100% record for Once

[pigeon controller]

I had a call at approx 14.00 on Sunday, loads on the rape can you come now?. I had family commitments so I said that I would be on the field on Monday. DB had also received the call and was away from home on a walk.

Monday morning I set out at 9.30 and as I approached the field I saw no birds at all. I drove round two sixty acre fields , no birds. The wind was strong so I decided to set up with a brolly with the wind off my back. I had no decoys other than two lofters which I put up in an adjacent tree, It was now 10.45 and I put up two shots to move any birds in the vicinity. This produced two birds who headed to the lofters and were dropped, they went on to the magnet and thats how it went on I packed up at 15.00 as I’d hoped that the birds would start to appear in the afternoon.

I’d shot for over four hours had seventeen birds come to the decoys and picked up seventeen birds. I had not seen any other birds. I could hear a gas gun going off on some rape in the distance and presumed that it was being shot on Sunday and moved the birds on to these two fields.

I sent a picture to the farmer as a “ Guilt Trip” and he thanked me for turning out

It would be nice to shoot every bird in the decoys every time!!!!

I did look at the other rape but no birds evident.  

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well done.  

[clangerman]

good show they know we can’t resist the blue blagger call quote of 500 Friday saw me shoot 39 he’s probably still laughing! 

[Centrepin]

It must be farmers in general.

Coming off my perm yesterday the farmers wife waved me over and asked me to shoot the hundreds of crows currently attacking her lambs in the front garden...........I stealthily walked over to see.........2.

I promised to go back Wednesday and sort them.

[marsh man]

I think it would be true in saying that you are now used to this decoying lark and any pigeon you raise your gun to is in danger of losing it's life , or at best having some serious medical issues 

We all have little  ( straights ) from time to time and I very nearly once got 25 / 25 , I had another P W member in the hide and I believe his user name was Metalmax or something like that , we were taking turns each on a Wheat stubble field and the Pigeons were coming in nicely , a nice warm day with very little wind and the pigeons that came in to the static dead pigeon decoys were very predicable , I took the first one and laid the empty shell to one side and again with the next shot , this continued for the next several shots and then this is the time when  a run of simple misses would normally set in but on this occasion it didn't happen , I then got down to the last five cartridges in the box and got the next four , I opened another box to put two in the breech and then my luck ran out , I missed the next as clean as a whistle and my longest run ever had drawn to a close  , now with my aging body falling apart I would be happy with hitting one now and again , still , we always say it the taking part that counts 

[Centrepin]

I once had one pigeon for one shot in one day if that counts?🥴

On another occasion I had two for one shot but that was a fluke and the rest of the day my ego shot more than my gun.

[pigeon controller]

We all have pressure days, the kiss of death is “ Don’t miss this one” when you get a bird on a slow glide into the decoys. 
Yes, we do try and get multiple birds with single shots and often get four for two shots and DB once shot six for three shots with his auto , the sixth bird dropped at the trees at the far end of the field.

These  multiple shots are the result of groups attempting to land in the decoy pattern and lining up shots.

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, pigeon controller said:

We all have pressure days, the kiss of death is “ Don’t miss this one” when you get a bird on a slow glide into the decoys. 
Yes, we do try and get multiple birds with single shots and often get four for two shots and DB once shot six for three shots with his auto , the sixth bird dropped at the trees at the far end of the field.

These  multiple shots are the result of groups attempting to land in the decoy pattern and lining up shots.

Single Pigeons are never a lot of the problem , you can begin to read them when they are well out and once they pass that invisible line you know they are going to get a shot , when you take them is up to you , the ones that get missed over and over again are the times were two or more come in , we know what to do but we don't always practice what we preach , we watch one coming in from the side which look like a shot is on and then we notice another two or three swinging around 20 yds outside the decoy pattern , our attention is then switched off of the first one and the next we know we have got all the pigeons taking avoiding action when they see the magnet going around in circles and might be glinting in the sun , so if we had took the first one that was on and hopped one of the others had presented a shot then we would most likely had at least one in the bag , where by switching the mind from one to the other we are often left with one or two empty shells and nothing to show for our moment of greed  

[pigeon controller]

59 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Single Pigeons are never a lot of the problem , you can begin to read them when they are well out and once they pass that invisible line you know they are going to get a shot , when you take them is up to you , the ones that get missed over and over again are the times were two or more come in , we know what to do but we don't always practice what we preach , we watch one coming in from the side which look like a shot is on and then we notice another two or three swinging around 20 yds outside the decoy pattern , our attention is then switched off of the first one and the next we know we have got all the pigeons taking avoiding action when they see the magnet going around in circles and might be glinting in the sun , so if we had took the first one that was on and hopped one of the others had presented a shot then we would most likely had at least one in the bag , where by switching the mind from one to the other we are often left with one or two empty shells and nothing to show for our moment of greed  

My wife say’s I have blinkered vision, I can enter a room and spot a nipple at 30yds

[the hitman]

Nice report-and well shot.

