roost shooting

[mossy835]

any reports from yesterday i went to 3 farms in woods ,looking for pigeons and a waist of time.just nothing about 2 or 3 flew out each woods but nothing came in,how did you all get on,

[worthy130]

Went out last Saturday for our first one, between 3 of us we had 23, yesterday 9, full of ivy berry they don't seem to have needed to go on the rape up our end plenty of ivy berry around.

[marsh man]

I didn't think the first Saturday roost shooting last week could get any worse for the next three weeks , How wrong was I , during the past week I done a bit of homework and went and looked around all our rape fields that didn't affect the guys who go in the woods , I found a few sitting up the trees on the first field I looked out and as it turned out these were all I saw , the next day I went out again in the mid afternoon and yes there were still several in the trees but nothing on the rape , so I rang the keeper up and told him I might have a couple of hours on the rape before I go into the woods , got out there yesterday at 12.30 and yes you have guessed right there was nothing , sat there for nearly an hour and drank half my flask and in that time saw two Pigeons , if I could have driven around the headlands to set up then I might had been tempted but to walk a fair way twice without seeing any movement was a no no , 

So I then gave that a miss and moved two miles across the estate to my woodland area , this was now getting on for 2pm , had a ride around and did see several Rooks and a few mixed wood Pigeons and Stock doves on some freshly pulled up Fodder beet , so as it was a mild afternoon I will give this a try for a couple of hours and see how I get on , stuck the magnet out with a good spread of decoys , made myself comfortable , put the Norwich match on my little radio and poured out a cup of coffee , lovely , all I want now is some Pigeons to try out what little skill I have got left , after a good hour and with still having clean barrels I had to admit defeat , a bit like how Norwich ended up , so after being out for nearly five hours I never had a single shot , yes I did hear a bit of shooting but the shots were far and few between , still I was in it but I certainly didn't win it .   MM 

[mossy835]

MM nice little report but you gave it ago lets hope get better, i only fired 3 shots yesterday.i did here some shots yesterday but not many,things not looking so good,

Edited February 12, 2023 by mossy835

[bigroomboy]

I went out Saturday. A couple of pigeon happened to fly past but other than that... Nothing. On the upside it was very warm and pleasant in the woods.

[cuffy]

I've been seeing 100+ sat in some poplars , so that's where I went yesterday .

They all flew off as I was walking in , don't know where they all went to !

Some drifted back over the next couple of hours , I ended up with 6 . 

Still not many pigeons about though but we seem to have a lot more crows - in big gangs . 

[Morkin]

The farm rape had a couple of hundred go of it two days last week and then nothing, and I happen to go down a road not far from the farm the end of last week and that was a piece of beet just been lifted and there was bloody hundreds, the ground in places was blue with pigeons, there is some about but very hit and miss.

[Old Boggy]

I was out on Friday and firstly looked at a rape field that had plenty in the trees surrounding it but none down feeding. My previous trip to this field after a very long trudge with all the necessary gear resulted in just two shots for one pigeon and then a blank two hours thereafter and not another pigeon to be seen. I half suspected this but we never seem to learn. Not wishing to repeat this tiring scenario with a heavy load, I opted for an easy trip to my usual little wood with just gun, cartridges, seat and of course some food, in the hope of a few shots as they come in to hopefully continue to feed on ivy berries. It didn`t look too hopeful as only a few got out of the trees on arrival where on previous trips I had put out 50-60. However, a few did come in and I ended up with just 5 for my usual 3-4 hours out so not a complete disaster and an absolute joy to be out and about.

OB 

[old'un]

We keep hearing, they are on the acorns or the ivy berries, this is true to a degree but they have done that in previous years and I have still had some good bags on various rape fields throughout the winter but this year they are defiantly thin on the ground in this area.

