spurs 14 Posted February 17, 2020 Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 Had a couple hours up farm this afternoon , pigeon numbers starting to get up , farmer said it was in the hundreds this morning on the rape , so set up in corner of field , decoys , floaters and magnet different variations but couldn’t really draw them in , shot a few bit with the wind it was like they didn’t want to come in and land so off we go for a wander , ambushed a few in different spots , stood on a hedge line under a tree when an apache helicopter came slowly up the hedge about 100 feet up past me turned at bottom and came back across the field ,looked to be practising hovering then turning moving hovering again ,we get a few over here time to time guess it’s flat and arable round here so good place to practise , lots of fields hedges small woods etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted February 17, 2020 Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 Apaches will shoot back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spurs 14 Posted February 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 How I shot today the pigeons wouldn’t have been able to shoot back for laughing !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westley Posted February 17, 2020 Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 In a wind like that, you would have struggled to read their smoke signals too ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted February 17, 2020 Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 Had some shooting above Crickhowell back in the early 80s and one drive was from a new plantation on a steep incline. I was near the top on one of the access roads filling a feeder and just had a feeling someone was looking at me...strange... I turned to look down the valley and two A10s where approaching my position and obviously using me and and my Range Rover as a potential target, they passed over me so close I could almost count the rivets and felt the slip steam. Awesome little aircraft as are the Apaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spurs 14 Posted February 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 Think these are army helicopters flying out of wattisham which would probably be thirty mile or so cross country , awesome sight when flying slow , seen them time to time here but never so close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spurs 14 Posted February 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 must be ten years ago now can remember seeing a10s taking off from lakenheath air base , think they were over on a big training exercise , great looking plane looks very unwieldy but I can see why so many troops in contact loved the sight of this beast sweeping down , apparently the noise of that Gatling gun when it lets loose is something to behold ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 17, 2020 Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, spurs 14 said: Think these are army helicopters flying out of wattisham which would probably be thirty mile or so cross country , awesome sight when flying slow , seen them time to time here but never so close We do see a number of the helicopters flying about as the air bases are not that far away . When we had a heliport in Yarmouth ,the helicopters went backwards and forwards from the rigs , I had all the land for pigeon shooting around the base , sometimes if the wind direction was right I would have them come only yards above me and the crew would often give me a wave , the worse time would be when the combine smash the Wheat stubble up and the low helicopter would blow it everywhere and turn some of the decoys upside down , still they did keep the pigeons on the move . Another time I was pigeon shooting when they had a Air Display off the beach , I was dead in line with just about every plane that took part , had the best of both worlds that day , some good shooting and a free air display . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibble Posted February 17, 2020 Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Walker570 said: Had some shooting above Crickhowell back in the early 80s and one drive was from a new plantation on a steep incline. I was near the top on one of the access roads filling a feeder and just had a feeling someone was looking at me...strange... I turned to look down the valley and two A10s where approaching my position and obviously using me and and my Range Rover as a potential target, they passed over me so close I could almost count the rivets and felt the slip steam. Awesome little aircraft as are the Apaches. In 1987 me and my mate were sitting on the bonnet of his 2a in Clay Bank car park, eating chips and gravy from the Chinese. An A10 was practicing attacks on Captain Cooks monument about 10km away, after each run he slowly banked above us for the next attack. We could see every detail, right inside the cockpit, vapour trails over his wings. After about 5 runs he banked over Cpt Cooks Monument and headed straight for us, the view of an A10 you don't want to see, he cut it so so fine we ducked. I bet he laughed. Didn't drop the chips and gravy though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spurs 14 Posted February 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 Sometimes it’s just being out in the countryside at the right time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted February 17, 2020 Report Share Posted February 17, 2020 Used to see the A10's regularly over the Ouse Washes back in the early 90's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted February 18, 2020 Report Share Posted February 18, 2020 12 hours ago, marsh man said: We do see a number of the helicopters flying about as the air bases are not that far away . When we had a heliport in Yarmouth ,the helicopters went backwards and forwards from the rigs , I had all the land for pigeon shooting around the base , sometimes if the wind direction was right I would have them come only yards above me and the crew would often give me a wave , the worse time would be when the combine smash the Wheat stubble up and the low helicopter would blow it everywhere and turn some of the decoys upside down , still they did keep the pigeons on the move . Another time I was pigeon shooting when they had a Air Display off the beach , I was dead in line with just about every plane that took part , had the best of both worlds that day , some good shooting and a free air display . I had very similar when shooting a field near the back of my house when an air display was going on off Herne Bay ( about 3 miles away). All the planes came round my way and kept the pigeons on the move. Even had the now retired (or at least retired from public displays) Vulcan go up vertical in full view of my hide. What an awesome sight that was.My diary tells me that I got 17 pigeons on wheat stubble that day. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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