Minime46 Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 Hi all Still very new but loving my new hobbie. I went out today on a field with a really good flight path. I moved to the flight path yesterday and shot 5 in 40 minutes before having to go home. Went there today and got 30! My first (what I would call) big bag! It was on a previously drilled field... but not freshly drilled as the farmer failed to inform me when he drilled. (Father in-laws, grrrr!!!) My question is do any of you NOT use a hide. I had used a hide and decoys and shot only 2. I then just moved up field closer to the flight line and sat in the dyke within the reeds with a mask on. I put out a few dead pigeons as decoys and sure enough they started coming in. This was no magnet, no flapper, no hide. Just me with my gun sat in the reeds. Seemed to work better.... Your views and thoughts please? Do flight paths change depending on time of the day and wind direction etc? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 What you used is called initiative and it beats any piece of kit hands down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullet1747 Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 I never seem to do well if I have an hide , 90 percent off the time I sit in hedges , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger-Mouse Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 What you used is called initiative and it beats any piece of kit hands down. This ^^ is very true. I remember one day where myself and my mate just used a wall for cover. One of us faced one way and the other in the opposite direction. We could just warn each other if birds were coming in. We had a great days shooting, one of our biggest bags of the year iirc. We were perfectly positioned under a flight line and the birds seemed to flow one way for about an hour or so and then flow back the other way for the next hour or so. Hides definitely work but sometimes natural cover functions just as well as a net hide. And location is definitely the most important factor, you can`t shoot what isn`t in range of the gun. One of the guys on here who consistently posts 100+ bags is Pigeon Controller. How does he do it? Well read his posts and you`ll find it`s mostly down to the scouting he does. He`ll drive miles just to find the right location for his days shooting. If he sets up in one spot in a field and later realises there`s a better location to shoot from he`ll pack up his hide and move across to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 Great start to a fantastic sport well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minime46 Posted April 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 Thanks all. I really feel it's starting to sink in... I'm watching what they are doing and understanding more than ever and iv only just started so looking forward to when I have been shooting a few years :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 (edited) Sounds like you will soon be able to give me a lesson ! No of course you don't need to use a hide ------ unless you need to use a hide . As you have found if you can get tucked up where the birds cannot spot you then no you don't need a hide. Sometimes ( especially in our area ) you do not have the luxury of any cover and what dykes there are may be too deep or steep to stand in , so then you will need to rely on a hide . You have also learnt one of the key things about pigeon shooting which is always try to go where the birds are rather than expecting them to come to you. Well done 30 is a decent bag . By the way , I can't believe you went shooting and left your heavily pregnant wife to weed the lawn on her own Edited April 10, 2016 by fenboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minime46 Posted April 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 By the way , I can't believe you went shooting and left your heavily pregnant wife to weed the lawn on her own Hahahaha heavily pregnant? she's due in 2 days... so shes got plenty of time! She will be out painting the fence tomorrow ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeh Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 I've said it a million times. Go where the pigeons are, don't be afraid to move.I always took a hide, I'd set it up - but if it wasn't working or I believed I'd do better somewhere else, I'd move! (with or without it.)It's always worth learning the tell tale signs of pigeons committing then veering off due to a poorly constructed hide spooking them, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted April 10, 2016 Report Share Posted April 10, 2016 Generally you will need a hide but I have decoyed pigeon just standing behind an 8x8 gatepost with a hedge and a wood as a background. you just got to keep still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milo Posted April 11, 2016 Report Share Posted April 11, 2016 Congratulations. You seem to have an instinct for the right thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkfanz Posted April 11, 2016 Report Share Posted April 11, 2016 especially in warmer months never use nets just sit close in to hedgerows witha few decoys out ,,works ok and its beats humpin loads of gear when ur in your 60,s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumfelter Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Generally you will need a hide but I have decoyed pigeon just standing behind an 8x8 gatepost with a hedge and a wood as a background. you just got to keep still. Think I'd need a slightly wider gatepost! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesj Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 You don't need a hide you just need too hide. I've shot from a bright yellow 20 yard skip, its all about nothing looking out of place. You will find some days (not very many) it doesn't matter what you do the birds still come in to your pattern Ive had them land well still putting decors out and other days they won't come any where near it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 there has been talk of late of boys using gillie/sniper suits..............instead of hides... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 Sometimes I've had them try to come into the pattern when I've nipped out in a quiet spell to have a bit of a sort out with the shot birds as more decoys. And it always happens when you've left the gun back in the hide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie10 Posted May 13, 2016 Report Share Posted May 13, 2016 The fact is if pigeons want to be on that field they will come down whatever..... If you are on a field they don't want to be on nothing you can do will decoy them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrispti Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Don't always use a hide, but if I do, I always add foliage to help it blend in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiep Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 I never seem to do well if I have an hide , 90 percent off the time I sit in hedges , On Saturday I popped down to the farm where the farmer was ploughing a field, ready for drilling. Drab clothing, hat, face veil, no decoys, no hide, just standing in the shade of a 8 foot hedgerow. Only had an hour free until I had to be back home, as we were going out that evening. Shot 9 jackdaws, 3 rooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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