There's a field that as a spinney about 30 yards wide and runs the full length of one side of the field, this spinney for as long as I can remember as always been a draw for pigeons when the field is sown with winter rape, they usually start to build up around the end of November, come the end of December there’s that many pigeons the trees look like they have leaves on them, well this year the most I have seen on this field was about ten, work that one out.

[pigeon controller]

Looking at the recent weather it has been dry and normally the wet weather rots the acorns in a few days. Inspecting yesterday the acorns were firm and fresh the ivy is green and black. This is a strange years so far and is not over !!!

[Morkin]

5 hours ago, pigeon controller said:

Looking at the recent weather it has been dry and normally the wet weather rots the acorns in a few days. Inspecting yesterday the acorns were firm and fresh the ivy is green and black. This is a strange years so far and is not over !!!

I HAVE GOT TO AGREE WITH YOU , Pigeon Controller, this is a different year 👍🤹.

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, Morkin said:

I HAVE GOT TO AGREE WITH YOU , Pigeon Controller, this is a different year 👍🤹.

I watched the program the other week about the beast from the east and the cold weather didn't start till around the 24 th Feb and ran through the first week in March so we have got time for another cold spell .

Last week I am sure there was some early Spring drillings being planted as there were several tractors working on the various fields .

[Penelope]

14 hours ago, marsh man said:

I watched the program the other week about the beast from the east and the cold weather didn't start till around the 24 th Feb and ran through the first week in March so we have got time for another cold spell .

Last week I am sure there was some early Spring drillings being planted as there were several tractors working on the various fields .

Someone I know who works on the gritting wagons, told me on Saturday, that his whole team have been put on high alert, and all the rotas sorted out for another 'Beast' coming in a week to 10 days time.

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, Penelope said:

Someone I know who works on the gritting wagons, told me on Saturday, that his whole team have been put on high alert, and all the rotas sorted out for another 'Beast' coming in a week to 10 days time.

Hi  Paul    Just looked at the forecast for the rest of this month and the lowest temp is 7 degrees ( not minus ) , so it's another case of wait and see , what they were saying that if we get a Summer similar to last year year then we could have some serious drought problems , one way or the other we don't go a single year now without getting some sort of a weather record . mind you we can't do much about it .

[old'un]

18 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Hi  Paul    Just looked at the forecast for the rest of this month and the lowest temp is 7 degrees ( not minus ) , so it's another case of wait and see , what they were saying that if we get a Summer similar to last year year then we could have some serious drought problems , one way or the other we don't go a single year now without getting some sort of a weather record . mind you we can't do much about it .

Don't talk silly, I am sat on the patio with a cup of tea and the thermometer on the garden wall is telling me its 70F in the sun, spring is here.

[Penelope]

2 hours ago, marsh man said:

Hi  Paul    Just looked at the forecast for the rest of this month and the lowest temp is 7 degrees ( not minus ) , so it's another case of wait and see , what they were saying that if we get a Summer similar to last year year then we could have some serious drought problems , one way or the other we don't go a single year now without getting some sort of a weather record . mind you we can't do much about it .

I was surprised when he mentioned it. All subject to wind direction, but then, all of our weather is.

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, old'un said:

Don't talk silly, I am sat on the patio with a cup of tea and the thermometer on the garden wall is telling me its 70F in the sun, spring is here.

You might not be far off old'un , we started off with fairly thick fog , then the sun dispersed it and it got out with clear Blue skies and not a breath of wind , this afternoon I killed two birds with one stone ( not Pigeons I might add ) , I dropped the wife off at the garden centre and then walked my dog down the foot paths that have got rape fields either sides , I think there would have been more chance of seeing the first Swallow of the early Summer weather than any movement of Pigeons as I saw a few get out of one of the trees and sweet f all on any of the rape fields , the famine continue's 

[old'un]

12 minutes ago, marsh man said:

You might not be far off old'un , we started off with fairly thick fog , then the sun dispersed it and it got out with clear Blue skies and not a breath of wind , this afternoon I killed two birds with one stone ( not Pigeons I might add ) , I dropped the wife off at the garden centre and then walked my dog down the foot paths that have got rape fields either sides , I think there would have been more chance of seeing the first Swallow of the early Summer weather than any movement of Pigeons as I saw a few get out of one of the trees and sweet f all on any of the rape fields , the famine continue's 

 

Yep, I did plan on going out today but when I seen the fog and how still it was I decided to stay home and do a bit of gardening (grass cutting) could not believe how warm it was and as you said about possible droughts this summer the garden is bone dry.

