Have Anyone Bought Guided Pigeon Shooting In The Last Year Or So ?

[marsh man]

By going by the above threads I think the majority of us are finding Pigeons a bit thin on the ground at the moment and after a lot of searching about they don't always play ball when they do find some.

So how do these so called guides operate when stubble shooting have come to a close , and before we go any further , is paid for Pigeon shooting still allowed on the G L ?

I have never paid for my Pigeon shooting but I have took people out through the estate who have paid , at the time I was asked by the estate manager , what would be the best time of the year for four continental clients to come over for four days on the trot Pigeon decoying ? , I told him from the end of July to about mid August , this would allow most of the Winter barley cut and possibly a start had been made on the Winter wheat , so the dates were set and to cut a long story short , the five days was nothing short of hard work , I said five days as the day before they came I spent all day sorting out where I was going to set up , then I had to check with the stockman who was carting straw if the bales where I was going would be there the day I planed to go , plus with anyone who lived near by to let them know there would be two people shooting one field over and they would be told on no account not to shoot towards the houses , this went on for the four days and I can honestly say I had a sigh of relief when they finished shooting on the last day , with none of the four talking English and my French was a few swear words and that was it , so although they shot just over 300 I wasn't sure if they expected more , or if they were happy with what they got .

I know one thing for certain I won't be taking them out again , if the estate took any paid pigeon shooters on then they would need there own gear and I would show them the fields available and that would be it .

So back to the title , Have any of you paid ? , and if so , How was the service ?

[ditchman]

i think the only folk happy to take people out would be ..........MOTTY & PIGEON CONTROLLER

[oowee]

I pay for 10 days every year in Africa. 

[Spr1985]

I paid for a day from a member on here in Cambridgeshire, fantastic day plenty of shooting, great guy and reasonably priced too. I didn’t have any shooting at the time so was perfect for me. Had I seen more advertised I’d probably have taken more days too. 
 

would I pay the astronomical prices that I see advertised online…..not a damn chance.  I thoroughly enjoy my shooting but not enough to pay £100’s for one days pigeon shooting. 

[Centrepin]

My son paid for shooting in Scotland whilst on holiday in a lads group.

1st year, cracking day, never stopped talking about it. All gear supplied and pigeons played their part. Lunch supplied and moved to another field after lunch.

2nd year, had to supply own gear for a small price increase, some pigeons but less than 50 between 4 guns. Had to purchase steel shot from guide as birds to go into food chain. He thought it was a **** take.

3rd year, he didn't go, but his mates reported they were dumped on the edge of a field, no equipment, no instruction and left to sort it amongst themselves. 6 guns, 2 pigeon all day. Guide never returned and never answered his phone after dropping them and relieving them of a huge amount of cash.

This year will be the 4th. He's not booked.

Last year I was on holiday in Norfolk for a month so registered with Anglia Sporting for a day on Pigeon/Corvid. They don't give cost till registered. Then they informed me it was just over £300 per day including hides, decoys and advice on were to set up. I said too much so they offered me a £200 deal to supply my own gear and decide where to set up. Again I said NO! I then deregistered.

If they could guarantee birds it may be worth a moments consideration but as birds are wild.........

I'll stick to my own shooting permission where I can average 4 or 5 birds in a morning or if paying I'll shoot clays.

[marsh man]

Some interesting replies , although my pockets are not deep enough to spend 10 days Pigeon shooting in Africa but I would imagine it is money well spent , maybe if they put my state pension up I would certainly give it some thought 

20 hours ago, Spr1985 said:

I paid for a day from a member on here in Cambridgeshire, fantastic day plenty of shooting, great guy and reasonably priced too. I didn’t have any shooting at the time so was perfect for me. Had I seen more advertised I’d probably have taken more days too. 
 

would I pay the astronomical prices that I see advertised online…..not a damn chance.  I thoroughly enjoy my shooting but not enough to pay £100’s for one days pigeon shooting. 

I am glad you had good service from a member and recommendation is the best form of advertising .

 

8 hours ago, Centrepin said:

My son paid for shooting in Scotland whilst on holiday in a lads group.

1st year, cracking day, never stopped talking about it. All gear supplied and pigeons played their part. Lunch supplied and moved to another field after lunch.

2nd year, had to supply own gear for a small price increase, some pigeons but less than 50 between 4 guns. Had to purchase steel shot from guide as birds to go into food chain. He thought it was a **** take.

3rd year, he didn't go, but his mates reported they were dumped on the edge of a field, no equipment, no instruction and left to sort it amongst themselves. 6 guns, 2 pigeon all day. Guide never returned and never answered his phone after dropping them and relieving them of a huge amount of cash.

This year will be the 4th. He's not booked.

Last year I was on holiday in Norfolk for a month so registered with Anglia Sporting for a day on Pigeon/Corvid. They don't give cost till registered. Then they informed me it was just over £300 per day including hides, decoys and advice on were to set up. I said too much so they offered me a £200 deal to supply my own gear and decide where to set up. Again I said NO! I then deregistered.

If they could guarantee birds it may be worth a moments consideration but as birds are wild.........

I'll stick to my own shooting permission where I can average 4 or 5 birds in a morning or if paying I'll shoot clays.

I did hear that some guides look at 12 Pigeons as a average day , so at over £300 I would say 12 is a fairly expensive day out , as you say they are a wild bird so there is no guarantee on what numbers you would get , but you can tell if the agent have done his best to find you some shooting and the least he could do is to keep in touch throughout the day . 

[Sweet11-87]

bit of a slippery slope this but i fear were already sliding down it.

aprently(before my time)  farmers would supply the cartridges if you supplied the time to protect the crops,  now its common practice to sell the shooting if youve been lucky enough to get it, or its reserved for  syndicates. once land holders get wind those without any will pay good money we will all have to sadly. but i do get why those who dont have anything get their wallet out.

 

they reckon pigeons populations are on the steady up but  on my permisions decoying has been poor for some time and i dare say i have had better results roost shooting for 1-2 hours with a pocket full of cartridges than humping all my gear out and sitting all day. cant explain it. they have to be somewhere