Thoughts On Why Members Don't Post As Often ?

[pigeon controller]

My initial reason for joining the forum was to create a following built on results, this was to enable my shooting colleague perhaps to set up a business taking people out. 
The reason for this was his business was failing and he had no formal qualifications to fall back on.

We had seen this work in the fishing world as in the 70s I would fish the Fens for pike and zander alongside Mick Brown, John Watson and Neville Fickling who have made profitable careers out of angling.

The criteria I set myself were as follows:-

Be truthful 

Report good and bad days

Respect Farmers locations

Confirm numbers shot with a photograph ( as in angling)

Impart the methods used and there effect

Those who have read my efforts in the past will know that they tend to be repetitive due to the system we use the move till we find a suitable number to shoot.

Covid restrictions and a protracted house move has silenced me for sometime but my intention is to continue when I can.
 

To finish with my thoughts on Facebook/ Meta forums, they tend to have photographic evidence of very large quantities of birds with very little explanation of methods. When questioned on disposal/ processing they seem a little vague, they all shoot Steel as if they are disposing into the raptor market. Talking to my outlet they have tried to contact these individuals to no effect??

That ends my input at present.

[marsh man]

16 minutes ago, pigeon controller said:

My initial reason for joining the forum was to create a following built on results, this was to enable my shooting colleague perhaps to set up a business taking people out. 
The reason for this was his business was failing and he had no formal qualifications to fall back on.

We had seen this work in the fishing world as in the 70s I would fish the Fens for pike and zander alongside Mick Brown, John Watson and Neville Fickling who have made profitable careers out of angling.

The criteria I set myself were as follows:-

Be truthful 

Report good and bad days

Respect Farmers locations

Confirm numbers shot with a photograph ( as in angling)

Impart the methods used and there effect

Those who have read my efforts in the past will know that they tend to be repetitive due to the system we use the move till we find a suitable number to shoot.

Covid restrictions and a protracted house move has silenced me for sometime but my intention is to continue when I can.
 

To finish with my thoughts on Facebook/ Meta forums, they tend to have photographic evidence of very large quantities of birds with very little explanation of methods. When questioned on disposal/ processing they seem a little vague, they all shoot Steel as if they are disposing into the raptor market. Talking to my outlet they have tried to contact these individuals to no effect??

That ends my input at present.

Good to know you are still taking an interest in what is happening on the forum and hopefully you and your family have avoided the virus .

Look forward to when your new house is in order and you have some time on your hands to continue shooting . GOOD LUCK     MM

[Dr D]

I’ve been on here for years and with a few notable exceptions I had increasingly found myself bored reading quite a bit of rubbish. There was also some pretty horrible stuff in ‘off the topic’ at times fuelled by brexit and other stuff. It put me off bit so I just stopped joining. I have returned over the last while and it does seem the community has shrunk! But I have  posted nothing.  I haven’t stopped shooting pigeons though and had quite a number of decent bags over the last three months. I might put a few posts up to show support. I still like reading what some of the old hands have been up to in field and look forward to seeing the return of pigeon controller.

[Ultrastu]

I cant belive I've only just found this thread that's 3 days old .

I like to post on here .For me I like to create threads which are a bit different .maybe sharing a great airgun decoying day or a special .410 day or some time out with my kids in a hide .

I also like to get into the technical side of ballistics  both airgun and shotgun .I dont post about every day I go out .some times ita not amazing (bag wize ) some times it can be but is basically a standard decoy session so I don't post . I prefer to share the  special for me days in the hope others may find it interesting and maybe inspire or help them .

I get a lot out of reading this forum and spend a lot of time on the site (I'd honestly miss it if it ceased to be ) .to this end I feel the more I can contribute  the longer it will survive and shooting will survive also .

