Another Foray to the Fens

[TIGHTCHOKE]

As promised, here is my report from yesterdays Wood Pigeon hunt.

A group of us planned to get out on Saturday afternoon in the woods across three farms in Fenlandshire.

I had also refurbished some old full body decoys to go up on my lofting poles.

My shooting Partner and I went early in the hope that we could encourage the birds to decoy and increase the days bag.

As it was they just did not want to play.

We packed up our patterns and hides and returned the equipment to the van and at 15:10 I saw the first pigeons high above the wood.

So while standing under a small amount of cover 110 yds apart, we set about shooting some cracking high birds!

The lofters seemed to work well, but I do not know if the one with eyebrows (Ditchmans favourite) was any better or worse.

We had an hour and a bit of cracking opportunities and ended up with 24 birds down.

Of the crops I looked in to, all of them were absolutely full of OSR. None planted on these three farms this year!

Here are some images from the day;

[7daysinaweek]

Despite your initial efforts sounds like it ended in a great day.

[marsh man]

You made the effort and on another day it could have all gone to plan , if you were in a woodland area I wouldn't have thought the o s r fields are not that far away , might be worth putting the feelers out and shoot them where they are feeding and then have a hour in the woods to finish your day off .

THANKS for the update 

[ditchman]

them wide fenland skies

[pigeon controller]

A good report of an honest days pigeon shooting, the planning that went into and the end result does not matter it’s the taking part that counts and I bet you enjoyed the banter etc . Well done and thanks for posting

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, well done TT, decoys look good 👍

[Old Boggy]

Thanks for posting your report and the photos.

Those lofters look good and I note that you opted for just two raised to what looks like about 40 feet which is my preference over 4 or 5 lower down.

Well done and thanks again for posting.

OB

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Thank you Gentlemen, before Christmas we were getting half the bag over the decoys before the roost shooting started.

Just goes to show it is always changing.

[Fellside]

How interesting - I’ve never actually used lofted decoys. Might give it a try.  

Nice pictures by the way.
 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Forgot this one;

 

It did make me chuckle a while ago when discussing lofting poles someone couldn't understand how you manage to get them up!

[Fellside]

Is it fiddly to get the decoys up in to the branches?

[TIGHTCHOKE]

1 hour ago, Fellside said:

Is it fiddly to get the decoys up in to the branches?

Yes but the person in question thought you laid them out on the ground and assembled them and the swung them up through an arc!  

[Old Boggy]

May I ask what length the poles are (guessing 5 ft) and how many did you use?

Thanks

OB

[oowee]

14 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Yes but the person in question thought you laid them out on the ground and assembled them and the swung them up through an arc!  

 I bet that was entertaining.

Good effort and report on a rewarding day. It would be nice to see some blue sky for a change. 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

4 hours ago, Old Boggy said:

May I ask what length the poles are (guessing 5 ft) and how many did you use?

Yes each pole is 5 foot so six gives 30 foot in total and is about all I can mange on my own, not tried it with two people, might get one more in to the mix. BUT, that would shorten the other set.

19 hours ago, Fellside said:

Is it fiddly to get the decoys up in to the branches?

No, you just work outside the tree and walk them in till they rest against something substantial enough.

Edited January 25, 2022 by TIGHTCHOKE
Spellage!

[JDog]

Good stuff.

On another thread someone posted a video of a lofting pole with a rotary on it. It must have been at least 30' up.

Rather them than me.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

12 minutes ago, JDog said:

Good stuff.

On another thread someone posted a video of a lofting pole with a rotary on it. It must have been at least 30' up.

Rather them than me.

Yes I did wonder how many were in the team to erect that one.   

[Jim Neal]

On 24/01/2022 at 17:49, Fellside said:

Is it fiddly to get the decoys up in to the branches?

It's much more fiddly to get them down again!

Also, shooting amongst pines it's sometimes a job to remember where you put them if you use quite a few 🤣

I use sections of two different fishing poles which cobble together and give me about 12m.  I've got a plastic 1 gallon chemical container taped to the end, upside down with the bottom of the container cut off so it's like a funnel.  That makes it a bit more difficult to put the decoys up but much easier to get them down again.  Failing light and the fact I should probably go and get glasses means I sometimes have a bit of a struggle scooping them off the branches again.

I think the worst part of lofting is on a windy day, struggling to control the pole, you eventually get the lofter hooked over the branch you want.... or so you think.... then it comes crashing down to the floor and you have to start all over again 😕

[TIGHTCHOKE]

But you are using weighted hooks and I use spreader arms, two very different ways of doing the job.

[Old Boggy]

11 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

But you are using weighted hooks and I use spreader arms, two very different ways of doing the job.

The two on the spreader arm is the way to go. I’ve given up on the five hooked lofters. As said (somewhere) if you manage to rest on a lower branch and gradually add poles as you push up to a higher level, things are much easier and quicker.

OB