motty Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 I was flicking through the diary yesterday and I was looking at the various bags from this year and my successes and failures. It got me wondering, as I had been just one of many on this forum bemoaning the lack of pigeons being shot earlier in the year, if this half of the year has really been that bad. My running total up to the end of June last year stood at 985, owing partly to the unusual opportunity for me to shoot on some spring rape (at the end of June) which resulted in 316 pigeons from 2 visits. Without those pigeons shot on the spring rape I would have been up to a rather smaller 669 pigeons. As I write, my total for this year stands at 858. Really, although far from remarkable, I consider that a reasonable amount, given some difficult situations and circumstances I've had to deal with (as have most others). So I have to ask, has this year really been that bad? How has everyone really fared? Has there been any real upturn in fortunes of late, or is this year proving to be a disaster? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 I think you could be right, although we all seem to look harder at negatives than positives. Just looked through my dairy and found that im actually up on last years count. Only yesterday Tom and I where saying that this year had been poor but on reflection its not at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 I had some better days than expected on winter rape which started the year off well. Spring drillings did not show many large bags but I was out quite a bit and the totals were good. Looking round now I must have missed some fields of spring beans for which I am killing myself. Sown peas were good, but not for long. Spring rape has shown some sport but not at the levels of last year. Pigeons have just started on the peas and I have quite a few fields to cover so it could be good. I have no laid corn at the moment. My enjoyment is from being out decoying and the actual size of the bag, although not irrelevant, is not that important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 I had some better days than expected on winter rape which started the year off well. Spring drillings did not show many large bags but I was out quite a bit and the totals were good. Looking round now I must have missed some fields of spring beans for which I am killing myself. Sown peas were good, but not for long. Spring rape has shown some sport but not at the levels of last year. Pigeons have just started on the peas and I have quite a few fields to cover so it could be good. I have no laid corn at the moment. My enjoyment is from being out decoying and the actual size of the bag, although not irrelevant, is not that important. The last line says it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 Since I packed up work, nearly seven years now this is the worse year up to now although I have had more this week than I have had for a long while . I don't put every bag in my diary now as I would have filled it up with bags hardly into double figures . tomorrow I am going to the game dealers for the third time this year and I will be taking between 250 and 300 depending on what I get today , I keep the receits so I know what I have got at the end of the year . I agree with JDog its not all about what size bags were getting but going out 3 or 4 times a week for the last 6 months and seeing very little on areas that in the past have produced good bags can get you wondering where the next decent bag is coming from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 as all of you know all i have done since Aug is bitch and moan about no birds, i have never had this problem before, the crops have been right weather right, everything right ! and yet they werent here.... then 4 days ago the birds return, all on the old flightlines and at regular intervals as if nothing had happened....before this happened i was garanteed 30-40 a week every week even on spur of the moment forays i would nip out and put a poncho net on and sit in the seat with my back to the oak and drop half a dozen in i/2 an hour and watch the world go by. I dont shoot big bags as i cant get rid of them, i pluck most of them out and give to my daughter and she spreads them out to her friends, the rest i breast and they go for dog food, so there is nothing wasted. I have given up trying to fathom out what happened....it will take a far cleverer person than me to come up with an answer.....what i do know is i will slip back into my old routine, but i might restrict myself to one outing a week !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 It has been strange for my shooting partner and me this year. It seems we have had pigeons about but the crops you would expect to shoot over have seemingly not been bothered by pigeons. For example patchy winter rape which we always[yearly] shoot good bags on has proved fruitless as have the peas and on top of that we had very little spring barley sown. To sum up we are probably 1/3 down on what we normally have shot by now and those bag we have had have been difficult. On the up side we are seeing very good numbers of pigeons now and masses of young birds among them. If we can get on the stubbles quick enough [before ploughing] we should kill some pigeons. 985 as a running total to mid june is very good going i would say and many including me would be happy with an anual total of similar numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennett Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 I think this year has the potential to be as good as ever, I have the pigeon shooting on one farm, 350 Acres of pigeon heaven. Last year we shot the same barley stubble every week for a month and never got less than 100. This year that have started walking into the barley from the cover crop, last week we had 165, yesterday we went on the same belt, and a hide on the next one over and shot 150 between us. Half of what we saw were on a mission and never decoyed, and at the end of the day we fired a shot across a field of spring barley about 400yds away and probably 200 lifted. The pigeons are still here and still want to decoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 I think a lot of it depends on if you are in an area that has the birds. Motty and Jdog seem to be in a very well populated area. Down here in the south, the numbers are less and less each year. Why, I don't know exactly. I read lines like, saw this field with sixty on it, that field with 100 on it. The last time I saw that round here was 3-4 years ago on laid wheat. Certainly, Pigeon Controller gets some big bags, but he does seem to have to travel a huge mileage to find them. I could and have down the same round here and they are just not there. So far this year, my TOTAL bag is 53 pigeons. The worst year so far in many. That's for something like 25 shoots. That includes a bag of 10 and a bag of 13. What it doesn't include are an equal number of days doing a recce. Whilst I enjoy a decent day like anyone, I would like there to be enough of an opportunity to offer a day out with shooting friends, for the company, banter and shared enjoyment. The lack of birds means that hasn't happened this year, and that is truly a shame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 I,ll sum up my first half of the year in 2 words utter rubbish ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 I have perhaps shot more this year than last , though I have not kept a total for a few years now. What I do not seem to get these days is the better bags , last year was the first I had not shot 100+ for as long as I can remember , my best day being 73 IIRC This year has been better but still no big bags as yet , I have had some enjoyable sport though with a few days of 30-50 , I do tend to shoot less hrs now also though and rarely seem to find a situation that warrants more than a few hrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Last Winter was the worst for pigeon shooting I can remember (my Game Dealer receipts prove that :( ). This was due to the weather making access to the land almost impossible and keeping the birds off the fields and in the woods. I also believe quite a few pigeons from the southern counties got blown over to the continent. Cold, frosts and snow they seem to deal with, but almost consistent strong winds and heavy rain is a different matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 well so far this year im, way down on them dont seem to be about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 Had a yarn with the game dealer today ( Bambridge of Watton ) and he was saying this week have picked up a bit , but overall it has been quiet he didn't talk about numbers but he is one of the biggest in Norfolk . I have been up there on a Sunday and had to join a q but today I was the only one there . If anyone is struggling to get rid of there pigeons , he will take all you have got paying 30p for fresh and 25p for frozen . If you need any directions give me a p m . 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.