ShropshireSam Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Returned to the poplar wood where 2 weeks ago I tried and failed to hit the high pigeons coming over the top of some high poplar trees. I started the day with a decoy session on another permission's rape field. Gas gun had a flat battery for several days last week so pigeon numbers had built up and forecast 20 mph winds so decided to have a go. Arrived at 9:30, moved off ca, 300 birds and set up in shelter of a small wood. Had a busy hour but shot poorly (picked 8 from 27 shots). Then pretty dead so packed up at 12, home for lunch and out to the poplar wood by 2:30. This permission also had about 300 feeding on the adjacent rape or in the wood. Moved the birds off, set up a magnet on the rape and put the eight dead birds out from the morning. Didn't bother with a hide as wind was blowing straight through the wood. I don't think birds pick up your movement when the whole wood is moving in the background, I just had my back to a tree and moved slowly into the shots. Soon had birds swooping round from all directions, few committed to the pattern but many were pulled in over the decoys in range. Most were high crossers and many "drifting sideways" in the wind. Again only busy for about an hour, finished with 11 picked for about 30 shots. So a big improvement on my first visit to this wood (3 from ca. 50 shots) but the magnet pulled the birds to tree height whereas previously many were well above the trees. Finished the day with a roost shoot. Wood already full when I arrived soon after 4 and had a good hours sport but struggled to connect with limited fields of view and fast overhead pigeons....again didn't shoot as well as I should and finished with 6 from about 30 shots. A good day in all with three very different sessions but some excellent sport from pigeons in the wind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 That is the cream of the sport. Don't get too hung up about shots to kills ratios when the birds are that good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andylea Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Total agree with JDOG,wood pigeon are good sporting bird & it's all about the enjoyment,glad you had a good day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 My problem with the high overhead roosting birds is that I like to see what happens. I KNOW that if you can see it, you've missed it, but still make the same mistake sometimes. NB I use a SxS so it's a wide gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShropshireSam Posted February 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 I was taught that for overhead birds with an O/U, if you are right handed you should keep the bird just to the left of the barrels as you pull through so that you can see the lead....this works for me when I have practiced on clays and can learn the required lead but on lower birds I prefer to pull straight through the bird and pull the trigger as the bird is lost from sight...to me this is the easiest most instinctive shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flycoy Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I was taught that for overhead birds with an O/U, if you are right handed you should keep the bird just to the left of the barrels as you pull through so that you can see the lead....this works for me when I have practiced on clays and can learn the required lead but on lower birds I prefer to pull straight through the bird and pull the trigger as the bird is lost from sight...to me this is the easiest most instinctive shot. Do you do this on birds coming straight over head or crossing?( the keeping them to the left of the barrels) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjimmer Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Some good pheasant shots turn sideways for high birds, turning them into a crossing bird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossEM Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I did some flight line pigeons last saturday morning, can honestly say it's the hardest shooting I've ever done, most of the birds were 50 yards up and with the wind. Picked up 5 birds + 2 carrion crows and a magpie for 50 shots. Humbling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I did some flight line pigeons last saturday morning, can honestly say it's the hardest shooting I've ever done, most of the birds were 50 yards up and with the wind. Picked up 5 birds + 2 carrion crows and a magpie for 50 shots. Humbling. Humbling but wonderful nevertheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShropshireSam Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Do you do this on birds coming straight over head or crossing?( the keeping them to the left of the barrels) This is for birds coming straight over. Not sure if the theory is that there is sufficient spread of shot to cover the slight difference in aim or if you naturally pull back to the line of the bird as you pull through. But had this advice during tuition on clays and worked well for me. Problem with sbs as twice the width. Anything over than straight overhead then worth turning and treating as a crosser to see the lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flycoy Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 This is for birds coming straight over. Not sure if the theory is that there is sufficient spread of shot to cover the slight difference in aim or if you naturally pull back to the line of the bird as you pull through. But had this advice during tuition on clays and worked well for me. Problem with sbs as twice the width. Anything over than straight overhead then worth turning and treating as a crosser to see the lead.Hi SS,What you need to establish is that you have the basics right before you start putting different theories into practice. Its going to mean a bit of ground work before you attempt anymore " high pigeons" but it will be