Oilseed Rape

[Trenta]

Hi guys, just after some advice - I have been shooting over a field of OSR for a couple of months, and the plants themselves are starting to get quite high now.  When is the OSR most attractive to the pigeons, and what part of it do they eat?  Are they interested in the more mature plants, or just the seedlings?

I havent had very much luck yet, and I only have this one permission, so I have to stick it out and hope that they arrive in numbers sometime soon! 

This picture was taken last Sunday, when my efforts resulted in just one crow....

[yickdaz]

They eat the leaves of the plant, they are not going on the rape properly at the moment they will in some areas but I think you have wasted a few months trying to shoot them on rape, keep looking at it but  I wouldn't bother for  at least  couple weeks to a month  before looking again

[marsh man]

1 minute ago, yickdaz said:

They eat the leaves of the plant, they are not going on the rape properly at the moment they will in some areas but I think you have wasted a few months trying to shoot them on rape, keep looking at it but  I wouldn't bother for  at least  couple weeks to a month  before looking again

The op could be doing more harm than good as far as shooting pigeons goes , the farmer would be happy as he have got a cheap bird scarer and by shooting the odd one they will leave well alone and find greener pastures and unlikely to return .

We have got a few pigeons going on rape but not really enough to worry about and rarely now do we shoot many pigeons this side of Christmas. 

As you say , keep an eye on it but don't rush to shoot the first pigeon that drop in to feed , leave well alone for a few weeks and try and find some new perms to give your one perm a rest.

[mossy835]

i have farms with rape and they not even looking at it yet.give it time and they will be there.

[bruno22rf]

Rape is a cruel mistress and tbh they may never even look at your field - depends on other local available food sources and weather to name but 2 catalysts.

[Trenta]

Thanks for the advice, I am confined to only one permission, so for me, that is the only choice I have.  I understand that I may be alerting the birds for later in the year, but it is a day out away from the office for me, to sit in the hide hoping that a pigeon might fly past while I contemplate the world. 

At the moment, I look at in the same way as I do fishing - and that is "it is called fishing and not catching for a reason"

That being said, if anyone had any leads to permissions in the Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire areas I would be all ears!

Cheers

[pigeon controller]

When the hawthorns and acorns have been eaten and the weather goes in to cold mode you should have birds visiting your rape. If you arrive first light you will have birds coming out of a local roost wood which will give you sport for approx on hour . In which they will move off to a safe field. If you watch the field the day before and it has birds feeding look at it the next day and if they are there walk them off and set up at approx 10.00 and the birds should return and give you some sport. I see that you set up under a tree , it might be worth looking at some lofters to attract them to your field/tree. Good luck and report your results.

[matone]

When or if they start to visit your fields,they`ll usually start on the poorer parts of the crop,so keep an eye on any backward patches for activity.

Hth.

[aga man]

The frosts will knock the crop back a bit and by Christmas time you could well have pigeons hammering that field with such a roost wood close by. Getting to have a decent session before the farmer gets the gas bangers out will be the biggest challenge. Farmers love to get the bangers out at the first sight of pigeons on winter rape.

[marsh man]

The sheer quantity of rape grown in UK means not every field will produce shooting , with the rotation of the crop a lot of us will have fields that had been rape in the past and we know that certain fields will give shooting and some never will , this year I have got one decent field beside a holding wood , you can look at it in the morning and you will see pigeons that have dropped down out of the wood , you know after having a shot you will clear the area out , so I leave the field till after dinner and by having the right wind you can get some good shooting when they come back to roost .

Some members will have morning fields like P C suggested the op try shooting , some where they use all day , ones like mine and some you will never shoot a pigeon on them , its really all down to knowing what your fields can deliver .

[Clodhopper]

Looking from the photo there appears.to be a number of oak trees in the area. I am no expert but I would possibly look for birds flighting to and from these to feed, rather than the rape at this point. As stated above shooting may be harming the situation. An afternoon sat with a pair of binoculars may well pay dividends. Time on the ground will rarely be wasted.

[Ultrastu]

Jan and feb are the best months for osr pigeons. .But has already been said they are VERY difficult to get to decoy properly over rape .

My farmer has given up on rape this year 😭.

So i have no winter crop to shoot at all .

Pretty Barron arround my way atm .

[motty]

26 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

Jan and feb are the best months for osr pigeons. .But has already been said they are VERY difficult to get to decoy properly over rape .

My farmer has given up on rape this year 😭.

So i have no winter crop to shoot at all .

Pretty Barron arround my way atm .

I disagree. I think March and April is a far better time.

 

First light raids can be productive. I personally wouldn't bother at the moment unless the field had a lot of attention. Practicing on clays could be time better spent.

[yickdaz]

42 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

,Jan and feb are the best months for osr pigeons. .But has already been said they are VERY difficult to get to decoy properly over rape .

My farmer has given up on rape this year 😭.

So i have no winter crop to shoot at all .

Pretty Barron arround my way atm .

march and april  when the big  flocks start to break up are better for decoying as they are not moving around in the big flocks  like they do in the winter months,  having said that you can still make decent  bags dec jan feb when they play ball  

[Ultrastu]

To be fair i think the biggest bag ive had over rape is only 25. So hardly impressive .

[ditchman]

it appears you have a lot of oak trees around you............when the frost comes and the corns start to split in half then the birds will hit them........just keep an eye out for them there...if you dont see them they will proberly be somewhere sleeping full crops off.......

spend a bit more time on recon...take a flask of coffee with you...and ride about ...park up and watch.............

[marsh man]

On the plus side , this is a good time of the year for the op to find new ground , apart from rape there isn't many crops nowadays where you will see a big flock devouring the crop and I am sure there are several pigeon shooters who like me are no longer to keen to sit out in cold damp conditions for the odd shot at pigeons , this situation could well give the op a chance to put another step on the ladder to get more perms .

There always were , and still are new places coming along all the while if you knock on enough doors , if you don't believe me just read some of P C weekly reports , if he see pigeons on land he don't shoot on,  he make enquiries to find out whose land it is and nine times out of ten he gets the go ahead.

A few years ago some big land owner in Norfolk had to advertise on the local radio for people to shoot pigeons on his rape , so like i say , now is a good time to increase the amount of land the op shoot on and anyone else who is looking for shooting come to that , by looking and asking he's got nothing to lose and everything to gain .