what a waste

[spot on]

just got back from walking the dogs..the same as last year ,,someone is shooting pigeons and dumping the carcases in a ditch bordering the wood ...

[aga man]

Sadly I think there will be more birds being dumped this year as many gamedealers are not taking the pigeons.

Not something I could ever do, I am sure plenty of folk will though.

Hopefully those who dump will be discreet.

 

[Walker570]

Dog food processors ????

[spot on]

not pointing any fingers but I do have a vague idea who it might be ...

[pigeon controller]

This dumping of pigeon worries me as the antis will ask the authorities to enforce the general licence as they walk the stubble fields they will find birds and point out it is not crop protection. My pet hate is the " Butterfly Shooters" who appear when the crop is cut , drive to the pitch and dump the birds with no intention of taking the birds off the fields other than increasing the fly population. They give us all a bad name.

if through some incapacity they are unable to walk to shoot they should at least make some plan to remove the birds from the field and dispose of them in a correct manner. Even to the point of putting them in place sacks and driving to the local tip.

OK rant over get back to holiday packing.

[turbo33]

20 hours ago, aga man said:

Sadly I think there will be more birds being dumped this year as many gamedealers are not taking the pigeons.

Not something I could ever do, I am sure plenty of folk will though.

Hopefully those who dump will be discreet.

 

You're absolutely right Aga man.

I have a two hour round trip, to take 100 birds (My freezer full). It probably doesn't cover the fuel, electricity for the freezer let alone finding the time. And if i have 70 birds in the freezer, what then? Stop at thirty when they are piling onto the rape or laid wheat/barley? Its now a real dilemma around here as all the game dealer have closed up shop. The few independent butchers won't take them, or the pubs restaurants, old folks homes etc.....i've tried those avenues. There are only so many you can breast out for friends. 

When there were dealers/butchers on the doorstep, or they were happy to collect years back, there really was no excuse for birds left on the field. It was a very good situation for me/farmer/butcher/game dealer. If I don't shoot, i'll lose the permission, or they will at least get someone else in. 

You find yourself saying, "When I was a child", well 35+ years ago, the local butchers had everything available, pigeon, rabbit, hare,venison, partridge etc, all hanging ready for the customer and as a consequence, good for us and game dealers. The new world of supermarkets,  squeamish parenting, and perfectly packed, sterile anonymous meat has, I feel, given us this moral dilemma.

I don't know the answer. 

[spot on]

has anyone tried local cat or dog rescue /boarding centres or even wildlife parks ..zoos  etc

[aga man]

30 minutes ago, turbo33 said:

I don't know the answer.

It's possibly made worse by the fact pigeons numbers are ever increasing. Personally I have found that by using the internet I can so far get homes for all of my shot pigeons. I have had to change my ways slightly by shooting with steel shot to offer birds for hawk food and I have also found internet sites where by you can offer shot birds for free to people willing to use them for their own consumption. I have already given a good few hundred away through these sites. As far as I am aware there is no legal implication with that as long as the birds are given and not sold.

If we can get people eating wood pigeon it can only be a good thing even if we not getting any pennies for the birds.

[JDog]

29 minutes ago, aga man said:

It's possibly made worse by the fact pigeons numbers are ever increasing. Personally I have found that by using the internet I can so far get homes for all of my shot pigeons. I have had to change my ways slightly by shooting with steel shot to offer birds for hawk food and I have also found internet sites where by you can offer shot birds for free to people willing to use them for their own consumption. I have already given a good few hundred away through these sites. As far as I am aware there is no legal implication with that as long as the birds are given and not sold.

If we can get people eating wood pigeon it can only be a good thing even if we not getting any pennies for the birds.

Good man.

The local game dealer here is still taking fresh pigeons but he has reduced his price to 20p per bird. That is fine by me as I do not shoot to make a profit. My other outlets are pubs which serve pigeon occasionally. They both report that the dishes go down well but they never want to take more than the usual amount.