I can’t remember ever shooting 17 straight pigeons.

I also have farmer friends who call me out with the story of hundreds of pigeons- never mind it was 4 hours doing what you enjoy.

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, pigeon controller said:

My wife say’s I have blinkered vision, I can enter a room and spot a nipple at 30yds

That is a fair size room P C , I would be lucky to spot the person the nipple belonged to 😉

[Ultrastu]

I think my record was 12 straight pigeons from the first cartridge  .i felt awesome and that it was too easy this pigeon shooting thing - then it fell apart,  4 or 5 misses before I reconnected and I was humbled and  back  to the status quo  , of around 1 bird for  for 2 shots at the end of the day .

 

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

I think my record was 12 straight pigeons from the first cartridge  .i felt awesome and that it was too easy this pigeon shooting thing - then it fell apart,  4 or 5 misses before I reconnected and I was humbled and  back  to the status quo  , of around 1 bird for  for 2 shots at the end of the day .

 

I am sure it was easier to make a good straight run in the pre magnet days and better still if you started off with fresh dead birds , this next statement might take a bit of believing but I can assure you it is true .

My older brother was a very good shot in his younger days and won a few cups at clay pigeon shooting , he got into Pigeon shooting and with him at the time working on dust carts he had a fair bit of time on his hands , his gun at the time was a basic A Y A Yeoman , he drilled the chokes right out which left it cylinder , he also done any repairs on the gun like the firing pins and putting a new top lever on , these ole guns were proper work horses

Anyhow , at the time he shot on the estate where I shoot now , one day he was on the top hedge of a Ripe Pea field , me and my mate were looking around when we heard some shooting , I could see my brothers car parked up so I said to my mate we will go and give him a look , when we got there he had about 10 fresh pigeons laid out on the Peas that he said he hadn't missed one up to now , so we made the hide a bit bigger and got inside to watch the action , very soon one came straight in and bang , another one was laid out , this kept going like that with virtually every shot with the odd right and left thrown in for good measure , twice we saw him get two with one shot and he shot well until he used his two boxes of shells up , we helped him to pack up and when we finished we had sacked up 46 Pigeons out of 50 shots fired , although he did get two with one shot twice .

Looking back , just about every Pigeon was shot over the decoys and you would be right in saying that not all the Pigeons were sporting , this was pest control pure and simple , if one came and landed amongst the decoys and he shot it on the deck then this was good decoying rather than good shooting .

Now with all the gadgets used I would say you get a lot more sporting shots and getting a long straight run is that much harder than it once was .

[Spr1985]

Nice report pc, and a good run, I’d be happy with two or three on the bounce 🤣 let alone 17, I always go home with more empty cartridges than birds, all part of my learning curve though I guess. 
 

thanks for posting 

[the hitman]

55 minutes ago, marsh man said:

I am sure it was easier to make a good straight run in the pre magnet days and better still if you started off with fresh dead birds , this next statement might take a bit of believing but I can assure you it is true .

My older brother was a very good shot in his younger days and won a few cups at clay pigeon shooting , he got into Pigeon shooting and with him at the time working on dust carts he had a fair bit of time on his hands , his gun at the time was a basic A Y A Yeoman , he drilled the chokes right out which left it cylinder , he also done any repairs on the gun like the firing pins and putting a new top lever on , these ole guns were proper work horses

Anyhow , at the time he shot on the estate where I shoot now , one day he was on the top hedge of a Ripe Pea field , me and my mate were looking around when we heard some shooting , I could see my brothers car parked up so I said to my mate we will go and give him a look , when we got there he had about 10 fresh pigeons laid out on the Peas that he said he hadn't missed one up to now , so we made the hide a bit bigger and got inside to watch the action , very soon one came straight in and bang , another one was laid out , this kept going like that with virtually every shot with the odd right and left thrown in for good measure , twice we saw him get two with one shot and he shot well until he used his two boxes of shells up , we helped him to pack up and when we finished we had sacked up 46 Pigeons out of 50 shots fired , although he did get two with one shot twice .

