marsh man Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 We have a lot of members who are willing to give advice when needed on this site , and at times very good advice , but how many of the members goes pigeon shooting ? We hear about shooting is hard to come by , lack of pigeons and numerous excuses why they don't shoot any pigeons. I am out a lot and to tell you the truth it is unusual to hear other people shooting , even on a Saturday , take yesterday , other people can shoot on the land I went on ( club land ) the rape had been cut 3 or 4 days ago and the tractor driver was telling me he hadn't seen nobody down there since it was cut . I had been on my own land twice during the week and the same thing , you don't hear any shooting on the other farms over the boarders . So when do these people go shooting ? Alright we haven't got 1000s of pigeons but if you look in the right places there are more than enough to keep you happy, If you can fire 1 or 2 boxes of cartridges in a afternoon you have had a nice bit of sport and I can fire that amount fairly regular at the moment . So the ones who go out ( and who don't ) How do you find it ?.............. or are we just lucky ?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Was out this afternoon with a mate just sitting in the hedgerow, and apart from our own, we could hear shots in the distance. To be honest it is very rare around here you don't hear shots on an almost daily basis, and in the shooting season even more so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mightymariner Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I think it depends where you are. Here in the Wolds I sometimes bump into another shooter, but it is rare, most likely this time of year when it is easiest. In the winter almost never. The fields I have closest to town are the ones I am more likely to see another gun, but the further out in the sticks I get the fewer they are....make of that what you will! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_79 Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I feel exactly the same as you, I'm out every weekend looking for the right places to set up but I very rarely spot or hear anyone else shooting. I think the reason I don't in my area is that there are a lot of DIY pheasant syndicate shoots that rent the land and the people on the syndicates are not massively interested in shooting pigeons, so some times the good opportunities go to waste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Hi Marsh man, I think its just where you are, I can tell you first hand that there are plenty of pigeon shooters around at the moment, although its funny just how many come out the woodwork at harvest time when its easy to drive over the stubble! I have spend two days looking around over quite a lot of ground and yes, there are opportunities for shooting a dozen birds, but if the plough allows, its better to leave them to build up for a decent bag. Everytime I stopped, I could hear the report of a gun somewhere, so there were guns out, though whether i'd call them pigeon shooters is another matter! Just got a report in from a chum of mine who after driving around for 3 hours, dropped in on some and made a bag of 60, so guns are out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiffy Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 i go every chance i get, locally (south wales) we dont have a huge amount and we tend to get more corvids but i had a mixed bag last weekend and among the crows and jackdaws got 19.. best ive had in ages around here. but my shooting partner and i have quite a few farms in hereford now so do tend to go shooting up there far more than we do local Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I tend to shoot midweek a lot so don't have too much trouble with bumping into other shooters, one farm I am the sole shooter on and another couple there is another guy also shoots them , its rare I bump into him though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinw Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Was out yesterday the only thing I heard was mates combine harvester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambsman Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Out yesterday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old farrier Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 (edited) Hi Farming has changed a lot here from smaller family farms to large corporate ones We used to have a lot of pigeons and a lot of shooting Now with the crop changes its hard to get a decent bag Lot of cauliflower here daren't fire a gun near it We do get a bit of roost shooting in February so a bit of sport there So sadly most of my shooting is in the game season now I do here of a few decent bags 50+ from the more traditionally farmed bits Things change and the landscape with it All the best Of Edited August 9, 2015 by Old farrier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver pigeon69 Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I feel exactly the same as you, I'm out every weekend looking for the right places to set up but I very rarely spot or hear anyone else shooting. I think the reason I don't in my area is that there are a lot of DIY pheasant syndicate shoots that rent the land and the people on the syndicates are not massively interested in shooting pigeons, so some times the good opportunities go to waste Where abouts in west kent are you shooting? I was in Staplehurst on saturday and there were at least two other shooters, one to my left and one to my right in the distance. Thought it may have kept the pigeons moving. It didn't, and by the sound of it they were having about as much luck as i was!! Finished with 10 pigeons and 12 crows. Nearly always hear other shooters out on the weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitsinhedges Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 If as it seems at the minute there are small groups of pigeons on most fields that up sticks and don't come back when disturbed it's not surprising that you're not hearing much shooting. Plenty of looking though, and waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Now that I`m retired I get out a couple of times a week , I don`t hear any other guns on the farms I go to but at the weekends that's a different matter ,so I only go on week days now and let the workers have the weekends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 i get out for a couple of hours every week...last time i posted it was about AYA and A303 patterns.....i had a couple of hours after that...its very rare i can get out for a full day as i am a full time carer for the mrs..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyska Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I love on the family farm, I shoot most days, if that means walking the dogs I take a gun, if I check the sheep I take a gun, it's attached to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stevo Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 im out 4-5 times week , pigeon shooting , rabbit , fox , crow, rooks and clay shooting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeonblasterian Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I pigeon shoot mostly during the week and go all night shooting for rabbits on a weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I shoot (most) weekdays and there are a few other retired shooters in the wide area I cover, plus a couple of self employed craftsmen who manage to get a few half days in the week. I generally hear someone shooting on my travels, but this increases more at the weekends, especially once the harvest starts. I assume that the vast majority of pigeon shooters can only get out at the weekend, or on odd days holiday, as they work full time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I shoot 3 or 4 times a week (not weekends) and rarely here people out. Often when i get a new farm the farmer will say that he had shooters but they just stopped coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesj Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Had some one turn up to shoot on the same field i was on yesterday, so i went over for a chat as not much was happening on the pigeon front. he didn't seem overly chatty and was just banning on about how i was wasting my time. I even told him about a flight line on to the peas that goes straight over a clearing in a small patch of trees and suggested he have a go there. He didn't bother even having a look! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wilksy Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I was out Saturday for the first time in ages been waiting for the harvest, shot 25 over rape stubble (missed at least as many far to giddy about shooting a big bag)but there's barley stubble and oats so plenty of choice for the awd stoggies! There's one other fella who shoots the same land as me but he claims to shoot for every farmer in out area but my farmer says he never sees him, I only met him once in five months. I'm in faint ear shot of humberside shooting ground so hard to tell if anyone's popping pigeons. It's my first harvest as I'm new to this but I love it and I'm definitely hooked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted August 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Interesting to learn what its like in other areas , we are in a rural area with a lot of agricultural land around us , there are no doubt a lot of people who have the odd farm to go on and only shoot pigeons when there on there in any numbers. To shoot a lot of pigeons is a full time commitment with spending more time finding where they are than the actual shooting side , when P C ( Pigeon Controller ) is during the business in the Winter and Spring he often travel 100 miles or more to find enough to shoot ,plus if he hasn't been on the land before he have to find the land owner to get the go ahead, so there is land out there to go on but you have to look for it as it is not going to come to you . When I first went to work on the estate in 84 all the vermin and pigeon shooting had to go through the head keeper and every so often he would give me a call and say are you going on the peas ect the weekend as someone knocked on my door and asked if he could go on and if I wasn't going I would say no that's all right let him go . This went on every so often , where as nowadays you get the odd beater who have a go now and again, but it is very rare any stranger drive around and try to find a few , and then seek the go ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I sometimes hear pigeon shooters having a pop here and there and I see a few on my travels. I tend to find that there are many more part time pigeon shooters (those that go a handful of times a year) than there are serious pigeon men. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team tractor Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I've not noticed any others except fox shooters. I'm lucky to have soul rights on a couple of farms tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reggiegun Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Me and the lad go most Saturday afternoons during harvest. No big bags this year as yet but still love it, I think it's shades that put them off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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