I'm not doing that again

[Accuspell]

I noticed on the farm that a large patch of the winter barley (Maris Otter for thatching straw and malting) had gone down and there were some pigeons on the wires... I got the nets and decoys out and set up the hide with 4 nets for thickness and roof with the final net being desert camo to give the yellowy finish so it didn't stand out like a dark lump in the field. I managed to shoot 13 in about 3 hours for 27 cartridges. There were lots more birds coming in but I am not a great shotgun shot and have to pick easy ones, and I also have to temper how many times I fire for the sake of my shoulder, even with the gas recoil system soaking up most of it. The birds I did shoot were proper 'explosions of feathers' that somesaulted with a trail of feathers.. The 3 I managed to pick were the ones that landed on the flattened crop, those that came down in the standing crop I couldn't find a single one, despite the trace of feathers on the ears of barley and me marking the shot and going out to fetch each one immediately. I felt aweful, what a waste and I hope it doesn't clog the combine in a few weeks time. That is the last time I shoot on a flattened crop unless it is a really huge area so the birds don't get lost in the standing straws. I am not going trampling through our valuable crop to pick them if I can't find them easily. I shall wait until it is stubble and make do with my 5 or 6 that I normally shoot in a entire day. It was good shooting by my standard, but not a good result.

[PeterHenry]

That's a very reflective approach that I can sympathise with.

I tend to try and figure out a flight line and decoy them somewhere more appropriate nearby - but it is crop protection after all....

[Scully]

It won’t make a bit of difference to the combine or the crop; as a farming mate once said to me…’if it’s bigger than a grain of barley, it ain’t going through.’

[Ultrastu]

Foxes and badgers will have cleared it all in a couple  of days .better to feed them than walk about in it doing more damage than the birds. 

 

[jall25]

I know how you feel anout waste but thats why the birds are on the licence - to protect the crop 

[simcgunner]

find a mate with a dog.

 

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, jall25 said:

I know how you feel anout waste but thats why the birds are on the licence - to protect the crop 

I feel exactly the same when it come to waste , crop protection may be , but it also state on the G L that even on crops you need to try non lethal methods in the first place , and at a rough guess , how many birds are dead when they hit the deck , we all like to stretch our barrels from time to time because lets face it , we are there for the sport while protecting the crop at the same time .

I am not what you would call a good shot , or come to that a bad shot , through many , many years of decoying I would say I now average around two out of three over decoys , out of the three I would say at least one is not fully dead when my dog bring the shot Pigeon back , this can be all but dead to a very lively wing tip , so it wouldn't be so much as leaving a bird behind what you can't find , to me it would be about leaving a wounded bird behind because it come under the heading , crop protection . 

[oowee]

57 minutes ago, marsh man said:

 G L that even on crops you need to try non lethal methods in the first place , and at a rough guess , how many birds are dead when they hit the deck , we all like to stretch our barrels from time to time because lets face it , we are there for the sport while protecting the crop at the same time .

You are not required by the GL to use alternative methods where they are impractical, in effective, or disproportionate. 

[jall25]

1 hour ago, simcgunner said:

find a mate with a dog.

 

In Barley 

 

Not a good idea - the awns are very spikey and can damage a dogs eyes, ears and respiratory tracks 

[jall25]

1 hour ago, marsh man said:

I feel exactly the same when it come to waste , crop protection may be , but it also state on the G L that even on crops you need to try non lethal methods in the first place , and at a rough guess , how many birds are dead when they hit the deck , we all like to stretch our barrels from time to time because lets face it , we are there for the sport while protecting the crop at the same time .

I am not what you would call a good shot , or come to that a bad shot , through many , many years of decoying I would say I now average around two out of three over decoys , out of the three I would say at least one is not fully dead when my dog bring the shot Pigeon back , this can be all but dead to a very lively wing tip , so it wouldn't be so much as leaving a bird behind what you can't find , to me it would be about leaving a wounded bird behind because it come under the heading , crop protection . 

Totally feel the same way - Im the man who spends 5/6 hours and walks 8/9 miles on a Sunday after our syndicate shoot trying to account for every bird - obviously i cant - because of the cover / the river or the foxes , badgers and birds of prey - but i do try.

The only time when i do shoot and leave though is if a patch in the middle of a field has been laid and has been getting hammered - as above i will try and pick in the tramlines - will always try and find a known wounded birds - but birds do get left. 

maybe the OP could find the flightline to the field and shoot them flighting to it - rather than on it - Thats what i always try to do first. I have also had some success when crops are laid a bit later in the season with shooting over a water source

[simcgunner]

11 hours ago, jall25 said:

In Barley 

 

Not a good idea - the awns are very spikey and can damage a dogs eyes, ears and respiratory tracks 

good point my dog has eye protection but nothing for respiratory.