid and i'm entitled to it! I'm sick of being polite to anti's and other like minded people in case i 'rock the boat'.

New years resolution = speak my mind and to hell with 'um!

[Grandalf]

Pigs are just starting to bunch up here in East Anglia - As they do every year about this time.

Hitting the rape harder too.

[Cranfield]

To '"smile" would mean i'm happy with what's being said and to "nod" would mean i'm in agreement with it......... I'll do neither!

It's not abuse, it's my opinion, it's valid and i'm entitled to it! I'm sick of being polite to anti's and other like minded people in case i 'rock the boat'.

New years resolution = speak my mind and to hell with 'um!

 

Your interpretation of "smile and nod" is not mine.

Look it up in the Urban Dictionary.

[carpentermark]

Your interpretation of "smile and nod" is not mine.

Look it up in the Urban Dictionary.

Sorry i speak English, not Urban?!

Oxford Concise English Dictionary:

 

Definition of smile in English

smile

Pronunciation: /smʌɪl/

verb

form one’s features into a PLEASED, kind, or amused expression, typically with the corners of the mouth turned up and the front teeth

(as adjective smiling)

 

Definition of nod in English

nod

Pronunciation: /nɒd/

verb (nods, nodding, nodded)

lower and raise one’s head slightly and briefly, especially in greeting, assent, or understanding, or to give someone a signal:

he looked around for support and everyone nodded

[with object]:

she nodded her head in AGREEMENT.

 

Pleased and agreement!

[carpentermark]

Am not here to argue but im really, really sick of being told to back down to anti's as if what i do, believe in is wrong.

I wont do it anymore!

[Dunkield]

You seem to be arguing with yourself atm

[bunnage]

I put my topic on here to open a debate, yes debate, on what I view is a worrying lack of pigeons this year. I have been met with a torrent of abuse such as he is "daft"," must be an anti ", "scum", " he is a troll " . I am disappointed at some peoples intelligence.

Sparrows once plentiful as the pigeons & starlings in huge flocks , have diminished to very small numbers . It could happen to pigeons is all I am debating.

Most shooters who have replied seem to want to exterminate the lot, one hopes to be rewarded £1000000. !

I think some serious shooters also worry about shooting birds at the height of the breeding season leaving squabs to die in the nest, so only shoot when its a must to protect a crop.

Also I am a farmer & a sportsman in the field. Yes , I was farming in the 1960s . I can remember vast flocks & I marvelled at them. We see nothing like it today.

As for pest control , coming to shoot my field on the weekend & then not coming back for a week is not much good, you need to walk round the fields all day every day to keep them away. So muggins has to do that plus buy gas guns scare crows etc. Most shooters ,lets be honest treat it as a sport, fair enough, but dont make out you are doing the farmer a great service.

Obviously if you are a conscientious pest controller or professional , thank you for a grand job.

[carpentermark]

I put my topic on here to open a debate, yes debate, on what I view is a worrying lack of pigeons this year. I have been met with a torrent of abuse such as he is "daft"," must be an anti ", "scum", " he is a troll " . I am disappointed at some peoples intelligence.

Sparrows once plentiful as the pigeons & starlings in huge flocks , have diminished to very small numbers . It could happen to pigeons is all I am debating.

Most shooters who have replied seem to want to exterminate the lot, one hopes to be rewarded £1000000. !

I think some serious shooters also worry about shooting birds at the height of the breeding season leaving squabs to die in the nest, so only shoot when its a must to protect a crop.

Also I am a farmer & a sportsman in the field. Yes , I was farming in the 1960s . I can remember vast flocks & I marvelled at them. We see nothing like it today.

As for pest control , coming to shoot my field on the weekend & then not coming back for a week is not much good, you need to walk round the fields all day every day to keep them away. So muggins has to do that plus buy gas guns scare crows etc. Most shooters ,lets be honest treat it as a sport, fair enough, but dont make out you are doing the farmer a great service.

Obviously if you are a conscientious pest controller or professional , thank you for a grand job.