 

[Rim Fire]

As i am reading this i am waiting for the rain to stop and get light had a call from a farmer fresh drilling this week pigeon and corvids playing havoc i won't be posting any pics or right up i used to with the wild boar i shoot i still do shoot boar  you either get no feedback or you get slated for spelling mistakes by some so when others see this kind of thing they won't post  and that is one of the reasons you don't see so many posts 

[pigeon controller]

2 hours ago, Rim Fire said:

As i am reading this i am waiting for the rain to stop and get light had a call from a farmer fresh drilling this week pigeon and corvids playing havoc i won't be posting any pics or right up i used to with the wild boar i shoot i still do shoot boar  you either get no feedback or you get slated for spelling mistakes by some so when others see this kind of thing they won't post  and that is one of the reasons you don't see so many posts 

The forum requires feedback to survive, we are practical/ physical people due to the sport we pursue. I would not want ( Text speak ) to become the norm. Due to my age I tend to use Old Speak and have to struggle to spell correctly because of word blindness, in other words I can speak the words but struggle to spell them.

We have had a number of enthusiastic young shooters who have posted there results and the spelling and word usage has incorrect but you knew what they meant, these made me smile but I would never criticise. 
I would challenge all members to write a post during November on any subject around shooting, current, historic or mythical.

Perhaps the Moderators will give Ditchman free rein for one day??????

[adzyvilla]

1 hour ago, pigeon controller said:

The forum requires feedback to survive, we are practical/ physical people due to the sport we pursue. I would not want ( Text speak ) to become the norm. Due to my age I tend to use Old Speak and have to struggle to spell correctly because of word blindness, in other words I can speak the words but struggle to spell them.

We have had a number of enthusiastic young shooters who have posted there results and the spelling and word usage has incorrect but you knew what they meant, these made me smile but I would never criticise. 
I would challenge all members to write a post during November on any subject around shooting, current, historic or mythical.

Perhaps the Moderators will give Ditchman free rein for one day??????

Challenge accepted

[Centrepin]

1 hour ago, pigeon controller said:

 I would not want ( Text speak ) to become the norm.

Perhaps the Moderators will give Ditchman free rein for one day??????

I can't abide text speak, but miss spelling means nothing as spelling is no longer taught in schools as spell check is available on mobile devices. How times move on. I remember getting the cane/slipper/ruler for bad spelling. Although my poor grammar was never correcticated.

Free Ditchy💯🧑‍💻🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

Edited October 30, 2021 by Centrepin
Miss Spelling is not an actual teacher

[marsh man]

One problem we had in the past was the number's game , if you didn't get a high number of pigeons then some members thought they must be doing something wrong and wasn't worth writing on a small bag day , as we all know , even members at the top of there game have days where nothing go right from start to finish , these days happen and it is good to hear about them , or is it only me who have these sort of days and I am far from  being someone who get good bags every time I go out .

No one can sit in a hide hours on end without noticing the wildlife that is going on around them , or other things of interest , one thing springs to mind was 2 or 3 years ago we had a air show along the sea front , on this day I was shooting a few miles inland and I was directly under the flight path of all the planes and air craft taking part , had a brilliant afternoon watching the event and shot a few pigeons in the bargain .

So lets forget about the main reason for posting is about big numbers , just let us know about anything that stand out in particular like the different wildlife you see from the hide that didn't realise you were only a few feet away , or any thing else of interest.

All the best      MM

[Rim Fire]

6 hours ago, pigeon controller said:

The forum requires feedback to survive, we are practical/ physical people due to the sport we pursue. I would not want ( Text speak ) to become the norm. Due to my age I tend to use Old Speak and have to struggle to spell correctly because of word blindness, in other words I can speak the words but struggle to spell them.

We have had a number of enthusiastic young shooters who have posted there results and the spelling and word usage has incorrect but you knew what they meant, these made me smile but I would never criticise. 
I would challenge all members to write a post during November on any subject around shooting, current, historic or mythical.

Perhaps the Moderators will give Ditchman free rein for one day??????

I agree 👍

[pigeon controller]

39 minutes ago, marsh man said:

One problem we had in the past was the number's game , if you didn't get a high number of pigeons then some members thought they must be doing something wrong and wasn't worth writing on a small bag day , as we all know , even members at the top of there game have days where nothing go right from start to finish , these days happen and it is good to hear about them , or is it only me who have these sort of days and I am far from  being someone who get good bags every time I go out .

No one can sit in a hide hours on end without noticing the wildlife that is going on around them , or other things of interest , one thing springs to mind was 2 or 3 years ago we had a air show along the sea front , on this day I was shooting a few miles inland and I was directly under the flight path of all the planes and air craft taking part , had a brilliant afternoon watching the event and shot a few pigeons in the bargain .

