A Schoolboy Error I Am Glad To Make .

[marsh man]

In the past if you ran out of cartridges while having a good day you could have been up against the P W firing squad and shot at dawn , now it is not as bad but sadly is still a numbers game where the quantity shot is often more important than the quality shot , we all know we do shooting for the sport and that is exactly what it is , Sport .

I have been guilty myself many times in the past where the number shot was more important than quality , I would decoy close in and try and make every shot count , if one came in and sat amongst the decoys then it would get shot where it was standing , the same thing would happen if one sat up the tree and so on .

Nowadays , numbers don't mean a thing and a good afternoon sport is my main objective rather than shoot a big bag , so the days of putting a extra slab under the back seat in the motor is long gone and two boxes with any left over from a previous box is as many as I would be more than happy to use , rarely I run out in the short time I go but today was one of those rare occasions .

We had three fields of seed peas that for various reasons didn't grow as well as expected , one field was direct drilled through stubble and never had any rain for weeks and they struggled a bit to poke through the ground , I kept an eye on them and shot several Pigeons in the patchy Peas , then the harvest started in the second week of July and the Pigeons then started on the barley stubble's , last week the combine moved on to the Peas with the pods beginning to open due to the very high daily temps , all the middle was cut but around the headlands it was decided it wasn't worth putting the combine through it and it is now left to the pigeons to enjoy themselves .

For the first few days the Pigeons had been feeding else where then the scouts must have found them and through the Pigeon grapevine it didn't take long for a big percentage of the Pigeons in the area to find them .

Today was a lovely day for shooting apart from the wind a bit on the strong side , my motor was already loaded and after watching the beginning of the one o clock news I was on my way , the field is only about 15 minutes away but time you drive a bit slowly down the farm tracks it take nearer to 20 / 25 minutes , pulling up near the entrance I could several were working the field and as I started to drive across I dare say there were 4 / 500 pigeons scattered over the large field , rather than set up a long the hedge I went and set up against a large tree we are lucky enough to have in the field itself .

Having set up and moving my motor it was now just gone two , I started off with around twenty decoys , two floaters and a magnet , once in the hide I watched the first Pigeon come towards the tree while I was still removing my gun from it's sleeve and it sailed past without a shot fired , the second one wasn't so lucky and he was left where he fell , with the shot fired the pigeons were everywhere and very soon I had three or four down , when it quietened down a bit I went out and changed the rubber decoys for fresh dead ones and this was done till all the rubber decoys were changed over so the pigeons didn't start skirting around the outside of the pattern , very soon the first box was gone and as the wind was strong and getting a right and left was beyond me while sitting down I shot the second box with single shots , it was now getting on for 4pm and I only had a few more loose ones in my cartridge bag , around about 4.30 I fired my last shell and it didn't bother me as I normally pack up at 5pm anyhow , time I clear up and drive home I like to get back home by 6.

I knew I had 30 plus and time my dog brought in the odd one that was well out I finished up with 38 , not a massive bag but in the wind the sport was top notch and all the game shoots I have been lucky enough to go on I don't think I have ever fired more than two boxes of cartridges in a day , I took a few photos of my dog and the set up and I am not sure who enjoyed the most , me or my dog , looking at Bobbie I would say he did . MM 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well done John.   

[Spr1985]

Great read and great pictures. Sounds like a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Thanks for posting 👍🏻

[Scully]

Sounds grand. We all know why we shoot, but if you’re not shooting as many pest species as possible then it’s not pest control.
When it comes to pest control, quantity HAS to take precedence over quality, otherwise it’s not pest control. 
 

[Stephen-H]

Nice steady afternoons 👍 good write up 

Edited August 3, 2022 by Stephen-H

[Old Boggy]

What a cracking write up of what was obviously a very good day for both you and Bobbie.

Many thanks for posting and for taking the time for the photos as well.

10 out of 10 for the report and photos, but I’m afraid John, it’s only 6 out of 10 for ‘Norfolk’ presentation of the shot birds😂.

More of the same please. That was great.

OB

[dead eye alan]

49 minutes ago, Old Boggy said:

What a cracking write up of what was obviously a very good day for both you and Bobbie.

Many thanks for posting and for taking the time for the photos as well.

10 out of 10 for the report and photos, but I’m afraid John, it’s only 6 out of 10 for ‘Norfolk’ presentation of the shot birds😂.

More of the same please. That was great.

OB

I agree with you hole heatedly. The only bit missing is a cheese and pickle sarnie.

