marsh man Posted August 9, 2017 Report Share Posted August 9, 2017 Surely this cold wet weather cant carry on much longer , or can it ?. Saturday afternoon saw me deep down the marshes on some rape stubble , I sat there for a while watching a few pigeons coming across the river before fanning out on the numerous rape stubbles , I finally picked my spot where I had a background of tall reeds . whilst putting the decoys out I noticed the sky getting darker and darker and heard a rumble of thunder in the distance , if I had any sense I should have packed up and got back to civilisation . Anyhow , after convincing myself it would pass with no problems I moved my motor to the corner of the field , connected the magnet wires then sat back and waited for the first customer , as it turned out it was a fair old wait , but one did come pass the decoys and it ended up in a smelly old dyke , although it did give Bobbie a retrieve , after a couple of minutes , way come a very Black , smelly dog carrying a dirty pigeon smelling as same as my dog . Just then I got the first spots of rain, and low and behold a pigeon was crossing the decoys , two shots with some clay cartridges I bought gave Bobbie another long retrieve , this time the pigeon didn't smell but was just as wet with the rain which was getting harder by the minute and after a louder clap of thunder it was time to call it a day . Time I got my car and put the nets , seat , gun , poles and the magnet it was chucking it down , so it was time for a coffee and listen to the football until it eases up a bit so I can get all the decoys back . Well after a good half hour of really heavy rain it finally eased up a bit , after plodding about in what was now mud I got all the decoys in the sack and was now time to get back. My estate car is only two wheel drive and coming down the track to the marsh I could straddle the deep ruts and then drive on the stubble , but going back , all the ruts were full of water and the stubble was now to wet to drive on , how I got back , I don't really know but if I had stopped I think I would have still been there now and without doubt this was the nearest I have been for getting stuck on these particular marshes , still I did get two pigeons . Monday I went again on estate land and it rained hard again , this time I didn't get wet and I did manage 19 pigeons before I packed up , and yesterday it rained hard again and as I am writing this it is still raining hard and fairly cold with it. Still , roll on tomorrow , should be a nice day with 22 degrees , although I wouldn't bet on it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 9, 2017 Report Share Posted August 9, 2017 ouch....i feel for you...(especially having to listen to norwich city on the radio).............i right this reply sitting infront of the woodburner lazerly sending tongues of flame up the chimney a couple of fields of barley that had gone down...are starting to sprout...and the wheat (still upright) parts of which are looking blackish ....on the ears... im waiting for the weather to change to......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted August 9, 2017 Report Share Posted August 9, 2017 (edited) Nice day tomorrow, so plan to take advantage ...wet again Friday, nice weekend and then rain Monday and Tuesday and it has been fleece cold. That log burner sounds a good idea. Harvest is going to be one of those start/stop jobs again, grab it when you can. Heavy rain here in Leicestershire has flattened some of the wheat on the headland turns where a bit extra bag muck was spilt, unusual these days with these super dooper computer controlled spreaders. Reports of some 70 to 100 days locally but I have not seen more than a dozen birds anywhere. Hope we get a nice September on the beans. Edited August 9, 2017 by Walker570 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy london Posted August 9, 2017 Report Share Posted August 9, 2017 (edited) I feel for you. I was out yesterday. After looking aroind and choosong the field to set up it started raining just before set up. Waiting for it to stop.. but it only did so as I packed up. As rain was getting lighter few pigeons were moving and while the came sraight to the flapper however many veered off just out of range.. i walked out to look what was wrong but ar that point i was actually surprised some were decoying. With water decoys were shining while real birds were black and looked more like rats than pigeons. At least i did end the day with 25 but worst experience shootong in the rain all day. Out tomorrow to make most of sunny day a d hopefully hunger pigeons hitting the rape stubble. Edited August 9, 2017 by Buddy london Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getthegat Posted August 9, 2017 Report Share Posted August 9, 2017 Hardy creatures us pigeon shooters. Had many a wet outing in the past. Also had some near and one not so near stuck in the mud episodes. Great reporting, the smelly dog and pigeon was very vivid. Can you believe it's August? The rain today especially has been unreal; what it will be doing to the crops and consequently the feeding of the pigeons is anyones guess, but the next few outings will very possibly require wellies and off road tyres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted August 9, 2017 Report Share Posted August 9, 2017 Beyond the call of duty Marshman. I sat in the rain for