An ( Old ) School Boy Error

[marsh man]

Moving on from Saturday where the heat and the football match put paid to me having a go on the recently cut Pea stubble , so with the heat gone down a few degrees and England don't play no more till Wednesday today was a good day to shoot some pigeons .

After loading the car up with all the gear I put an extra sack of decoys in as I knew I could drive to my chosen spot , normally three boxes of shells is more than enough on the fields that this years Peas were grown on and with me not going till two o clock I was sure I had enough .

Pulling up to the gate I could see the field was covered with pigeons , where they all came from god above knows and what made it even better was I could drive to wherever I wanted to go .

I quickly set up under the tree where I have been the last couple of times when I shot the ripe Peas , I didn't bother to put the magnet out to begin with as I had put nearly 30 decoys out and a couple of floaters , time I took the gun out of the case the first pigeon have already been in and gone before I put a shell in , the next one wasn't as lucky and it was soon acting as another decoy , I was getting shooting but with the amount of pigeons flying about I should have been getting a lot more so I put the magnet well in front of the decoys and it made a huge difference , by 2.45 I had used the first box then the second box by 3.30 and the last shell was fired about 4.20 , if it had been much later I would have packed up but with me only living two miles down the road I took my gun and left everything where it was and whipped off home , my wife thought it was her lucky day when I reversed in my driveway only to see me drive out again in less than three minutes with three more boxes of shells

It was now 4.45 and I was ready again for action , pigeons were still about but not in the earlier numbers that were there in the early afternoon , I decided to give it till 6.45 or when I fired two boxes as I knew I had a fair bit of clearing up to do , as it turned out I fired the last shot at 6.50 . 

Now the hard work begins by bending a already stiff back , I started off picking the decoys up and then the dead pigeons with dismantling the hide last , time I loaded the motor up and drove the couple of miles to my house it was nearly a quarter to eight .

I did take a few photos but I have now got a new lap top and  compared to my old window seven this window ten seem complicated compared to my last but if I can work it out I will put one or two on if not I will have to wait till my daughter or grand daughter come up.

Anyway it was an excellent afternoons sport , in fact the best I have done this year , the final pick up was 85 with a few lost in the wheat field behind me .

Maybe if I had taken enough cartridges I could have got the ton , but to tell you the truth it wouldn't had made much difference to me as I had got more than my fair share and I am sure there will be another day to come .

[6.5x55SE]

Well done John top result ? i to in the past run out of cartridges with plenty of daylight left and after a short journey return for slower sport. My brother before he quit shooting was mad for Pigeon shooting he to had the same he solved it by never going with less than 500 cartridges mind you he phoned me once in a panic whilst i was Carp Fishing begging me to take him another 500 as he was on his last 100 end result 557 Pigeon to his own Gun ?

[motty]

A mistake I don't make these days. I usually take 500 cartridges out with me, and more at this time of year. It is better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, 6.5x55SE said:

Well done John top result ? i to in the past run out of cartridges with plenty of daylight left and after a short journey return for slower sport. My brother before he quit shooting was mad for Pigeon shooting he to had the same he solved it by never going with less than 500 cartridges mind you he phoned me once in a panic whilst i was Carp Fishing begging me to take him another 500 as he was on his last 100 end result 557 Pigeon to his own Gun ?

Cheers Brad...... Hope you are keeping well

8 minutes ago, motty said:

A mistake I don't make these days. I usually take 500 cartridges out with me, and more at this time of year. It is better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

You are dead right , When I was more hungry for pigeon shooting I always took what I thought I would need and there was always a extra slab under my seat , I often used the odd box but I never used the whole slab on top of what I took.

Now if it look like a run of the mill situation and I have got to walk to where I am setting up I will take A couple of boxes and I would expect to shoot 30 / 30+ if I got through them , by then it would normally be getting on towards tea time and with two trips back to the motor that would more or less be my lot.

 

[aga man]

Nice marsh man. Well shot.

[pigeon controller]

Excellent report, I take plenty of cartridges with me now lead and steel as I'm not sure what we will end up shooting. My main concern is standing at the rear of the Disco treble checking that I've put all the gear in!!!!

DB is ten years younger than me and coming home on Saturday suddenly panicked " We did put the dog in the back didn't we?????" 

Well done MM I await the next instalment. 

[Mightymariner]

I like your style.

[JDog]

Very good MM.

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, aga man said:

Nice marsh man. Well shot.

THANKS aga man ,  I hope your Peas will come up trumps as well.

47 minutes ago, pigeon controller said:

Excellent report, I take plenty of cartridges with me now lead and steel as I'm not sure what we will end up shooting. My main concern is standing at the rear of the Disco treble checking that I've put all the gear in!!!!

DB is ten years younger than me and coming home on Saturday suddenly panicked " We did put the dog in the back didn't we?????" 

Well done MM I await the next instalment. 

THANKS P C , ..... We have now been in our new bungalow for just over a year and last year I was very busy getting the work done and only had limited time , although I did get a fair amount of shooting in.