[Down South]

My sort of day, well done.

[old'un]

My sort of day, the weather was perfect for shooting and I bet the shade from that tree and the wind kept you nice and cool, well done.

The pictures are great they give you a perspective of the field and hind position.

[marsh man]

11 hours ago, Scully said:

Sounds grand. We all know why we shoot, but if you’re not shooting as many pest species as possible then it’s not pest control.
When it comes to pest control, quantity HAS to take precedence over quality, otherwise it’s not pest control. 
 

We are not only miles apart from where we both live we are also miles apart with our thoughts about Pigeon shooting , I say Pigeon shooting rather than pest control as I don't shoot any numbers of Covids , I leave that section to our Crow traps , I did state I do Pigeon shooting for the sport rather than for your so so called pest control , as it happens I get most of my sport while protecting the land owners crops and the shooting over stubble's come under preventive to comply with GL , to keep on the right side of the law we do try gas guns and I walk around the fields at least twice before I resort to shooting , the next day I am back out taking my dog for a walk and keeping my eye out for the next bit of sport , we are often seen by members of the public and up to now had no complaints .

Now with your way of thinking , As we well know there are many people and groups of people who are well against shooting and will do whatever they can to stop it , you have only got to look at one of the other threads where the arm response team was called out and held a gun at the ops head while he was Pigeon shooting , also on the television the other night they showed you a chap who had just dug a Fox out after putting his terrier in first and then on the secret cam camera he was seen prodding the live Fox with his digging fork , I believe this case had gone to court and the anti groups will give him some stick , I am not on face book or whatever they call it but this morning I met a chap who was saying it was on the local face book about some people Pigeon shooting over the weekend and a woman found some wounded ones in her garden and a large quantity were found thrown in the hedge , maybe a member who is good at that sort of thing could get a link .

These people with these cam cameras are very good at what they do and you have no idea where they are , you imagine if they were watching you last week shooting a large bag of ( Pests ) and not attempting to pick any up that fell in the crop you were shooting over and as you stated were two thirds of your seventy odd bag , they then found out who the land owner was and told him what they had just seen what have been going on , he turned round and said , yes that's alright I want the ( Pests ) shot but I don't want them picked up in case they damage my corn .

I could well imagine what the outcome would be , not only you would get some stick but your farmer friend might have regretted not using other methods to keep them off his corn . 

Maybe you don't give two monkeys what other people think , where I do .

[marsh man]

10 hours ago, old'un said:

My sort of day, the weather was perfect for shooting and I bet the shade from that tree and the wind kept you nice and cool, well done.

The pictures are great they give you a perspective of the field and hind position.

Hi old'un  Yes the weather have been ideal , if anything we could do with a bit less wind as yesterday it was hot but blowing half a gale , we are lucky by having the odd mature tree in the middle of some of our fields , during the growing spell I left a seat , a set of poles and two nets at the bottom of the trunk so I didn't have to cart a lot of gear half the length of the field , that tree had produced some very good bags over the years as you can decoy in any direction and stay fairly cool in the shade of the leaves , hope your finding a few in your neck of the woods . 

12 hours ago, dead eye alan said:

I agree with you hole heatedly. The only bit missing is a cheese and pickle sarnie.

HI Alan .. I do take a few bits and pieces to eat but my dog being a Labrador seem to open the grub box while I am on the lookout , hence a empty box 

13 hours ago, Old Boggy said:

What a cracking write up of what was obviously a very good day for both you and Bobbie.

Many thanks for posting and for taking the time for the photos as well.

10 out of 10 for the report and photos, but I’m afraid John, it’s only 6 out of 10 for ‘Norfolk’ presentation of the shot birds😂.

More of the same please. That was great.

OB

Evening Chris ... Hope your keeping well and THANKS for your reply , as for the presentation , I thought I had done a half decent  job of putting them in one pile , I admire P C for putting his bag out in regimental order after what is often a long day , as it was a very hot day I put them straight in the fridge freezer I have got in the garage and then in the morning they go in the chest freezer so any fly eggs don't get a chance to hatch , hope your Rape stubble is producing a few , or your finding some elsewhere . A T B  John

[Scully]

On 04/08/2022 at 10:23, marsh man said:

We are not only miles apart from where we both live we are also miles apart with our thoughts about Pigeon shooting , I say Pigeon shooting rather than pest control as I don't shoot any numbers of Covids , I leave that section to our Crow traps , I did state I do Pigeon shooting for the sport rather than for your so so called pest control , as it happens I get most of my sport while protecting the land owners crops and the shooting over stubble's come under preventive to comply with GL , to keep on the right side of the law we do try gas guns and I walk around the fields at least twice before I resort to shooting , the next day I am back out taking my dog for a walk and keeping my eye out for the next bit of sport , we are often seen by members of the public and up to now had no complaints .

