old'un Posted February 15, 2023 Report Share Posted February 15, 2023 did my rounds today as the weather looked more promising, well again most fields were totally void of pigeons but I did notice a little more in the way of movement in certain areas, only fields with any numbers (150-200) were the motorway field (again) and two others, one being about a mile from the M5 and the other 4 miles west of the motorway, this one looked the most promising with birds coming from two directions, they had also returned within a short time after I had walked them off twice, well just over two hours looking into an empty sky….cartridges fired 3, kills 3, 100% kill ratio, so my shooting as improved. The highlight of the day was when I pulled up at the second field with about 150 pigeons in the trees and on the rape…..not 50 yards from the gate was a Peregrine sat on a lone branch of a dead tree, looking through the binoculars I could see its head bobbing up and down and looking in the direction of these pigeons, then it took off in the opposite direction but climbed rapidly then it did a quick turn and headed at some speed towards the pigeons, the pigeons spotted it about fifty yards out and all hell broke lose, clattering out the trees and lifting off the field the Peregrine pursued them all around the field and along the spinney at the bottom of the field, it dived at the pigeons, missed and then climbed and came in for another go, this went on for about five or six minutes and without a kill the Peregrine landed in a tree the far side of the field, fantastic to watch and the speed of some of its dives were unbelievably, best six minutes of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted February 15, 2023 Report Share Posted February 15, 2023 3 for 3 beats nil for the bird! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 15, 2023 Report Share Posted February 15, 2023 That is some seriously impressive shooting old'un , my average over the two weeks roost shooting is 50% , the first week I had two shots and killed one Pigeon and last Saturday I took home the amount of shells I took out in the first place . At the moment I am getting as much luck getting Pigeons as the Peregrine you were watching , still sooner or later our luck will change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgsontour Posted February 15, 2023 Report Share Posted February 15, 2023 If I get a kill with my 1st shot I tend to pack up for the rest of the day. . . . . consequently I have had plenty days at 100% lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good shot? Posted February 15, 2023 Report Share Posted February 15, 2023 It’s a bit like fishing, I used to find if I caught a fish with my first cast it usually meant a downward trajectory for the rest of the session. I also experience the same when shooting.😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted February 15, 2023 Report Share Posted February 15, 2023 Great stuff! Enjoyed the read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Some times just watching natural nature just makes your day. Nice report! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted February 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 One thing that was very evident yesterday was how dry the fields were, walking the field there were cracks in the soil that you usually see in the summer, think it was marsh man who mentioned something about a drought? Dont know what its like in the rest of the country but round here the fields are very dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 According to the weatherman last night we have now gone 19 days without any rain , we did get a little sprinkling during the night but the sun is now coming out again and everywhere have dried out. Down the marsh this morning I recon the splashes of water are drying out three to four weeks earlier than normal as they don't normally start drying out till we get the warmer winds in March . We might have got away with power cuts throughout the Winter, but will we get away with hose pipe bans in the coming Summer ? ,only time will tell . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgsontour Posted February 18, 2023 Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 On 15/02/2023 at 17:07, old'un said: did my rounds today as the weather looked more promising, well again most fields were totally void of pigeons but I did notice a little more in the way of movement in certain areas, only fields with any numbers (150-200) were the motorway field (again) and two others, one being about a mile from the M5 and the other 4 miles west of the motorway, this one looked the most promising with birds coming from two directions, they had also returned within a short time after I had walked them off twice, well just over two hours looking into an empty sky….cartridges fired 3, kills 3, 100% kill ratio, so my shooting as improved. The highlight of the day was when I pulled up at the second field with about 150 pigeons in the trees and on the rape…..not 50 yards from the gate was a Peregrine sat on a lone branch of a dead tree, looking through the binoculars I could see its head bobbing up and down and looking in the direction of these pigeons, then it took off in the opposite direction but climbed rapidly then it did a quick turn and headed at some speed towards the pigeons, the pigeons spotted it about fifty yards out and all hell broke lose, clattering out the trees and lifting off the field the Peregrine pursued them all around the field and along the spinney at the bottom of the field, it dived at the pigeons, missed and then climbed and came in for another go, this went on for about five or six minutes and without a kill the Peregrine landed in a tree the far side of the field, fantastic to watch and the speed of some of its dives were unbelievably, best six minutes of the day. Went out today and first shot 1 bird, then 2 for 2 and thought of your post on here, however, the ratio went down hill after that but had a great mornings sport, the dog enjoyed it and a siesta this afternoon; not a bad Saturday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
243deer Posted February 18, 2023 Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 Seeing the peregrine and its antics - priceless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted February 18, 2023 Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 At least you found some to shoot at, the most I’ve found is groups of fifteen to twenty and they were on rape under oak trees Good luck with you quest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted February 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, mgsontour said: Went out today and first shot 1 bird, then 2 for 2 and thought of your post on here, however, the ratio went down hill after that but had a great mornings sport, the dog enjoyed it and a siesta this afternoon; not a bad Saturday So come on then how many did you shoot? 2 hours ago, pigeon controller said: At least you found some to shoot at, the most I’ve found is groups of fifteen to twenty and they were on rape under oak trees Good luck with you quest. You and your bloody acorns, its your fault they are on them and I’ve started having nightmares about them now. Edited February 18, 2023 by old'un Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted February 18, 2023 Report Share Posted February 18, 2023 32 minutes ago, pigeon controller said: At least you found some to shoot at, the most I’ve found is groups of fifteen to twenty and they were on rape under oak trees Good luck with you quest. I must say PC, I’m amazed I’ve not seen your usual winter reports of consistent numbers with the odd big day mixed in! Very odd how low the numbers have been on my patch this winter, as usual some are shooting good bags but doesn’t seem so widespread? Seen a good few on some topped maize covers but on game shoots so obviously a no go. Not hitting the rape at all though thus far! Fingers crossed they turn up for you PC 👍🏼 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgsontour Posted February 20, 2023 Report Share Posted February 20, 2023 On 18/02/2023 at 18:04, old'un said: So come on then how many did you shoot? You and your bloody acorns, its your fault they are on them and I’ve started having nightmares about them now. 14 pigeons, 2 crows and about 30 shots , it was windy and good fun. I normally use 1/2 and 3/4 chokes but went for 3/4 and full due to the wind and in my humble shooting capacity I considered a few of my shots were aces so happy enough few hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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