Archie Coates Legend!

[stuartqwh]

I read this book by Archie Coats Book A long, long time ago it contains absolute solid gold advise. Tactics, hide placement, decoy layout and a load of other useful information.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, it was my Bible back many many years, nothing fancy just really good advice for anyone starting out pigeon shooting,and his wife Pru with her recipes 

[Charlie Anderson]

I watched the you tube vid still laugh at his way of pronouncing "decoy"  that and the bottle of famous grouse in the bale hide different times no doubt but that man could shoot.

[Deadeyealan]

2 hours ago, Charlie Anderson said:

I watched the you tube vid still laugh at his way of pronouncing "decoy"  that and the bottle of famous grouse in the bale hide different times no doubt but that man could shoot.

That whold be the one with Jack Charlton  then he did another  one with Jhon Batley whitch has just been rereleased both good videos.

[Wilts#Dave]

14 minutes ago, Deadeyealan said:

That whold be the one with Jack Charlton  then he did another  one with Jhon Batley whitch has just been rereleased both good videos.

Used to watch the one with John Batley as a lad with my old man 30 odd years ago (regularly) 😂

Great video….my favourites have always been the Jim Albone ones though, now he really can shoot 👍🏼

Edited September 9, 2022 by Wilts#Dave

[Old Boggy]

10 hours ago, Charlie Anderson said:

I watched the you tube vid still laugh at his way of pronouncing "decoy"  that and the bottle of famous grouse in the bale hide different times no doubt but that man could shoot.

That is because he pronounced it correctly, being a Dutch derivative ‘De kooi’.

OB

[Charlie Anderson]

It was the jack Charlton one . Definitely de kooi. Cracks me up. I have two books written by him both excellent and no mention of magnet in the pigeon one.

 

[Centrepin]

I have this one, quite old now. Cost 30/- new. That's £1.50 in that there new fangled money you youngsters insist on using. It's a second edition printed 1970.

 

 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

I think many of us have that one.

[flycoy]

Archie was brilliant! 

John Batley learnt a lot from him, went to a talk by John years ago at Moreton Morrall college. Place was packed, he said that he only ever started with 3 dead birds as decoys. that's all you need!

a guy at the back put his hand up and asked "How do you get the three?"

 

[pigeon controller]

I have a copy in Greece and re read it every year . It amazes me that I still find little snippets of information that I missed. 
He is the Master of the Game, using his military experience and training to defeat our quarry .

[marsh man]

25 minutes ago, pigeon controller said:

I have a copy in Greece and re read it every year . It amazes me that I still find little snippets of information that I missed. 
He is the Master of the Game, using his military experience and training to defeat our quarry .

In the pre magnet days , d v ds , ultra violet light decoys and everything else that the experts still keep trying to sell us to make these three figure bags ,you can still make a decent bag by reading the pigeon shooting bible by the master himself , Mr Archie Coats .

I have never been into all these different fancy patterns we often hear about , U shape , L shape , V shape , dogs leg and a number of other ideas that keep cropping up , the only thing I don't do nowadays is to take a dozen dead birds out of the freezer for the following day , now it's the same ole two until they are well passed the sell by date and then they get replaced with another two have often had the breasts removed before being used as decoys either for the magnet or to put on a couple of floaters .

As for setting out the decoys , they all get tipped out either right , left or dead ahead depending on the wind direction and then chucked around so they cover a fair area from 25 / 45 yards , if this was good enough for the master then it is certainly good enough for me .

Are you managing to get enough for your orders ?

[Centrepin]

3 hours ago, marsh man said:

 

As for setting out the decoys , they all get tipped out either right , left or dead ahead depending on the wind direction and then chucked around so they cover a fair area from 25 / 45 yards , if this was good enough for the master then it is certainly good enough for me 

Yup, same for me. The two biggest things that I pay attention to are: Location of feeding birds and wind direction.

I rarely use a magnet despite having two, just too heavy for me to carry, same with full bodied decoys.

Been out this morning and despite the correct location and a fair pattern I only shot 4 over a 3 day old drilling. Appalling shooting on my behalf despite them coming in gay abandon. Strangely enough 3 had only beech mast in the crop 1 was empty. Earlier this week, wrong location but only acorns on crop.

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, Centrepin said:

Yup, same for me. The two biggest things that I pay attention to are: Location of feeding birds and wind direction.

I rarely use a magnet despite having two, just too heavy for me to carry, same with full bodied decoys.

Been out this morning and despite the correct location and a fair pattern I only shot 4 over a 3 day old drilling. Appalling shooting on my behalf despite them coming in gay abandon. Strangely enough 3 had only beech mast in the crop 1 was empty. Earlier this week, wrong location but only acorns on crop.

I also tend to leave the rotary at home when I am shooting stubble's , I didn't go on one rape stubble this year as the stalks were high and as hard as steel , I must admit that I find a rotary on rape and bean stubble seem to work better than grain stubble's , most of the times out these last few weeks have been in bright sunshine and it could be the arms glinting in the sun that might put them off , by just resting the decoys on top of the stubble and putting the floaters fairly low and sideways to the wind, I find they move better sideways and the Pigeons come in a nicely , this could be a lot of young ones are looking for feeding company and haven't been shot at much  .

