Back to normal.

[Clodhopper]

After getting on a few last week normal service was resumed this Saturday. Having had very little time to do any serious recon. I planned to have a ride round Saturday morning and see what was about. This was somewhat curtailed as livestock duties took much longer than expected (horses and sheep seem to have an uncanny knack of playing up when you want to get on).

 

Arriving at the farm at 13.20 left little time to do any serious recon. so i decided the best option would be to drive to a vantage point where i could just about see all of my permission through the binoculars.

 

I could see there were a handful on the bean's, none on the stubble we shot last week and a few sat up in varying hedgerows. I then noticed about 1 hundred on some fresh drilling, others were joining from a wood 4 fields away so with it now being after 2pm i thought i would walk them off the drilling and give it a go.

 

Having put the last decoy out i had just settled on my seat when in came a pair, text book decoyed birds, 2 shots and 2 birds down. Before i had managed to reload i saw another bird, wings set, on its way. I stuffed 1 cartridge in and downed the bird.

 

At this point i was thinking i could be on for a couple of hours sport but it was not to be the case. The returning birds never really materialised, some flew past, others i could see just sitting up in hedge rows in the distance. The odd one did decoy well. But after about 2 hours i called it quits with 7 in the bag.

 

When dressing the birds at home there was a variety of wheat, beans, dressed barley and hawes in the crops, so it looked like they were making the most of the bounty currently available.

 

I never feel like its a wasted afternoon in the hide but proper planning can make it a bit more productive, lesson learned today was to get the wife to do the livestock checks on a pigeon shooting day. Not sure she will agree?

[Clodhopper]

Oops post in wrong section. No photos. Could it be moved to talk from the field?

[pigeon controller]

Good report, you will build a knowledge with time of what works and when. With your Intel you will piece together the best times etc.

I find when carrying out the horse duties I watch for pigeon flight lines which will give me a clue as to where to look on shoot days.

[Clodhopper]

Thanks for the advice PC, like you said its just a case of getting out watching and learning.

[Wilksy II]

Good report! It more often than not happens like that for me, it could have been a bumper day if those 100 had trickled back, but as you say so much food for them at the mo.