JDog Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 I had a drive round this morning. The wind at the top of the Wolds was pretty strong, strong enough to cause the car to drift off the road on several occasions. The pigeons were having a rough time of it. They must have used so much energy flying into it it must have hardly been worth the effort. The only place the flocks were ever going to be was hidden in the folds of the land or in the shelter of some of the woods. I did see quite a few flocks of forty or so but never saw an opportunity to set up. Rape still seems to be the only crop they are interested in apart from the maize in the game covers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Its certainly breezy this way , if it carries on past the weekend my day on the pheasants Monday is going to be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Not the only food source they are interested in, there are two rape fields about 10 minutes from me and all the birds today (about 300) were on the other side of the lane on grass, its got a lot of clover in it so I presume they were nit picking on this and other weeds, there were plenty of birds coming into it, I watched it for about 11/2 hours and not one bird went to the rape field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotguneddy Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 Not the only food source they are interested in, there are two rape fields about 10 minutes from me and all the birds today (about 300) were on the other side of the lane on grass, its got a lot of clover in it so I presume they were nit picking on this and other weeds, there were plenty of birds coming into it, I watched it for about 11/2 hours and not one bird went to the rape field. Bet if u look tomoz u won't see one on that grass field. I see about 10 pigeons on the side of a dual carriageway feeding today, very odd place to be, in the last week or so I've seen them on cabbages, rape, maize,ivy, clover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kippylawkid Posted January 29, 2016 Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 After a quiet spell we have had a big influx of birds in the last week or so. I am out first thing tomorrow to try my luck on a big block of rape that has a small spinney in the middle. Hopeful of a shot or 2 in the forecast gale, Lads I know on a local farm shoot stopped their keepers day this week to line a wood out for half an hour and picked 28 pigeons between 14 guns. I'd have stayed there all day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kippylawkid Posted January 30, 2016 Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 Chased pigeons all over Northumberland this morning in the gale for grand total of 6. Re-confirmed why I don't shoot winter rape very often now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Chased pigeons all over Northumberland this morning in the gale for grand total of 6. Re-confirmed why I don't shoot winter rape very often now! Yep stopped chasing them years ago on winter rape, it was costing a fortune in fuel spending hours trying to find some that looked shoot-able and ending up shooting 5 or 10 or coming home without pulling the trigger. I see lots of people on PW telling us they been watching lots of pigeons on field A or B and they intend to have a go at them, but very few follow up as you have done so well done for coming back and giving us your results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingmachine Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 shot a field each thursday i had 2 out of a possible 4 my mate had 1 out of 1 been out 3 times in the past few weeks plenty on the rape feeding ive shot a grand total of 4 10 out of 10 for effort i say lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitsinhedges Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Roost shooting is where it's at right now, especially with the strong winds we've been getting lately. No huge bags but a steady hour or two of quality shooting with a definite finishing time without having to spend all day on reconnaissance. I think the birds will become shootable on rape later in the year but not right now generally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 On the estate we have got nearly 500 acres of rape and yesterday we were game shooting on the side where the pigeons are , and without a shadow of doubt there were 1000s ,and yet the day before we were shooting on the other side of the estate and never hardly saw a pigeon . We hope to make a start tomorrow decoying now we have finished with the Pheasants , the forecast is windy and mild , ideal for sitting about and hopefully having a few shots . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 On Saturday I saw a couple of hundred on the grass verge bank at the A130/Rettenden junction in Essex, also, a couple of thousand on a rape field on the very outskirts of Southend along Stton Road. They were there yesterday too. Not the only food source they are interested in, there are two rape fields about 10 minutes from me and all the birds today (about 300) were on the other side of the lane on grass, its got a lot of clover in it so I presume they were nit picking on this and other weeds, there were plenty of birds coming into it, I watched it for about 11/2 hours and not one bird went to the rape field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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