marsh man Posted January 30, 2020 Report Share Posted January 30, 2020 51 minutes ago, old'un said: This is what I have seen this year on one of my farms (a banker as PC calls them), last year the farm sowed around 60 acres of rape, the fields were next to a 30 acre wood, there was a resident flock in the area of around two thousand birds and I had a few decent decoying days and also flighting them coming to the fields along the wood. Same farm this year 2019-2020, 60 plus acres sown, around 40 acres failed (flea beetle) rough estimate on numbers before Christmas around 150-200 birds, had a few reasonable days before Christmas averaging 20-30 birds killed, then virtually nothing, 20-30 birds sat in the trees, no flight lines, one shot and they were gone, driving around a reasonable area for 3-4 hours looking at fields that were poor with patches of failed rape and the good bits around two inches high, I seen the same thing, very few birds and very little movement, there is not the numbers in the area that there were last year, why? Could be the amount of failed rape (little to hold them) could be the mild wet winter or could even be pigeons are dying from something, who knows. We cannot blame the failure of this seasons rape crop , we have got plenty of it , not perfect by any means but more than good enough for Pigeons to feed on , one little area near mine have got around 200+ , the number is mainly due to no shooting as the fields are surrounded with houses and roads , there might be odd little bits where you might get away with firing a few shots , but I am well past the stage where I am willing to take a chance , the farmer don't seem to concerned and neither am I . At the moment we are mainly putting the blame on the lack of pigeons on no rape where you live, or what rape there is failed , the weather been to mild , still feeding on berries , land out of bounds due to game shooting and no doubt a few more logical reasons you all might have , but one reason we seem to bypass , are there really as many pigeons in the U K as there once were ? , and if there are , where are they and what are they living on . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted January 30, 2020 Report Share Posted January 30, 2020 I don't believe there is a lack of birds. I think they are well spread out. I am visiting a field of maize tomorrow morning, that was heaving with pigeons a few days ago. The farmers haven't been able to harvest it yet. I don't plan to have a proper day, but I will hopefully shoot a few, and see where the main flight lines are coming from, so I can hopefully hit them properly in a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 10 hours ago, motty said: I don't believe there is a lack of birds. I think they are well spread out. I am visiting a field of maize tomorrow morning, that was heaving with pigeons a few days ago. The farmers haven't been able to harvest it yet. I don't plan to have a proper day, but I will hopefully shoot a few, and see where the main flight lines are coming from, so I can hopefully hit them properly in a few weeks. Which is unusual for this time of year, if there was no lack of birds I would be out shooting them, or at least trying to, I think other would also be reporting on a few decent bags. You are lucky if your area is heaving with pigeons, send a few down here please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 Today I saw at least 500 pigeons going into fresh drilling not three miles from my home. I haven't seen numbers like that on that particular farm for three months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 46 minutes ago, JDog said: Today I saw at least 500 pigeons going into fresh drilling not three miles from my home. I haven't seen numbers like that on that particular farm for three months. Your lucky to see some sowing, and pigeons, does the area have light soil? Most of the fields around here still have lots of water sitting in puddles, think it will take a couple of weeks of dry weather before we see much sowing. Get your carers to get you out on that field before they move on, good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 3 minutes ago, old'un said: Your lucky to see some sowing, and pigeons, does the area have light soil? Most of the fields around here still have lots of water sitting in puddles, think it will take a couple of weeks of dry weather before we see much sowing. Get your carers to get you out on that field before they move on, good luck. It is very light soil, brash over chalk and it rarely holds water. As for my carers, I can't afford them any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 3 hours ago, JDog said: It is very light soil, brash over chalk and it rarely holds water. As for my carers, I can't afford them any more. know how you feel .................. have a look on amazon they do a segway off road self balancing wheel chair.....ideal for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 23 minutes ago, ditchman said: know how you feel .................. have a look on amazon they do a segway off road self balancing wheel chair.....ideal for you Silly as that sounds a mate of mine who now struggles to get the gear across the fields due to age and ill health, decided to get rid of his 4x4 and buy a van and a small quad bike, he parks the van at the farm or field gate, loads all his stuff on the quad bike racks and off he go’s, said he wished he had done it years ago. I am fit but getting on a bit so the idea of driving to my chosen spot with all the gear during the winter months is quite appealing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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