How do you deal with migrants?

[JDog]

On Friday afternoon I spent an hour just sitting in my car watching 500 pigeons cavorting between two stubble fields. Those pigeons were not there two days earlier.

Yesterday armed to the teeth I returned to shoot a few. Again I watched and I couldn't make sense of what I was seeing so I didn't bother setting up.

I am in the same place as I write this. The pigeons are still here but they rise and fall as a flock and I consider them to be unshootable. 

The alternative plan is cocktails for my wife and pints of Wadworths 6x for me in the local pub. I will decide in half an hour.

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, no contest Jd, a nice afternoon in the pub for 2👍

[eggy74]

are you not there to protect the crop?

[JDog]

10 minutes ago, eggy74 said:

are you not there to protect the crop?

No crop. Stubble is stubble. Four fields of OSR have been sprayed off due to flea beetle damage. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by JDog

[marsh man]

3 hours ago, JDog said:

No crop. Stubble is stubble. Four fields of OSR have been sprayed off due to flea beetle damage. 

Yesterday afternoon I went out after a spot of lunch just to take my dog for a walk and have a look at three fields of rape that don't look to good , loads of areas with short growth or no growth at at all , pulling up to the wood there were several Pigeons got out which is normally a good sign that there are Pigeons about , then getting to the first field I could see a good few 100 on the stubble that is showing in the middle of the field , the next also had a lot on although some of them might had been what I disturbed off the first field and it was also the same on the next one , however many there were on these three fields they were certainly more than I had seen throughout the growing period during the Summer and then on the stubbles , this was around half past two and time I walked round there was hardly a Pigeon in sight , now the clocks have changed you would need to be shooting from mid morning till mid afternoon , after that you might as well pack up and get home before it get dark .    MM

[yickdaz]

I've had the same scenario a few times one time in November about 5 years ago  there was over  2000 pigeons on 2 old stubbles next to each other I got out the car they all lifted I watched with my mouth open as they all disappeared into the distance I set up not a one came back they were definitely migrant birds because they hadn't been around in previous weeks  they are so hard to do anything with 

[old'un]

5 hours ago, yickdaz said:

I've had the same scenario a few times one time in November about 5 years ago  there was over  2000 pigeons on 2 old stubbles next to each other I got out the car they all lifted I watched with my mouth open as they all disappeared into the distance I set up not a one came back they were definitely migrant birds because they hadn't been around in previous weeks  they are so hard to do anything with 

Beginners mistake.

[enfieldspares]

Shoot their flight line? With but just two, three or four decoys set up as they are tired birds that have just landed to take a break?

[Cranfield]

I have witnessed this scenario on quite a few early Winters in the past.
Abnormally large flocks for our area, usually a few thousand and very spooky.
When disturbed they take off and fly very high (for pigeons), this makes me think they are migrants.
They usually are around for a couple of weeks and then disappear, I assumed they broke up and/or probably moved up country.