Never say die..

[pbutd]

I am lucky enough to have a couple of lifelong farming friends in Hampshire ;We have fished & shot together for many years & one of them runs a shoot on his 1500 acres.Every Feb/March he phones me when the cover crop maize is flailed or when spring drilling has started & I make the 2 + hour journey to see what I can catch up with.Like an excited schoolboy I pack the truck the night before,make my packed lunch,buy expensive cigarettes as a treat & set out at 'sparrow ****' to get there by 7.30.Usually these trips are worthwhile as he knows his pigeons& I've had a good average down there over the years.

And so this year's trip came yesterday.There was still some drifts of snow left but most of the 5 or 6 strips were snow free and the forecast was dry but with no wind to speak of & quite mild after the conditions over the last week. JC  (the farmer) was busy all morning loading grain after the backlog due to the snow,  but he had had a look around the day before & directed me to the strip which seemed favourite. As I drove up there were 150 or so pigeons in the trees along the strip which looked promising!I had a look at the other strips before setting up but they were all bare. Back to the original strip & I was set up by 10am..... by 12.30 I was packing up.Whirly in/out flapper in/out ,changed the pattern,all I could think of but still the few birds that were in the air were very spooky & I managed one bird at extreme range.At this point JC arrived on his Mule between loads.He was apologetic for dragging me all that way & I was saying I was enjoying myself anyway..you know how it is.But rather than call it a day we went back for a cup of tea & I said I would try one of the other strips after lunch.

  With little hope in my heart I drove to the other end of the farm to the smallest strip in quite an exposed position.There were perhaps 30 birds in the only Oak tree in the hedge.I set up with a slight breeze in my face ( which I did not like),& as it was a low hedge I hung a thick net behind me so that I could stand up & shoot behind me if the came in that way.No flapper or whirly to start with as I was not sure if they had spooked the birds in the  morning.It was now 2pm. & nothing came in for the first 20 minutes although there were a few very high flocks floating over. In frustration out went the flapper & magnet.Bingo the next flock dived in from an incredible height & I opened my account.By 3pm I had texted JC who arrived with dog & 20 bore as the sport was continuous until we both ran out of cartridges at 4.45pmish (I know)!

  We picked up 138 pigeons.Don't ask me why they suddenly turned on.

I had a text from JC later that night after I got home.He'd been told in the pub that the keeper had shot the first strip on Sunday.JC is quite deaf & had not heard any shots.

[Fuddster]

good day out and good write up.

f.

[aga man]

Great stuff, nice read. Well shot.

[JDog]

Very good. That would have been a good day to video.

[pigeon controller]

Great report and result, well done.

[brushy]

Sounds like a nice day thanks for taking the time to do a wright up 

Edited March 8, 2018 by brushy

[Clodhopper]

Excellent result and a good read.

[BenBhoy]

Good write up cheers. Pays to keep trying.

[GingerCat]

Good work