Late afternoon on barley - 28 pigeon

[ShropshireSam]

Been watching a field of winter barley for a week with what started to be high numbers of crows and then a steady build up of pigeons over the week. I did not want to target the crows ...but thought by shooting the pigeons I would keep the crows off as well. Had a busy weekend and could only get out at 3:30 on Saturday for a few hours. Set-up in a hedge with wind behind me on wrong side of the field to the main flightline but didn't want to walk across the field with all the gear in that heat. Moved the birds off the field...about 150 birds and set pattern out by 4 pm with a chosen spot of thin crop and flat crop in the kill zone. Started with a half-dozen half-shells on sticks above the crop and a magnet with two preserved (dried) dead birds. Had a few young birds decoy but several others didn't decoy or flared off...shot a few of these that dropped on track behind me. Added some dead birds on cradles above crop, put magnet away and replaced with a flapper. More birds decoyed and decoyed well so could drop most in the pattern with some second shots of birds flaring over the hedge. Still had a lot of birds that appeared in no rush to feed and dropped into numerous oaks that surround this field. Took care to mark the birds and dog retrieved well with no obvious damage to the crop. Finished with 28 picked, lost a couple + 3 crow and a feral. Particularly pleased with the crows as only shot at these 3 and they were all high, soaring over having a nosey.

 

Expect barley harvest to start here next week...looking ripe but still some green in the tramlines.

[Shotguneddy]

Good right up buddy well done for the crows to,sounds like an enjoyable few hours

[Cranfield]

Its well worth going out for just a few hours at the moment, even after work, in my area there are birds on the fields after 7pm.

Its always satisfying when the crows circle high having a look and think they are out of range and you prove they are not.

[Salop Matt]

Sam, combining started up the A442 by Waters Upton, but I don't know the farmer for that area to approach.

 

ATB

 

Matt

[mag357]

Last Sat driving past one of our permissions I spotted a few pigeons diving into a field of ripening winter barley. Me and Hawkeye went back on Mon late afternoon and lots of birds diving into small flattened areas. Flattened areas no bigger than 12ft by 10ft so managed to walk in tramlines and put just 2 of our floaters in the flat area.....started shooting at about 4pm and had a good 2 hours sport finishing up with about 20 birds picked which had either dropped in the grass field behind us or into the flat areas, quite a few others left for fox bait as didn't want to trample farmers crop looking for them. Went back yesterday and repeated same with another 20 plus birds, gave up after 2 hours as heat was brutal around 32deg C, floaters only used again but tried a magnet but it seemed to spook the birds so took it down after half an hour.

[hawkeye]

You forgot to add on Monday we were just sat under a tree in the shade about 20 yds from the floaters with out even bothering with a hide..

they wanted to be in and came steady away for the time we were there , it was good when most of then landed in the grass field behind us easier to find and no damage done to crop.

They were still coming in when we left as you needed your dinner before the dog got it if you had been late..

[mag357]

Mike......