hawkfanz Posted November 16, 2020 Report Share Posted November 16, 2020 2 weeks ago i went on a perm i havent been to in over a year,due to constant road works n traffic jams,on arrival i find half afield of bean stubble and half still standing,with swathes of blue all over it,probably a 1000 or so,2 days later half that amount next day out to shoot it,result 10 birds between 2 of us,no way would they come in range,now they,re down to about 50 resident birds,out on friday last,result no woody,one squirrel an two magpies,where have all the pigeon gone?its littered with beans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gas seal Posted November 16, 2020 Report Share Posted November 16, 2020 Hi I was around your area last week. There were flocks of a hundred or so dropping into trees. I don’t think they are eating ivy berries it’s a bit early. When they are eating ivy the droppings under the trees look like they have been on curry. A lot of the town and city pigeons have gone back home. A lot of pigeons in the area last week and hundreds of jackdaws on drilling seem to have more each year maybe it’s the wet fields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted November 18, 2020 Report Share Posted November 18, 2020 Well I went out for a shot yesterday afternoon 2-4.30pm, and a few hundred cleared from the woods. They didn't seem to come back, but after a quiet start good flightline developed with the birds heading onto a different wood about a mile away. The wind was strong and favourable (in their faces), but coming over the trees the birds were high but plenty in range, picked 22, with a couple not picked. Fired a good few cartridges including a couple of bismuth that I'd put into my pocket in a hurry... Drove to Mole Valley this morning and every hedgerow oak had 30-40 pigeons in it. I don't know about the rest of the country but our oaks here in the SW are laden, and as you'd expect all the shot birds were stuffed with them. I did drop one from a flock of 'suspected scandi' birds but although I kept it separate there wasn't anything to distinguish it from the rest that I noticed. Good flightline going the opposite way this morning from 7-8am. Would be a super way to start the day and be back in time for breakfast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted November 18, 2020 Report Share Posted November 18, 2020 Just a comment, with no driven days at the moment, I bet a lot of woods that are shot are absolutely stuffed with birds. They have everything they need, and why would they leave with so little disturbance? Could that and it being a serious acorn mast year explain why some are seeing so few? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spr1985 Posted November 18, 2020 Report Share Posted November 18, 2020 4 minutes ago, Teal said: Just a comment, with no driven days at the moment, I bet a lot of woods that are shot are absolutely stuffed with birds. They have everything they need, and why would they leave with so little disturbance? Could that and it being a serious acorn mast year explain why some are seeing so few? I’m very inexperienced teal, but, I think that’s a very valid point! With all the game bird feeders out plus nature’s offerings and no disturbance makes perfect sense that they have no reason to venture elsewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Neal Posted November 19, 2020 Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 I'm not dispersing pigeons in any great numbers at all when I tour around the drives I keeper on our syndicate. Only usually a handful get up out of the game covers when I drive past, if any at all. They're somewhere! Maybe they've migrated? They could, of course, have succumbed to crow-vid-19 Taxi... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted November 19, 2020 Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 Please do not give up your day job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted November 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 Teal, that was a good result. I bet you used 70 cartridges or more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balotelli Posted November 20, 2020 Report Share Posted November 20, 2020 On 19/11/2020 at 00:18, Jim Neal said: I'm not dispersing pigeons in any great numbers at all when I tour around the drives I keeper on our syndicate. Only usually a handful get up out of the game covers when I drive past, if any at all. They're somewhere! Maybe they've migrated? They could, of course, have succumbed to crow-vid-19 Taxi... Replying to your post and Teal's post, I think that a lot of pigeons have hopped it. But a couple of days ago I did see two large flocks of pigeons milling around a couple of "pheasant" woods. So food for thought on both counts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted November 20, 2020 Report Share Posted November 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Balotelli said: Replying to your post and Teal's post, I think that a lot of pigeons have hopped it. But a couple of days ago I did see two large flocks of pigeons milling around a couple of "pheasant" woods. So food for thought on both counts. And did those "Pheasant Woods" contain oak trees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old farrier Posted November 20, 2020 Report Share Posted November 20, 2020 12 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: And did those "Pheasant Woods" contain oak trees? And they wouldn’t be there in many cases if it wasn’t for pheasant shooting they would be a field growing cauliflower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted November 20, 2020 Report Share Posted November 20, 2020 First real bunch I have seen here in Four Counties was about thirty in the lane to the farm pretty obvious they were picking some grinding material as no trees adjacent. Other than that very few about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Neal Posted November 20, 2020 Report Share Posted November 20, 2020 I was out on the shoot from about 10 till 2:30 today. Loads of oak in the woods, still a few acorns to be found but not a pigeon in sight except the very odd single or pair passing over the top. Certainly didn't put any up off the ground. I was back up there feeding in the dark this evening and the resident herd of roe deer are walloping the stubble turnips that are supposed to be growing for the sheep to get on soon; rabbits rooting round in my straw piles for wheat; fox scarpered along a hedge as I came round