old'un Posted January 10 Report Share Posted January 10 Out Monday, shot a dozen on some rape but it was hard work. Today, Wednesday ideal conditions, looked at half a dozen fields, some that were rape in the past and always had good numbers, not a bird, eventually found about 200 sat in the trees at the front of an 80 acre wood, there are two 30 acre rape fields next to each other, one field runs up-to the wood and birds started dropping down onto the field so a long walk was needed to walk them off, they lifted and landed at the far end of the wood, within fifteen minutes they started coming back but this time the other end of the field so I walked the length of the field and eventually they spotted me and lifted and disappeared into the distance, got back to the car and watched it for over an hour and not a bird returned, it was a frustrating day but could not help noticing the lack of birds over a fairly wide area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted January 10 Report Share Posted January 10 Well done for getting out and trying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunny_blaster Posted January 10 Report Share Posted January 10 I never bother setting up for birds that are just playing follow the leader out of trees. Like you said they just ****** off and don’t return Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 10 Author Report Share Posted January 10 Just now, bunny_blaster said: I never bother setting up for birds that are just playing follow the leader out of trees. Like you said they just ****** off and don’t return Yep, that's why I did not setup, seen it so many times before, like i said, frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clangerman Posted January 10 Report Share Posted January 10 definitely frustrating at present birds here hardly move after short morning feed spend most of the day sunbathing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 10 Report Share Posted January 10 4 hours ago, old'un said: Out Monday, shot a dozen on some rape but it was hard work. Today, Wednesday ideal conditions, looked at half a dozen fields, some that were rape in the past and always had good numbers, not a bird, eventually found about 200 sat in the trees at the front of an 80 acre wood, there are two 30 acre rape fields next to each other, one field runs up-to the wood and birds started dropping down onto the field so a long walk was needed to walk them off, they lifted and landed at the far end of the wood, within fifteen minutes they started coming back but this time the other end of the field so I walked the length of the field and eventually they spotted me and lifted and disappeared into the distance, got back to the car and watched it for over an hour and not a bird returned, it was a frustrating day but could not help noticing the lack of birds over a fairly wide area. Well think about the amount of exercise you are getting with all this walking you are getting , a lot of people would love to be able to do it at our age , we had a shoot last Saturday and we saw more Woodcock than Pigeons with not a single Pigeon in the days bag . very unusual as we normally get the odd one or two on the afternoon drives when we push the woods out. MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jall25 Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 7 hours ago, marsh man said: Well think about the amount of exercise you are getting with all this walking you are getting , a lot of people would love to be able to do it at our age , we had a shoot last Saturday and we saw more Woodcock than Pigeons with not a single Pigeon in the days bag . very unusual as we normally get the odd one or two on the afternoon drives when we push the woods out. MM Thats like us MM - we usually account for half a dozen but not one on Saturday Then yesterday i was feeding and the wood was moving with pigeon everywhere Very strange Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 Quiet here on the rape, untouched so far really. To be fair I’ve not shot a good bag on rape for some years now, but they all come out of the woodwork in the spring. A roosting flightline i shoot every year is always busiest in December then drops off, shot 55 in just over an hour on the best afternoon this time which is the most I’ve ever shot there…..but they certainly weren’t coming off rape ! Always amazes me how some shoot bigger numbers on rape in other areas, but that’s pigeons for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 A few fields of rape around here with no sign of pigeon activity whatsoever. It will remain like that until they have finished off the ivy berries in the woods and hedgerows. The few that I shot yesterday in a small wood local to me were crammed with ivy berries. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 11 Author Report Share Posted January 11 16 minutes ago, Old Boggy said: A few fields of rape around here with no sign of pigeon activity whatsoever. It will remain like that until they have finished off the ivy berries in the woods and hedgerows. The few that I shot yesterday in a small wood local to me were crammed with ivy berries. OB what birds I have found were feeding on the rape, plenty of ivy berries about, as there is most years but they are not on them in any numbers, all the birds I shot Monday had only rape in them. At the minute there just does not seem to-be any numbers about, think the 200 birds I seen on Wednesday was the most I have seen this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 1 hour ago, old'un said: what birds I have found were feeding on the rape, plenty of ivy berries about, as there is most years but