Why Do They Do That ?

[pigeon controller]

I had a call Wednesday afternoon informing me that one of our farms has loads of pigeons and crows on the drilling , I asked the farmer not to put a gas gun on it till after we have shot it , as this is the most effective method. So Friday we head straight to the farm which is one of the furthest on out territory, to find not a bird on thirty acres of drilling. The farmer was not about but his wife told us that he had been firing shots over the field all day Thursday to keep them off . So we started to head back and look for birds on the rape we found a few on a small field we have not shot this year when I say a few it had about thirty in the trees on the edge of the rape but a slow flightline on the one edge of the field running its length. Now this field is only one hundred meters wide but long. So we set up with ten on cradles and two on the magnet, straight away we had birds but the disturbed birds just left the field it took a good twenty minutes for them to start returning from the sanctuary of a distant wood. We had set up at approx 12.00 and by 16.00 we had approx sixty in the bag when the flightline shifted to the other edge of the field so we up sticks and moved to the other edge which gave us a another fifty plus birds for our tally. We packed up at 18.30 and picked up one hundred and thirteen birds. it was a good job we moved .

 

Saturday and it was raining with the promise it would clear up mid morning. We drove out to the rape field we had watched last week with the other shooter set up . As we approached it we could see birds setting for the field so we watched it in the rain and in twenty minutes we must have seen approx fifty to eighty birds set and land in the field so we decided to set up. DB had promised to go on another farm so he went to check it out and it two hours I had fourteen birds . So we decided on DB's return to move on . We found very little birds around so we went to flocks we have hit hard in the past few weeks, one of these is a really difficult flock to get a number from as they up and leave the field never to return. So we set up with the previous fourteen birds plus twelve from the day before. We put out twenty on cradles in the taller rape and six on spikes in the tram lines , no magnet. The first birds in were spooky but we had a steady flow of one's and two's which made it rewarding shooting and we shot till 18.30 and the total for the day was ninetyseven pigeons and ten corvids. so it was worth getting wet for in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[colin.y]

top work as usual, mustered a measly 40 today on our rape.

should have been more if the shooting was upto standard!!

 

well done on your 2 days work.

[matty*]

Good shooting on the rape again lads, have you had much drilling going in your way?

[Royboy]

Excellent day, I wonder how many pigeons you've shot in your lifetime, 100,000 I'm going for !

[JDog]

They do it because they do not understand about pigeon shooting.

 

Looking at that rape you should have some shooting over it for another month.

 

In theory identifying a flight line into rape for us lesser mortals should become easier for the next month on poor rape as the larger flocks have broken up.

[pigeon controller]

Good shooting on the rape again lads, have you had much drilling going in your way?

Most of our crops we allready drilled.

Excellent day, I wonder how many pigeons you've shot in your lifetime, 100,000 I'm going for !

Ive only kept records for the last ninteen years and not recorded the first eight but up to now DB and I have had circa 77,000 wood pigeons

[Royboy]

Most of our crops we allready drilled.

 

Ive only kept records for the last ninteen years and not recorded the first eight but up to now DB and I have had circa 77,000 wood pigeons

A lot of cartridge and all ! Ha

[Wilts#Dave]

We have a contractor who works a lot of land we shoot over and he's obsessed with has guns, regualrly telling us how many bangers he's got out and where.....after telling us to shoot the fields. He's a pigeon shooters nightmare, doesn't understand how you shoot a decent bag at all. Very very frustating so I feel your pain PC !!

[JDog]

We have a contractor who works a lot of land we shoot over and he's obsessed with has guns, regualrly telling us how many bangers he's got out and where.....after telling us to shoot the fields. He's a pigeon shooters nightmare, doesn't understand how you shoot a decent bag at all. Very very frustating so I feel your pain PC !!

If PC feels pain after shooting two hundred every weekend what do the rest of us feel?

[Biggsy]

PC,always good to read your posts,,,,what gun and chokes do you use,

[pigeon controller]

PC,always good to read your posts,,,,what gun and chokes do you use,

Currently a Silver Pigeon, 1/4 and 1/2 , Proper Cartridges 32 , 6's

 

I'm currently playing with a Mossberg Hushpower 12 bore pump, work in progress.

Edited April 3, 2016 by pigeon controller

[aga man]

77000! wow, nice to know almost all of them will have gone into the food chain aswell

 

Nice weekly report PC

[colin.y]

 

 

Ive only kept records for the last ninteen years and not recorded the first eight but up to now DB and I have had circa 77,000 wood pigeons

 

imagine the size of the pcture for that lot!!

 

imagine them sat on one field !!

[sitsinhedges]

Currently a Silver Pigeon, 1/4 and 1/2 , Proper Cartridges 32 , 6's

 

I'm currently playing with a Mossberg Hushpower 12 bore pump, work in progress.

