Laid Barley

[Cosd]

I know it can be a sore subject but farmer asked us to cover a barley field that was being hit by our friend Columba Palumbus. My shooting buddy Xplor went to look at the fields the day before, though they belong to one of our farmers we had never shot these fields before as they are behind his house. We were pleasantly surprised to find a couple of hundred acres we were not aware of. Mark visited the field twice that day, once at 11am and again at 6pm seeing birds all over the field hitting every blown area they could find.

 

We got there early yesterday morning and started by bagging some blow holes using bank sticks and carrier bags to keep the birds off, and headed off for longish walk to our chosen spot. We set up a hide in a small laid patch in the middle of the field but within shooting distance of a sitty tree and what looked like a crossroad for multiple flight lines. We set up a hide using a record 16 hide poles (that was my job and I made sure this thing was never coming down ) and two desert camo nets. We put out the whirly, a bouncer and 5 flocked full body decoys in cradles mounted on cane just above the crops, with a few more scattered on the ground in some laid patches, all in close proximity.

 

We lifted a fair few birds setting up and by the time we sat down in the hide the sky was void of any birds . They started to trickle back and though we seemed to pull them toward us they didn't want to decoy. We started shooting reasonably well when my shooting just decided to go to pot. For what seemed like an age to me, incredibly funny to Mark, I couldn't hit a bird if it had sat on the end of my barrel and looked inside. As I got increasingly frustrated with myself I just missed more birds, not sure how many but I'd hesitate a guess and say I missed around a dozen consecutive birds ; On the other hand Mark was hitting some cracking shots (which added to his amusement of me missing ^_^ ). I managed to start hitting some and slowly got back into the swing of things, and as my confidence grew again I started hitting the birds the way I know I can.

 

The shooting wasn't furious at any point but it was steady, I'd say only around half a dozen birds actually committed to land and the rest were all fly by's offering some really challenging and sporting shots. Mark hit an excellent left and right on two birds which flew by like exocet missiles, taking both down from behind high and a fair distance out (shot/s of the day ).

 

The day was spoiled when we got a call from the farmer to say that someone had complained that pellets were falling on the barn roof's (he rents out Barns to other companies), we explained that we didn't think this was possible since we were set up around 500 yards away and the wind was almost non existent. The farmer didn't ask us to stop, and just said to shoot away from the barns. We thought about it and decided that since we were sure no lead would have gone that far, these people obviously just didn't want us shooting, so even if we didn't shoot in that direction they could complain again; So reluctantly we packed up and made our way back to the cars only to see birds all over the place and dropping in to the crop.

 

We did quite well picking up over half of what we shot and ended the day on 79. We would have definitely had a red letter day had we stayed on as it was getting busier as the day went on, and I wouldn't have been surprised if we'd doubled the bag.

 

Hopefully the farmer is happy and next time we go we will set up in a position which limits shooting away from the barns, at least that way if they decide to complain again we can prove to the farmer that they are making false accusations and shut them up once and for all.

[aga man]

Good write up there cos and a very respectable bag.

Won't be long before the combines roll and it will all become easier.

It is encouraging to see the pigeons about.

[pigeon controller]

Good result and responsible shooting, well done.

[motty]

Good bag, Cos. I must admit, I doubt I would have packed up, unless the farmer had insisted. At least you tried to pick your birds up.

[Cosd]

Good bag, Cos. I must admit, I doubt I would have packed up, unless the farmer had insisted. At least you tried to pick your birds up.

 

Cheers mate, we were both shooting from the same hide, so we made a mental notes of where birds were dropping and did regular rounds to pick up what we could. We were lucky in that there were a fair few laid patches, so between those and the tram lines we could move about and walk into the crops as least as possible.

 

We stopped shooting reluctantly to be honest, but we have a lot of land riding on this one farmer and didn't want to jepordise it in any way.

