Fenland Pigeon

[Balotelli]

1 hour ago, Old Butcher said:

Mellors can you take him out for a days shooting lol

I'd look forward to that. I'm always willing to be educated and receive good advice. 

[mellors]

8 hours ago, Old Butcher said:

Mellors can you take him out for a days shooting lol

No thanks. Have you read all his/her posts. Imagine a whole day of it. I think most of us started to help but each post gets more concerning. As I said I think it's a wind up. 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Glad I'm not the only one to spot that!

[Balotelli]

4 hours ago, mellors said:

No thanks. Have you read all his/her posts. Imagine a whole day of it. I think most of us started to help but each post gets more concerning. As I said I think it's a wind up. 

Not very P.C. to address a fellow Forum member as a simple his/her, a crass mistake,  but I'll brush over that and excuse it due to dotage. I believe that I have made some very pertinent posts and thanked those who have provided valuable information. Some of the topics that I have broached may have been uncomfortable to some and maybe challenged some viewpoints but nevertheless have aroused interest. Some people on the Forum may not be at ease with some posts from a number of Forum members and not just me. A healthy debate is a way to move forward rather than accepting stale old viewpoints. The fact that I'd be happy to enjoy a day's shooting with some of my critics, I hope, tells you something about me. Another example of healthy debate, Parliamentarians from both sides of the house give each other a bad time in the "Chamber" but afterwards will convene to have a drink together in the bar. There is no need to bear personal animosity having never met someone. You never know you might actually like me, perish the thought! 

[motty]

15 hours ago, yickdaz said:

well the ones that make decent bags quite regulary must be smarter than you then,  by going off  what you have been saying about being unsuccesful most the time you go  out 

he was being sarcastic motty 

😆

[Balotelli]

4 hours ago, motty said:

😆

In response to yickdaz, Going out everyday is a little sad and implies there is not much in one's life. I do concede that I have shot very little over the last few months. But you can't shoot pigeons that are not there. I'm happy to hold my hands up and say that I've shot a couple only or even blanked. However, if, I think that the shooting is going to be poor based on my experience of late then I have plenty of other things to do. If you are getting some big bags of pigeons then I'm pleased for you. Really. 

[yickdaz]

I don't go out everyday I work 5 days a week and I have a life trust me

 I'll admit the first 7 months this year have been terrible and I don't shoot big bags everytime I set up, had 5 consecutive days of 20 somethings last month when I was on a 2 week break, it's only the last 2 shoots we hit over the 60 mark 

[Balotelli]

10 hours ago, mellors said:

No thanks. Have you read all his/her posts. Imagine a whole day of it. I think most of us started to help but each post gets more concerning. As I said I think it's a wind up. 

What exactly is the form of this "help"? Providing information that there are plenty of pigeons in Leicestershire - there aren't. Being informed that the individual has loads of permissisons and has now just acquired another one for the portfolio, make of that as you will. Shooting 20-30 pigeons a session, naturally.  And above all "Doing a Good Job". All very informative and helpful. My advice is to leave the comments out of it. Toast comes to mind.

[Old Butcher]

you would not know a pigeon if it landed on your head mate

[Balotelli]

2 minutes ago, yickdaz said:

I don't go out everyday I work 5 days a week and I have a life trust me

 I'll admit the first 7 months this year have been terrible and I don't shoot big bags everytime I set up, had 5 consecutive days of 20 somethings last month when I was on a 2 week break, it's only the last 2 shoots we hit over the 60 mark 

That's a great post and very honest. What we should be doing is to make more posts along these lines. If you are happy to do so maybe provide information on what the pigeons are on and any suggestions why their behaviour might have changed over the last 7 months. If we pool our observations, especially countrywide,  then we just make more sense of what is going on in the pigeon World. Incidentally, what are the coordinates (only joking) of your 2 shoots of 60+ but the county/area would be helpful. Sorry if you have identified this previously. What I'm trying to do is track where the pigeons are predominently, what their feeding on, time of year, temperature etc. I believe that there are enough variables to put into an algorithm. The model's predictions might just save a lot of wasted driving around.

