Four Hours of Madness

[6.5x55SE]

Having not seen any number of Pigeon for weeks apart from the Garden one's i was surprised whilst taking the Dogs for a walk to see a steady line of 2 up to 15 pigeons heading into a good wind to !!!!!!

Glassing driving a bit in finally found them going into a Potato field 2 -3 " high then lifting and going into Barley then out of the Barley back into the Potato.

Having identified a good patch of Cow Parsley to hide in i went to get some gear.

Not having the latest High Tec gear i set out with 2 bouncers i made in my Teens 2 black lab's my 20ga and a bag of Homeload Cartridges with a " Site in hedges " recipe.

Passing a mate going out of the Village he convinced me I needed a Whirly Thing ( Magnet ).

For 20 - 25 minutes I sat in the Cow Parsley watching Pigeon in and out as I described Finally a Single pigeon swept by one shot one pigeon . Hardly settling after putting the Pigeon on the Bouncer 3 pigeon semi decoyed 2 shots results in 2 pigeon a shot at the flock disturbed from the field bags another.

With 2 bouncers and the Whirly Thing set up in returned to the hide thinking Don't look or feel right to me and how so Wrong was i .

For the next 3.5 to 4 hrs i was attacked from every angle and hight by single up to flocks of 20 Pigeon shots was fired on Empty Chambers fingers semi burnt on hot barrels Finally with 2 Panting lab's in spite of several swims in a Drain the wind had dropped the heat was just to much. Whilst packing up pigeons still came letting the lab's have another swim before heading home still the Pigeon went into the fields.

Walking into the house the Wife remarked i looked like " Burty Beetroot " as my face was so Red i explained the Sun and heat was to much. Well did you shoot anything with a BIG grin and SMILE yeah a few !!!!!!

How many 137 Pigeon yep 137 .

So thank to my mate who lent the Whirly and Thanks to "Sitsinhedges " For the load data.

[Penelope]

A good day of striking while the iron's hot pigeon shooting.

[fenboy]

A great result .

[kippylawkid]

Nice one. You'll be ordering a whirly now!

[la bala]

Well done bud, good outing

[motty]

Well done, Boyd.

[kenholland]

that's one hell of a spud gun you have got well done my son.

[Cranfield]

Another good report and excellent bag, it seems that the pigeons are certainly on the move.

[JDog]

An excellent chance outing.

[anser2]

Sounds as though you had some good fun Boyd. Getting towards the time when I start pigeon shooting again so keep it up.

[Whitebridges]

Marvellous, well done.

[pigeon controller]

Is it the secret recipe from sitsinhedges that has the magic effect , well done sounds a great session.

[Paul taylor]

Sounds like a cracking day on all accounts that does and from what I've seen today the pigeons are certainly in a feeding mood as well as a nesting mood.

[6.5x55SE]

Gentleman Thank you all for your kind comments Not wanting to come across as ungrateful for a very very good bag of Pigeon But had the wind stayed as strong with No Hot Sun ( myself and hot weather get along ) as when I started with the Pigeon responding along with my shooting a high 200+ bag was well on don't think I would have beaten my PB but I'll never know.

Still it was a fantastic bit of sport I will remember for sure fingers crossed for a overcast windy day in the not so distant future

[marsh man]

Excellent detailed post and another top days sport to go in your memory bank Boyd , good to keep the dogs in peak condition and the ole home loads are doing the business .

 

If you call a 2 ply net I got from the Sandringham Country Fair and a magnet that must be nigh on 15 / 20 years old then yes I have got some high tec gear but the rest I have been the proud owner from well before we were conned with decimal coinage

 

We have got a steady flow of pigeons down here but we are getting to the stage where there is to much food available , with the rain falling on what seem like every other day most winter barley fields have got some pigeons and one or two big ones have got a lot .

 

Yesterday I went to look at three fields of barley that were next door to each other with only a country road that separated them and there were pigeons on all of them , not huge amounts but enough to keep you happy , but with dark clouds looming up I decided to decoy a Sugar beet field that was under there flight line and my car was close by for a quick exit , had a nice afternoon and picked up 26 and the rain came as soon as I packed up at 5 45 , as if we could do with a bit more

[6.5x55SE]

Thanks John. I think if yourself PC - Motty - Fenboy - Muncher and all the other Dedicated Pigeon shot's that grace this Forum saw my Lack of Pigeon equipment and approach you would ALL roll around laughing.

Whilst I do have 20 odd probably 40 year old Decoys 99.9% of the time my approach to Pigeon shooting is the same as it 40+ year's ago. Watch and study the flight lines in and out of a Field when I feel all looks okay I just take Gun - Dog/Dog's - Bag of cartridges - Machete - 2 Bouncers - 2 Chaff Sack's ( for dead Pigeons) and 1/2 box of 8g Welding rods .

Using natural surroundings make a hide flight shoot the Pigeon and build a decoy Pattern from the shot Birds.

Over the years I've been very very blessed to have shot some huge large bags. My bag shot over the Magnet was definitely a eye opener would I buy one !!!! Probably not would i use my mate's one again !!!!!! Probably yes But I'd describe myself as a Lazy Pigeon Shooter and do really like building a shoot/bag from nothing if that makes sense .

[oowee]

Great read and super result and well done on the home load recipe. That was a big bag of cartridges.

[marsh man]

Field craft is paramount and without it all the gadgets on gods earth isn't going to help you get the bags that are often posted by the same people on the forum.

 

What worked 30 / 40 years ago can and do still work today but I have to admit using a magnet on tall crops improve your bags , not always but overall I would say most of the time it do , even more so now laid barley and tall peas are the main crops at the present time .

 

One of these days I might sort out my shed and try and find the old Grey plastic guttering shells I made , take a five gallon plastic drum , a few kebabs sticks and a billhook that I have still got and go back to basics , my artillery haven't changed much , I used a s x s then and I still one now , what have changed the most is me , showing signs of wear and past the sell by date , just like my guns

[fenboy]

my first decoys were made from guttering I have gone more hi-tec nowdays .

The first rule of pigeon shooting was and always will be find the pigeons and set up where the pigeons want to be , do that and you should get consistent results .

 

For me the magnet comes into its own when you cannot be where the pigeons want to be for what ever reason , it can help draw them off line and get you a few shots when otherwise you would be struggling .

 

Though I perhaps use a magnet 95% of the time I still enjoy those days when I need nothing but a few decoys.

[Toqs]

Well done, great read.

[WelshMike]

Cracking effort mate, well done.

[derbyduck]

well done Boyd ,marsh man youv'e just reminded me iv'e about 60 of them guttering deeks stacked up some where in my shed i'll dig em out and put them out on my allotment just to phish the nigebours off LOL

[mel b3]

a cracking day and a cracking write up , well done.