[flynny]

We all like to shoot what we eat, but my farmers don't care what happens to them as long as they are dead and are not feeding on there crops,

 

if you don't controll them, he'll get someone else to do it,

 

if you only eat for the pot just take what you need,( no good for the farmers though)

 

pest controll is another matter all together, I agree they should be used, but unfortunately those who shoot for pest controll and have no outlet for them................... A ditch is the best option, Mother Nature will soon clear them up, they should in my opinion be removed from the land though and disposed of properly

 

do we eat fox or corvids........ No we don't they end up in a ditch or in the muck pile or death pit or however the farmer wants them disposed of,

it's pest controll

 

flynny

Edited July 12, 2018 by flynny

[aga man]

Foxes and corvids taste like ****, pigeons don't Joking aside it is a good point you make flynny, I have certainly dumped corvids and rats etc when I have had a job to do, I think it is the way some folk are thoughtless with their dumping that was one of the OP's points. I came across 50 or so woodies dumped in a hedge bottom in spring close to a popular lane which has plenty of cyclists, dog walker etc. By the time I returned with a bag and shovel, a dog walker had found the decomposing birds and reported it to the local council who duly came and cleared them up. Dosen't put pigeon shooters in a very good light.

Finding a use for my pigeons is a personal thing really, I feel they are good food and certainly a bird worthy of some respect, but I get that they are a serious problem in certain areas and I guess needs must.

[marsh man]

This subject crop up every ( excuse the pun ) and its normally on laid barley / wheat fields , with shooting on stubble there is no excuse whatsoever in dumping or leaving them where the public can come across then , we could give these people all the advise needed in selling them on to pub / game dealers , breasting them out or a number of other things you can do other than dump them, but I don't think it is going to make any difference to there attitude .

One major problem this time of the year is the weather and with this currant spell of hot  and sometimes humid conditions is keeping them fresh after a days shooting , for the last 3 / 4 weeks I have been putting the dead pigeons in the fridge / freezer that I have got in my garage as soon as I get home to cool them off , I sell 40 fresh every week and the rest go in the chest freezer to sell on at a later date.

At one time we had five game dealers within a small area with the biggest one at the time being Frost Game of Brockdish , I have still got a shooting times where he was advertising for a million pigeons , this was in 1976 and he was paying 30p each and it stated he would donate 1p from each pigeon to British Field Sports fighting fund , now as far as I know we have one left that is still taking frozen and fresh pigeons , for how much longer ? , your guess is as good as mine .  

[Continental Shooter]

If i get a call to protect crops, i normally do the job and brest them to give them to the farmer, friends and fill in the freezer... but that is occasional; normally i take what i need for the freezer as i hate wastage and self contain to 20 a day or so

That said, has anyone tried pigeon burghers? 

It's always been a curiosity of mine but never get the numbers you get down there to experiment... ?

[hawkfanz]

yes pigeon burgers are fine u need to add a bit of pork or something like that to put some fat in the mix,they taste very good and you can pack loads of em in freezer,only problem i found was the minced pigeon an pork was very sticky to handle so constant sprinkle of flour on board so it didn,t stick  to it.

[HIDENSEEK]

14 hours ago, marsh man said:

This subject crop up every ( excuse the pun ) and its normally on laid barley / wheat fields , with shooting on stubble there is no excuse whatsoever in dumping or leaving them where the public can come across then , we could give these people all the advise needed in selling them on to pub / game dealers , breasting them out or a number of other things you can do other than dump them, but I don't think it is going to make any difference to there attitude .

One major problem this time of the year is the weather and with this currant spell of hot  and sometimes humid conditions is keeping them fresh after a days shooting , for the last 3 / 4 weeks I have been putting the dead pigeons in the fridge / freezer that I have got in my garage as soon as I get home to cool them off , I sell 40 fresh every week and the rest go in the chest freezer to sell on at a later date.