Whether you shoot corvids or not, and whether you like it or not, pigeon shooting is pest control. We aren't supposed to be shooting them for sport as they're a pest species, or vermin, if you like. We all know why we shoot them, but if you're shooting them for sport you are actually not shooting them in the spirit of the GL which enables us to do so. The GL enables the provision for the shooting of pigeons for pest control; there are NO provisions within the GL ( or anywhere for that matter ) that enables pigeons to be shot for sport. Pest control involves shooting them on the ground and as they settle in trees.....nothing to do with sport. whatsoever.  

We are also seen by members of the public ( as we often set up just off public footpaths and bridleways ) and get to talk to many ramblers etc, who sometimes appear right in front of our hide before we realise they're there, as happened quite recently. They have nothing to complain about, and nor do we, as long as they stick to the path. So far neither side has complained about the other. 

Now with your way of thinking , As we well know there are many people and groups of people who are well against shooting and will do whatever they can to stop it , you have only got to look at one of the other threads where the arm response team was called out and held a gun at the ops head while he was Pigeon shooting , also on the television the other night they showed you a chap who had just dug a Fox out after putting his terrier in first and then on the secret cam camera he was seen prodding the live Fox with his digging fork , I believe this case had gone to court and the anti groups will give him some stick , I am not on face book or whatever they call it but this morning I met a chap who was saying it was on the local face book about some people Pigeon shooting over the weekend and a woman found some wounded ones in her garden and a large quantity were found thrown in the hedge , maybe a member who is good at that sort of thing could get a link .

Most of the above has no relevance to this thread whatsoever, and I'm not sure what point it is you're trying to make.

As I've said, we all wound birds; we may not think we do, but we do. It goes with the territory I'm afraid, and no one can honestly say that that bird they emptied their gun at as it sped through the pattern and got away, wasn't wounded and goes on to settle in someones garden. We've all seen that bird that shed feathers but carried on, even the holier than thou crowd. 

Many pest shooters discard their bag in the bottom of hedgerows ( what else are they supposed to do with them? ) and if some shooters are stupid enough to leave them where members of the public may see them, then they have no one to blame but themselves regarding the consequences. If people are finding them in areas they themselves shouldn't be in, then they're trespassing. 

These people with these cam cameras are very good at what they do and you have no idea where they are , you imagine if they were watching you last week shooting a large bag of ( Pests ) and not attempting to pick any up that fell in the crop you were shooting over and as you stated were two thirds of your seventy odd bag , they then found out who the land owner was and told him what they had just seen what have been going on , he turned round and said , yes that's alright I want the ( Pests ) shot but I don't want them picked up in case they damage my corn .

You're clutching at straws now to try to prove a non existent point, but I'll address it anyhow. 

I couldn't care less what kind of cameras people have; for all we knew we could have been filmed throughout the day. None of us could care less; we're conducting pest control, unlike you who is enjoying a bit of sport. The A66 was less than 100 yds away with a handy slip road for those who wanted to pull over and take snaps, and a house less than 200 yds away where two retired teachers live. They know who the landowner is, and if anyone, even those who don't know who the landowner is but go to the effort of finding out, wants to complain about the numbers of birds downed and left in the crop, then they can do so; it won't make any difference to us, the landowner, nor the legality of what we're doing. 
 

I could well imagine what the outcome would be . Maybe in your holier than thou mind you can, but in reality the outcome would be....absolutely nothing. not only you would get some stick For what? Carrying out a perfectly legitimate task? but your farmer friend might have regretted not using other methods to keep them off his corn . He doesn't regret anything. He's tried other methods, in accordance with the GL, and they don't work, that's why we were there! 

Maybe you don't give two monkeys what other people think , where I do . But you don't care about shooting pigeons for sport, which is in breach of the GL? 

 

[243deer]

A lovely day and 30 odd is more than enough to be processing at the end of a day if you do as I do and eat what you shoot

[Scully]

1 hour ago, 243deer said:

A lovely day and 30 odd is more than enough to be processing at the end of a day if you do as I do and eat what you shoot

I totally agree; processing even 30 birds is a task.
I’m assuming you don’t shoot corvids if they appear in range then, in the process of decoying, if you eat what you shoot? 
That’s not really what pest control is about either, is it? 