You're welcome! Edited December 25, 2013 by carpentermark

[sitsinhedges]

I put my topic on here to open a debate, yes debate, on what I view is a worrying lack of pigeons this year. I have been met with a torrent of abuse such as he is "daft"," must be an anti ", "scum", " he is a troll " . I am disappointed at some peoples intelligence.

Sparrows once plentiful as the pigeons & starlings in huge flocks , have diminished to very small numbers . It could happen to pigeons is all I am debating.

Most shooters who have replied seem to want to exterminate the lot, one hopes to be rewarded £1000000. !

I think some serious shooters also worry about shooting birds at the height of the breeding season leaving squabs to die in the nest, so only shoot when its a must to protect a crop.

Also I am a farmer & a sportsman in the field. Yes , I was farming in the 1960s . I can remember vast flocks & I marvelled at them. We see nothing like it today.

As for pest control , coming to shoot my field on the weekend & then not coming back for a week is not much good, you need to walk round the fields all day every day to keep them away. So muggins has to do that plus buy gas guns scare crows etc. Most shooters ,lets be honest treat it as a sport, fair enough, but dont make out you are doing the farmer a great service.

Obviously if you are a conscientious pest controller or professional , thank you for a grand job.

Well my farmers think I'm doing a great service. Unfortunately because it's free I have to also do things like go to work and organise other aspects of my life. If we had a closed season the best opportunities to thin them out would be missed.

[GP1]

Pigs are just starting to bunch up here in East Anglia - As they do every year about this time.

Hitting the rape harder too.

I have no bacon in the freezer so wood love to come shooting on your rape Happy Christmas Grandalf and tell Dan I hope to see more of him in the new year to do some fox shooting

[evo]

I put my topic on here to open a debate, yes debate, on what I view is a worrying lack of pigeons this year. I have been met with a torrent of abuse such as he is "daft"," must be an anti ", "scum", " he is a troll " . I am disappointed at some peoples intelligence.

Sparrows once plentiful as the pigeons & starlings in huge flocks , have diminished to very small numbers . It could happen to pigeons is all I am debating.

Most shooters who have replied seem to want to exterminate the lot, one hopes to be rewarded £1000000. !

I think some serious shooters also worry about shooting birds at the height of the breeding season leaving squabs to die in the nest, so only shoot when its a must to protect a crop.

Also I am a farmer & a sportsman in the field. Yes , I was farming in the 1960s . I can remember vast flocks & I marvelled at them. We see nothing like it today.

As for pest control , coming to shoot my field on the weekend & then not coming back for a week is not much good, you need to walk round the fields all day every day to keep them away. So muggins has to do that plus buy gas guns scare crows etc. Most shooters ,lets be honest treat it as a sport, fair enough, but dont make out you are doing the farmer a great service.

Obviously if you are a conscientious pest controller or professional , thank you for a grand job.

bunnage, I can see what you are saying about a close season, but in reality this simply cannot happen,the woodpigeon is a pest and costing farmers all around the country millions, to have a close season would surely only put more pressure on them than they already have, it will also give the pigeons a chance to increase in numbers thus wasting the effort we have put in to keep them under control which at the moment they are not,

 

every winter the same thing appears over and over again " no pigeons in my area " well lets be honest it is winter but in my area so far I have noticed a big increase in pigeons in the fields I shoot and adjoining fields for this time of year,

 

should I just leave them and let them be ? . the answer is no because if I did the farmer would replace me faster than he could say "get lost"

 

pigeons are limited in some parts of the country but not round here at the moment so in the morning myself and my shooting buddy will be out shooting as many as we can,

 

that's the only way to control them and keep MY farmer happy, but I honestly think having a close season is not feasible it will only add to the pressure on farmers pockets,

 

atb Evo

[Grandalf]

I have no bacon in the freezer so wood love to come shooting on your rape Happy Christmas Grandalf and tell Dan I hope to see more of him in the new year to do some fox shooting

Happy New Year GP1. Dan has shot all his foxes - or so he thinks...

I've still got a bundle to deal with before the vixens kit.

[thepasty]

The Wood Pigeon population is one of the few bird populations in this country that increases year upon year despite all our pest control efforts.