At one time we had five game dealers within a small area with the biggest one at the time being Frost Game of Brockdish , I have still got a shooting times where he was advertising for a million pigeons , this was in 1976 and he was paying 30p each and it stated he would donate 1p from each pigeon to British Field Sports fighting fund , now as far as I know we have one left that is still taking frozen and fresh pigeons , for how much longer ? , your guess is as good as mine .  

I remember that advert, I imagine the pigeon went abroad where they are appreciated more. What happened to that market, restrictions on transporting them? 30p each in 1976, and the price of cartridges then was?!  

[marsh man]

7 minutes ago, HIDENSEEK said:

I remember that advert, I imagine the pigeon went abroad where they are appreciated more. What happened to that market, restrictions on transporting them? 30p each in 1976, and the price of cartridges then was?!  

At the time there was another big game dealer advertising for the same amount , I believe it was George Hull of Boston , you are right in stating that most of them went abroad , I used to take all my pigeons to Frost Game and there were always lorries being loaded up to go abroad . also there was another dealer who started up near Frost who was paying 40p for fresh and another the same distance the other way ( Jimmy Ling ) who sold cartridges as well as buying game .

As for the price of cartridges , me and my brother were buying them ( Russian ) for £40 a 1000 , 

Happy days that are not likely to come back .

[pigeon controller]

I think the Continental Market has gone the same way as ours.Thirty years ago you could sell pigeons in Birmingham Bullring Market, very few now. For a long time I sold my birds to Rick Bestwick at Chesterfield and I believe he would export seventy percent to Europe. 

Talking to Polish,Albanian and Bulgarian people in Greece they do not eat Pigeon there parents did, so the market has disappeared. 

I did recently find an outlet supplying the Cruise Ships, which was very lucrative and a very good volume. Unfortunately this dried up.

I have jumped through all the hoops etc, gained my Hunter I.D. have full traceability and shot steel.

Over the past thirty years I have explored various markets to my advantage and managed to keep ahead of the game but it's getting more difficult

Edited July 14, 2018 by pigeon controller

[GingerCat]

22 hours ago, hawkfanz said:

yes pigeon burgers are fine u need to add a bit of pork or something like that to put some fat in the mix,they taste very good and you can pack loads of em in freezer,only problem i found was the minced pigeon an pork was very sticky to handle so constant sprinkle of flour on board so it didn,t stick  to it.

Half pork belly (fatty as you can vet ad its the fat you want really) and half pigeon with Some smokey bacon in the mix also. I then either add a finely chopped onion with Apple and thyme/sage or a red onion with coriander and a little bit of chilli. Sticking all through the grinder twice. 

So far they are very popular. I'm thinking a load of bread crumbs and red wine and I'll have a pop at sausages. 

[marsh man]

4 hours ago, pigeon controller said:

I think the Continental Market has gone the same way as ours.Thirty years ago you could sell pigeons in Birmingham Bullring Market, very few now. For a long time I sold my birds to Rick Bestwick at Chesterfield and I believe he would export seventy percent to Europe. 

Talking to Polish,Albanian and Bulgarian people in Greece they do not eat Pigeon there parents did, so the market has disappeared. 

I did recently find an outlet supplying the Cruise Ships, which was very lucrative and a very good volume. Unfortunately this dried up.

I have jumped through all the hoops etc, gained my Hunter  have full traceability and shot steel.

Over the past thirty years I have explored various markets to my advantage and managed to keep ahead of the game but it's getting more difficult

I dare say most pigeon shooters who shoot regular good numbers have already got an outlet for there bags , over the years the price have gone up and down but I have always managed to off load all the pigeons I shoot and no doubt all the others have managed to find a buyer or outlet , I think the ones who find it difficult are the ones who only shoot smallish bags and cant store that many , these people are not going to do a 60 / 80 mile return trip with less than 100 when the fuel and time come to more than they would get.