 

Still say you should have got the 20g O/U. Much more pointable and not that much different to a 12gauge Sporter weight wise. You can even get one built on a 20gauge Silver pigeon action.

Edited April 3, 2016 by sitsinhedges

[Wilts#Dave]

If PC feels pain after shooting two hundred every weekend what do the rest of us feel?

Good point, well made. I don't feel as sorry for him now I've had a think about it!

[pigeon controller]

Still say you should have got the 20g O/U. Much more pointable and not that much different to a 12gauge Sporter weight wise. You can even get one built on a 20gauge Silver pigeon action.

Possibly would have been more user friendly , but I was going for the third shot and the farm I shot early this year was noise sensitive . At the end of the day the cost was a great incentive . I'm hoping that the noise element will enable me to gain more shooting in the future.

[Wilts#Dave]

I don't think a moderated 12 bore is quiet enough to make enough of a difference in a noise sensitive area personally and in the pump 12 bore must be an unwieldy beast!? Even the .410's aren't as quiet as made out to be, still heavily depends on wind direction/angles you fire at etc.

[pigeon controller]

I don't think a moderated 12 bore is quiet enough to make enough of a difference in a noise sensitive area personally and in the pump 12 bore must be an unwieldy beast!? Even the .410's aren't as quiet as made out to be, still heavily depends on wind direction/angles you fire at etc.

Thanks for your comments , time will tell or it will be in the for sale section?

[Wilts#Dave]

We bought a .410 pump last year for the same reasons and had some really good days with it so far, managed a 97 on some barley stubble even....great tools but can't help thinking a 12 bore version wouldn't be very quiet, as the .410 even can be heard from some distance under the wrong wind/angles.

I'm sure they'd be easier to hit with though, how cumbersome does it feel..... .410 takes some getting used to!

[oowee]

Cracking day as allways. If thats not a great day I hope at least some of my days will be this bad

[WelshMike]

Fantastic work PC

[Jim Neal]

I don't think a moderated 12 bore is quiet enough to make enough of a difference in a noise sensitive area personally and in the pump 12 bore must be an unwieldy beast!? Even the .410's aren't as quiet as made out to be, still heavily depends on wind direction/angles you fire at etc.

Have you used one? With subsonic ammo? I've got the Mossberg 12ga pump with hushpower mod. It's quieter than you're making out! Just sounds like a loud air rifle crack. If you're surrounded by trees, or in a valley, you'll hear a fair old echo coming back to you from the report. But what you have to remember is that the sound pressure is way less than with a standard gun, so it is much less intrusive and does not carry over distance. You have to remember that you're right on top of the gun, not several hundred yards away. I've been shooting the gun 200-300 yds from pigeons sitting in treetops and they haven't budged.

 

Now the bad bits.

 

It is indeed unweildy. The length and front-heavy nature, along with what looks like a bazooka stuck on the end of the gun, make it very unnatural to swing. It's not a sporting gun. The sighting system is a bit... agricultural. Also annoying is that the foresight is prone to being off the 12 o'clock position because it's fixed to the screw-on moderator tube. With mine you have to have it only just nipped up tight enough in order for it to be in the 12 o'clock position so sometimes it comes loose. I suppose I should put a bit of PTFE tape on it.

 

I haven't patterned the gun yet, I'm ashamed to say. I have a feeling the pattern is not that good at all. Although yesterday's walk-round gave 3 birds from 5 shots, most often my cart/kill ratio is pretty horrendous. Worst was 19 shots for 1 pigeon. I've tried compensating giving more lead, less lead, blotting out the bird to shoot a tad higher... doesn't make much difference, I can't find a way it shoots best. And you can forget 40+ yard shots: up to 30, maybe 35, seems to be the limit. I chanced upon a very brave crow the other day sitting about 45 yards away on the meadow. Very calmly took aim, just had the bird's head on the sight and fired.... it flew off and kept flying, unscathed. I followed it by eye for 500yds or so before it went out of sight over a wood.

 

And then the cost of the ammo.... If you stick with Eley hushpower, 32g 5s work out at £7.50 a box if you buy 2 slabs at a time. The 28g 7.5s are a bit cheaper but I've not had very good success with them to be honest. Those are the only 2 options. I'd much prefer to have a 30g 6. A few other manufacturers do subsonics but all in 28g 7.5s or even 8s

 

I wouldn't want to sit in a hide and decoy all day with the gun. I use mine round our game shoot mostly. I take my dogs out for their afternoon excercise, walking the perimeter areas which sometimes pushes a few pheasants back in, and keep my hushpower slung over the shoulder in case a pigeon flies over me (or over the winter I was having a little roost shooting session with it). I Probably shoot half a dozen a week just walking round. The dogs approve of this routine very much; as well as having lots of fun out "hunting" they get to eat pigeon almost every night!

 

The powder-coating on the moderator tube is very easily scratched off making it look tatty, and although I haven't done it to mine I'd like to bet it's also easily dented.