Might have a think about going out tomorrow as the weather looks a bit more promising, will see what its like in the morning.

The pigeons are on the ivy and acorns, well thats what everyone keeps telling me.

[kitchrat]

There are several mid-sized flocks round here, flitting from one field of rape to another, but we can't find where they are roosting. Maybe a dozen guns out in woods all over the place, all report 1 or 2 shot. the flocks elude us...

I think they are not going into woods, the traditional way, but are making do with any trees/hedges near their feed crops.

[old'un]

10 minutes ago, kitchrat said:

There are several mid-sized flocks round here, flitting from one field of rape to another, but we can't find where they are roosting. Maybe a dozen guns out in woods all over the place, all report 1 or 2 shot. the flocks elude us...

I think they are not going into woods, the traditional way, but are making do with any trees/hedges near their feed crops.

What's a mid sized flock and where’s round here?

[Morkin]

We have started putting rope bangers on one piece of rape this week because they have been fairly regular, I'm going to hope they stay for a little while so we can have a go.

[kitchrat]

On 14/02/2023 at 17:32, old'un said:

What's a mid sized flock and where’s round here?

100 to 150, rough guess of course, can't count that fast. Braintree, Essex

[marsh man]

On 14/02/2023 at 17:32, old'un said:

What's a mid sized flock and where’s round here?

What a contrast on Pigeon numbers on one estate , last night we had our end of season shoot meal and it was a good time to catch up what the fellow roost shooters managed to get the first week , to begin with the fist seven or eight who came and had a yarn were about on the same scale as me , ones and twos and nothing , this at first answered my fears that we just haven't got the numbers we would expect with all the food on offer , then the keepers boy came over and brought some good news , his boy who is 12 years old went decoying till dinnertime and then his dad took over till later on in the afternoon when he packed his gear up and went in the woods , the combine bag was around 40 , then he said about one of the boys who had been coming for years who hit the jackpot in the wood where he always go , he was saying the Pigeons came in more or less non stop all afternoon and he ended up picking up 41 , and would you believe his dad who is a very good shot went in a wood about half a mile away and ended up with 2 , he said the same as I did that it was as dead as a door nail , so it was like two teams , a A and B team and I was certainty around the bottom of the B team , having not had a shot last week I might even be a founder member of the C team and when I was at school that was as low as you could get , somehow or other I avoided that and spent just over three years in the B stream , now we will see what tomorrow have in store .

[mossy835]

so MM.how did your roost shooting go,i had 1 on one farm buy the pond and that was it the other farms nothing about,

Edited February 19, 2023 by mossy835

[Manymissedpigeon]

Been out twice this week up here in Yorkshire.plenty birds about but only showing intermittent interest in the o/s/r Didn’t even bother setting up yesterday ( Saturday) as the only decent numbers were in the wooded areas around some decimated maize game crops, and I know the local shoot beaters, and one or two game shooters, roost shoot these woods every Saturday evening from early February through till mid March so I keep away.

One point of interest maybe, on the newest gas guns , usually mounted on tripod legs and using wi fi remote control, DONT disconnect the battery, only turn off the gas. Had one farmer had a moan at me and seems that it totally ******* up the memory and can’t be reset from his phone and he was away  on his holidays!! Anyway, the beans are ‘supposedly’ going in early this year so maybe in the next couple of weeks for the pigeon attraction then a couple of weeks following that for the crows.