the corner. But no pigeons clapping out of the trees in the two plantations I feed up at night, where there will usually be quite a lot. Who knows what is going on. Maybe the OSR situation is a much bigger game-changer than anyone could have thought? I'm going to take my 12ga hushpower out for a little stand in a wood tomorrow afternoon, out the way of the pens, and see what's coming in. My favoured spot is, as far as I can ascertain, the main flight line into this block of woods from the nearby town and surrounding arable land so it's a very good gauge of pigeon numbers I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Neal Posted November 21, 2020 Report Share Posted November 21, 2020 (edited) Three victims this afternoon: jam packed with haws jam packed with ivy berries nothing much except a few of what looked like small acorns plus some bird table kind of seeds and a bit of mushy stuff which smelled like bread, so I presume that had been in someone's back garden. I don't usually roost shoot this time of year but compared to Jan/Feb I'd say there were about half the number of birds I'd usually see in this location. The dogs enjoyed their dinner Edited November 21, 2020 by Jim Neal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balotelli Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 3 hours ago, Jim Neal said: Three victims this afternoon: jam packed with haws jam packed with ivy berries nothing much except a few of what looked like small acorns plus some bird table kind of seeds and a bit of mushy stuff which smelled like bread, so I presume that had been in someone's back garden. I don't usually roost shoot this time of year but compared to Jan/Feb I'd say there were about half the number of birds I'd usually see in this location. The dogs enjoyed their dinner That's pretty well it in a nutshell, few pigeons about and the few that are clearly on the diet above. Pointless going out and even more pointless trying to decoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Neal Posted November 23, 2020 Report Share Posted November 23, 2020 On 22/11/2020 at 00:55, Balotelli said: That's pretty well it in a nutshell, few pigeons about and the few that are clearly on the diet above. Pointless going out and even more pointless trying to decoy. Maybe it would be if you set yourself up in a hawthorn hedge that had some trees with ivy growing up them, and you mounted several flappers in the hedge.... maybe put a bird table in your pattern... two loaves of bread out on the rotary, upwind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingy Posted November 26, 2020 Report Share Posted November 26, 2020 hi jacko, im out 3 /4 days a week, like the others not much doing. most of the birds are doing the all over the country in the trees on acorns. i keep looking lifted beet fields, any old stubbles. still a bit of late drilling to go in not holding my breath. need the weather to turn colder might get the birds out more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baikel man Posted November 26, 2020 Report Share Posted November 26, 2020 Well iv been restoring some old decoys hoping to get out in feb for roost shooting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeon addict Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 Finally found a promising field. Been watching an old maize stubble for the past two weeks. Only corvids have been feeding on it but the past couple of days, I’ve been watching about 400-500 pigeons hit it hard. Shooting it tomorrow in less than ideal conditions but it’s my only chance to have a go. The birds feed at first light and then not again until 12:30 onwards. Would you recommend setting up at first light or catch the later feed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spr1985 Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 2 minutes ago, Pigeon addict said: Finally found a promising field. Been watching an old maize stubble for the past two weeks. Only corvids have been feeding on it but the past couple of days, I’ve been watching about 400-500 pigeons hit it hard. Shooting it tomorrow in less than ideal conditions but it’s my only chance to have a go. The birds feed at first light and then not again until 12:30 onwards. Would you recommend setting up at first light or catch the later feed? If it was me I’d be set up for first light and then sitting it out until the end of the day. But I’m overly keen 🤣, so probably not the correct way to go about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 23 minutes ago, Pigeon addict said: Finally found a promising field. Been watching an old maize stubble for the past two weeks. Only corvids have been feeding on it but the past couple of days, I’ve been watching about 400-500 pigeons hit it hard. Shooting it tomorrow in less than ideal conditions but it’s my only chance to have a go. The birds feed at first light and then not again until 12:30 onwards. Would you recommend setting up at first light or catch the later feed? Never liked decoying pigeons at first light, flight line pigeons coming out of the woods yes, this time of year I find that if you hit them at first light when decoying you have a bit of shooting but after that you don't see them again as they have plenty of time to find something else. Having said that, you just never know with pigeons, they have a knack of making us look stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 i was out in one wood yesterday, and there were a lot about fire a shot and they were gone,went to another big wood and none about, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeon addict Posted November 29, 2020 Report Share Posted November 29, 2020 4 hours ago, old'un said: Never liked decoying pigeons at first light, flight line pigeons coming out of the woods yes, this time of year I find that if you hit them at first light when decoying you have a bit of shooting but after that you don't see them again as they have plenty of time to find something else. Having said that, you just never know with pigeons, they have a knack of making us look stupid. Good point. First light might be a bit keen especially as the second feed on this field doesn’t start until about 13:30. I’ll try and be set up by about 8am. Since it’s maize my guess is that most will be gone by then as they only need a handful of grains to fill their crop but I might shoot the odd one coming back for seconds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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