 

Every year around my way theres birds galore on the crops in the warmer months but as soon as it turns cold the birds vanish to the trees for the winter.... you could think all the pigeon are gone/dead but a walk in the woods or along wood boundary's will soon change your mind....

[kitchrat]

One of my beating "friends" diesn't use a magnet, a) because the older birds are magnet-wise (can be true) and b) because he feels it is unsporting to "take advantage of the naivety of young birds"!!!!.

I say that a young bird eats as much of my farmer friends' crops as an older bird and eats just as well on my (or another's) dinner plate (may be more tender) and next year a young bird could produce 10 or a dozen more. (He's not a very close friend!!)

[strangford wildfowler]

I don't believe in a close season for pigeons but I do believe that people in and around my area should in the summer should give them a bit of a chance to bred, because in the winter months there is not a bird around because everyone has shot them, but I'm in northern Ireland and our pigeon problem isn't as bad as you boys in england have it.

 

A bit of respect for them when there breeding in the summer would be good ( in my area ) and I know that you boys on the mainland can't give them a chance because there is so many pigeons around.

 

And I'm not an anti in case anyone thinks I am

[Davyo]

Obviously no one wants to see a species shot to exstinction.There are orgainsation out there that monitor numbers,and they will decided when (if ever) pigeons need to come off the general licence or have shooting restriction applied.So untill then fill you boots!

Edited December 27, 2013 by Davyo

[Fisherman Mike]

Obviously no one wants to see a species shot to exstinction.There are orgainsation out there that monitor numbers,and they will decided when (if ever) pigeons need to come off the general licence or have shooting restriction applied.So untill then fill you boots!

Sadly many posters on this forum do...lets be brutally honest we don't shoot for crop protection we shoot because the pigeon is a supremely testing bird and great sport using the right armament and ammunition. You only have to read the regular posts on the talk from the field section of shooters bemoaning the lack of pigeons in their areas who are so desperate to shoot pigeons every week that they almost see it as a personal failing when they are unable to.

 

It would only take a couple of disastrous breeding seasons to see pigeon numbers decimated to the extent that DEFRA may well seek advice from the BTO or RSPB and tighten up the legislation surrounding pigeon shooting which as we know is currently tenuous to say the least. I think many people forget that we pigeon shooters are in an absolute minority compared to the rest of the adult population 80% of which are bird lovers. ( if you don't believe me have a look at the Bird food section in your local garden centre or major super market)

 

I don't believe the damage by wood pigeon is anywhere near as bad and runs into the many millions people suggest either. It perhaps was once but in the days of poor drilling equipment and at harvest all pigeons were doing was mopping up spilt or excess grain. I haven't seen a really big flock of pigeons on a freshly drilled field of any description around my parts for 20 years and neither have any of the landowners I shoot for and I have access to over 10,000 acres, I could go out every hour of every day if I wanted to but the numbers of birds are just not in the countryside anymore they are in the towns , parks and gardens. As such their numbers are safe and they will continue to breed copiously because they are in absolutely no danger of being shot. Whether these birds will flock up and head out into the fields when the poor weather arrives it remains to be seen.

 

Interestingly I was speaking to a senior manager at one of the nations biggest farming equipment suppliers only last week and he said the sale of gas guns, scarers and other equipment has dropped off significantly in the last 10 years. There's so much rape silage and cover crops being sown that an acre or so sacrificed to wild birds including pigeons out of 2 or 300 is not really significant.

 

I don't think personally there is any need for a close season as long as the bird is considered a pest but I would personally like to see it designated as a game bird because a woody coming into the decoys with a 40 mile an hour wind behind it is the most challenging of sporting birds to shoot bar none and I can, hand on heart, say that from personal experience.

 

Finally the OP is right about one thing Tricho is a problem and a growing one, I have witnessed and so have many of my Landowners and their staff large numbers of wood pigeon suffering this fate in the last 2 or 3 years. Probably the result of infection visiting unclean bird tables. The same disease has almost eradicated Greenfinches from parts of Britain and this is a bird which was almost as numerous as resident wood pigeon in the mid nineties.

