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Monday afternoon Blues


Clodhopper
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The spring season has not been a sporting one in this part of the world. We have seen a lot of birds but have not managed to get to grips with them. I hoped this would change on Monday afternoon as I had seen a nice number of birds dropping into a corner of a rape field, this was on a well used line to a large roosting wood holding a good number of birds. I invited JDog to join me but we would have to meet at 2 pm as I was working an early shift. 

We duly met up but the birds I had recently seen were not playing ball. We walked the field and only put about 30 birds off with none returning. With only a short window of time we set off to see where the birds were feeding. My wife had reported seeing a few on some drillings of neighbouring farm so we had a quick look there and there they most certainly were. At least 500 down and others coming in from the village. A quick trip to the farmer got the go ahead and we set up with around 10 dead birds with 2 on the magnet. A cold easterly wind on our backs and the sun in our face was not the most comfortable but we were hopeful the birds would return and keep us occupied. This,however, did not materialise, in fact only around 20 pigeons returned in the 2 1/2 hours we were there, we shot around half a dozen. Well JDog did, I just scared them. 

To finish things off a very cold sea mist came rolling in off the coast and over the hills which put a stop to anything flighting. 

As a result I cannot contribute anything more than a few photos of some nice scenery as the fret came in.

Thanks for reading.2mfyq8w.jpg2w39r28.jpg2mfyq8w.jpg

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We know all about the cold sea mists rolling in , I am sometimes 4 / 5 miles inland and you see the town in a blanket of fog .

I can relate to the same type of day as your day , the only difference with having more time than you is I am less keen to set up when conditions are cold and I see little movement .

At least you saw a nice lot of pigeons and the next time you go they might be more willing to play ball .

Good report and photos Clodhopper.

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With you guys being a little bit more senior than myself I guess you have been there and seen it all when it comes to pigeon shooting. I still probably get a little too excited when I see those numbers on a drilling.

 I suppose I should not be too negative as I had some nice birds (which my young lad helped me pluck) for tea and a new bit of land to chase pigeons on. 

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5 hours ago, Clodhopper said:

With you guys being a little bit more senior than myself I guess you have been there and seen it all when it comes to pigeon shooting. I still probably get a little too excited when I see those numbers on a drilling.

 I suppose I should not be too negative as I had some nice birds (which my young lad helped me pluck) for tea and a new bit of land to chase pigeons on. 

Sometimes the chase is better than the kill , or so they say , most of us spend at least two thirds of time looking and only a third of the time shooting , this change a bit in the summer when we know a few fields with pigeons feeding on the stubble .

Drilling's around here nowadays is nearly a non event , some of my long term perms know I can be on a drilling within a day or two of the field being drilled so the farm manager or the tractor driver give me a ring and tell me what and when the seed in going to go in.

Last week the keepers boy who work on the estate rang me to say the peas are going in around the 6th of April , on Saturday the land was prepared and they were drilled Sunday , went and had a look when we got home Sunday afternoon and you had to search high and low to find out if anything was even in the field , the only seed I saw was where the drill started off and you could see a few very small pea seed , in fact the smallest pea seed I have ever seen , the seed was Pink and not that much bigger than Sugar beet seed, needless to say there was nothing on them and up to now still nothing .

The Pea drilling in the past was always a godsend , the early Pea seed didn't have any dye on them and looked liked dried Peas , we have seen Pigeons following the drill and the field covered with Pigeons while the drill is pulling out of the field , this would give you a few days shooting before they left and then it would pick up again once they poked through the ground , the shooting would carry off and on throughout the growing period and a few good days on the stubble .

Now with modern farming and maybe the seed being treated I very much doubt if we will see those days return , having said that Clover was very good as well and I didn't think we would see those days return , then Motty reported on a brilliant day he had North of the county , So that is one of the reasons we keep looking , you have got your doubts , but you never really know .

GOOD LUCK on your next day out .:good:

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On 10 April 2019 at 14:05, motty said:

I have had a few of those kind of days in recent weeks. It is frustrating to put many hundreds of pigeons off a field and only have a few come back. Better luck next time!

Yes we are finding the birds are acting like winter pigeons, by that I mean you see a good flock but they just lift off and stay in a flock and do not return. We have a good number  of gas guns ( one farm has 22) and these have kept the birds on the move all the winter. They have now become very good at dropping in on a field, feed hard until disturbed, then digest in the trees.

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