JDog Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 (edited) With a companion I toured around for two hours today looking for shooting opportunities. There were pigeons in the tramlines in wheat fields, sitting on wires above rape fields, a few on a pea field which I have missed and quite a few on small laid patches of barley. We retired to the pub badly defeated like Eugenie Bouchard. I will not shoot standing/laid barley under any circumstances, but one situation may offer an answer for tomorrow. The very last farm we looked at had a banger in some laid barley and three fields away 300 pigeons on a laid patch the size of a tennis court. There were two lines into the laid patch from opposite directions. The strongest line came from a long way back, over the Fosseway and over a very large field which has been left fallow this growing season and is bare soil and into the adjacent barley field. If conditions are favourable on the morning, ie if the wind is right and the same strong flight line exists I will set up in the fallow field and intercept them on their way the feed in the laid patch. I am sure that they could be decoyed onto the bare soil as there were a few pigeons on it, gritting I suspect. Perhaps I will be defeated again tomorrow like Roger Federer. Edited July 5, 2014 by JDog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Can't see why your plan wouldn't work JDog, even if they don't decoy well, i would imagine a magnet would bring them closer and offer some flightline sport. With your decoys being very visible, the game should get easier as the decoy pattern grows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkj7176 Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Out of interest why don't you shoot laid barley, potential crop damage?, naive question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted July 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Out of interest why don't you shoot laid barley, potential crop damage?, naive question Because too many dead and alive birds are lost in the crop, especially if it is thick, and there are problems with using dogs due to the barley awns which can cause a lot of damage to dogs feet, ears and eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 (edited) Because too many dead and alive birds are lost in the crop, especially if it is thick, and there are problems with using dogs due to the barley awns which can cause a lot of damage to dogs feet, ears and eyes.I agree that the negatives are too great to shoot standing barley but if we have to due to a request from the Farmer you have to employ a strict shoot discipline which a bit like target shooting that you only take the shot when the bird will drop into that laid area. DB has great difficulty doing this as he says it's not natural to follow the bird till it's in the kill zone but I have no problem with it as I line up with a point on the horizon and cover the bird till it reaches that point and shoot. That is also assuming that your hide position is a suitable distance from the drop zone. JDog good luck with your quest on the fallow field if it's near the Fosse that may be "Thick Brummie Pigeons " going to the Cotswolds for a day out, hopefully a one way ticket????? Edited July 6, 2014 by pigeon controller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocknee Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Have a good day mr dog I must say I am a little bit jealous I love flightline shooting but have found none strong enough to warrant setting up for ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Because too many dead and alive birds are lost in the crop, especially if it is thick, and there are problems with using dogs due to the barley awns which can cause a lot of damage to dogs feet, ears and eyes. I can see where your coming from JDog, but I have never found it a problem with Labs, maybe spaniels with longer coats and being shorter might make a difference , but if it hadn't been for barley this last month things would have been very quite as the peas have produced no shooting at all. Not only that, but I had two phone calls from the farmers who had the barley asking me to keep a eye on it when it first got knocked about with the rain and since then I have been going twice a week and done my best while I was there, and had a nice bit of sport also. If I had ignored his request when he rang to go on the barley I don't think he would have welcomed me with open arms to go on the stubbles which I class as a thank you for looking after the crops, as you know yourself there doing very little damage and from our point of view one of the easiest ways to decoy pigeons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 (edited) I applaud your ethics Jdog, and also your diverse thinking on a more suitable plan to the same effect Edited July 6, 2014 by turbo33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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