marsh man Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 We are now entering troubled times that we have never seen before , over the years the price of shot pigeons have gone up and down like a yoyo, but I can honestly say I have always been able to drop them off at the dealers , yes there have been times when they have only made 10p and then on the other end of the scale I have had 40p for fresh and for a short while they went up to 45p At the end of the day just off loading them to the dealers was more important than what we got for them , now , if the dealers haven't already closed down , I fear it will be only a matter of days and how things are going it could be for a long time and it could even be for ever . So it now get me to the point , Will we carry on shooting the numbers we do now either on crops , or the big numbers a lot of people shoot on the stubble's ? Up to a couple of weeks ago I could get rid of 30 every other week from one place and the odd 30 from another , this would have built up to 40 a week from one place and the odd 40 from another , this suited me fine , any surplus would go in the freezer and sold in one go at the end of the Summer when a lot of my pigeon shooting draw to a close . I no longer shoot big numbers and now I will shoot even less , no way could I bring myself dumping Pigeons , we will hear from some saying they are vermin and the farmer want them shot, and that might well be the case , but I very much doubt the farms I go on will stop me going because I wont be shooting as many as I could . So what will you be during with the numbers you shoot ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clangerman Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 for the first time neighbours are taking them of me i can see more people wanting them in due coarse free meat is free meat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) This subject has bothered me for quite some time now since i lost my main gamedealer. Although i choose not to shoot big numbers on stubbles anymore i shoot a fair few throughout the year protecting crops. For me social media has been great, i have given many pigeons away for free and also made contact with people who buy steel shot birds for falcons etc. We also eat a good few at home and yesterday i processed 30 birds and cooked them so i can supplement the dogs dry food. Although i dont get much return for my cartridges, i am happy to give them away through social media sites, after all it gets people eating woodpigeon which can only be a good thing. Its suprising how many people are wanting to take some and try the meat. I have had all walks of life at my door to take pigeons. I also keep 2 chest freezers going, as i always did. Like you marshmsn i can't bear to waste pigeons. Edited March 23, 2020 by aga man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clodhopper Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 I generally take what I don’t want for personal consumption to the game dealer but on occasion give some to friends. Of the 73 we got on Sunday I have given 30 away today with another friend wanting a dozen tomorrow. My wife has been busy breasting the rest of them ready to make burgers. I think over the coming weeks there may well be a spike in demand as supermarket shelves are bare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted March 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 11 minutes ago, aga man said: This subject has bothered me for quite some time now since i lost my main gamedealer. Although i choose not to shoot big numbers on stubbles anymore i shoot a fair few throughout the year protecting crops. For me social media has been great, i have given many pigeons away for free and also made contact with people who buy steel shot birds for falcons etc. We also eat a good few at home and yesterday i processed 30 birds and cooked them so i can supplement the dogs dry food. Although i dont get much return for my cartridges, i am happy to give them away through social media sites, after all it gets people eating woodpigeon which can only be a good thing. Its suprising how many people are wanting to take some and try the meat. I have had all walks of life at my door to take pigeons. I also keep 2 chest freezers going, as i always did. Like you marshmsn i can't bear to waste pigeons. I dare say that if we want to carry on shooting Pigeons we will have to dump them ,eat them or give them away on social media sites , at the moment people like us with being over 70 are self isolating and when the temp start getting warmer they would only have a limited shelf life , unless they took them frozen , one way or the other it will be a long while before things get back to what we were used to. 4 minutes ago, Clodhopper said: I generally take what I don’t want for personal consumption to the game dealer but on occasion give some to friends. Of the 73 we got on Sunday I have given 30 away today with another friend wanting a dozen tomorrow. My wife has been busy breasting the rest of them ready to make burgers. I think over the coming weeks there may well be a spike in demand as supermarket shelves are bare. I have always been used to taking Pigeons to the dealer mainly because the numbers we shot would involve a good deal of work if we we let people having a few here and there . Still at the moment getting shot of pigeons ( excuse the pun ) is the least of our problems . Stay safe Clodhopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 I understand the concerns that people have disposing of shot birds, over the years I've delivered up to 1200 birds to Chesterfield, Peterborough, Somerset, Cotswolds etc. As our outlet closes another opens up. If I could not find an outlet I would cease shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the hitman Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 After the PM’s announcement I will cease pigeon shooting as I won’t be able to get rid of them and probably shouldn’t be out anyway. Difficult but necessary measures being taken. Hitman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted March 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 22 minutes ago, the hitman said: After the PM’s announcement I will cease pigeon shooting as I won’t be able to get rid of them and probably shouldn’t be out anyway. Difficult but necessary measures being taken. Hitman I fully agree , our little loophole about self isolating is all but gone , better to stay safe than being sorry . 1 hour ago, pigeon controller said: I understand the concerns that people have disposing of shot birds, over the years I've delivered up to 1200 birds to Chesterfield, Peterborough, Somerset, Cotswolds etc. As our outlet closes another opens up. If I could not find an outlet I would cease shooting. An honest opinion from a genuine pigeon shooter . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkfanz Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 i will never shoot more than i can use,so no matter how many pigeon there are i will always stop at 50,but quite happy to get 20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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