they are not on them in any numbers, all the birds I shot Monday had only rape in them. At the minute there just does not seem to-be any numbers about, think the 200 birds I seen on Wednesday was the most I have seen this year It must be a regional thing with what pigeons are currently feeding on. The only large numbers I have seen were feeding on a field off sunflowers, sown (I think) as a nitrogen fixing crop. However, this small field was unshootable due to nearness of a road and with a footpath running across it. It was also attracting a large flock of stock doves. I`m quite happy at the moment getting a few (actually reached double figures yesterday) in a couple of small woods near me whilst they are still on ivy berries. Just gun, cartridges and a seat, with no lugging of decoys, rotary etc. when decoying over rape, with possibly similar (or less) bags. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavG Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 I've been reading this thread with interest. I'm very much a newbie pigeon shooter (lifetime shooting clays). I got another permission a week ago from a farmer with 7 rape fields all in one block. (approx 300 acres total) I'm in Essex. The pigeons are hitting certain areas within the rape fields hardish. All the areas close to trees and power lines are getting hit. I've been watching the fields for a good part of the day, every day over the last week. Typical situations. 1. Pigeons arrive in dribs and drabs at first light sit in trees for a bit then drop backwards and forwards feeding close to the trees. One bang and there gone for at least half a day. 2. Watched the fields for a few days spotted a flight line from the woods where they landed straight onto a field at first light. This flight line was in operation for two days now seems to have dried up or changed to different time of day. 3. Flocks of 100-200 arrive at certain times, however they don't seem to be any pattern to where they will hit and what field. 4. Today for the first time came across serious numbers. Drove up the lane at 8:15am for a recce when a large flock circled and dropped onto a corner of a field. Literally turned a corner of field blue. Jumped out of my car and flapped my arms and chased them off. A few arrived back into that field late morning to sit in the trees, there was one or two small flocks arrived back into this field mid morning although there did not seem to be a particular flight into the field or there feeding area. Being keen over the last week I've had my gun on his fields 4 days now. I've set up a hide and decoys a couple of times, no birds decoyed hence none shot. I've had more success walking around hiding myself under a tree and shooting a few that land. I've had four this way. I had a bit of success yesterday went for a walk with my gun. (windy day) Fired a shell to move a flock from the trees, this got them really flighting and they were continuously following a loop round the fields. Managed to find a flight line, hid myself behind a bush and shot 17 in an hour. QUESTIONS 1. When you have 7 rape fields together is this more difficult to shoot than one rape surrounded by other crops? My experience pigeons are jumping from field to field. Also with 7 fields it is difficult to flag off the fields I'm not shooting that day. Also farmer has flagged of all the areas hit on each field although I don't think this is working. 2. My decoying so far consists of 2 floaters and 30 decoys. SHOULD I INVEST in a Rotary. Will this be MY SAVIOR and pull in the birds from the other end of the Field? My reservation on rotary is the thought of humping the extra gear half a mile to discover it still doesn't work and I'm in the wrong place! 3. Under the circumstances are these pigeons still not hitting this fields hard enough to achieve any sort of bag decoying? 4. As far as I'm aware I'm the only person shooting these fields (previous two guys gave this up due to health). To achieve success do you need two or three shooters spread across several fields to keep them moving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 12 Author Report Share Posted January 12 10 hours ago, GavG said: I've been reading this thread with interest. I'm very much a newbie pigeon shooter (lifetime shooting clays). I got another permission a week ago from a farmer with 7 rape fields all in one block. (approx 300 acres total) I'm in Essex. The pigeons are hitting certain areas within the rape fields hardish. All the areas close to trees and power lines are getting hit. I've been watching the fields for a good part of the day, every day over the last week. Typical situations. 1. Pigeons arrive in dribs and drabs at first light sit in trees for a bit then drop backwards and forwards feeding close to the trees. One bang and there gone for at least half a day. 2. Watched the fields for a few days spotted a flight line from the woods where they landed straight onto a field at first light. This flight line was in operation for two days now seems to have dried up or changed to different time of day. 3. Flocks of 100-200 arrive at certain times, however they don't seem to be any pattern to where they will hit and what field. 