I used to sell a butcher a dozen every week and I only charge whatever the game dealer is paying at the time it was 30p for fresh , each week I had to take them about four miles , often joining the traffic jams , find somewhere to park and walk the rest of the way to his shop all for £3.60 , I carried on during it until a new law came in where he couldn't put birds in the feather in the fridge beside other meat .

[yickdaz]

it is a catch 22 the farmers want them shot, you are willing to do it but don,t want to waste them its a  constant battle, I won't shoot a big bag if I know I can't get move them on and had the chance many times and stopped at my freezers capacites then spend weeks trying to find an outlet,  2 dealers I usually take them to  don't always want them they take them on a  whim  one week its a yes the next no its frustrating 

Edited July 13, 2018 by yickdaz

[spot on]

friend of mine was out this morning with his missus dog walking on the stubble fields near where I found the dumped pigeon ..and yes under the hedge bordering the stubble was a large amount of pigeon bodies .his wife was most disgusted ..if they cannot use the birds at least take them to the council tip ,tis only 2 miles from where this is happening .

[Vince Green]

Or at least chuck them deep enough into the hedge/nettles/undergrowth where they can't be seen by people walking by. 

Edited July 14, 2018 by Vince Green

[yickdaz]

On 12/07/2018 at 17:07, turbo33 said:

You're absolutely right Aga man.

I have a two hour round trip, to take 100 birds (My freezer full). It probably doesn't cover the fuel, electricity for the freezer let alone finding the time. And if i have 70 birds in the freezer, what then? Stop at thirty when they are piling onto the rape or laid wheat/barley? Its now a real dilemma around here as all the game dealer have closed up shop. The few independent butchers won't take them, or the pubs restaurants, old folks homes etc.....i've tried those avenues. There are only so many you can breast out for friends. 

When there were dealers/butchers on the doorstep, or they were happy to collect years back, there really was no excuse for birds left on the field. It was a very good situation for me/farmer/butcher/game dealer. If I don't shoot, i'll lose the permission, or they will at least get someone else in. 

You find yourself saying, "When I was a child", well 35+ years ago, the local butchers had everything available, pigeon, rabbit, hare,venison, partridge etc, all hanging ready for the customer and as a consequence, good for us and game dealers. The new world of supermarkets,  squeamish parenting, and perfectly packed, sterile anonymous meat has, I feel, given us this moral dilemma.

I don't know the answer. 

Similar here I did a 76 mile round trip to take 150 birds to the dealer last Saturday and sat for an hour in a traffic jam on the way back it covered my fuel and about £30 profit  but the dealer said he's not taking anymore for the time being so only other option is a 82 mile round trip to another dealer  and 2 .5 hrs time it takes to do after working all week but would rather do that than dump them I never have and never will sooner stop shooting them altogether until I find somewhere to take them

 

[marsh man]

6 hours ago, yickdaz said:

Similar here I did a 76 mile round trip to take 150 birds to the dealer last Saturday and sat for an hour in a traffic jam on the way back it covered my fuel and about £30 profit  but the dealer said he's not taking anymore for the time being so only other option is a 82 mile round trip to another dealer  and 2 .5 hrs time it takes to do after working all week but would rather do that than dump them I never have and never will sooner stop shooting them altogether until I find somewhere to take them

 

Would it be possible you getting another second hand chest freezer so you took up 250 / 300 ? , I do a 80 mile return trip ,  (although we normally make it into a day out ) , if I took 150 they wouldn't cover my fuel and give me £30 profit , I can get 300 in my motor and still have enough room for the dog in the back , 300 would be £75 , it would cover the fuel and I can get a slab of shells with the remainder .

[yickdaz]

On 12/07/2018 at 17:07, turbo33 said:

 

I thought about doing that marsh man but it's the room in the kitchen for another freezer  and room in the veichle taking that many in at once 

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by yickdaz
.