marsh man Posted May 8, 2016 Report Share Posted May 8, 2016 I have always found May to be my quietest month outside of the shooting season , having said that I have had the odd decent day on short Peas , Lucerne , Linseed , Clover and Broccoli but generally it is very quiet with very little movement till later in the day , birds still on buds and some birds sitting on eggs, Nowadays with all the rape grown we can get shooting in FEB , MARCH , and the best part of April plus the Spring drillings during those early months and then the young plants , from June onwards we can expect the first bits of blown Barley and if you have got early Peas they will start going in pod early June which can start attracting the attention of the pigeons , then we all know how good July and August can be and in my case September can be alright until they start pulling the stubbles up. From the end of September my shooting pigeons more or less come to a standstill due to game shooting on most of my farms and the estate . So I would say without doubt May is my quietest month , so then what is yours ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted May 8, 2016 Report Share Posted May 8, 2016 May is always the quietest month for me unless I have spring rape to shoot over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitsinhedges Posted May 8, 2016 Report Share Posted May 8, 2016 May/June though I have had some shooting over standing wheat the last couple of years on one farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted May 8, 2016 Report Share Posted May 8, 2016 I agree May is the month I would normally migrate to Greece to recharge my batteries, I used to find that when I worked I would be waiting for the course fishing season to start on the rivers on June 16th and find that I would get calls that the pigeon were on the downed barley. We could find a few before that on clover if we were lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted May 8, 2016 Report Share Posted May 8, 2016 again I will say may with no ;peas or spring rape to go at on any of the farms we shoot and you rarely see spring rape grown anywhere around here but this year its been jan,feb,march,april Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted May 8, 2016 Report Share Posted May 8, 2016 April/May/ for me, whllst still keeping an eye out for pigeons, I move on to corvid shooting for most of this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted May 8, 2016 Report Share Posted May 8, 2016 If we are talking pigeons its every month quiet. Otherwise. May and june with wheat Barley and Maize is mega busy for me. Crows rather than pigeons. I have 5 requests to get out this week alone. May has been great so far, even busier than last year and June with the new branchers is always busy. Partly down I guess to mild winter. Quietest for me is Dec and Jan when I will only be shooting around the farm buildings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted May 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2016 If we are talking pigeons its every month quiet. Otherwise. May and june with wheat Barley and Maize is mega busy for me. Crows rather than pigeons. I have 5 requests to get out this week alone. May has been great so far, even busier than last year and June with the new branchers is always busy. Partly down I guess to mild winter. Quietest for me is Dec and Jan when I will only be shooting around the farm buildings. At a time when me and my mate were hungry for shooting we would spend a lot of time around May and early June shooting Rooks , Crows and Jackdaws . We would go early in the morning , and I mean early with setting the hide up and decoys out at around 4 to 1/2 past four in the morning , the decoy ( pattern ) was two Crow decoys pegged out with a dead pigeon laying near by with a hand full of feathers pulled out , the hide consisted at times of small grass bales placed in the middle of the field so we could decoy in any wind direction . The Crows , Rooks and Jackdaws are still about but the small bales are no longer there nor is the desire to shoot the Black buggxxs any more in the same numbers we got then , now most of the Crows ect are caught in a trap and I don't know of anyone now who spend any amount of time shooting them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted May 9, 2016 Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 At a time when me and my mate were hungry for shooting we would spend a lot of time around May and early June shooting Rooks , Crows and Jackdaws . We would go early in the morning , and I mean early with setting the hide up and decoys out at around 4 to 1/2 past four in the morning , the decoy ( pattern ) was two Crow decoys pegged out with a dead pigeon laying near by with a hand full of feathers pulled out , the hide consisted at times of small grass bales placed in the middle of the field so we could decoy in any wind direction . The Crows , Rooks and Jackdaws are still about but the small bales are no longer there nor is the desire to shoot the Black buggxxs any more in the same numbers we got then , now most of the Crows ect are caught in a trap and I don't know of anyone now who spend any amount of time shooting them . I shoot pretty much nothing else. 150+ last week and expect more this week. I think I probably shoot more rabbits and squirrel than pigeons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotguneddy Posted May 9, 2016 Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 again I will say may with no ;peas or spring rape to go at on any of the farms we shoot and you rarely see spring rape grown anywhere around here but this year its been jan,feb,march,april Tell me about it same here seems like 6 months on 6 off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted May 9, 2016 Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 My quietest month is December. I don't shoot much game and we find the last of our stubbles are ploughed up around then and the pigeons don't nomally hit the rape here till Christmas time. I am not currently shooting pigeons during May but i am out rabbiting two nights a week and will be shooting corvids once the silage operations start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShropshireSam