Guns on pegs video

[motty]

14 minutes ago, Spr1985 said:

First thing I did after watching your video was track you down on YouTube and subscribe 😉

😄 👍

[Balotelli]

8 minutes ago, motty said:

With what I have seen this year/recently, pigeons certainly aren't in decline.

I get yearly totals of between 2000 and 4000 birds. This year has been no different. 

That's great news. I appreciate that you are in a prime pigeon area but all I can go on is what is happening in Leicestershire and there is no doubt that there has been a significant decline in the pigeon population

[Sharpysway]

Wow! 

[JDog]

Motty, 

You must have been devastated that you didn't pick 400. Had Gerard shot better you might have.

What I really appreciate from your videos is that both you and Muncher are completely natural shots.

[Gas seal]

Hi centrepin I have just seen your reply. I showed this photo on another topic It was taken for my friends family when they came from Scotland to visit and came out for a shot. As we shoot birds my friend will take off the wings and away we go. I’ve done it this way from the early 60s the same with rook wings. 50 to 100 wings on a rape field and we have had a large flock land on top of them. They are as light as a ( feather) easy to setup, we put them in the centre of the tramlines sit in the wheeling let them land in the wheeling and fire. No looking for birds. When we first used them we would sow them together with a darning needle and wool . We made a film of us shooting over the decoys a few years ago, my friends family have it when he goes to visit they watch it on the television. Every one is different, I’ve done the old way it works for me, next week maybe another new type of decoy. 

[Centrepin]

10 hours ago, Gas seal said:

Hi centrepin I have just seen your reply. I showed this photo on another topic It was taken for my friends family when they came from Scotland to visit and came out for a shot. As we shoot birds my friend will take off the wings and away we go. I’ve done it this way from the early 60s the same with rook wings. 50 to 100 wings on a rape field and we have had a large flock land on top of them. They are as light as a ( feather) easy to setup, we put them in the centre of the tramlines sit in the wheeling let them land in the wheeling and fire. No looking for birds. When we first used them we would sow them together with a darning needle and wool . We made a film of us shooting over the decoys a few years ago, my friends family have it when he goes to visit they watch it on the television. Every one is different, I’ve done the old way it works for me, next week maybe another new type of decoy. 

That's certainly differant and as with all good ideas so simple.

Next time I manage to shoot more than 1 or 2 I'll give it a go👍

[motty]

16 hours ago, JDog said:

Motty, 

You must have been devastated that you didn't pick 400. Had Gerard shot better you might have.

What I really appreciate from your videos is that both you and Muncher are completely natural shots.

It would have been nice to get to 400, but maybe one day.

Gertrude was not there on the first day. He was there for the second day and a bag of 212. On the third day, neither of the brothers Grimm were available, so Brad (widgeonman) helped me to a bag of 240.

Am I a natural shot? Not sure! 

[NatureBoy]

On 16/12/2020 at 12:38, motty said:

With what I have seen this year/recently, pigeons certainly aren't in decline.

I get yearly totals of between 2000 and 4000 birds. This year has been no different. 

Great vid Motty and was worth another watch. Guess you would have shot a lot more if not filming? From your many previous posts i know you boys got the skills and put real ground work, recon and effort in. Do you think your area is heavily shot? Is there others in your area shooting such big bags? Do you have many local game shoots? If so do you think what covers they grow has an affect on pigeon numbers in that area? Are the fluctuations in your yearly figures due to time constraints or fluctuations in pigeon numbers? Are they your own or joint bag figures?  . . . . . I shoot woodies year round and my figures lot lower (1400-800) but fluctuate about the same. Other shooters i know (different areas same county) about the same figures. Figures have been on the lower side in recent years with peaks changing from Autumn/Winter to harvest. I been wondering if some of it due to lot more shoots in my area now putting in more and larger covers of maze and how they are feeding in them. Plus after season has finished a lot more of the game boys (multiple guns) are now shooting BIG bags of woodies (500+ common) on these covers after they have been slashed. More numbers of game boys also seem to be getting on the woodies after harvest/pre season and shoot big bags to. 1,100 (witnessed) between 2 guns biggest bag. Now i know these boys  and they are handy shots. Know what they are doing and talking about like yourselves and few others on here. They don't seem to think these big bags affect the local populations of pigeons long term and will soon be replaced by others or "migrants"?  Particular this Autumn/Winter the lack of birds in the air or historic flight lines tells a different story. Along with the lack of bangers rockets and scarers.  Would like to know yours and others thoughts. figures and experiences?        NB 

[Balotelli]

Many times I have posted that there are just not the pigeons about in my area of Leicester****e sic. I probably went out at least a couple of times a week for most of the year. For the whole year I shot about 150 pigeons (one 50ish, a forty something and a 30 something) coupled with a couple of days of ten and a few handfuls. If the pigeons aren't there, they are not there to be shot irrespective how great a shot one might be. It seems that many shooters aren't prepared to own up to the numbers of pigeons they have actually shot. It would appear that in some cases small numbers reflects their hunting prowess and indirectly their masculinity. In the past I've posted about exaggerated bags. I know for a fact a number of acquaintances of mine who have claimed to have shot huge bags of birds in the 80s, 100s etc - it's rot - the birds were not there to be shot. It reminds me of a well respected figure in the fishing World who would return claiming great success in numbers caught and far more than ordinary mortals. As the fishery's manager would  wryly say " not witnessed". So, maybe some of those members of the Forum who do not put their heads above the parapet should report their experience of numbers shot. I hardly believe that I'm the only one to have had a rotten year

[Clodhopper]

This year has not been great for me in terms of numbers shot. I would say that overall the number of birds in my area have been the same, with some fluctuations as migrants move in and out. The main reason for my lack of success is lack of time to do proper reconnaissance. Having previously worked shifts(4on/4off) I had plenty o  time to look and plan a day out. This is now not the case. The more time I spent out with a set of Binoculars the luckier I got.   
 

