motty Posted July 3, 2018 Report Share Posted July 3, 2018 This is a bit of a late report from Saturday, but here goes. I know some are now thoroughly bored of my ramblings. I am sorry! I checked out the fields that Jules, Gerard and myself shot the Saturday before. I wasn't surprised to see the pigeons were now dropping into the standing wheat near to the field I shot. I wasn't interested. I carried on looking. I found several hundred pigeons covering two fields of laid barley just a couple of miles down the road. These fields were not laid when I looked a week ago. This looked very promising. I first phoned the farmer to check if he minded me shooting the field, as some farmers can get quite funny about you shooting laid cereals. I got the go ahead. I then phoned Gerard to see if he could join me in the morning. He could. I arrived at the field at around 10.30am on Saturday to see a fellow pigeon shooter nearby. He too had spotted the potentially good shoot. He also had spoken to the farmer, who then informed him that I had first dibs. I am a sharing person, and as I had already met the other shooter on a few occasions, we came up with a plan. We would both shoot in the middle of the two fields, back to back, about fifty yards apart. There was going to be enough birds to go around, we agreed. As an aside, this shooter had had the most frantic decoying session of his life, just a few days before. He told me he was on a completely flat barley field, just a few miles from where we were. He fired 500 cartridges in 2 hours (12pm -2pm) and called it a day. He picked up 300 and had to stop as he was exhausted. Someone went behind him and picked another 60. Some afternoon! Anyway, I knew I had forgotten my dead birds from the fridge, so had to make do with 25 plastic shells laid out on the large flat patch of barley in front of me. I thought they would come in, regardless of the complete lack of movement. Once sat down in the hide, the action began. The shooter behind me only had 1 dead bird (which he sat on the magnet, motionless) until he got his first bird. Most of the pigeons came to me to start with, and I got a few down. Things changed when he finally got his second pigeon for the magnet, and they started to decoy to the two birds circling over the barley. I had to deploy my magnet, too, so as to compete. By now, Gerard had arrived with my flapper from the truck. I put that out, too. The birds were fairly equally shared from then on. The multiple flight lines of the pigeons saw them generally decoying to the closest set up. The other decoyer had to leave at 3.30pm. At this point Gerard and I had over 90 down, and the other bloke said he had over 100. He did the decent thing of leaving his picking up until after we had finished, so as not to disturb our shooting. Good chap! Now we had the birds all to ourselves. We tried to make the most of it. It wasn't easy, though. These birds, though keen, seem to have been chased hard over the last few weeks. Many skirted the pattern. It was just down to the sheer volume of birds that meant that some were fooled into taking the bait. It was approaching 5pm when we were running low on cartridges in the hide. We had plenty more in the trucks, but we had noticed a slowing up of the flow of birds. I had my .410 with me in the hide, so I decided to have some fun with that. It is still my ambition to have a 100+ day using just the little gun, but today was not the day. We took turns and took some good birds. It was a good way to finish the day. We eventually put the dogs to work and what a good job they did between the four of them. I don't particularly enjoy working a dog in barley, but I also hate leaving birds behind. Many were found easily on the flat patches, but the dogs proved invaluable for getting those difficult to find pigeons. Over an hour of searching, we finished happy with a bag of 183 pigeons. I know that with no photographic "evidence", my credibility is questioned. The field I shot last week was being cut today. The field I shot on Saturday will be cut any time, as the farmer said it is ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotgun57 Posted July 3, 2018 Report Share Posted July 3, 2018 well done enjoyed the read ,you had a good day you don t need pictures good write up atb paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted July 3, 2018 Report Share Posted July 3, 2018 Brilliant!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted July 3, 2018 Report Share Posted July 3, 2018 Your credibility is never in doubt. Will I see a pigeon in Norfolk when I go there next week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted July 3, 2018 Report Share Posted July 3, 2018 Well done great in depth report, please keep posting as I do enjoy your adventures. You made the best of a lack of decoys to start with. The lack of a photograph proves nothing as it would be " Norfolk Style" in " Brummie Speak" a heap of birds!!! I lay my birds out so you can count them if you wish, this stems from my specialist fishing days as nobody believes the photograph. in my opinion if you lie about the numbers you are only fooling yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted July 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2018 1 hour ago, JDog said: Your credibility is never in doubt. Will I see a pigeon in Norfolk when I go there next week? It depends where you go, but I believe you will see plenty. If you are going towards the North Norfolk coast I reckon you will see birds on the wheat. 30 minutes ago, pigeon controller said: Well done great in depth report, please keep posting as I do enjoy your adventures. You made the best of a lack of decoys to start with. The lack of a photograph proves nothing as it would be " Norfolk Style" in " Brummie Speak" a heap of birds!!! I lay my birds out so you can count them if you wish, this stems from my specialist fishing days as nobody believes the photograph. in my opinion if you lie about the numbers you are only fooling yourself. I don't get liars, full stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted July 3, 2018 Report Share Posted July 3, 2018 That was certainly a good day , we have got pigeons but not on the same scale as you describe in N / Norfolk . our peas are due to be cut over the weekend and talking to the boss today he was saying the harvest on his estate should start Tuesday next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted July 3, 2018 Report Share Posted July 3, 2018 I cannot imagine anyone ever becoming bored with your detailed and interesting accounts. Like PCs reports they are most welcome so well done on a good result. Please keep 'em coming as we will need something to read once PC is off to Greece. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted July 4, 2018 Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 16 hours ago, JDog said: Your credibility is never in doubt. Will I see a pigeon in Norfolk when I go there next week? Of cause you will in any game dealers fridge! well done Motty and crew very nice write up too i enjoyed reading the report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted July 4, 2018 Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 Great read motty, and respect to you all for putting in the effort to collect the fallen. Bit disappointing to see no picture though, some of us starting to forget what a heap of dead pigeons looks like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted July 4, 2018 Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 Not wanting to question your observations/reports but 500 shots in 2 hours?? That's more than 1 shot every 15 seconds!! Did he double/treble-gun it with loaders?? Who opened the boxes of ammo? Did the gun burn his hand?? Anyway, great to hear of your brilliant day, laid barley is almost a thing of the past but I know you have had a remarkable spell of weather and storms. I bagged my 4th ground squirrel last week. JK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted July 4, 2018 Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 58 minutes ago, kitchrat said: Not wanting to question your observations/reports but 500 shots in 2 hours?? That's more than 1 shot every 15 seconds!! Did he double/treble-gun it with loaders?? Who opened the boxes of ammo? Did the gun burn his hand?? I was thinking the same , an incredible bit of shooting in two hours , 360 picked , must be close to a U K record or even a new record , three a minute for 120 minutes . That will take some beating . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted July 4, 2018 Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 Remember that Motty was told this story and it may be slightly exaggerated. As I said earlier in the thread Motty's reporting of his pigeon shooting outings need not be questioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted July 4, 2018 Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 1 hour ago, JDog said: Remember that Motty was told this story and it may be slightly exaggerated. As I said earlier in the thread Motty's reporting of his pigeon shooting outings need not be questioned. I agree when I'm out shooting I do not keep a detailed log of my actions and times. My reports are my recollections of the day's sport not a clinical legal document to be dissected at a later date. I for one have no concerns with his reports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted July 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 4 hours ago, kitchrat said: Not wanting to question your observations/reports but 500 shots in 2 hours?? That's more than 1 shot every 15 seconds!! Did he double/treble-gun it with loaders?? Who opened the boxes of ammo? Did the gun burn his hand?? Anyway, great to hear of your brilliant day, laid barley is almost a thing of the past but I know you have had a remarkable spell of weather and storms. I bagged my 4th ground squirrel last week. JK The bloke in question doesn't appear to be a BS merchant. He also told me he has hardly had any decent days this year, up until this monster couple of hours. The period in question may have been slightly longer than 2 hours, but even so, I don't find it unbelievable, drawing on memories of some of my own fast and furious sessions. He said they were just coming in, shoot a pair, reload and shoot a pair, and so on. If others choose not to believe my retelling of his account, I don't care too much. Oh, just to add, by the way he was knocking pairs down on Saturday, he is plenty capable enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clodhopper Posted July 4, 2018 Report Share Posted July 4, 2018 Well I enjoyed reading your account of an afternoons pigeon shooting. As PC eluded to I believe the majority of write ups are recollections of the days sport they are not and detailed document of ones actions. If the man shot that many in that period, good on him, it is certainly possible in the right conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxwell Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 A cracking day and well organised, good for you sorting it so everyone got to shoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 The only time I have been ever so slightly sceptical of anything Motty said was when he told me that he made love to his wife five times a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 2 minutes ago, JDog said: The only time I have been ever so slightly sceptical of anything Motty said was when he told me that he made love to his wife five times a day. In his dream's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted July 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 1 hour ago, JDog said: The only time I have been ever so slightly sceptical of anything Motty said was when he told me that he made love to his wife five times a day. Five times a month would be a fairer assessment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muncher Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 Poor old Cinderella. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 18 hours ago, motty said: The bloke in question doesn't appear to be a BS merchant. He also told me he has hardly had any decent days this year, up until this monster couple of hours. The period in question may have been slightly longer than 2 hours, but even so, I don't find it unbelievable, drawing on memories of some of my own fast and furious sessions. He said they were just coming in, shoot a pair, reload and shoot a pair, and so on. If others choose not to believe my retelling of his account, I don't care too much. Oh, just to add, by the way he was knocking pairs down on Saturday, he is plenty capable enough. I never intended to question YOUR reporting, Motty, but as my shooting is in Essex, the story you related is beyond belief. I know there are some good flocks my way from time to time and good bags can be had but a massacre on that scale???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted July 5, 2018 Report Share Posted July 5, 2018 18 hours ago, motty said: The bloke in question doesn't appear to be a BS merchant. He also told me he has hardly had any decent days this year, up until this monster couple of hours. The period in question may have been slightly longer than 2 hours, but even so, I don't find it unbelievable, drawing on memories of some of my own fast and furious sessions. He said they were just coming in, shoot a pair, reload and shoot a pair, and so on. If others choose not to believe my retelling of his account, I don't care too much. Oh, just to add, by the way he was knocking pairs down on Saturday, he is plenty capable enough. Perfectly believable, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.