4. Today for the first time came across serious numbers. Drove up the lane at 8:15am for a recce when a large flock circled and dropped onto a corner of a field. Literally turned a corner of field blue. Jumped out of my car and flapped my arms and chased them off. A few arrived back into that field late morning to sit in the trees, there was one or two small flocks arrived back into this field mid morning although there did not seem to be a particular flight into the field or there feeding area. Being keen over the last week I've had my gun on his fields 4 days now. I've set up a hide and decoys a couple of times, no birds decoyed hence none shot. I've had more success walking around hiding myself under a tree and shooting a few that land. I've had four this way. I had a bit of success yesterday went for a walk with my gun. (windy day) Fired a shell to move a flock from the trees, this got them really flighting and they were continuously following a loop round the fields. Managed to find a flight line, hid myself behind a bush and shot 17 in an hour. QUESTIONS 1. When you have 7 rape fields together is this more difficult to shoot than one rape surrounded by other crops? My experience pigeons are jumping from field to field. Also with 7 fields it is difficult to flag off the fields I'm not shooting that day. Also farmer has flagged of all the areas hit on each field although I don't think this is working. 2. My decoying so far consists of 2 floaters and 30 decoys. SHOULD I INVEST in a Rotary. Will this be MY SAVIOR and pull in the birds from the other end of the Field? My reservation on rotary is the thought of humping the extra gear half a mile to discover it still doesn't work and I'm in the wrong place! 3. Under the circumstances are these pigeons still not hitting this fields hard enough to achieve any sort of bag decoying? 4. As far as I'm aware I'm the only person shooting these fields (previous two guys gave this up due to health). To achieve success do you need two or three shooters spread across several fields to keep them moving? 300 acres is a big area for one gun to cover, if you cannot pin them down to one area within that 300 acres you are going to struggle, a rotary is a great aid for pulling birds but it only works if you can get somewhere near a flight line, will more guns work? It might, but more likely you will all be staring at an empty sky for most of the day, but never say never, pigeons can surprise you sometimes. I could suggest putting rope bangers over most of the 300 acres but that would be a big job and expensive. Last year I had a 95 acre field that was rape, I spent more time trying to keep them off other parts of the field than I did shooting the bloody things. It sounds like you are having some success travelling light and moving around the fields, I would continue with this approach until you start to see some pattern to the birds. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 29 minutes ago, old'un said: 300 acres is a big area for one gun to cover, if you cannot pin them down to one area within that 300 acres you are going to struggle, a rotary is a great aid for pulling birds but it only works if you can get somewhere near a flight line, will more guns work? It might, but more likely you will all be staring at an empty sky for most of the day, but never say never, pigeons can surprise you sometimes. I could suggest putting rope bangers over most of the 300 acres but that would be a big job and expensive. Last year I had a 95 acre field that was rape, I spent more time trying to keep them off other parts of the field than I did shooting the bloody things. It sounds like you are having some success travelling light and moving around the fields, I would continue with this approach until you start to see some pattern to the birds. Good luck. All sound advice , as soon as a large area like 300 acres is mentioned then straight away you know the person involved is up against it , he or she will be spending more time walking small , medium and large numbers off the fields than he will be shooting . When rape was first introduced in our area, it was to begin with in fairly small quantities , the odd field here and another one maybe a mile or so away , this was our ( glory ) times and big numbers were made fairly easily , we were also led to believe that once a pigeon started to eat rape they quickly became drugged on the stuff and returned to the rape fields day after day , how right this was ? , I am not that sure but what I do know was a bad day then would have been a very good day now , we hear a lot of when a person arrive at a field and he say the field was Blue with Pigeons , I haven't seen a field that was Blue since those early days on the rape maybe 40 / 50 odd years ago and sadly for us I do not think those days will ever return . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 12 Author Report Share Posted January 12 27 minutes ago, marsh man said: All sound advice , as soon as a large area like 300 acres is mentioned then straight away you know the person involved is up against it , he or she will be spending more time walking small , medium and large numbers off the fields than he will be shooting . When rape was first introduced in our area, it was to begin with in fairly small quantities , the odd field here and another one maybe a mile or so away , this was our ( glory ) times and big numbers were made fairly easily , we were also led to believe that once a pigeon started to eat rape they quickly became drugged on the stuff and returned to the rape fields day after day , how right this was ? , I am not that sure but what I do know was a bad day then would have been a very good day now , we hear a lot of when a person arrive at a field and he say the field was Blue with Pigeons , I haven't seen a field that was Blue since those early days on the rape maybe 40 / 50 odd years ago and sadly for us I do not think those days will ever return . MM Yep, I remember those days in the 70s early 80s when as you say thousands of birds hitting the rape, although it was hard to judge, I remember (early 70s) getting to a field