Extended Christmas Break

[pigeon controller]

 

Since Christmas Eve I've been suffering from " Man Flu"  so have been grumpy over the festive season, They dragged me out for a New Years Day walk along the canal. I could hear gas guns but saw no birds at all. So DB phoned me on Friday, he had to get out. 

Now the concern I have with the extended break is that the West Midlands tends to shut down for two weeks allowing all the shooters to get out and do a bit. We set out at 08.00 with an idea of where to shoot  and every field we looked at had no birds but plenty of boot and quad tyre prints. The fields with birds reacted the same, walk on they fly off, although the rape is poor and last years rape is better they have plenty of choice. Driving the lanes the ivy hedges are covered with birds. We had a choice to make as we were at the extreme of our permisions and to drive to the other side would take an hour and we were losing the day. We spooked some birds off some very poor rape and they went over a hight bank so we drove to see if we could find the next food field. Now if I can describe this farm it sits in a valley between three ridges and is not visible from any road. We have not shot this farm for about four years as the concern he has is Corvids and he will phone you and any other shooter to shoot the corvids every day. The problem with that is you just have to walk past the pond at the back of the farm and the corvids exit right!!!!

They have two roosts on neighbouring farms who do not allow shooting and sit and laugh at you.

So we drove up the valley floor to the farm house and could see pigeons in the trees on the far field. Nobody at home , left answer messages on mobile. 

We decided to go to the only farm that allows shooting and see if we could get close to the boundry, they said yes but it was not close enough.

The birds were on rape which had been direct drilled into a stubble field but they had not gone to the edges but left about ten meters of stubble all round. We drove back to the farmhouse and the Defender was in situ, spoke to the farmer yes go ahead and can you shoot some crows if you can!!!. We intended to drive to the pitch but the farmer said do not drive as the tracks are being cut up. So it was a long walk with minimum gear, six decoys. We eventually were set up for 12.08 and shot till 15.30 when it just stopped , we picked up sixtythree pigeons  and took two trips back to the Disco with the gear. The farmer had changed his phone and we had left messages on his old phone.

 

63 Pigeons

[kenholland]

63 pigeons is more than most will get over the break period , well done at least it as been dry for you , hope you get better soon .

[marsh man]

I would have thought half the country is suffering with your man flu , mine came on the middle of last week and I wasn't looking forward to the two days shoot on the trot ( Friday and Saturday ) , Friday was a whole day of mainly walking , it rained hard til mid morning then light rain off and on the rest of the day , yesterday was a far better day weather wise with clear skies and fairly mild , like your good self , we mustn't let a few aches and pains put paid to a days sport, mind you I did ask myself what am I doing walking through a cold wood in the pouring rain feeling like death warmed up and got no answer 

Apart from your cold , which I dare say you will soon get over it , I am glad your worst day in memory didn't put you off , as determined as ever you battle on and do your best to achieve some shooting , your bag of 60 odd was well deserved and up to now it is your highest bag of pigeons this year , All the best to you and D B.

[pigeon controller]

Thanks Ken and MM

[dead eye alan]

Another good result for the dynamic duo, well done i doff my cap to you both and happy new year.

[WalkedUp]

Another great write up, I am a long time follower (from the shadows) and always interested to learn from your exploits. Noticed the woodies hitting ivy the last week or two, hard to build a bag when every hedgerow offers them food. For most of us 63 is an impressive result at any time of the year, very good on winter rape.  I admire (and envy!) the professionalism that you approach your hobby with 👍

[pigeon controller]

1 hour ago, WalkedUp said:

Another great write up, I am a long time follower (from the shadows) and always interested to learn from your exploits. Noticed the woodies hitting ivy the last week or two, hard to build a bag when every hedgerow offers them food. For most of us 63 is an impressive result at any time of the year, very good on winter rape.  I admire (and envy!) the professionalism that you approach your hobby with 👍

Thanks, my ramblings are my thoughts at the time and very repetitive but it's an account of what we do. With respect of my hobby I think the wife would say more of a passion for the last thirty odd years. 

I post to try and educate and encourage , there is a at present a debate on " throphy" pictures but I came from the specialist fishing arena and a picture was posted to silence the critics. I spent time laying out the total for the day with respect to the birds for my sport and to allow the number to be verified, it's just a quirk of mine. 

I often look at the number of hits/ views and wonder if I'm achieving my aim.

Thanks for your reply. 

Edited January 5, 2020 by pigeon controller

[oowee]

I had man flu over the break. My wife had it first but then somehow it mutated as it came over to me 🙂 

Not sure of the trophy pic anymore. My phone is full of dead stuff but I am in two minds now if to post it. One dead fox / deer looks pretty much like another. A row of mammals looks like carnage. Not the same with pigeons though especially neatly laid out as you do. 

Off to Africa in April and I will not be bringing trophy's back (banned from the house) except one small special one I am after to join his sister on the sideboard 😉. I will not even take a posed picture with me sitting behind animal. I might well get a few pics with the birds laid out though as somehow my perception of the picture is different. 

[pigeon controller]

5 minutes ago, oowee said:

I had man flu over the break. My wife had it first but then somehow it mutated as it came over to me 🙂 

Not sure of the trophy pic anymore. My phone is full of dead stuff but I am in two minds now if to post it. One dead fox / deer looks pretty much like another. A row of mammals looks like carnage. Not the same with pigeons though especially neatly laid out as you do. 

Off to Africa in April and I will not be bringing trophy's back (banned from the house) except one small special one I am after to join his sister on the sideboard 😉. I will not even take a posed picture with me sitting behind animal. I might well get a few pics with the birds laid out though as somehow my perception of the picture is different. 

I didn't think that wives could protract " Man Flu" as all they could have is a sniffle!!!!!

Good luck on your trip to Africa and I hope you get your required reward.

Edited January 5, 2020 by pigeon controller

[WalkedUp]

22 minutes ago, oowee said:Not sure of the trophy pic anymore. My phone is full of dead stuff but I am in two minds now if to post it. One dead fox / deer looks pretty much like another. A row of mammals looks like carnage. Not the same with pigeons though especially neatly laid out as you do. 

 

It’s a complicated matter. I am in favour of pictures as they help me remember the day and illustrate/authenticate a post, but I also understand how such images can be weaponised in the campaign against field sports. A couple of years ago my shooting buddy shot a fallow doe and fawn, don’t recall the circumstances, anyway he sent me a picture of him crouched over them - I messaged him to say that it wasn’t sensible to publicise (certainly not with his face all over it) as the image would be gold dust to any antis or rag to headline: “Evil British Hunter Kills Bambi” 

[Mice!]

I saw this on Facebook earlier and thought it might be useful for your or others PC?