[yickdaz]

I'm in the northwest  and we don't have the amount of birds there are in a lot of other counties but there's enough when you find them we do ok by looking around  and knowing where to look and which farm to look at a certain time of year and a certain time of day  then keep looking and then look some more 

I said look  quite a bit in that post 

[Balotelli]

3 minutes ago, yickdaz said:

I'm in the northwest  and we don't have the amount of birds there are in a lot of other counties but there's enough when you find them we do ok by looking around  and knowing where to look and which farm to look at a certain time of year and a certain time of day  then keep looking and then look some more 

I said look  quite a bit in that post 

Well done for locating them. But you can't find them if they are not in your area, in any numbers, unless those few, are concentrated by a particular food source. The very fact that it took you a while to shoot some good bags of pigeons bears this out. Do you think that from your observations that you predicted where the pigeons eventually offered themselves up or was it just hard work?

23 minutes ago, Old Butcher said:

you would not know a pigeon if it landed on your head mate

OK, I'll not bother with a response to your comment and let others judge the depth of your post. 

[yickdaz]

No like you say they come and go I'm not denying that, but because we are persistent and out every weekend looking they eventually turn up,  and this year has been the exception because it's usually better than it has been 

[Clodhopper]

28 minutes ago, Balotelli said:

That's a great post and very honest. What we should be doing is to make more posts along these lines. If you are happy to do so maybe provide information on what the pigeons are on and any suggestions why their behaviour might have changed over the last 7 months. If we pool our observations, especially countrywide,  then we just make more sense of what is going on in the pigeon World. Incidentally, what are the coordinates (only joking) of your 2 shoots of 60+ but the county/area would be helpful. Sorry if you have identified this previously. What I'm trying to do is track where the pigeons are predominently, what their feeding on, time of year, temperature etc. I believe that there are enough variables to put into an algorithm. The model's predictions might just save a lot of wasted driving around.

Not sure about an algorithm but here are my observations of late.

 

I have seen a good number of birds on both wheat and barley stubbles of late. I have seen more going into standing wheat. The few I have seen going into rape drilling are no doubt there for the spilt grain of the previous crop. Very little activity on Beans ( uncut) and experience tells me that they probably won’t show an interest in this area until after the crop has been harvested and the stubble worked over. 

However I have seen very little in the way of strong flight lines. Not enough to get me excited anyway. I am looking for birds on the move in the sky rather than down feeding!  
 

I have not shot many this harvest despite there being a good number of birds on my permissions. Maybe a couple of bags around 50 and some not even in double figures.

 

The overriding  factor in all of this is time for reconnaissance.  I just don’t have the time at the minute to put the hard yards in. I may just get lucky but it will be exact that, luck. 
 

Time with binoculars is never wasted. It may seem that way at times but you make your own luck. Try different times of day, there is a big feeding window in the summer so a field that may have no birds on in the afternoon may be heaving in the morning and vice versa.

 

Incidentally east Lincolnshire is the area I shoot.

 

Hope this helps.

[Balotelli]

7 minutes ago, Clodhopper said:

Not sure about an algorithm but here are my observations of late.

 

I have seen a good number of birds on both wheat and barley stubbles of late. I have seen more going into standing wheat. The few I have seen going into rape drilling are no doubt there for the spilt grain of the previous crop. Very little activity on Beans ( uncut) and experience tells me that they probably won’t show an interest in this area until after the crop has been harvested and the stubble worked over. 

However I have seen very little in the way of strong flight lines. Not enough to get me excited anyway. I am looking for birds on the move in the sky rather than down feeding!  
 

I have not shot many this harvest despite there being a good number of birds on my permissions. Maybe a couple of bags around 50 and some not even in double figures.

 

The overriding  factor in all of this is time for reconnaissance.  I just don’t have the time at the minute to put the hard yards in. I may just get lucky but it will be exact that, luck. 
 

Time with binoculars is never wasted. It may seem that way at times but you make your own luck. Try different times of day, there is a big feeding window in the summer so a field that may have no birds on in the afternoon may be heaving in the morning and vice versa.

 

Incidentally east Lincolnshire is the area I shoot.

 

Hope this helps.

Your post helps a great deal. I do think that your neck of the woods has a reasonable number of pigeons, at least for the moment. Even in my bereft area of pigeons I have seen the odd decent flock. However, if they are walked off they are gone and have no intention of returning. In this situation, time for me to call it a day, clear off home and have a cuppa. 

[Jacko3275]

21 hours ago, Balotelli said:

I'd look forward to that. I'm always willing to be educated and receive good advice. 

Your going the wrong way about it then 

[WalkedUp]

What time of day are you walking them off? The key to a good day is birds in the air rather than on the ground. A strong flightline in. And then when you clear them off you want them to be straight away coming back in. I believe woodpigeons eat early, then roost to digest during midday, then return to the field to feed again late afternoon. If you are walking them off mid morning and they are not returning they may have alternative food sources nearby or just be happily fed.  