You done well even getting out this morning as we had some really heavy showers and at the moment it is not worth getting wet for , tomorrow is looking better so hopefully there will still be a few on the freshly drilled fields .

All the best     MM

[Minky]

Watched the vid, got the book.  I have a small leaflet/book by John Storey. and I found that this was brilliant.   I used to carry it out decoying and draw diagrams of patterns of actual pigeons in the field.  I added wind direction time, Sun,  where it was and if there was a change during the day, anything.  Sometimes they wouldn't turn up until the afternoon.   OR suddenly be somewhere else.  I came to the conclusion that the more I knew, the less I knew.

[Peter Harris]

Minky,

 Too true, a very good post.

If you would like to shoot pigeons and either don't know how to decoy or haven't got the time get in touch with Phil Beasley Oxfordshire, he will put you right.

If near Cheshire contact Nick or Ivor Beavis @ Checkley Game  after the Game season is finished.

[Walker570]

Well I am having some difficulty in getting the old legs working myself and sometimes I have to sit down because of the pain BUT I watched Archie with Jackie Charlton the other night getting around on two ally sticks and thought...keep at it, keep at it.  If he can do it so can you.   Agreed ,  a Legend.

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, Walker570 said:

Well I am having some difficulty in getting the old legs working myself and sometimes I have to sit down because of the pain BUT I watched Archie with Jackie Charlton the other night getting around on two ally sticks and thought...keep at it, keep at it.  If he can do it so can you.   Agreed ,  a Legend.

Where's there is a will , there is a way , we cannot live for ever and our body parts can't keep in tip top condition for ever , my ole chap used to say , don't worry yourself what you haven't got , make full use of what you have got , we have all seen disabled shooters who still battle on the best they can , we had a chap who used to come regular who only had one arm , he could shoot driven Partridges as well , if not better than most people who have got two arms , he would open and close his gun and his keeper would put the cartridges in when the two empty shells had been ejected , ditchy would know who I am talking about as he was well known around these parts . MM

[Walker570]

Classic remark from the Duke of Edinburgh when asked how he was keeping...."Well bits keep droppong off " was his reply.

[the hitman]

Sorry for the late arrival to this thread.

Like most pigeon shooters I also have many pigeon shooting books inc  Archie’s. I met him once at the CLA game fair at Floors Castle in Kelso in 1988 or 89 when I was in my 20’s.

He had a stand sponsored by Eley and was open to questions from both novice and experts alike. 
One of my favourite pigeon shooting books is by John Gray written in the late 80’s which is an excellent read . One passage he mentions the challenge of pigeon shooting when you get into late middle age- I didn’t give it a thought when I was first reading it in 1988 - but I understand very well now.

John Batley’s book is also good. Probably my lest favourite is written by a forestry manager ( his name escapes me) where he suggests wetting the eyes of dead pigeons and cutting off their eyelids - bizarre !

I was searching for a more recent book by Eric Prior however I have been unable to find one- apparently it’s also a good read.

 

 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

10 hours ago, the hitman said:

I was searching for a more recent book by Eric Prior however I have been unable to find one- apparently it’s also a good read.

It is still available.   

[ditchman]

5 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

It is still available.   

worth getting archies mrs book on cooking ...Pru Coates............good game cook that woman

[marsh man]

22 hours ago, the hitman said:

Sorry for the late arrival to this thread.

Like most pigeon shooters I also have many pigeon shooting books inc  Archie’s. I met him once at the CLA game fair at Floors Castle in Kelso in 1988 or 89 when I was in my 20’s.

He had a stand sponsored by Eley and was open to questions from both novice and experts alike. 
One of my favourite pigeon shooting books is by John Gray written in the late 80’s which is an excellent read . One passage he mentions the challenge of pigeon shooting when you get into late middle age- I didn’t give it a thought when I was first reading it in 1988 - but I understand very well now.

John Batley’s book is also good. Probably my lest favourite is written by a forestry manager ( his name escapes me) where he suggests wetting the eyes of dead pigeons and cutting off their eyelids - bizarre !

I was searching for a more recent book by Eric Prior however I have been unable to find one- apparently it’s also a good read.

 

 

I also met Archie Coates at one of the C L A Game Fairs , as you say he was on Eleys stand and when I saw him he looked a poor ole thing , grosely over weight and poor on his legs , I am not sure if this was before he had his hips replaced or after , we used to look on the Eley stand and they would give you one of there diarys for free , mind you with it being the end of July we only had a few months left before we needed a new one for the following year 

[the hitman]

15 minutes ago, marsh man said:

I also met Archie Coates at one of the C L A Game Fairs , as you say he was on Eleys stand and when I saw him he looked a poor ole thing , grosely over weight and poor on his legs , I am not sure if this was before he had his hips replaced or after , we used to look on the Eley stand and they would give you one of there diarys for free , mind you with it being the end of July we only had a few months left before we needed a new one for the following year 

If I remember correctly he had crutches on that occasion. He was also well rounded shall we say and had enjoyed a liquid lunch.

He had an answer for everyone with some additional advice thrown in.

 

[mister 1216]

My great old fishing and shooting mate John Humphreys used to tell wonderful tales about days with The Major.

Terrible  shame that they have both left us.