three hours today. If the other MM (Mightymariner) does not put a post up I will tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted August 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2017 THANKS , we are , and we need to be a hardy lot , strangely enough rain don't bother me one bit in the shooting season , wildfowling and game shooting is my chosen sport and with it being in the colder months I can put up with whatever the weather is on the days I am out shooting , or helping out on shoots ,don't get me wrong , I don't enjoy shooting in heavy rain but we cant do anything about it ,so we put on our waterproofs and just get on with it . Now pigeon shooting is slightly different , the bulk of it is done during the warmer and drying months and on paper this time of the year should mainly be warm and dry and they are the type of days I get the most enjoyment out of pigeon shooting , but with the weather not playing ball at the present time you have to gamble when you get the odd dry day with rain at times forecasted , and on a two horse race I would end up picking the wrong one Beyond the call of duty Marshman.I sat in the rain for three hours today. If the other MM (Mightymariner) does not put a post up I will tomorrow. I hope you were well rewarded Mr JDog , you deserve it, I also sat in the rain for three hours but I was undercover , for the first half an hour I sat ( or laid ) in the dentist chair having deep gum cleaning , the pain was bad enough but the bill was a lot more painful . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougall Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 just walked the dogs and boy the pigeons are hitting the wheat this morning......got a bit flattened yesterday and looks bit sorry for itself but going to drag myself out at lunchtime.....must have been 400+ which for around here is a lot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingman Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 I went out on Tuesday morning for a few hours, didnt set the decoys up but had a wander around some of the fields. It was raining lightly but then tipped it down around midday. Managed the total sum of a single pigeon that crossed my path heading back into the woods. Although I was wet and didnt shoot much it was a damn sight better than being sat in an office tapping on my computer!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 The good weather will start tomorrow because i head off up the yorkshire coast for my jollies.☺ Typically when i go away, the combines will be out in full swing and pigeons moving about everywhere! I will be keeping a close eye PW and can't wait to read all your reports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted August 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 The good weather will start tomorrow because i head off up the yorkshire coast for my jollies.☺ Typically when i go away, the combines will be out in full swing and pigeons moving about everywhere! I will be keeping a close eye PW and can't wait to read all your reports. You might well be right aga man , looking at the forecast , it should be dry around here till at least next Tuesday , looking in todays paper it stated one of the wettest places in Norfolk in the last two days was Cromer which had 41mm recorded , and to think we are normally one of the driest counties in the U K . Hope it stay dry for you up the Yorkshire coast and you and your family have a good holiday , and I am sure there will be plenty of pigeons waiting for you when you get back . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooder Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 went out last Sunday thought I was safe setting up on a part cut wheat field as we had heavy overnight rain I thought there wasn't a chance they would come and combine the rest, how wrong was I ! had all my decoys set up, just sorting the hide out when a Landover turned into the field, he said sorry if the moisture was below 17% he was going to finish combining. Packed up and returned to a disked rape field I shot two weeks ago as there where no other opportunities, set up again and the sky turned grey and I could here thunder rumbling in the distance, thought I would stick it out as the first spots of rain fell, stayed for two hours shot 3, I was wet all the gear was wet, field turned into something like the Somme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuddster Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 Tell me about depressing weather.last two weeks it's been 37 degrees here in Greece. First day of the hols I got a text from one of my favourite permissions to say rape stubble was blue over and I could I nip over. I have cried into my Mythos beer a few evenings this holiday. Landing tomorrow evening and plan to be out with the dog Saturday.hell or high water! Yammos! Fuddos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drivinfish1 Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 Got the same problems around here to ( Warwickshire) Weather has been awful and harvest put back time and time again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenholland Posted August 10, 2017 Report Share Posted August 10, 2017 the weekend look's a lot dryer so make the most of it if you can, I will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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