Posted May 9, 2016 Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 May...from my limited experience. This year has started poor with no decent numbers on any crops but had huge flocks over winter so hope will get some good numbers come summer. Previously have had good sessions on peas from June (when in flower) til harvest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay_Russell Posted May 9, 2016 Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 Been pretty quite for me too, lots of my fields are surrounded by woodland or thin strips. Plenty of pigeons in there but very difficult to decoy down. But flighting alongside these strips have given me a few shots. Been busy walking the headlands for rabbits in the evenings. I've mostly got beans, winter rape and cereals. There's a few getting in the bare batches in the rape but nothing of note. A few bangs and there back into the woods and not returning. Frustrating enough I have invested in a pigeon magnet which I should have Thursday. Hopefully that will bring a few more flighting birds within range Atleast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocknee Posted May 10, 2016 Report Share Posted May 10, 2016 Without a doubt May and early June are the least productive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted May 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2016 Without a doubt May and early June are the least productive. I think if the day ever come where we have to give them a rest for a couple of months due to European regulations then I don't think pigeon shooters would lose to much sleep if it was say from mid April till mid June as going by the above posts most of us spend a lot more time looking than we do shooting during these two months . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted May 10, 2016 Report Share Posted May 10, 2016 (edited) Not a chance, MM. There are always good bags to be had at this time of year, although they may take that extra bit of effort to obtain. I have had many 100 or 200 bird days between mid April and mid June. Edited May 10, 2016 by motty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted May 10, 2016 Report Share Posted May 10, 2016 when the mrs has a sore throat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted May 10, 2016 Report Share Posted May 10, 2016 There should be no concessions to EU or any other regulations regarding close seasons for wood pigeon shooting. Should there be any agreement for the cessation of shooting for even a short period it would be the thin end of the wedge. I have said above that May has been my quietest period for shooting pigeons over the years. The exception was two years ago when I shot 147, then three consecutive bags of over 200 on spring rape within the month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kippylawkid Posted May 11, 2016 Report Share Posted May 11, 2016 May can be harder to male a decent bag but I think it can be done. I find you need to do more recce trips at varied times to establish lines and fields. It used to be one of my most productive months as a lot of peas were grown on my permissions. Now it is usually spring rape or clover that I get a bag from. My quietest are June/July. Not through lack of birds, I just have heaps of cricket on and the last few years I have started to get grass pollen hay fever that absolutely fells me. So bad, I am reluctant to venture out. Getting old! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotguneddy Posted May 11, 2016 Report Share Posted May 11, 2016 Mays usualy very quiet for me so I go an attack the corvids witch is providing me with some ok bags and still doing abit of shooting myself and the farmer, had 37 in two outings witch isn't bad considering there's not massive numbers venturing far from rookeries etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted May 11, 2016 Report Share Posted May 11, 2016 when the mrs has a sore throat Looked at your avatar then your post, I nearly choked laughing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted May 11, 2016 Report Share Posted May 11, 2016 I give the pigeons 3 months off at this time of year. My farms do not grow peas so there is little for the pigeons to damage and it gives the birds some time to breed and build up numbers ( which the need to do in my area ). Come mid July the gun comes out again for decoying on the stubbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 I give the pigeons 3 months off at this time of year. My farms do not grow peas so there is little for the pigeons to damage and it gives the birds some time to breed and build up numbers ( which the need to do in my area ). Come mid July the gun comes out again for decoying on the stubbles. Is there no corn in your area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted May 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 Is there no corn in your area? We have as much, if not more than most areas , it just that a lot of people don't like shooting areas of laid Barley for fear of injuries to there dog , and the laid Wheat is harder to come by nowadays with the stems being shorter and more sturdy resulting in far fewer damaged areas to shoot over . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 We have as much, if not more than most areas , it just that a lot of people don't like shooting areas of laid Barley for fear of injuries to there dog , and the laid Wheat is harder to come by nowadays with the stems being shorter and more sturdy resulting in far fewer damaged areas to shoot over . I will admit corn/barley can be a bit hard on the dog but they soon recover, I shoot a fair few crows, rooks and pigeons on corn as they can strip large areas in no time if left undisturbed, What I find with wheat is the black'uns bring it down bye flying into it then the pigeons find these patches, biggest bag on corn was a mix of black'uns and mainly pigeons 426, I guess there is always the question should we be shooting them at this time of year. For some reason we get large numbers of pigeons during the summer months on corn so someone as to keep them off it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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