Edited August 7, 2022 by Scully

[pigeon controller]

That’s what it’s all about, enjoying the sport and pleasing the farmer. Last week end we had between us 800 pigeons which caused a great deal of problems keeping them fresh and freezing. The farmers had phoned us to carry out the shooting on standing crops with stubble close by so we were committed to help out. To be honest it was not pleasurable shooting just mechanical but it had to be done. 
I’m writing this sitting on the balcony in Greece and enjoying the rest and the beer, well done Marsh Man and thanks for reminding us what it’s all about.

[marsh man]

6 hours ago, 243deer said:

A lovely day and 30 odd is more than enough to be processing at the end of a day if you do as I do and eat what you shoot

THANKS for reply , I must admit I don't eat everything I shoot , but I make sure nothing is wasted , I sell some to our village pub every other week and I always take four extra ones out of the fridge or freezer when the time get near for me to take them , these are carefully sorted out so the four left over are the worse ones and are used for decoys over the next two weeks ,  there have been times where I cut the breasts off for myself and use the carcass as the decoy until the next lot are shifted which by then they become Ferret food , I don't believe in wasting nothing .

4 hours ago, pigeon controller said:

That’s what it’s all about, enjoying the sport and pleasing the farmer. Last week end we had between us 800 pigeons which caused a great deal of problems keeping them fresh and freezing. The farmers had phoned us to carry out the shooting on standing crops with stubble close by so we were committed to help out. To be honest it was not pleasurable shooting just mechanical but it had to be done. 
I’m writing this sitting on the balcony in Greece and enjoying the rest and the beer, well done Marsh Man and thanks for reminding us what it’s all about.

Having a beer sound good to me although I don't drink but you have certainly earned your rest , the weather here must have been very close to the climate in Greece , today was pleasant along the coast with the temp reaching 27 degrees when we had a ice cream sitting beside Hickling Broad.

Yesterday afternoon I invited one of our picker uppers for a afternoon on the Pigeons , we left the middle field out of the three fields of Pea stubble and went on the two outside ones , if anything there were as many if not more than when I went during the week , my friend had a lot of shooting and most of the shots were fast double shots which is sometimes the case of not shooting very well ,  as it turned out when he rang me up he was shooting poorly , one reason might have been his lady friend was sitting next door to him in the hide with just her shorts and T shirt on  , he rang me about 4pm to say they had to go soon and he will leave me the Pigeons he didn't need which as it turned out was 28 , I carried on till 5pm and the combined bag was just over 60 , as it was warm in my garage I put the whole lot straight in the fridge to cool down , I then rang our local butcher up to see if he wanted any and as luck would have it he had 40 as he process them and supply the local eating out places , he also said if they go alright he will have the same in two of three weeks time , this chap buy the game and wildfowl off our estate and the Partridges from other local shoots , this year there will be very few Partridges to be had so there could be a little extra demand for Pigeons , time will tell.

Our harvest will finish Tuesday or Wednesday which will be the earliest they have ever completed , so we will soon be on grain stubble's until they are all pulled up and that should do us until we have our first small day in late October .

Enjoy the rest of your stay P C  and think of us poor buxgers sweating it out in another heat wave that is due this coming week . MM

[Fellside]

Only just got round to reading your report. Enjoyed it thanks. I bet you had some nice challenging shots in that wind. 

[243deer]

9 hours ago, Scully said:

I’m assuming you don’t shoot corvids if they appear in range then, in the process of decoying, if you eat what you shoot? 

No, I do not eat corvids, nor rats that I shoot but then this thread is about pigeons and I eat, or sometimes give to others, all the pigeons I shoot.

I am saddened for you that instead of enjoying an alternative view to yours that you feel the need to be deliberately contrary.

[Scully]

24 minutes ago, 243deer said:

No, I do not eat corvids, nor rats that I shoot but then this thread is about pigeons and I eat, or sometimes give to others, all the pigeons I shoot.

I am saddened for you that instead of enjoying an alternative view to yours that you feel the need to be deliberately contrary.

I thought the thread was about shooting pigeons as part of crop protection, but it seems it’s about shooting pigeons for sport, rather than pest control. I didn’t ask if you ate corvids, I asked if you shot them if they approached your pattern while decoying. If you don’t then it’s not pest control. 
No need to feel sad; it was criticism for expressing an alternative view in a post of mine in this topic, which prompted me to offer criticism in this one. Fairs fair eh! 🙂

 

[the hitman]

Nice write up MM- glad you achieved your goal of a afternoon of sport for yourself and Bobby.