Edited June 26, 2014 by Cosd

[Cosd]

Good write up there cos and a very respectable bag.

Won't be long before the combines roll and it will all become easier.

It is encouraging to see the pigeons about.

 

Thanks AM, the walk wasn't fun but was worth it. This has been the first decent day we've had in a while. There have just been no birds around our way and so we haven't even bothered setting up for weeks now.

 

I have a sneaky suspicion this will be a good year!!!

[marsh man]

Good wright up and a decent bag , I have been going on different barley fields every other day and each time I am seeing more and more about , today I got 37 but only 4 were young ones , most of the places I go are fairly isolated so I don't have your sort of problems with nearby buildings . but I think I would have packed up as it would have played on my mind , any how you done well to pick up what you did.

[strangford wildfowler]

Well done

[bakerboy]

well done boys

[Sprocket]

I know it can be a sore subject but farmer asked us to cover a barley field that was being hit by our friend Columba Palumbus. My shooting buddy Xplor went to look at the fields the day before, though they belong to one of our farmers we had never shot these fields before as they are behind his house. We were pleasantly surprised to find a couple of hundred acres we were not aware of. Mark visited the field twice that day, once at 11am and again at 6pm seeing birds all over the field hitting every blown area they could find.

 

We got there early yesterday morning and started by bagging some blow holes using bank sticks and carrier bags to keep the birds off, and headed off for longish walk to our chosen spot. We set up a hide in a small laid patch in the middle of the field but within shooting distance of a sitty tree and what looked like a crossroad for multiple flight lines. We set up a hide using a record 16 hide poles (that was my job and I made sure this thing was never coming down ) and two desert camo nets. We put out the whirly, a bouncer and 5 flocked full body decoys in cradles mounted on cane just above the crops, with a few more scattered on the ground in some laid patches, all in close proximity.

 

We lifted a fair few birds setting up and by the time we sat down in the hide the sky was void of any birds . They started to trickle back and though we seemed to pull them toward us they didn't want to decoy. We started shooting reasonably well when my shooting just decided to go to pot. For what seemed like an age to me, incredibly funny to Mark, I couldn't hit a bird if it had sat on the end of my barrel and looked inside. As I got increasingly frustrated with myself I just missed more birds, not sure how many but I'd hesitate a guess and say I missed around a dozen consecutive birds ; On the other hand Mark was hitting some cracking shots (which added to his amusement of me missing ^_^ ). I managed to start hitting some and slowly got back into the swing of things, and as my confidence grew again I started hitting the birds the way I know I can.

 

The shooting wasn't furious at any point but it was steady, I'd say only around half a dozen birds actually committed to land and the rest were all fly by's offering some really challenging and sporting shots. Mark hit an excellent left and right on two birds which flew by like exocet missiles, taking both down from behind high and a fair distance out (shot/s of the day ).

 

The day was spoiled when we got a call from the farmer to say that someone had complained that pellets were falling on the barn roof's (he rents out Barns to other companies), we explained that we didn't think this was possible since we were set up around 500 yards away and the wind was almost non existent. The farmer didn't ask us to stop, and just said to shoot away from the barns. We thought about it and decided that since we were sure no lead would have gone that far, these people obviously just didn't want us shooting, so even if we didn't shoot in that direction they could complain again; So reluctantly we packed up and made our way back to the cars only to see birds all over the place and dropping in to the crop.

 

We did quite well picking up over half of what we shot and ended the day on 79. We would have definitely had a red letter day had we stayed on as it was getting busier as the day went on, and I wouldn't have been surprised if we'd doubled the bag.

 

Hopefully the farmer is happy and next time we go we will set up in a position which limits shooting away from the barns, at least that way if they decide to complain again we can prove to the farmer that they are making false accusations and shut them up once and for all.

A great write up. Sounds like a typical days shooting. some highs ,some lows, hit a few, miss a few, at the end of the day - a good job done. Nothing else like it in my mind.