marsh man Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 Yesterday I looked at a cut Barley field that was cut and bailed four days ago , number wise , there wasn't big numbers but enough to pass the time , I mainly looked to see what shade there was in these hot Southerly winds and yes there was a nice Sycamore Tree that had about 10ft shade from the sun . Today was even hotter than yesterday with a light breeze and very humid , there was no need to go before dinner as 3 / 4 hours was going to be more than enough , so at 2pm saw me driving on the field and unlike yesterday there were very few pigeons on the deck but a nice lot were getting out of the trees , having set up with just decoys and a couple of floaters I was soon ready for the first customer , many a time the first one can be in the bag in a matter of minutes , but not today , for ages there wasn't a pigeon moving , then at long last one did pass just on the outside of the decoys and a shot from my choked barrel left it laying in the stubble , a few were moved by the shot but all they done was going back to the woods for a bit of shade , then a tractor and trailer came onto the field to cart off the bails , with him seeing my car and decoys showing above the stubble he started on the other side of the field , this would have normally helped but today it made a little difference but not that much , by a little after 4pm the sun had swung round a bit so I was no longer in the shade and the heat was getting to much for me , so with only six in the bag it was time to head off home for a cold drink . I know a lot of you would have shot good bags in the heat in the past as I have as well on many occasions , but today was very hot and humid and I was wondering weather it was just to hot ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRDS Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 Yes too hot in that it is just too uncomfortable to sit covered up in the heat and too hot in that the birds will spoil in no time and get fly blown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenholland Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 I noticed yesterday while looking at some of oats and barley craters, that more were heading for the one's nearer a row of tree's , nice and shady , then dropping down, should be cut next week hopefully , so you can stay coolish and out of the sun , trying to shoot in hot weather can be very uncomfortable , unless it's a good day and worth sticking it out, it's not worth knocking yourself about for half a dozen pigeon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 (edited) went out after work today at 3-30 on fresh cut barley, got there by the pond and about 50 got up.stayed for 2 hours ended up with 19. so not to bad.and there were bailing in the next field so pushed them my way. Edited July 23, 2019 by mossy835 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BinaryB Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 (edited) Crows however seem to be active without issue. I’ve been watching a field of cut wheat for the last 2 days and they are on the stubble in good numbers. And when you think they are jet black it makes you wonder how they accumulate in any number in such hot conditions. Edited July 23, 2019 by BinaryB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 Some of my most memorable days have been on scorching hot days. I will put up with the heat if I am firing shots regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted July 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 1 hour ago, kenholland said: I noticed yesterday while looking at some of oats and barley craters, that more were heading for the one's nearer a row of tree's , nice and shady , then dropping down, should be cut next week hopefully , so you can stay coolish and out of the sun , trying to shoot in hot weather can be very uncomfortable , unless it's a good day and worth sticking it out, it's not worth knocking yourself about for half a dozen pigeon. I can understand what you are saying Ken , I now treat shooting pigeons as an enjoyable pastime , and today for the first time as long as I can remember I cant say I was enjoying myself , the few pigeons I shot I let my dog pick em up and they were in the hide with me , it got to the stage where it was hot , uncomfortable and flies were in plague proportions should have been on the beach and licking a giant ice cream instead of giving every Green Bottle in East Anglia a free meal😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted July 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 3 minutes ago, motty said: Some of my most memorable days have been on scorching hot days. I will put up with the heat if I am firing shots regularly. There are hot days and very hot days , today it was touching 31 degrees and we could be two days away from record temperatures ( both day and night ) , I don't think today you would have been having regular shooting . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 (edited) 3 minutes ago, marsh man said: There are hot days and very hot days , today it was touching 31 degrees and we could be two days away from record temperatures ( both day and night ) , I don't think today you would have been having regular shooting . I am sure that if the right situation turned up, I would have shot plenty today. The gun who shot 985 last week, shot over 100 today on rape stubble. In 2003, in over 30degree heat, 3 of us shot over 330 on rape stubble, from 10am to 5 pm. Edited July 23, 2019 by motty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted July 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2019 10 hours ago, motty said: I am sure that if the right situation turned up, I would have shot plenty today. The gun who shot 985 last week, shot over 100 today on rape stubble. In 2003, in over 30degree heat, 3 of us shot over 330 on rape stubble, from 10am to 5 pm. I agree you can shoot pigeons in hot weather , last week I got a 40 odd in 3 /4 hours and a days shooting could have produced a three figure bag , but I had a fair bit of sport in that time and sitting there all day just to say I got a three figure bag is no longer the appeal as it once was , the conditions were hot but not like yesterday when Mildenhall near you was according in today's E D P was just over 32 degrees. Same as the 985 the chaps got last week , hot yes but I doubt it was 32 degrees with a high humidity level , there must be a border line where Pigeons stay in a shaded area until conditions cool down a bit and with our area being the hottest in the country yesterday I think that border line was crossed . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakeside1000 Posted July 24, 2019 Report Share Posted July 24, 2019 Hi John, I got out yesterday afternoon but the estate had only just started on the barley so I couldn't shoot over the combine, I went back to the pea stubble in the next village and managed to find some nice cool shade in a light breeze and picked 19 with 2 more lost, shot from 3.00 till 7.30 and it was a very pleasant afternoon. even E W came down for a look and we had a chat , he thanked us for doing a great job at keeping the birds out of the peas, The barley is being cut as we speak on the large area between the woods where we shot a week or two back, so chance of some good numbers on there and the tractor driver tells me that whole area is going down to rape this year, it will take some doing to keep the pigeons out of that lot, Having a few days off now as we have company but hopefully will be out again very soon, dont forget your factor 50, 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted July 25, 2019 Report Share Posted July 25, 2019 On 24/07/2019 at 09:21, marsh man said: there must be a border line where Pigeons stay in a shaded area until conditions cool down a bit I have always thought along the same lines marsh man but after watching most of the week, today with a temp peaking at 31 degrees I found a good line. Sadly not going over any of my ground but a busy line non the less and I would say the birds were traveling at least 4 miles for food. They soon gained height though after leaving the town so perhaps it is cooler at altitude but I was amazed to see them using energy to get food in the mid day heat. I can only guess what they was heading to but I would guess at standing rape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted July 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2019 3 minutes ago, aga man said: I have always thought along the same lines marsh man but after watching most of the week, today with a temp peaking at 31 degrees I found a good line. Sadly not going over any of my ground but a busy line non the less and I would say the birds were traveling at least 4 miles for food. They soon gained height though after leaving the town so perhaps it is cooler at altitude but I was amazed to see them using energy to get food in the mid day heat. I can only guess what they was heading to but I would guess at standing rape. I only went out to look today and give the dog a swim , plenty of activity on the farm but not by pigeons as they were not to be seen , as the combine was coming off one the field the bailer was going on and they were straw carting on the ones that had been bailed up , then on one of the stubble fields the tractor was direct drilling foder raddish for the sheep's Winter feed and by this time next week the whole of the countryside will be looking different , with August next week the Summer will slowly start slipping away . If anyone was out today around the eastern region they can say they shot in record temperature's as on tonight's news it said it was 38 in Cambridgeshire , a new record , although when we went out it was 33 inland and a bit cooler on the coast . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted July 25, 2019 Report Share Posted July 25, 2019 just started cutting barley here now, so the weekend hope its cooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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