Another red letter day

[FOXHUNTER1]

After shooting my personal best on Thursday, farmer called to say that the pigeons were still on the wheat.

So I decided to have another look yesterday. I set up at 12pm and there wasnt many birds about but I hoped they would switch on later. By 6pm I was going to pack in so I had a count up and had 93 birds , so obviously I had to stay and get the 100 which I did pretty quickly. 

7pm and the magic switch was turned on , the birds needed to feed and every bird dropped into the decoys with determination. I couldnt get away and shot the last bird at 8.45pm , finishing on 168.

Another fantastic day 😁

[Weihrauch17]

Great day but what did you do with them.  My friend and I used to sell to two Pubs but they have changed hands and will now only take from Game dealers (lesser quality as they were dressed and delivered within a day of being shot).  We only shoot now for personal use or for friends, I would never dump them in a hedge. We have far less shooting as a result which is a shame.

[FOXHUNTER1]

I have no outlet for them so unfortunately they are left to feed the local wildlife. 

I shoot purely for crop protection and farmer is happy with that.

[Weihrauch17]

Just now, FOXHUNTER1 said:

I have no outlet for them so unfortunately they are left to feed the local wildlife. 

I shoot purely for crop protection and farmer is happy with that.

Fair enough, thanks for the honesty and I fully understand you both having that logic.

[Ultrastu]

Personally . when I  shoot over standing crop (as is at the moment ) I don't tend to make big bags .maybe 10 at the most .as its pure crop protection  I don't take these birds home . I only pick the obvious  easy to find birds  the rest are left for the abundance of foxes .(farmer prefers them to have a free pigeon meal instead of his chickens  ) away from the farm . Later over stubbles where I can make a bigger dent in the numbers and can pick them quickly . These go home and into the freezer .as it makes more sense to me to butcher 20 + birds at once than the one 1 or 2 at a time .

Again farmer is happy with this approach. Between myself and my mate at the mo,  we maybe have a few shots 3 - 4 times a week  over the crop this keeps the birds from getting into to much of a routine  and doing a lot of damage  .it is crop protection  first and foremost  .

Ps excellent  bag over laid crop .i must stay out later .

[FOXHUNTER1]

I have never shot birds this late before but certainly worth waiting for that final feeding frenzy.

[JDog]

Well done Foxhunter. Two memorable days.

[pigeon controller]

Well done, I told you it would b the first of many, great result.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, well done 👍, what are you doing with the shot pigeon, I see reports of good numbers but I hope there not just thrown away, 

Edited July 18, 2023 by oldypigeonpopper

[FOXHUNTER1]

3 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, well done 👍, what are you doing with the shot pigeon, I see reports of good numbers but I hope there not just thrown away, 

See above reply.

[BinaryB]

Nothing at all wrong with that in my book. It’s purely a crop protection exercise. I’ve done exactly the same. It’s unfortunate but pigeon isn’t that desirable as a wild meat.

If this was a crow problem no one would bat an eye. It’s no different in my book. Keep up the good work. 

[FOXHUNTER1]

40 minutes ago, BinaryB said:

Nothing at all wrong with that in my book. It’s purely a crop protection exercise. I’ve done exactly the same. It’s unfortunate but pigeon isn’t that desirable as a wild meat.

If this was a crow problem no one would bat an eye. It’s no different in my book. Keep up the good work. 

Exactly this , it's pure and simple crop protection.  I dont like pigeon meat either.