So lets forget about the main reason for posting is about big numbers , just let us know about anything that stand out in particular like the different wildlife you see from the hide that didn't realise you were only a few feet away , or any thing else of interest.

All the best      MM

I agree we do have quiet days but tend to pack up and find the birds, knock on the door and ask for a days shooting. The one criteria is do not set up and hope they return, spook them off and if they do not start to return move on.

There is nothing wrong with a small bag, if you have fifty birds feeding and you shoot forty nine that’s not a bad day. You can only shoot the birds presented to you on the day, how many times have we heard “ you should have been here yesterday”

[the hitman]

1 hour ago, pigeon controller said:

I agree we do have quiet days but tend to pack up and find the birds, knock on the door and ask for a days shooting. The one criteria is do not set up and hope they return, spook them off and if they do not start to return move on.

There is nothing wrong with a small bag, if you have fifty birds feeding and you shoot forty nine that’s not a bad day. You can only shoot the birds presented to you on the day, how many times have we heard “ you should have been here yesterday”

Agreed 

With experience I became more selective about if and where I set up - and if it goes wrong on the day it’s a case of packing up and go looking for them.

When I first began shooting independently I would set up where I thought pigeons would be or if I had seen half a dozen feeding in the corner of a field and in all weather.

Had pigeon watch existed then- my bag reports would have been plentifully if rather short on shot birds.

PW is and should be regarded as a useful source of information for the novice shooters who have experienced shooters only to happy to give advice.

[Zapp]

46 minutes ago, the hitman said:

PW is and should be regarded as a useful source of information for the novice shooters who have experienced shooters only to happy to give advice.

Agree.  It makes me cringe when new members are given a going over for no particular reason.  I hate to think how many have tried to engage but got nitpicked for some petty faux pas some bored regular perceived in their approach, and so left never to return with a bad opinion of us all.

[mgsontour]

I've can't believe like others I've just seen this thread and think I'm pretty active so maybe the format of the frontpage and in particular the 5 topic headers on the right let articles of interest pass which may not engage members.

An app to download would definitely catch younger members

Another thought is there aren't many 'active' shooters; I know a couple high-end gents that go through 1,000's of carts a year on game, a few that buy carts in 1,000's for clays but yet most just get an odd box from a mate or go halves on a slab for beaters days etc which would suggest most shooters don't really shoot much thus got nowt to say.

[ditchman]

8 hours ago, Centrepin said:

I can't abide text speak, but miss spelling means nothing as spelling is no longer taught in schools as spell check is available on mobile devices. How times move on. I remember getting the cane/slipper/ruler for bad spelling. Although my poor grammar was never correcticated.

Free Ditchy💯🧑‍💻🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

im freeee............................aint got no guns now ...so im just a troll

[pete1dart]

Iv just looked back on my previous postings on pigeon watch and last Saturday was the first time I have posted anything for over a year. 
 

the post I made was greeted with constructive comments which I really appreciate. I shall be posting more.

 

sorry guys and girls, even if I have a rubbish day on the pigeons I might well be posting it!

 

Iv always read from afar, I think Iv been on here for around 10 years but only posted around 100 times. I didn’t like some of the comments members were getting at times. So in my head it wasn’t worth posting to just get slated. Things seem to have moved on now which is a good thing. Constructive criticism is good, don’t get me wrong but in all walks of life you always get some bad apples, who take it a bit too far!

 

 

[Centrepin]

39 minutes ago, ditchman said:

im freeee............................aint got no guns now ...so im just a troll

Mr Ditchman, one of the true Nor-Folk people. Pictured here atop one of his infamous molehills.

 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Ugly little spud isn't he!  

[marsh man]

24 minutes ago, ditchman said:

im freeee............................aint got no guns now ...so im just a troll

Troll or no troll , I have been told by very good authority that you were very good at picking up with well handled dogs , so if your shooting days have drawn to a close I am sure you can pass on some of skills with handling dogs to less talented members .

Now is that worth the tenner you said you would put my way 

Joking aside , Simon was well known on the local estates for his picking up and his good humour amongst fellow picker uppers .

