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Picking Away


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I have been out fairly regularly last 3 weeks but my area has had such a great volume of drilling in a short time that there is just too much choice for pigeons to make serious bags. Nevertheless I have had steady bags of 38, 42, 45 and 52 (along with a few single figure efforts, so I won't get a place in Muncher's England team!) On Sunday I saw a big lot of birds on 3 bean fields and the wind was funneling the line along a strip of firs in the centre of the fields. I set up on the downwind end of the strip with 12 dead birds on cradles and a magnet. The decoys stuck out like sore thumbs and the birds decoyed like a dream, a refreshing change from skittish birds skirting the pattern. I had great sport for 3 hours before they dried up around 5pm and I picked 73. The same farm has drilled 2 fields of peas for the first time in 25 years. I cut my pigeon teeth on pea fields grown on this farm many years ago, regularly making 100+ bags from drill to harvest. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they will provide similar sport.

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Received a call from a farmer near the A1/Scotch Corner on Tuesday to say that his drilled beans were begining to attract the attentions of some pigeons and that there might be the chance of a few shots.  So I went along yesterday and set up in the field and immediately decided that I was poorly sited and always going to be fighting the strong breeze, which was coming into my right shoulder and so the birds would probably be coming from behind me.  But I thought I'd chance it - 30 shell decoys, 2 bouncers and a hide that was being pushed in by the wind.  I started at 1100-ish and finished at 1830 with a bag of 251 - utterly unbelievable.  I would have been happy with a few dozen, but they kept coming in 2s, 3s and half dozens - I just left the shot birds wher they fell to fatten out the decoy pattern and used the dog to retrieve runners or long-droppers. I finished the last of my cartridges, an odd 2 boxes of 34gram 5s, which left me feeling slightly 'whiplashed' by the end. Farmer was amazed by the numbers and came to have a look as I was picking up with the dog and took great delight in telling me that actually it wasn't his field (aargh)! His was the next one along - but he called the true owner who fortunately was pretty happy with the outcome too.  My best day ever and from practically nothing on first impressions.  Birds all taken by Yorkshire Game (15p a bird) who work out of Bolton on Swale. Good luck all.

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On 09/05/2018 at 13:03, JDog said:

You cruelly rejected my advances to shoot January rape so perhaps we can get our shorts on and shoot the peas in June.

Sorry just remembered shorts in Northumberland in June is a no no.

You can see the fields from where you walked your dogs on the beach!

On 09/05/2018 at 13:50, muncher said:

If you can keep wicket,or bowl a bit ,your in the starting 11!

?

 

Edited by kippylawkid
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