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Newbie looking for advice


flyeruk
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I'm a complete newbie to pigeon shooting and looking for advice. I was lucky enough to go out with a very experienced pigeon shooter last week and learnt a lot in the few hours I was with him. He showed me what to look for regarding flight lines,setting up the hide and setting out the decoys.

He is lucky enough to be able to shoot 3 or 4 times a week. This is where my question comes in. As probably,a lot of people,i work 5 days a week. I only really have a Saturday free at the moment,so was wondering how I should go about using this time to do my reconnaissance,setting up and hopefully shooting a few.I have a permission over a very large area and the farmer is quite happy for me to do a bit whenever I have the time.

I have been reading all the pigeon threads and feel already I have absorbed a lot of very useful imformation but know its all down to getting out there and having a go myself.

Any help and advice will be very much appreciated.

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If your time for recon is limited then you will need to know what your farmer is going to sowing and where on the land.

 

Once you know where the crops are you can minimise time traveling and head in the direction you would expect pigeon activity. This link is a good guide http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/topic/129148-crop-watch-calendar-where-to-look-for-pigeon-activity/

 

Make note of any flightlines you see as pigeons will use those lines again throughout the seasons.

 

Not all the advice you need but a bit that might help!

 

Good luck.

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As Aga man said...keep in touch with the Farmer or his employees to see what goes in and when.. Generally Winter shooting will be over rape or roost, Spring over Drillings, and Summer and Autumn over crops on point of harvest or stubble.

 

Do your reconnaissance and find the birds and where they are feeding, look to see the lines into the field and out to roost again. Don't be tempted to shoot a field because it looks as though pigeons might like to feed on it, invariably they wont show up and you will get frustrated.

 

many people are lucky enough to shoot 3 or even 4 times a week, but that's not for me I'm afraid so once a week will keep your interest well kindled. Sometimes I wont shoot for weeks or months on end if there is nothing to shoot, so when I do eventually get out I'm like a kid in a sweet shop.!

 

Top tip for winter shooting is make sure your clothes keep you warm during long spells of inactivity. Tthere is nothing worse than trying to endure extreme cold.... you soon get fed up and just when you get back to the car the birds arrive !!

 

If it gets quiet take the cartridges out of the breech or put the gun down and have a waz...I can guarantee the birds will suddenly appear. !!

Edited by Adge Cutler
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As above , do anything else except watch for birds and they will come in. Usually for me when pouring a hot drink.

The rest of the above advice, is spot on. The only thing I can add is, I found a set of binoculars most useful, find a high

point where you can watch all around and at distance. This saves much leg work , or driving.

Good luck.

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All very helpful tips above ..... What I did many moons ago, was to get myself an ordnance survey map which you can get online, and choose just the area you want that includes your perms. I highlighted all the land I have, then mapped out the flight lines I found, and points of the compass. This enabled me to know which fields were best to reccy / shoot once I saw the forecast for the week, i.e. wind direction.

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All very helpful tips above ..... What I did many moons ago, was to get myself an ordnance survey map which you can get online, and choose just the area you want that includes your perms. I highlighted all the land I have, then mapped out the flight lines I found, and points of the compass. This enabled me to know which fields were best to reccy / shoot once I saw the forecast for the week, i.e. wind direction.

I have an OS map of the Landranger series. Something like this is essential if more than one farm is covered. You may need to push the farmer for a map of his farm and once you have that simply outline it on the OS map.

 

Marking flight lines may mislead in the future if they are not from the same direction.

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Thanks forall the advice. In going to have a mooch round the fields on saturday and start learning flight lines etc. Got some decent binoculars and will pick up a map of the area as well.

Luckly for me,i live 2 minutes from the permission so can spend alot of my (limited) free time there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Your not the first and you won't be the last to shoot a racer but as your thread title says advice for a newbie then I'd say make sure can identify a woodpigeon from a racer from a stock dove and feral pigeon and as Motty says if in doubt don't pull the trigger! I didn't see your deleted posts but spitting your dummy out about it you'll learn nowt, learn from it and crack on and enjoy your shooting!

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Ok,maybe I am spitting my dummy out and over reacted,but when I get a personal message saying quote , Shooting racing pigeons is a no no. You will bring the shooting community and pigeon watch into disrepute if you post that you have shot a pigeon with a ring on it.

I am surprised that the moderators haven't already deleted your post, unquote

I feel that is a bit harsh.

 

I went out yesterday for the first time on my own. I set up the hide,put my decoys and magnet out,and managed to shoot 7 pigeons. Not a lot I know,but was pleased with my first outing. I realised I had shot a ringed bird by mistake and had a look online as to what I should do. The ring had a phone number on so I contacted the owner explaining what had happened. He was very pleased I had phoned him and said it had gone missing a week ago on its way from Portland to Warrington. I apologised for the mistake I had made and he was completely happy about the situation.

I said on the post I had deleted that I understood my mistake,and would be more aware in the future.

I have learnt a lot from this forum and appreciate the great help and advice I have got from it.

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Good on you for contacting the owner I'll bet not many people do that, or if they do, admit to shooting it, and the sad truth is if they come into your decoy pattern they are lost and unlikely any use to there owner, it is a great forum I've learned loads too and had the pleasure to meet and shoot with Agaman and JDog both smashing blokes, I would never dreamed of that when I joined! Also there will be others new to pigeon shooting who learned something from reading your posts and questions so keep posting and asking and enjoy your sen!

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Your not the first and you won't be the last to shoot a racer but as your thread title says advice for a newbie then I'd say make sure can identify a woodpigeon from a racer from a stock dove and feral pigeon and as Motty says if in doubt don't pull the trigger! I didn't see your deleted posts but spitting your dummy out about it you'll learn nowt, learn from it and crack on and enjoy your shooting!

well said wilksy, 90% of shooters on this site have at some time pulled the trigger on a racer be it a total accident or not :no: i myself back last week hit one by accident he came straight in with a small group of woodies around 8/10 and in all fairness i didn`t pick him out didn`t have a diddly till it was to late sorry to say it happens,i`ve been around a fair number of shooters be it shotguns or rifle and not all of them follow the rules of combat which is no good to me or fellow shooters so flyeruk put it down as a mistake and move on

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I almost pulled the trigger on a sparrow hawk today.

He came into my decoy pattern head on to me

He was breaking in just like a woodie very difficult

to spot head on. I assume that's a tacktick they use

to attack the birds on the ground from behind.

However he came in a shade to quick and I just felt

something was not quite right. Lucky for him.

I had him in my sights and was just about to let

him have it. I'm lucky on my permission I dont

get pesterd by ferals.

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