This year I still potter about in the garden and updating the smaller things needing doing in the morning and treat myself to every afternoon off , so one day I relax and take the dog around the different crop fields that would attract pigeons without worrying about shooting , and then the next day I would go on any field where I saw any activity .

Now I have moved the edge of the estate is only just over a mile from my house and it cover 5000 acres which 3500 is used for growing crops , I am lucky to have a free hand to go where I like until the lake is fed and the young game birds are put in the rearing pens , then you use your common sense and keep well away from these areas .

As  worked there for nearly 30 years and continue to help on shoot days they don't let anyone else go after pigeons without consulting me first as the keeper say its not fair if I am keeping a eye on a field and somebody else get the benefit from it , nowadays to cut down on the running about I dare say 90% of my pigeon shooting is done within five miles from my house

So as I have said before I would sooner have two afternoons sport rather than one long day and to tell you the truth , I am happy at times if I run out of cartridges .

[Longstrider]

Nicely done fella, but cartridges come in slabs of 250 for a reason ....

It's to make it nice and easy to put plenty of them in the car before you set out

[Ttfjlc]

21 hours ago, motty said:

A mistake I don't make these days. I usually take 500 cartridges out with me, and more at this time of year. It is better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

Does that also include tea bags? 

Edited July 10, 2018 by Ttfjlc

[motty]

1 minute ago, Ttfjlc said:

Does that also include tea bags? 

Absolutely!

[Ttfjlc]

Just now, motty said:

Absolutely!

Oh so you must of left them in the truck that night I popped round. ?

[motty]

1 minute ago, Ttfjlc said:

Oh so you must of left them in the truck that night I popped round. ?

Yes, I am a terrible host!

[Ttfjlc]

5 minutes ago, motty said:

Yes, I am a terrible host!

?

[Clodhopper]

Nice read Marshman. I enjoy your accounts of evenings shooting pigeons on peas. Not many on the peas now in my area but i did today spot a few on some vined peas that may provide some sport in the near future. Also the rape swathe was out today so  I will be keeping a close eye on these fields. 

 

[marsh man]

5 minutes ago, Clodhopper said:

Nice read Marshman. I enjoy your accounts of evenings shooting pigeons on peas. Not many on the peas now in my area but i did today spot a few on some vined peas that may provide some sport in the near future. Also the rape swathe was out today so  I will be keeping a close eye on these fields. 

 

There will be new fields open up daily now the combines are cutting , today it have been fairy cool with a stiff breeze but it is due to warm up again by the weekend .

Today was a look around day and I saw more pigeons in our small area than I have seen for ages , the telegraph wires that run over some of our rape fields had plenty of pigeons sitting about , the wheat had pigeons trying to balance on the wheat ears and our other pea stubble fields were attracting good numbers , the only fields not worth looking at until they are cut are the barley fields.

Maybe the three hot shots from north of the county have been giving them some stick and sent them down ours for some peace and quite , which most ( but not all ) are getting ☺️  

[marsh man]

I am not sure how the photos from yesterday will come out as this is my first photos with my new lap top. 

   

[Whitebridges]

Well done MM. Nice pictures and nice to see you laid ‘em out Norfolk style. 

[marsh man]

32 minutes ago, Whitebridges said:

Well done MM. Nice pictures and nice to see you laid ‘em out Norfolk style. 

Cheers Whitebridges ...... I think I have now got the laying them out down to a fine art , start on the outside and work your way to the middle , although most of the time it take longer to pick the decoys up than it do the pigeons ☺️

[ditchman]

now they are nice pics..................tell a thousand words...nice and clear too 

[kenholland]

there's nothing worse than not having enough cart's with you on a good  day ,let's face it , we carry enough kit, but never think about enough shell's to cover that red letter day , yes , me included , i'm sure you feel like selling your soul to the devil just for more shell's, o k just sign here he said.

[marsh man]

8 hours ago, ditchman said:

now they are nice pics..................tell a thousand words...nice and clear too 

I put the camera on auto and press the button then hope for the best , come a long way from a 10 bob Kodac Brownie box type camera.

 

2 hours ago, kenholland said:

there's nothing worse than not having enough cart's with you on a good  day ,let's face it , we carry enough kit, but never think about enough shell's to cover that red letter day , yes , me included , i'm sure you feel like selling your soul to the devil just for more shell's, o k just sign here he said.

At one time I would have been as sick as a Parrot , now it don't bother me one bit , if I run out, then I Know I have had a good afternoon , and having more shells wouldn't have made it that much better .

[ditchman]

i know you are not far from me....but that land looks exactly the same where i shoot on my doorstep................peas were done the other day....watched the field ....and watched the field....just like last year.............NOTHING.........

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, ditchman said:

i know you are not far from me....but that land looks exactly the same where i shoot on my doorstep................peas were done the other day....watched the field ....and watched the field....just like last year.............NOTHING.........

Could well be the pigeons have got a liking for the cut grain fields, and now the rape stubble's are available they might be making your pea stubble less appealing . still worth keeping a eye on it.