Looking back , just about every Pigeon was shot over the decoys and you would be right in saying that not all the Pigeons were sporting , this was pest control pure and simple , if one came and landed amongst the decoys and he shot it on the deck then this was good decoying rather than good shooting .

Now with all the gadgets used I would say you get a lot more sporting shots and getting a long straight run is that much harder than it once was .

Next time I go out I am going to keep count of how many I shoot in succession- I recon about 6 before I get carried away and go for the 50 yard screamer.

[marsh man]

11 hours ago, the hitman said:

Next time I go out I am going to keep count of how many I shoot in succession- I recon about 6 before I get carried away and go for the 50 yard screamer.

If we are honest about it , Pigeon shooting this day and age is mainly done for sport while protecting the crops at the same time , if we only took on the ones we knew we had a good chance of knocking down we would soon find it a bit boring , by taking on all comers is one reason the average shot wouldn't get a high number without the odd miss to break the run up.

I had a situation one day when they were putting in a new gas pipe all the way down the East coast from the gas rigs out at sea , when they got down to one of the farms I went on they flattened about two widths of the combine on the Green wheat field , this was only about two weeks from being cut and the grain was at a milky stage , Pigeons found this strip more or less instantly and a good day could easily be had , problem was there were houses each side and you had to restrict your shooting to dead in front , the decoys were set up in a big U shape and the Pigeons decoyed a treat , after a couple of hours I had Pigeons more or less falling on top of each other , as time wore on the novelty was beginning to wear off as it was becoming a bit to easy , I had shot about 80 and I rang my mate to see if he wanted a couple of hours shooting , all he had to do was bring his gun and some shells , when he got there I left him to it and took my dog for a walk , it made a change but I wouldn't like it to be like that each time we went out .

Edited April 13, 2022 by marsh man

[Spr1985]

37 minutes ago, marsh man said:

If we are honest about it , Pigeon shooting this day and age is mainly done for sport while protecting the crops at the same time , if we only took on the ones we knew we had a good of knocking down we would soon find it a bit boring , by taking on all comers is one reason the average shot wouldn't get a high number without the odd miss to break the run up.

I had a situation one day when they were putting in a new gas pipe all the way down the East coast from the gas rigs out at sea , when they got down to one of the farms I went on they flattened about two widths of the combine on the Green wheat field , this was only about two weeks from being cut and the grain was at a milky stage , Pigeons found this strip more or less instantly and a good day could easily be had , problem was there were houses each side and you had to restrict your shooting to dead in front , the decoys were set up in a big U shape and the Pigeons decoyed a treat , after a couple of hours I had Pigeons more or less falling on top of each other , as time wore on the novelty was beginning to wear off as it was becoming a bit to easy , I had shot about 80 and I rang my mate to see if he wanted a couple of hours shooting , all he had to do was bring his gun and some shells , when he got there I left him to it and took my dog for a walk , it made a change but I wouldn't like it to be like that each time we went out .

Reading between the lines here.. hopefully I’m not way off the mark 🙃 but I agree it’s the misses and wanting to do better next time that keeps us as shooters hungry and coming back for more! Hitting everything we raised the gun to would soon become boring and monotonous 

[dead eye alan]

First well done PC nice report a more normal bag for me anyway, my best run is 7 that was on grass on a sunny day when every thing was just right, final bag that day 23.

[marsh man]

10 hours ago, Spr1985 said:

Reading between the lines here.. hopefully I’m not way off the mark 🙃 but I agree it’s the misses and wanting to do better next time that keeps us as shooters hungry and coming back for more! Hitting everything we raised the gun to would soon become boring and monotonous 

In the days when Archie Coats made a living out of shooting Pigeons it was all about pest control and the sport involved was rarely mentioned , at the time when he got his record day he was also a very shot and must had maintained a high average .

Reading about the final stages of his big day he quoted he fired about 650 cartridges and sacked up with the help of some staff exactly 550 pigeons , you can most likely work the average out far better than me but breaking it down to below a 100 it was 55 pigeons picked up out of 65 cartridges fired , taking in account they found a few more the following day that was pretty good shooting , that was of course in the pre battery gadgets days .

[motty]

Hi all.

I have had some good runs of form whilst on the pigeons. I remember on an April day about 10 - 12 years ago, I was decoying on some patchy rape. I ended on over 100, shooting from 2-6pm. I remember at one point being on 50 pigeons for my first 54 shots. They decoyed nicely, and I was on form for once....