Other methods

[AD5693]

Hello

I had a walk around my permission today and there seems to be loads of woodies in the boundaries of the area, especically where the rape is. Can you do a simple walked up shoot or is it best to decoy them? I'm just starting out and don't want to invest too much money at the moment.

Thanks

[Spr1985]

If you keep making visits and keep watching you will learn plenty about what the birds are doing, from my limited knowledge I’d say what you witnessed where birds at roost or in “sitty trees” . The birds will come out of roost in a morning have a good feed up and then head to the sitty trees to digest what they have in their crops before again going off to feed. 
 

it’s well worth making a note of these areas and the flight lines used to enter and exit these areas for future reference. 
 

some of the far more experienced members will no doubt be able to give some clearer more concise advice. Good luck 👍🏻

[Mr wilberts]

As long as it's safe and you have permission you can shoot them how ever you like 👍

[Jim Neal]

If you haven't done already, allocate your next bit of spare cash to a pair of binoculars, you don't have to spend more than about £60-£80 to get a reasonable pair.

Binoculars coupled with a map of your land and you'll be on the way to learning the flightlines and habits of the pigeons.  You can get yourself tucked in to a hedge or similar and have some thrilling sport nabbbng the odd one as they flight along a hedge or ditch 👍

[lakeside1000]

My advice would be to walk your permission taking note of where they sit, droppings and feathers under trees, also where they feed usually easy to spot from the damage to plant tops , and bald patches particularly with crops like rape, watch the sky above your perm for pigeons moving from one area to another, they tend to have favoured routes  we call flight lines, these will vary depending on wind direction and available food sources, 

Keep your expectations low to begin with until you can read the signs and develop an instinct to get under them, even then things will still go wrong, my good days will be 60 or 70 bird bags, but many outings will result in single figures but don't be too disappointed as these days will happen to almost all of us.

Some important things to understand is the way the birds  will approach decoy patterns or sitting trees , almost always head into wind , so set your decoys out on windy days with all heads into the wind, keep the pattern tidy, don't leave out any dead birds laying on their backs, try to make your hide blend into the back ground, and don't move when birds are approaching until they are well within range giving you the best chance to pick a target and get off a good well placed shot. Good luck.

[Centrepin]

My advice is: Start a shoot diary.

Every time you go out, write in a notebook, date, time, grid refs, weather, crops and observations.

Even if there's not much to see.

Anything that may help you next year, or 5 years on or 20 years on. I have a leather bound journal and like my posts on here, tend to ramble. But it helps me build a pattern.

I gave up shooting for several years and it was good to read up on weather and feeding variations to remind me of things I'd forgotten.

[ditchman]

On 18/05/2021 at 09:39, AD5693 said:

Hello

I had a walk around my permission today and there seems to be loads of woodies in the boundaries of the area, especically where the rape is. Can you do a simple walked up shoot or is it best to decoy them? I'm just starting out and don't want to invest too much money at the moment.

Thanks

if you are seeing birds on the boundary especially on OSR fields....they have proberly eaten their fill and digesting it......try slowly /quetly walking the boundary and you will get a few snap shots...as they leave the trees

[marsh man]

6 minutes ago, ditchman said:

if you are seeing birds on the boundary especially on OSR fields....they have proberly eaten their fill and digesting it......try slowly /quetly walking the boundary and you will get a few snap shots...as they leave the trees

What I used to like was watching Pigeons drop in on laid patches of Wheat or Barley down the marsh and then walking up the tram lines and jump them up , you need to be quick but it can be good sport , a lot of walking can be involved but you rarely came home empty handed .

[WalkedUp]

52 minutes ago, marsh man said:

What I used to like was watching Pigeons drop in on laid patches of Wheat or Barley down the marsh and then walking up the tram lines and jump them up , you need to be quick but it can be good sport , a lot of walking can be involved but you rarely came home empty handed .

I have done that when birds have landed out of range in laid barely when decoying. Get out of the hide and crouch, then walk up and pop them off when they take off. I consider it a poor man’s walked up grouse. 🤣

[lakeside1000]

On 03/06/2021 at 20:40, WalkedUp said:

I have done that when birds have landed out of range in laid barely when decoying. Get out of the hide and crouch, then walk up and pop them off when they take off. I consider it a poor man’s walked up grouse. 🤣

Yes indeed, when sport is slow any chance of an extra bird is good, plus I love the stalking side of it, see how close you can get before they spook, they certainly move at a rate of knots once air born and give great sport 👍

[mossy835]

thats what i like doing in woods, see how near you can get to them, befor the shot,