As for running out of cartridges- I guess we are of a similar age as I also only carry about 200 cartridges with me, the thinking is that I expect to kill 70% over decoys and the walk back to the car is becoming more of a challenge with age.

I have yet to have a crack at pigeons on stubble this year due to hospital visits taking up most of my time recently.

Well shot MM - keep the reports coming.

Hitman 

[marsh man]

52 minutes ago, Fellside said:

Only just got round to reading your report. Enjoyed it thanks. I bet you had some nice challenging shots in that wind. 

Many THANKS for replying , I hope you are finding a few in your neck of the woods .

52 minutes ago, 243deer said:

 

I am saddened for you that instead of enjoying an alternative view to yours that you feel the need to be deliberately contrary.

Nicely put my man , 

11 minutes ago, the hitman said:

Nice write up MM- glad you achieved your goal of a afternoon of sport for yourself and Bobby.

As for running out of cartridges- I guess we are of a similar age as I also only carry about 200 cartridges with me, the thinking is that I expect to kill 70% over decoys and the walk back to the car is becoming more of a challenge with age.

I have yet to have a crack at pigeons on stubble this year due to hospital visits taking up most of my time recently.

Well shot MM - keep the reports coming.

Hitman 

Hi Hitman .... Good to hear from you and I hope your mum is on the mend , as you say , it don't get any easier when old age creep up on you but I am happy to shoot a few here and there ,  , this time of the year is a doddle really with being able to drive up to your chosen hide position , I know at times I am not in the exact right spot but I am not going on a longish walk while carrying all the gear just for the sake of shooting a few more Pigeons , as I said in a earlier post that our harvest should finish in 2 / 3 days time so from now until the stubble's are pulled up I should be able to drive wherever I want .

Today was very hot and I left it till after tea before I took my dog out , wherever I take him this time of the year is always for a purpose and tonight I went and walked around a large Wheat stubble field not to far from my house , this field have just been baled up with the big square bales and I know Pigeons have been going on there as soon as it was cut , there is nothing I like more in the Summertime than to get in the middle of the field and using one these bales for a background to a hide , so this will be my next port of call over the next couple of day's before the load all and trailers come on to cart them off .

GOOD LUCK with your mum's recovery and hopefully you will find a good stubble field that will produce a nice days sport .

[Scully]

9 hours ago, marsh man said:

 

Nicely put my man , 

 

😄Ah! The good old established holier than thou squad! Ever ready to criticise what they see as shortcomings in those they don’t deem as worthy of their ‘sport’,  and equally as quick to ignore and overlook their own. 🙂

I recall the first time I posted in ‘talk from the field’ many moons ago, back in the days when my opportunities were less common, and was bombarded with criticism for dumping shot birds ( corvids and pigeons ) in the hedge bottoms.
It was enlightening to receive almost as many PM’s back then as I received criticism, telling me they did the same but didn’t post on here anymore due to criticism from the holier than thou squad. 
I’m due out again one day this week after talking to a local farmer, who has instructed me to ‘kill everything that comes near!’ Pest control you see. It’s a mucky job but someone has to do it…..properly. 

Happy shooting. 🙂

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Scully

[old'un]

I can see both sides of the argument and will admit to dumping birds when I have no more capacity to off load or freeze but that is usually when I am shooting over laid corn and the farmer wants them shot, if I shoot stubble I stop when I have got what I want and have had an enjoyable day.

Having said that, I would think that with the declining outlets for pigeons there are fair few pigeon shooters who now dump most of their bag.

We as pigeon shooters have a bit of a problem when it comes to laid corn, do we go and shoot just what we need or do we shoot what the farmer wants?

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well if you don't do what the farmer wants there will be a queue for that permission!

[old'un]

17 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Well if you don't do what the farmer wants there will be a queue for that permission!

Yep, very true, I remember one year when the pigeons were hammering some laid barley, there were thousands of pigeon hitting this field and I gets a call from the farmer, I took my mate with me and we were shooting a steady line of pigeons by 10.30am, by 4.30 we had shot around 500+ pigeons, we were mindful of what capacity we had for the birds and stopped shooting about 5.0pm and left the field with birds still piling in, two days later I popped into the farm and had my ears bent for not doing a proper job as he called it.