Report...well sort of

[old'un]

Time on field, 2 hours 45 minutes, shots fired 16, bag 12 pigeons.

Weather did not help but I also picked the wrong field.

[Scully]

Sounds unlucky; all those fields to choose from and you chose the wrong one! 
Good average though! 🙂👍

[old'un]

8 minutes ago, Scully said:

Sounds unlucky; all those fields to choose from and you chose the wrong one! 
Good average though! 🙂👍

Yep, its the way it geos sometimes, best is the field I was going to shoot had about 200-300 pigeons buzzing round it when I checked it on the way home, always another day.

cant say I was on form as most were sucker shots hovering over the decoys.

 

[marsh man]

4 minutes ago, old'un said:

Time on field, 2 hours 45 minutes, shots fired 16, bag 12 pigeons.

Weather did not help but I also picked the wrong field.

Three out of four is a good average so your timing is certainly improving , I am just back from a pleasant two hours out walking around the various rape fields we have got , in total with the tenant farms there are around 300 acre's , the first thing I noticed was we didn't have a single gas gun going off anywhere , normally with the trees bare of leaves you can see Pigeons sitting in various trees but not today , it wasn't totally barren as I did see a few odd ones scattered about and the very first field I looked at did have several sitting about in the trees when I got back to my motor , the weather conditions were dead flat calm , clear skies and not much above freezing , not the ideal weather for Pigeon shooting . 

[Scully]

6 minutes ago, old'un said:

 

cant say I was on form as most were sucker shots hovering over the decoys.

 

It’s pest control; they all count. 🙂

[old'un]

18 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Three out of four is a good average so your timing is certainly improving , I am just back from a pleasant two hours out walking around the various rape fields we have got , in total with the tenant farms there are around 300 acre's , the first thing I noticed was we didn't have a single gas gun going off anywhere , normally with the trees bare of leaves you can see Pigeons sitting in various trees but not today , it wasn't totally barren as I did see a few odd ones scattered about and the very first field I looked at did have several sitting about in the trees when I got back to my motor , the weather conditions were dead flat calm , clear skies and not much above freezing , not the ideal weather for Pigeon shooting . 

yep, they are certainly thin on the ground, before I picked this field I had spent the morning driving from field to field over a fairly big area and could count the number of pigeons I seen on one hand, it seems they are concentrated around three farms that are fairly close together as the crow flies, I am beginning to think that the pigeons in that area are the same birds I have been chasing for the last few weeks.

 

15 minutes ago, Scully said:

It’s pest control; they all count. 🙂

True.

[marsh man]

No one can say you went on the wrong field because having a number of fields of the same crop the Pigeons are not stuck for choice and will not tolerate a lot of stick .

One of the Pigeons biggest defence is a large number of rape fields in a small area , you know as well as I do that the number of Pigeon shooters who go out shooting during the week are thinner on the ground than the currant shortage of Pigeons they go after.

This Saturday , weather permitting I am going to give one of the rape fields a look instead of wasting my time roost shooting , I will try late morning and if it is dead then I have still got time to join the empty or near empty woods 

[pigeon controller]

BB has been seeing large flocks on various rape fields over the past few weeks but they are very quick to move on.

I’m seeing lots of flighting birds in my locality which is on the very edge of the urban sprawl of the city, these tend to be feeding on the ivy along the canal and railway banks. On the late afternoon dog walk I see large numbers very high returning to the city. 
The closest rape is five miles out along the flightline and upon inspection is devoid of birds after checking at various times of the day.

DB has been checking our normal farms and not finding birds , Oldun  reports the flock moved off his shooting field which is a problem when you have a concentration of rape fields in a small area. Rope bangers can keep them on the move but at £70 a box can be expensive the other option is the flag off fields or include other guns.

We are informed by Mr Pwackam that the Wood Pigeon is increasing in numbers following the bird survey they carry out each year so it may be that they are becoming more urban thanks to the amount of food that Oldun and my wife feed in the garden?????

[bunny_blaster]

Better than being sat at home. I had 3 calls yesterday morning regarding pigeons so hopefully a busy weekend. One farmer mentioned a 1000+ pigeons on his rape that were completely ignoring the gas guns but how many times have we heard that… I’ll report my bags on Sunday evening

[dead eye alan]

41 minutes ago, bunny_blaster said:

Better than being sat at home. I had 3 calls yesterday morning regarding pigeons so hopefully a busy weekend. One farmer mentioned a 1000+ pigeons on his rape that were completely ignoring the gas guns but how many times have we heard that… I’ll report my bags on Sunday evening

Looking forward to Sundays report.

[marsh man]

Apart from it being a bit chilly , this afternoon was like an early Spring day , what I did notice was the amount of tractors about getting the barren fields ready for Spring drilling's and talking to one of the tractor drivers they have already put some Spring barley in and the Rooks ect are getting a look in , possibly the new drillings , or more likely the bits from the previous crop .

[TIGHTCHOKE]

We are being asked to concentrate on the mustard that has been drilled.   

[marsh man]

6 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

We are being asked to concentrate on the mustard that has been drilled.   

Mustard can be a very good crop to shoot Pigeons on , the best time is when the plants are young and tender , when it take off a bit then the Pigeons tend to leave it alone , again this will depend what else in the area .

GOOD LUCK .

Report's to come hopefully .