after a call from a farmer saying there were thousands of pigeons on his rape, when they got up off the field and surrounding trees the sky almost went dark, at a rough guess there must have been somewhere between 5 and 7 thousand birds in the sky, the most birds I have ever seen on one field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellors Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 Hi. It's a huge task 300 acres. More important to be seen on the ground now you've got it. As has been said above but maybe drop some 6 ft garden canes a couple of hide nets in a plastic bag and clips at the furthest points then travel light with a seat, flapper, battery and a few decoys. You can move around as required then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 12 Author Report Share Posted January 12 Why as this thread on my two days about shooting pigeons been moved from “Talk From The Field” to “Pigeon Shooting Tips” ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavG Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 Thanks guys for the advise. Yes I agree the most important thing is to be mobile so I can move them off and shoot. I've been on his land all today, arrived just before first light. A large flock arrived on one of his fields, immediately moved them and they flew onto the next field then moved them from this. At the other end of the block pigeons were arriving in this field so up I went and I pushed them off. Walked round the fields surrounded by trees and pushed them off either with my presence or a cartridge or two. At this stage it was 10 o'clock so I put up my hide, decoys and a couple of floaters. Sat there until 12:00 in that time I managed to shoot 4, although I felt that I needed to move hide slightly to improve things. While in the hide flocks arrived in the next field or three which I was able to move with a cartridge or two. By 12.30 in the interest of overall crop protection (rather than faffing about in the hide while they ate his other fields) it was time to go for a walk as they were starting to sit in trees on neighbouring fields. Walked right round all the fields to move them from the trees, didn't really see any on the rape until I got to the last field when a large flock rose from the corner. Watched this flock head back to the big woods about a half mile away. I waited at the edge of the block for them to return however they seemed to be gone for the day. I can't be everywhere at the same time however while walking around in the morning, getting the binocs out all day, I felt I'd kept them off the crop for pretty much all day. I would like to think that if I hadn't been there today they would of done more damage! I've just retired so I've plenty of time, hence been up there all day for the last week. (since I got this permission). The farm manager seems a real nice guy and seems to appreciate my help as he gave me a slab of cartridges on my third day up there! I'll be up there not shooting however chasing them off tomorrow and Sunday. Back up there with my gun next week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 I hope the Farmer appreciates your efforts. It should stand you in good stead for the future. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 12 Author Report Share Posted January 12 Yep, he as obviously been watching your efforts and rewarded you, keep on doing what you are doing and you may see a pattern starting to emerge which may help you decide where to setup for a day but with 300 acres to cover you will have your work cut out. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavG Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 I'll put my best effort into it and hopefully learn something from it. I've shot all my life on clays and game and feel I can shoot them, just lacking in the field craft. You can watch all the YouTube Videos however you need to get out there! I've got a mate who's done years of pigeon shooting who is interested in a days shooting. I am sure the farmer when asked will be open to him joining me for a two pronged attack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 You are certainly keen and I am sure the owner, or his farm manager is taking note , problem is as far as making a bag of Pigeons that YOU could be your worst enemy , you cannot keep walking them off everyday with firing the odd cartridge here and there and then expect them to come sailing into your decoys after the daily disturbance , shooting a bag might be possible if one of the fields is out of the way and that one is left alone while you are keeping them off the other fields , it might be different to you if you have only obtained permission , where I wouldn't be there all day as a bird scare'r , I really want to go on a field where they come a short while after I have walked them off , if they don't come back in say half an hour then I move on to look somewhere else . You will often find in your early days on a new perm that you rush the set up and you find you might well be in the wrong place , the more time you spend on your fields you will start getting it right in various wind conditions and this alone will help you getting a bigger bag and will save time moving later on during the day , this will take time but try and go where the pigeons are going and not where you want to go , GOOD LUCK and enjoy your retirement MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 On 11/01/2024 at 21:40, GavG said: I've been reading this thread with interest. I'm very much a newbie pigeon shooter (lifetime shooting clays). I got another permission a week ago from a farmer with 7 rape fields all in one block. (approx 300 acres total) I'm in Essex. The pigeons are hitting certain areas within the rape fields hardish. All the areas close to trees and power lines are getting hit. I've been watching the fields for a good part of the day, every day over the last week. Typical situations. 