[udderlyoffroad]

Has to be said, there's a contingent on here who quite regularly de-rail threads with asinine, off-topic nonsense.  It looks clique-y and unwelcoming to new members.

The same people, in a thread on a technical question, will quite happily pop-up with posts like "I have no clue" "I don't understand the question"  "Sounds like gobbledygook to me".  

This all serves to make PW's signal-to-noise ratio poor. 

Hard truth no 2: is that the Venn-diagram-overlap of non-shooting-members, and regular contributors, is getting larger all the time.  You cannot possibly hope to have interesting shooting content, if the 80% of posts are done by the 20% of the membership who don't bluddy shoot!

As for myself, please enjoy the following report:

Quote

 

Finished work early, text my mate if I could have a wonder through his field with the shottie.  Missed one rabbit behind, bowled over 2. One was a cracking shot though I do say so myself, the other frankly more of an execution as it was more or less stopped.  Hey-ho, it is about managing the numbers.   Completely fumbled a shot on a pigeon coming in to roost.  Getting dark so headed back to the truck

Paunched both bunnies on the tail gate.  My faithful hound enjoyed a bunny-organ-based snack.  Home and cooked dinner, peeled the bunnies afterwards, soaked in brine as the executionee was a big lad.

Note to self, must repair 'summer house' in spring left by previous owner, basically a garden shed with bigger windows.  Will make an ideal place for a freezer and somewhere to peel what I shoot without having to do it outside, in the dark and rain.

 

That took me 5 minutes to tap up, not that I begrudge the time so much, as I'm not sure we would add to the body of knowledge with posts like that

[ditchman]

21 hours ago, marsh man said:

Troll or no troll , I have been told by very good authority that you were very good at picking up with well handled dogs , so if your shooting days have drawn to a close I am sure you can pass on some of skills with handling dogs to less talented members .

Now is that worth the tenner you said you would put my way 

Joking aside , Simon was well known on the local estates for his picking up and his good humour amongst fellow picker uppers .

what a nice thing to say....

i so desperatly miss my dogs....used to on some days have 4 of them around my feet...i used to talk to them all day........

Edited October 31, 2021 by ditchman

[mgsontour]

18 hours ago, ditchman said:

what a nice thing to say....

i so desperatly miss my dogs....used to on some days have 4 of them around my feet...i used to talk to them all day........

I've always found talking to a dog gives you the best answer

[Stephenwilko]

I think the popularity of pigeon shooting over the last 20 years has been its down fall. I remember when I could only think of another half dozen pigeon shooters in my area then it started to explode literally with shooters heading out in the middle of the night just to get the best spots I've heard of lads arguing over where they're shooting. Then the grief it causes for the farmers with lads pulling up asking to shoot 10 at a time queueing up. Then there's the videos of Redletter days showing hundreds of pigeons being shot and you can guarantee not used for anything other than decoys. Some of the states I've seen in the headge rows left by so called country men its a disgrace so all in all let's hope it doesn't get back to its crazy numbers of shooters.

[Fellside]

2 hours ago, Stephenwilko said:

I think the popularity of pigeon shooting over the last 20 years has been its down fall. I remember when I could only think of another half dozen pigeon shooters in my area then it started to explode literally with shooters heading out in the middle of the night just to get the best spots I've heard of lads arguing over where they're shooting. Then the grief it causes for the farmers with lads pulling up asking to shoot 10 at a time queueing up. Then there's the videos of Redletter days showing hundreds of pigeons being shot and you can guarantee not used for anything other than decoys. Some of the states I've seen in the headge rows left by so called country men its a disgrace so all in all let's hope it doesn't get back to its crazy numbers of shooters.

Yes I remember that peak of pigeon mania. It has calmed down in my area. I don’t know what it’s like else where. We only have a couple of people door nocking around the farms these days. Unfortunately they are known cowboys and their reputation precedes them. They occasionally get permission somewhere - but seldom twice on the same farm….?!

[B B]

Forums the world over are gradually fizzling out, and unlike the heady days of the early 2000s when several forums in the uk alone on this very subject were pretty active for a few years, PW survived and it has done quite well  to keep going as long as it has and if its its last phase its not really a surprise if you look at almost any forum on any subject.