I have had a few reasonable days this year but they have been mainly down to a bit of experience telling where to look and at what time rather than genuine reconnaissance. I know I will have missed many opportunities.

 

Incidentally, today was the first this winter where I thought the pigeons were really getting on the rape. By this I mean that I saw them on mutiple rape fields throughout the day rather than just a small pack here and there.  

[Centrepin]

11 hours ago, Balotelli said:

. I hardly believe that I'm the only one to have had a rotten year

Unfortunately I tend to agree on this, although I recce and shoot regularly my biggest bag of pigeon has been about 12 from memory. My sons biggest I think was 41, he was maybe 1/2 mile from me at the time (think I had 4). He's a better shot than me but nevertheless, they're either incoming or not.

 

11 hours ago, Clodhopper said:

 The more time I spent out with a set of Binoculars the luckier I got.   
 

 

Quite correct, and just to add the more you shoot the luckier your shots become.😆

[Gas seal]

Hi I’m not sure if this is the right topic, but the 2021 general license conditions are available on Defra website. The conditions may be of interest to many shooters. Sorry if it’s the wrong topic.

[GingerCat]

I could have shot at least 100 today in my back garden and about 15 pheasants as well. 

The pigeon feed on an old stubble behind the house thats 6 inches high with black grass and shooting is forbidden on the land. They then rest in the tall trees in my garden. The pheasants are seeking refuge after yesterday's shoot, as they do every Sunday after a shoot. 

On my permission there isn't a bird. 

[Balotelli]

10 hours ago, Centrepin said:

Unfortunately I tend to agree on this, although I recce and shoot regularly my biggest bag of pigeon has been about 12 from memory. My sons biggest I think was 41, he was maybe 1/2 mile from me at the time (think I had 4). He's a better shot than me but nevertheless, they're either incoming or not.

 

Quite correct, and just to add the more you shoot the luckier your shots become.😆

Too true, but if the birds aren't there then there ain't much to hone your shooting. Nor will binoculars help in panning empty fields. There's shed loads of members on this Forum - why don't they please post their experiences on the numbers of pigeons seen and more importantly, numbers that they have shot. I sometimes think that we get a distorted opinion resulting from a very small band of hard-core posters who are lucky enough to live in pigeon rich areas. It would be good to see a greater variety of views.  

[Centrepin]

14 hours ago, Balotelli said:

Too true, but if the birds aren't there then there ain't much to hone your shooting. Nor will binoculars help in panning empty fields. There's shed loads of members on this Forum - why don't they please post their experiences on the numbers of pigeons seen and more importantly, numbers that they have shot. I sometimes think that we get a distorted opinion resulting from a very small band of hard-core posters who are lucky enough to live in pigeon rich areas. It would be good to see a greater variety of views.  

But going out with binoculars reaps other rewards. I've often seen birds in the distance and observed uninterrupted fight or feed. I've also seen other vermin such as foxes and passed this onto the chap who owns the shooting rights to decide who to let shoot (currently i only have SGC and not FAC). I've seen game birds and deer and also passed this information along the chain. 

Time spent on recce is seldom wasted.

The problem with putting write ups on a forum when you have little to report is just that. 

I think my last write up of very little was when I had set up a 360 degree hide, had birds coming in and realised my ammo was still in the house. Scrounging through bags and pockets I managed an assorted handful of cartridges maybe 12 or so, I can't remember now and pulled back an otherwise dead couple of hours.

But how may times can you write up, "today I recced for 2 hours but it wasn't worth setting up a hide so I left if for another day before moving on" before somebody screams so what we all do that everyday.

I'd much rather read something interesting i can relate to, enjoy, sympathise with or learn something from.

So here's a write up, last Tuesday I fired 8 x 12gauge 30gram x 6s, missed everything miserably and was embarrassed by my shooting. Nothing interesting for anyone to read, nothing for anyone but me to learn from. I suppose I could also add I fired 2 x .410 x 9gram x 6s and killed 2 squirrels but so what, no pictures, nothing really to shout about.

Why try and cause arguments when people have a good day and report it. Be happy for them. They take nothing away from you. It could be your day next. Look at the pictures, learn from the patterns, learn from the hides. Pick up on others good experiences and use that to your own good.

No one is too important not to be polite to others.

[Zapp]

6 hours ago, Centrepin said:

Why try and cause arguments when people have a good day and report it. Be happy for them. They take nothing away from you. It could be your day next. Look at the pictures, learn from the patterns, learn from the hides. Pick up on others good experiences and use that to your own good.

No one is too important not to be polite to others.

Well said.

We work very hard to keep things on an even keel and keep even the more contentious threads going.  

What's really frustrating is when we get people who are very careful not to break rules themselves but who think it very funny to wind others up to the point they explode and give us no choice but to act.

Some might not have a lot of outlets currently given lockdown and everything else.  PW might be one of them, sadly no more for one otherwise decent member.  Well done from us all, I hope the lolz were worth it.

Anyone reading my little tirade who thinks it may apply to them  know please that even though we would rather not, we will now be hunting down causes rather than trying to be nice and manage symptoms where we are forced to.