lakeside1000 Posted May 27, 2020 Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 The farm manager contacted me last week, he has almost 600 acres of peas just showing above ground and the pigeons have found them, can I put some time in keeping them moving, well yes (of course). So first visit was to have a look at the fields as I had been in lock down for 9 weeks, picked a large field bordered by oak trees with loads of droppings underneath, but after a few hours it was clear they were roosting there but off somewhere else to feed, I did manage 2 passing birds but gave up after that. Second time out I had a late visit to 3 large fields bordering a river with a small wood in the middle, plenty of birds around, took 15 pigeons and 3 jackdaws in 2 hours, so OK it was worth the visit, but there was lots of potential for a decent day. Later that week I spent another day under the oak trees but total blank, I'm just a glutton for it, but inclined to give up on this spot, Finally yesterday I returned to the riverside fields, the birds were still there so I set out 15 dead birds, no magnet or flappers, put a hide in the reed beds with lots of natural cover, within minutes they were coming in straight to the pattern, a good start but had a quiet time through midday up to around 2.30, then they came back strong, until 5.30 when I cleared up and counted 45 picked plus 2 jackdaws, at least another 3 maybe 4 pigeons in the river or reed beds but my first half century since lockdown and a good practice day getting my eye in again, used around 70 cartridges so fair hit rate. My only disappointment for the day, I had a bunch float in to the decoys, took a tail ender first shot, swung into a second right over the decoys and dropped that one, as a third lifted away but well within range I pulled the Beretta semi through and pulled the trigger but nothing, I had somehow forgotten to top up from a previous shot so no third shot in the mag, it would have been only my 3rd triple since buying the Beretta, but not to worry, next time I will make sure I reload . So just have to let the boss know and get back there again to continue the work, its tough but someone has to do it 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clangerman Posted May 27, 2020 Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 nice effort there i’m finding the numbers low with the amount of peas in this year good fields have failed to produce a single day so far have to return tomorrow to a field i shot last week while five fields nearby are untouched most strange but hopefully will change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakeside1000 Posted May 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 26 minutes ago, clangerman said: nice effort there i’m finding the numbers low with the amount of peas in this year good fields have failed to produce a single day so far have to return tomorrow to a field i shot last week while five fields nearby are untouched most strange but hopefully will change I know what you mean, the last few years I have had very little luck on peas, either new drillings or developing plants but we have had some good results after the viners have cut them and they are still green on the ground, but best of all last year we left them to go to seed, the pigeons moved on to them as soon as the pods started to split and we had some great days right up until they had been harvested and the fields ploughed in, so its always worth checking them at all stages,👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted May 27, 2020 Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 Good effort Lakeside. I have several fields of peas from just been drilled to in flower. There is hardly a pigeon between the lot of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted May 27, 2020 Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 Great effort. So many times I have forgotten to fully reload making sure the dog is on the right retrieve 🙂 Very rewarding to shoot tripples. I have no peas and no pigeons just lots and lots of blacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted May 27, 2020 Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 Sounds like you have some sport there for a week or so. Nice bag. Only ever had one triple in my long shooting career. That was on pigeons again with a witness, a visitor from California and he went ballistic, jumping up and down shout "A triple a triple " at the top of his voice. That was with one of those very early SKB BSA 5 shot semi autos before the restriction. Pigeons around here are in short supply at the moment and very surprised there have been no attacks by crows on the 100 or so acres of maize which is just peeping through. I know they are finding food somewhere because the rookery behind my home has a constant stream of birds back and forth with food and they are going a long way across country to get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakeside1000 Posted May 28, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2020 I have a couple of perms with hundreds of rooks on, problem is I am constantly asked to get on the pigeons and just dont have time to go after rooks, besides that the cost of cartridges is so high I cant afford to spend the money chasing them off, (just a poor pensioner ahhh ) and I really like my pigeon bashing !!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted May 29, 2020 Report Share Posted May 29, 2020 A nice report of a few good days on the peas, particularly the last one. Hopefully you will get many more days shooting so good luck. Like others, I've seen acres of peas with hardly any pigeons feeding and that's at all times of the day. As we know, normally peas are attractive from drilling right through to harvest and beyond, but for some reason, not this year. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clangerman Posted May 29, 2020 Report Share Posted May 29, 2020 i think yesterday was typical of this years behaviour put a chap on a spot pigeons were both flighting to and feeding on when we arrived found similar spot myself two fields away had 26 on the clicker both lines shut off like a tap from then on just odd birds came our way a most strange year for this to be my norm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinj Posted May 31, 2020 Report Share Posted May 31, 2020 On 27/05/2020 at 21:44, JDog said: Good effort Lakeside. I have several fields of peas from just been drilled to in flower. There is hardly a pigeon between the lot of them. it's like that here, (north Hampshire) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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