[Balotelli]

2 minutes ago, WalkedUp said:

What time of day are you walking them off? The key to a good day is birds in the air rather than on the ground. A strong flightline in. And then when you clear them off you want them to be straight away coming back in. I believe woodpigeons eat early, then roost to digest during midday, then return to the field to feed again late afternoon. If you are walking them off mid morning and they are not returning they may have alternative food sources nearby or just be happily fed.  

Probably walk them off early afternoon. I miss the first munching session as I can't get up early enough but should be OK for the second feeding session. On reflection,  maybe if I were to  set the alarm clock and get there earlier, before the flock had formed on the field, that might do the trick. Worth a try. Thanks for your thoughts.

[WalkedUp]

Most big bags are shot in the afternoon generally, a lot of guys spend the morning finding them then the afternoon killing them. 

Crows are normally best in the morning, woodpigeons in the afternoon and sandwiches at lunch. 

[marsh man]

6 minutes ago, Balotelli said:

Well done for locating them. But you can't find them if they are not in your area, in any numbers, unless those few, are concentrated by a particular food source. The very fact that it took you a while to shoot some good bags of pigeons bears this out. Do you think that from your observations that you predicted where the pigeons eventually offered themselves up or was it just hard work?

 

You have to accept that not every area or county in the UK will hold a good number of pigeons and you can't find what you haven't got , but what you can do is to learn where they are likely to be at various times of the year and on what crops you would expect to find any , if you only have say for instance sugar beet , then you are unlikely to shoot any till it is harvested and even then you might have several fields that are not touched , potatoes are the same , people who shoot a lot of pigeons have most likely got a lot of land , crops that pigeons prefer , and a lot of knowledge about where to find pigeons at certain times of the year and on what they are likely to be feeding on , they will keep an eye on the crop as it growing from the day it was drilled to the day it is due to be cut and then on the stubble , one crop that would apply to the above is Peas .

By the way , what crops do you shoot over , how much land have you got to shoot on , is it shared with other shooters and how long have you been shooting Pigeons ? 

[Balotelli]

2 hours ago, marsh man said:

You have to accept that not every area or county in the UK will hold a good number of pigeons and you can't find what you haven't got , but what you can do is to learn where they are likely to be at various times of the year and on what crops you would expect to find any , if you only have say for instance sugar beet , then you are unlikely to shoot any till it is harvested and even then you might have several fields that are not touched , potatoes are the same , people who shoot a lot of pigeons have most likely got a lot of land , crops that pigeons prefer , and a lot of knowledge about where to find pigeons at certain times of the year and on what they are likely to be feeding on , they will keep an eye on the crop as it growing from the day it was drilled to the day it is due to be cut and then on the stubble , one crop that would apply to the above is Peas .

By the way , what crops do you shoot over , how much land have you got to shoot on , is it shared with other shooters and how long have you been shooting Pigeons ? 

Thank you for for an interesting post and I think that pretty well reflects my way of thinking. Off the top of my head, I can't give the acreage that I shoot over but I'll work it out and report back.  I do watch fields from drilling to harvesting. My best days have been on beans and one day, and just one day, on uncut rape.  In particular, this year the stubble and rape have been a disaster in terms of shooting and much, much worse than last year. To answer your question, cereals, rape, beans and peas. Fields and fields of these in their various states have been untouched by pigeons. My sentiments are, as I've said may times in these posts, the pigeons aren't here, at least for the moment. Incidentally,  I have no experience whatsoever of shooting over root crops. Some of the land I shoot is shared by other shooters who are out everyday and "do a good job" but the constant popping at a few birds doesn't lend itself to a good bag. Another farm I shoot is virgin territory but just isn't frequented by pigeons. I've been shooting all my life in its various forms but have blank spells of sometimes years when I've been working away from home or abroad. I certainly have a lot more time now as semi-retired. You may query my field craft but the missus gets out a lot and she has commented on how few pigeons there are on the fields this year. Hence my forays out to the fields are limited to when an "event" occurs, drilling, harvesting etc. As mentioned in my opening couple of sentences, the only surprise that I experienced was when a particular unharvested rape field was blue on just one day alone and not touched again even after harvesting. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for that day.  I do wonder if this was some sort of waypoint for a flock in transit to East Anglia!! Being frank I would never have had the fortune of shooting that particular day if not tipped off which may be a good reason for getting out more.