worth it. The problem with the clay coaching you had, although it worked on the clays and was correct for you at the time, wont work efficiently on pigeon. If you look at the basic performance of your shotgun,, what chokes are in it? What cartridges are you using? how does it perform at say 40 yrds or even 50.? If you have say a 1/4 choke with a no6 32 gram how many pellets are still in your 30inch pattern at 50yrds. Food for thought, could write loads on this sunject but would get, yawns!!!!! Hope this bit helps Stay safe Flycoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Humbling but wonderful nevertheless. Would you not find firing 2 boxes for 5 pigeons plain frustrating? At that kill rate the ones you hit are more luck more than judgement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Would you not find firing 2 boxes for 5 pigeons plain frustrating? At that kill rate the ones you hit are more luck more than judgement! I fired 50 shots for 10 birds flighting at anything between 40m and 60m a couple of months ago. It was totally exhilarating and not the slightest bit frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Would you not find firing 2 boxes for 5 pigeons plain frustrating? At that kill rate the ones you hit are more luck more than judgement! I love shooting flighting birds, and I agree its not all about the numbers but I enjoy it more when I shoot well as most people do, but 50 shots for 5, I wouldn,t feel confident at the next clay shoot put it that way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I fired 50 shots for 10 birds flighting at anything between 40m and 60m a couple of months ago. It was totally exhilarating and not the slightest bit frustrating. Everyone's different to be fair in what they consider successful/satisfying. Your kill rate was twice than what I was referring to though, and I've had my fair share of poor averages for high birds so know where you're coming from. If you're a good enough shot and they're consistently flighting over at extreme range you should be able to get on more than 1 every 10 shots, unless most are just out of gunshot altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I have allways counted oppotunitys rather than kills . Harnser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossEM Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Would you not find firing 2 boxes for 5 pigeons plain frustrating? At that kill rate the ones you hit are more luck more than judgement! Not really. It was fun. I'm not competitive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjimmer Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I fired 50 shots for 10 birds flighting at anything between 40m and 60m a couple of months ago. It was totally exhilarating and not the slightest bit frustrating. Please stay above high water mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Not really. It was fun. I'm not competitive It wasn't meant as a criticism, I've had some great days that in turn have been very frustrating (as yours sounded). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Please stay above high water mark. An unnecessary post if ever there was one, and by posting as you have you seem to indicate that a pigeon will take as much lead as a goose to bring it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjimmer Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 An unnecessary post if ever there was one, and by posting as you have you seem to indicate that a pigeon will take as much lead as a goose to bring it down. You read into it what you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocknee Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I fired 50 shots for 10 birds flighting at anything between 40m and 60m a couple of months ago. It was totally exhilarating and not the slightest bit frustrating. I am impressed JDog I was led to believe that 32 yards was your limit I can't remember who told me, oh yes I can it was you. Hope the move goes well m8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I am impressed JDog I was led to believe that 32 yards was your limit I can't remember who told me, oh yes I can it was you. Hope the move goes well m8 Don't be cheeky. On that heavy Weald Clay it will be a while before they drill any pulses I would imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Hi SS, What you need to establish is that you have the basics right before you start putting different theories into practice. Its going to mean a bit of ground work before you attempt anymore " high pigeons" but it will be worth it. The problem with the clay coaching you had, although it worked on the clays and was correct for you at the time, wont work efficiently on pigeon. If you look at the basic performance of your shotgun,, what chokes are in it? What cartridges are you using? how does it perform at say 40 yrds or even 50.? If you have say a 1/4 choke with a no6 32 gram how many pellets are still in your 30inch pattern at 50yrds. Food for thought, could write loads on this sunject but would get, yawns!!!!! Hope this bit helps Stay safe Flycoy Surely with 1/4 choke at 50 yards the pattern density would make a clean kill a matter of chance, ie where the odd pellet or two happened to hit. Don't they say you need 4 or 5 pellets in a bird to do the job properly?? Do a Digweed and choke up a bit if you are good enough to shoot long /high ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tignme Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) No choke opens up until 16 yds anyway so J Dogs 50 yds is actually only 34 so quarter is ample.We as in my shooting buddy and i are using 24 n0 7s in steel and regurally shooting pigeons to 45 yds using cylinder in bottom barrel and 3/8 in top. Both guns tested on pattern plate so good enough pattern at these distances. Edited February 26, 2015 by tignme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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