 

I also don't think that acorns present a serious health issue to Pigeons...The birds have evolved over 100,s of thousands of years and I would have thought they would have sussed that one out by now...

[colin lad]

coming to shoot my field on the weekend & then not coming back for a week is not much good,

 

if it's not much good then why am i sat here munching on the chocolates and drinking the single malt whiskey 2 of my farmers brought me for christmas for shooting their pigeons at the weekends

 

colin

[pstenson123]

coming to shoot my field on the weekend & then not coming back for a week is not much good,

 

if it's not much good then why am i sat here munching on the chocolates and drinking the single malt whiskey 2 of my farmers brought me for christmas for shooting their pigeons at the weekends

 

colin.

 

 

coming to shoot my field on the weekend & then not coming back for a week is not much good,

 

if it's not much good then why am i sat here munching on the chocolates and drinking the single malt whiskey 2 of my farmers brought me for christmas for shooting their pigeons at the weekends

 

colin

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++1, keep at em. :good:

[Lg1]

Come January/February when all of us are seeing huge flocks of pigeon this thread will probably seem a little naive, there is a huge lack in pigeon (sightings) at the moment that's for sure, but what is also very transparent is the bumper yield of wild food. The lack of (sightings) prompts people to make hasty posts saying there all dead with poisoning etc! Like some epidemic has spread the nation yet the answer is plain to see (wild food) and lots of it.

 

I don't think a "close season" post would of even got off the ground back in August when every ones having great success in the field. Talk of pigeons coming off the pest list etc is just silly! Lets see how things pan out over the next few months, ill bet my bottom dollar we all see silly amounts and the next big post will be......

 

"The best breeding season in years"

[39TDS]

Speaking as a farmer growing cabbages I can assure you that pigeons cost me thousands of pounds every year.

That is after I spend a lot of time, money and effort trying to keep them off the crop. If I did nothing at all or relied on someone shooting at weekends I would have no crop at all.

I have seen thousands of pigeons today. Again!

 

I find it incredible that people are saying there are not enough pigeons.

Would not want them wiped off the face of the earth but wouldn't be bothered if I never saw another.

[bunnage]

AT LAST we have some sensible debating and interesting posts without being abusive !

It is now a fascinating debate collating views from around the UK, my faith in shooters is restored .

So many though seem to be blood thirsty , shoot as many as poss , fill your boots & let the government worry about any consequences !

This is not the right attitude , we should all be sportsmen first & respect our quarry. Pigeons do not threaten humans like rats & mice by spreading disease & coming in houses. They only eat farmers profits & there are many other ways available to protect cabbages & rape. Most of which are infinatly more efficient than a man with decoys.

Some farmers do not allow decoying as they can not see how attracting birds to a field is protecting that field, especially as the shooter packs up & does not return for days, leaving the field vulnerable.

[David BASC]

BASC has never asked for or backed a closed season for pigeon. Closed seasons are based around breeding seasons remember and pigeons breed almost all year round. There were calls for a closed season a few decades ago and BASC stopped it, but proposed a system that would satisfy all parties at the time and that's how the open general licence came about.

 

I think the other very important point that have come out, is how much damage pigeons are still doing, and that shooting for pest control is not just a weekend issue, and in some cases with the best will in the world a lone shooter cannot always deliver. Consequently in some cases it would be more helpful for the farmer to have a pest control club looking after his land, so that members of the club are on call 24/7.

 

If any farmer has problems with pests and no one is controlling them please let me know and I will do what I can to help.

 

David

[kent]

We are supposed to be shooting them as pest control, if they were game or wildfowl fair enough have a closed season. what next a closed season for Rats?

[coatesy75]

I don't believe in a close season for pigeons but I do believe that people in and around my area should in the summer should give them a bit of a chance to bred, because in the winter months there is not a bird around because everyone has shot them, but I'm in northern Ireland and our pigeon problem isn't as bad as you boys in england have it.

 

A bit of respect for them when there breeding in the summer would be good ( in my area ) and I know that you boys on the mainland can't give them a chance because there is so many pigeons around.

 

And I'm not an anti in case anyone thinks I am

+1 If you shoot them . respect them .