[Wilts#Dave]

Had another good drive round today to look at the rape, never seen such low numbers all through the winter. Saw a dozen birds at most and no flight lines or flocks…..worst winter for years so far I’d say! 
Winter shooting has declined here year on year really, yet other parts of the country people shoot big numbers on rape. During the summer there’s plenty to go at usually, baffles me why the winters are so poor now though. 

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, Wilts#Dave said:

Had another good drive round today to look at the rape, never seen such low numbers all through the winter. Saw a dozen birds at most and no flight lines or flocks…..worst winter for years so far I’d say! 
Winter shooting has declined here year on year really, yet other parts of the country people shoot big numbers on rape. During the summer there’s plenty to go at usually, baffles me why the winters are so poor now though. 

I also went out after dinner to see if it was any different in the woodland area where I am allocated for roost shooting and it was as dead as a do do , all right it was dead flat calm with not a breath of wind but with the area totally untouched and in a good Pigeon area you would think you would see a few on the dead tree branches but alas , nothing .

This made my mind up to either give the roost shooting priority , or to have a go on a rape field where I did see a few get out of some trees and when inspected below the trees there were plenty of droppings , so although not expecting to much it must be better than the sport I had last Saturday where I only just got on the score board let alone the leader board 

[old'un]

On 09/02/2023 at 07:28, bunny_blaster said:

Better than being sat at home. I had 3 calls yesterday morning regarding pigeons so hopefully a busy weekend. One farmer mentioned a 1000+ pigeons on his rape that were completely ignoring the gas guns but how many times have we heard that… I’ll report my bags on Sunday evening

So how many did you kill?

[Gas seal]

Hi pigeon controller l also see a lot of pigeons eating ivy berries.  . I saw pigeons leaving a local (urban) roost last week some of them flew about five hundred yards to feed on ivy  alongside the road. Some sat on the roof of houses and flying across the road to the trees to feed. Ivy berries are the best food for birds in the winter. I have been shooting pigeons over rape for a few weeks, local pigeons, and  other pigeons are feeding on ivy berries in the trees along the road next to the field . I see more pigeons feeding on ivy each year and others fly past them and feed on rape . When pigeons feed on the ivy l leave them to get on with it. I think it’s five or more years before the ivy produce berries ,maybe they have all matured at the same time and some of the dumber pigeons have accidentally found the berries.  There are more urban pigeons about and for about five years they are flying and feeding in large flocks in the summer time . I’ve only seen two large flocks of (migrating) pigeons landing on the rape fields and they went on the same day. The pigeons l have shot are in very good condition, for the time of the year. 

[old'un]

Nothing new in pigeons feeding on ivy berries and acorns, but I dont think that is the reason why I am not seeing any numbers in my area.

[Gas seal]

Hi yes your right it’s not new , but I see a lot more pigeons eating ivy berries. when I was a kid I was told ivy is for birds and bad bellies. The question often asked is where have they come from. I was out this morning and I saw pigeons going to ivy again and other pigeons coming in to the rape fields. I saw about sixty drop down together into ivy covered trees and none came over to the rape field. It was a bit foggy this morning maybe that’s why they came together, I couldn’t see if any other pigeons went to the ivy further away. I don’t know why you’re not seeing many pigeons maybe they are spread out over the area or feeding in woods. Pigeons don’t get avian flu but no one is feeding them to birds of prey, they say pigeons can carry the virus. The pigeons are feeding on rape now they should start in other parts of the country. I heard another shooter this morning . They must be on other rape fields. 

[marsh man]

We can come up with every reason under the sun why they are not on the majority of rape fields , I say majority as some members have begun seeing some numbers on the odd rape field , to be perfectly honest , I have two reasons why we are not seeing the numbers we would expect to see in the middle of February , my findings are not rocket science , just daily observations over a area that normally hold good numbers of Pigeons , my two reasons are , nowhere near the numbers about like other years ,and the other reason is from a pigeon shooters point of view is far to much rape being grown to make a decent bag possible . yes you will find the odd field with good numbers of Pigeons working on the crop , but how many times do we hear we had a few shots and then nothing came back , no they won't come back if they find another field that is more friendly and they won't have to travel far for them to find a field to there liking with all the rape now being grown , I don't know about you but we have got as much rape as we have had in the past and possibly more than most years .     MM 

[Gas seal]

Hi yes farms in the area grow rape and it been grown in the area for many years. I know it’s different in other areas of the country with pigeon numbers. My shooting is very urban and most of the pigeons are urban. It looks to me that on shooting estates when the game season ends the pigeons season starts with roost and rape crop shooting. For years the shooting estates near Liverpool shot roosting pigeons and moved them on to other farms in February. About five years ago no pigeons to be seen in any of the woods. I’m sure there are still no pigeons in the area, some members from St. Helens or Liverpool may know. If pigeons can’t get into roost they will move away to find a roost. I have also heard, and seen, shooters set up with loads of gear at first light fire a few shots and that’s it for the day. I’ve been shooting most mornings for two weeks at first light. Over rape fields. The pigeons always land in small wood or rows of trees in the field. I don’t use decoys I just go were they are coming in. I use a 410 a bit quieter . I get some good shooting. Iv seen it before when the large flocks don’t turn up in the area and when more flocks turn up. This year l have seen more pinks flying than flocks of migrating pigeons. At the moment nothing is where it should be. I hope you find your pigeons.