Wilts#Dave Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Hi all, this is my first post on here about a day out in the field! To set the scene, I've been pigeon shooting with my dad for the past 20 years (nearly) with him having shot for the last 40. The numbers we shot increased fairly dramatically when we started using a magnet back in the days when they first came out, and have remained fairly steady since as we gain experience all the time with where to look for shoots/fieldcraft etc. Only being enthusiastic amateurs I work full time so don't get much time for reconnaissance, but dad having been a shift worker and now retired makes a big difference as he can spend more time finding the birds and watching the flightlines so we try and avoid those frustrating days shooting 1 or 2 pigeons. We don't shoot big numbers in contrast to what I read about in the magazines etc but for the area we are in and the permisssions we have don't do too bad by all accounts, and in my experience there is so much exaggeration when it comes to people telling you how many pigeons they 'shoot' anyway. Reading on here it seems a lot of people have been in the same boat with a serious lack of pigeons all winter, as we've found....we'd not been out since November, and apart from a bit of clayshooting and a driven pheasant day I was invited to, couldn't wait to get out again!! Anyway the last day we had in november was on a maize stubble, and having been left over winter and after seeing some pigoens using another old stubble where we couldn't go Dad decided to check out the stubble where we'd been just on the off chance, and was pleasantly surprised to find a few birds using the fields.....result, and an opportunity for a few shots at last. Shoot date 07/02/2014 Having a day off work the following day (I'm self employed so thought sod it), we arrived to find little to no activity which was a bit disheartening but after watching for an hour or so and having seen the birds the previous day decided to give it a go, there was a strong wind too so hoping that would get the birds moving. Not the easiest of days with the birds jinking away on the wind and not decoying overly well but after a quiet start a good flight started and from approx 12 midday to 4 o clock we ended with a well earned 56 in the bag, which whilst not a huge bag I was so chuffed with after such a quiet spell, and by all means not a bad bag anyway !! We started with an initial setup of a rotary machine and 10 flock coated half shell decoys, replacing them with 10 dead birds on cradles as we shot birds and additional birds on the floor to top up the pattern, and as usual had a lot more birds come in once we got the dead birds up on the cradles. At this point I must add how generous dad is when it comes to letting me shoot as he only raised a gun twice during the afternoon to add 2 to the bag and let me do the rest of the shooting, top man he is!!! Shot to kill ratio wasn't the best I've ever done firing just under 130 cartridges for the 56 plus 4 crows but lots of the shots were at flighting pigeon at fairly long range and if I'd only shot at the decoying birds wouldn't have shot much at all! So all in all a great first day out of the year in a totally unexpected location, and more than we shot when the stubble was freshly cut!! It also goes to show the importance of investigating all eventualities, I'm convinced we all miss out on loads of good days just through not managing to spot situations where a bag could be made. We also went back to the same block of maize a fortnight later and managed to bag a few more in a first for me, decoying them on an adjacent grass field where we spotted a flightline and after shooting a couple stood behind the 4x4 thought we'd set up the hide and decoys which resulted in another cracking afternoon of 35 pigeons, but annoyingly I'd forgotten my phone so couldn't get a photo. The photo below is from the first day of 56. Thanks for reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fse10 Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Nice wright up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougall Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 blimey you need a publisher!! well done.atb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 (edited) Nice to see a full report for a change, watch out Peter Theobold you got competition hear. Can you fill in yore profile so we know who you are and where. Edited March 6, 2014 by dead eye alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prawn Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Nice to see you here! Welcome to pigeon watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 That makes good reading, well done WD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actionpigeons Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Very well done nice read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Looks like you had a loverly day out . Its not about how many you shoot ,more like how you enjoyed your day . It matters not what your cartridge kill ratio was ,its opportunity's that count with me . I haven't shot 100 cartridges at pigeon in one outing for a long time . I may have shot more than you per hundred cartridges or I may not , who cares .? Harnser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Churchill Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 I enjoyed reading that, thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIDENSEEK Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Nice read, glad someones getting a few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OJW Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Thanks, good read! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazza9t9 Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Great write up and good going Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted March 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Thanks for the positive replies guys I love reading about genuine and realistic days out, not just the 300+ red letter days so thought I'd make the effort to do a proper write up, besides which it's good to share things with other likeminded enthusiasts....hopefully there will be more to come in the coming months after such a dire winter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Well done , a decent read as well as a decent bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Great write up and result, well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bala Posted March 6, 2014 Report Share Posted March 6, 2014 Great post, good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2-dead-in-the-air Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 Dave, you did well on finding some pigeons, not that many in North Wiltshire were im at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimfireboy Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 Good stuff Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 spot on...........am jealous as hell. i havnt pulled the trigger since august , but the birds are slowly returning..............a real cracking read, and nice photo....all good pigeonshooting no frills stuff.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted March 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2014 Dave, you did well on finding some pigeons, not that many in North Wiltshire were im at. Thanks, pickings are slim on our permissions too in all fairness.....these have been our only days this year so far and were hard earned days in a spot you wouldn't expect to shoot any! Dad had a somewhat modest bag of 8 yesterday on a field of drilled beans that looked promising the day before only to be a letdown on the day so fingers crossed another decent opportunity arises soon eh!! Have you been out lately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted March 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2014 Thanks again for the replies everyone, I enjoyed writing the first report so just waiting for an excuse to write up another now !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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