 

I have to periodically remove the recoil pad and tighten up the stock because it comes loose. However I think this might be partly caused by the way I store it when travelling. Still, it shouldn't come loose all the time but never mind not a major big deal.

 

Can't say I need the 3 shots, usually one attempt and if I miss the bird is long gone by the time I've pumped another shell through. I'm often emptying for safety purposes due to lots of fence/ditch hopping during my wanders, and it is a real ball-ache with a pump action.

 

After having the gun about 8 months and putting 300-400 rounds though it I'm going to keep it for the time being.

[Wilts#Dave]

Have you used one? With subsonic ammo? I've got the Mossberg 12ga pump with hushpower mod. It's quieter than you're making out! Just sounds like a loud air rifle crack. If you're surrounded by trees, or in a valley, you'll hear a fair old echo coming back to you from the report. But what you have to remember is that the sound pressure is way less than with a standard gun, so it is much less intrusive and does not carry over distance. You have to remember that you're right on top of the gun, not several hundred yards away. I've been shooting the gun 200-300 yds from pigeons sitting in treetops and they haven't budged.

 

Now the bad bits.

 

It is indeed unweildy. The length and front-heavy nature, along with what looks like a bazooka stuck on the end of the gun, make it very unnatural to swing. It's not a sporting gun. The sighting system is a bit... agricultural. Also annoying is that the foresight is prone to being off the 12 o'clock position because it's fixed to the screw-on moderator tube. With mine you have to have it only just nipped up tight enough in order for it to be in the 12 o'clock position so sometimes it comes loose. I suppose I should put a bit of PTFE tape on it.

 

I haven't patterned the gun yet, I'm ashamed to say. I have a feeling the pattern is not that good at all. Although yesterday's walk-round gave 3 birds from 5 shots, most often my cart/kill ratio is pretty horrendous. Worst was 19 shots for 1 pigeon. I've tried compensating giving more lead, less lead, blotting out the bird to shoot a tad higher... doesn't make much difference, I can't find a way it shoots best. And you can forget 40+ yard shots: up to 30, maybe 35, seems to be the limit. I chanced upon a very brave crow the other day sitting about 45 yards away on the meadow. Very calmly took aim, just had the bird's head on the sight and fired.... it flew off and kept flying, unscathed. I followed it by eye for 500yds or so before it went out of sight over a wood.

 

And then the cost of the ammo.... If you stick with Eley hushpower, 32g 5s work out at £7.50 a box if you buy 2 slabs at a time. The 28g 7.5s are a bit cheaper but I've not had very good success with them to be honest. Those are the only 2 options. I'd much prefer to have a 30g 6. A few other manufacturers do subsonics but all in 28g 7.5s or even 8s

 

I wouldn't want to sit in a hide and decoy all day with the gun. I use mine round our game shoot mostly. I take my dogs out for their afternoon excercise, walking the perimeter areas which sometimes pushes a few pheasants back in, and keep my hushpower slung over the shoulder in case a pigeon flies over me (or over the winter I was having a little roost shooting session with it). I Probably shoot half a dozen a week just walking round. The dogs approve of this routine very much; as well as having lots of fun out "hunting" they get to eat pigeon almost every night!

 

The powder-coating on the moderator tube is very easily scratched off making it look tatty, and although I haven't done it to mine I'd like to bet it's also easily dented.

 

I have to periodically remove the recoil pad and tighten up the stock because it comes loose. However I think this might be partly caused by the way I store it when travelling. Still, it shouldn't come loose all the time but never mind not a major big deal.

 

Can't say I need the 3 shots, usually one attempt and if I miss the bird is long gone by the time I've pumped another shell through. I'm often emptying for safety purposes due to lots of fence/ditch hopping during my wanders, and it is a real ball-ache with a pump action.

 

After having the gun about 8 months and putting 300-400 rounds though it I'm going to keep it for the time being.

Have you not read my other post further down, yes I've used one (got one). Had some great results with it as well, but I don't think they're as quiet as some make out (like an air rifle being fired).

PC is indeed wanting one for decoying sessions too, not the odd walk round.....he shoots more than the odd half a dozen in a day!

[sitsinhedges]

Have you not read my other post further down, yes I've used one (got one). Had some great results with it as well, but I don't think they're as quiet as some make out (like an air rifle being fired).

PC is indeed wanting one for decoying sessions too, not the odd walk round.....he shoots more than the odd half a dozen in a day!

 

I wouldn't want the pump in anything other than .410 but I do think the Investarm o/u version is ideal for decoying. Had my best bag ever with mine, 137 pigeons and plenty of other good bags. The Pedretti single 410 hushers were airgun quiet but not enough gun for me whereas the 20 gauge is perfect. Putting then right ammo thru them is key.

Edited April 9, 2016 by sitsinhedges