1. Pigeons arrive in dribs and drabs at first light sit in trees for a bit then drop backwards and forwards feeding close to the trees. One bang and there gone for at least half a day. 2. Watched the fields for a few days spotted a flight line from the woods where they landed straight onto a field at first light. This flight line was in operation for two days now seems to have dried up or changed to different time of day. 3. Flocks of 100-200 arrive at certain times, however they don't seem to be any pattern to where they will hit and what field. 4. Today for the first time came across serious numbers. Drove up the lane at 8:15am for a recce when a large flock circled and dropped onto a corner of a field. Literally turned a corner of field blue. Jumped out of my car and flapped my arms and chased them off. A few arrived back into that field late morning to sit in the trees, there was one or two small flocks arrived back into this field mid morning although there did not seem to be a particular flight into the field or there feeding area. Being keen over the last week I've had my gun on his fields 4 days now. I've set up a hide and decoys a couple of times, no birds decoyed hence none shot. I've had more success walking around hiding myself under a tree and shooting a few that land. I've had four this way. I had a bit of success yesterday went for a walk with my gun. (windy day) Fired a shell to move a flock from the trees, this got them really flighting and they were continuously following a loop round the fields. Managed to find a flight line, hid myself behind a bush and shot 17 in an hour. QUESTIONS 1. When you have 7 rape fields together is this more difficult to shoot than one rape surrounded by other crops? My experience pigeons are jumping from field to field. Also with 7 fields it is difficult to flag off the fields I'm not shooting that day. Also farmer has flagged of all the areas hit on each field although I don't think this is working. 2. My decoying so far consists of 2 floaters and 30 decoys. SHOULD I INVEST in a Rotary. Will this be MY SAVIOR and pull in the birds from the other end of the Field? My reservation on rotary is the thought of humping the extra gear half a mile to discover it still doesn't work and I'm in the wrong place! 3. Under the circumstances are these pigeons still not hitting this fields hard enough to achieve any sort of bag decoying? 4. As far as I'm aware I'm the only person shooting these fields (previous two guys gave this up due to health). To achieve success do you need two or three shooters spread across several fields to keep them moving? Typical Essex Birds behaviour when they are not that hungry. I'm near Braintree and you describe the situation well. Answers to your questions, to the best of my ability: 1) flags have very little effect after the 1st day or two, it just makes the pigeons walk round them. A huge kite does work better but you need good wind. For 300 acres over 7 fields you would need several and would spend more time servicing them than shooting! 2) a rotary is almost a must but will not be your savoir! It will attract attention them and they will come and have a look but at the moment they are not convinced by my decoys and will not commit. Not flaring away as if they were scared, just "Thanks but no thanks". What does attract them is seeing 100's of pigeons feeding or flock-stringing onto a field. Otherwise they sit in the trees as you describe. Even then, you need to be in the right place, where they are at least semi-expecting to feed. 3) They are not committed enough yet but with this cold snap things are starting to change, they are coming back sooner and hitting the crop quicker. 4) Yes, several guns might help, if they are hungry enough to want to come back (ready to assist if you are near Braintree!!). Rape is not (in my opinion) their food of choice, if other stuff is available and they are not hungry, they just have a snack to top-up or because others are feeding and they are greedy. Often, the flock hits a field but all leave on their own accord, after 10-15 minutes, never to return. However, I did get a good bag (about 100) on a rape field back in November, but they were actually feeding on the buck wheat which had been sown as a companion crop. They weren't hungry, but piled in after the buck wheat anyway. No rape in their crops. MY Question: What decoys are you using? My rotary and floater with real birds on, plus 18 flocked, half-shell decoys are not working, yet. Real birds always work better but I cannot face dragging 20 dead birds, plus magnet, battery, hide, decoys ammo etc across the crop. Truck transport is usually a big no-no, not like the blokes you see on TV, who can drive there with all the stuff etc. I hope this helps, Cheers, Kitchrat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 Just read Marsh Man's comments and he is dead right. You need to let them get into a pattern, which you can predict. What you are doing is a good job at moving them about but the crop is still getting eaten! Let them settle down, then you might be able to put them in the freezer, when they will eat no more! Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GavG Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 Kitchrat, thanks for the advice. I have also sent you a PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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