adzyvilla Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 Time: 14:30 Location: Mid Norfolk Conditions: Overcast and mild, light SSW winds with occasional gusts, intermittent drizzle. What can I say? The omens looked pretty good today following an early morning phone call. In a recovery of Lazurus like proportions, the prodigal father announced that he was to rise from his fireside armchair, don his boots and venture forth into the wilds of Norfolk in search of pigeons. The slightly later start accounted for by the fact that when I pulled into the driveway at my parents home, he was busy cleaning out the guttering and had to finish his task before we could go. From whence this burst of youthful exuberance? No idea, but long may it continue. On approach we took the long way round in an attempt to suss out what might lay in store for us, and this last minute reconnaissance yielded some promising intel. We could see stacks of birds flitting from wood to wood, seemingly at random but it must have made some sense to them. We also noted that none of the maize strips or bird mixes had been flailed yet, with the farm foreman busy flailing hedges all across the estate instead. Parking at the opposite (dry) end of the wood meant a long walk for me and leaving dad in his favourite hidey hole, I made my way along what I could see of the riverbank. The carr was, if anything more flooded than last week. I situated myself and the dog in the driest patches I could find and was immediately in amongst the birds. In a brief purple patch I had 3 for my first 4 shots, including my first 2 dead in the air at the same time, a feat I hadn't previously accomplished roost shooting. They were really motoring in an unusual south-north trajectory and shot driven style, their momentum carried them the 40 or so yards to the edge of the trees and clear of the wood to land out on the waterlogged drilling. The third bird came in low and flared, startled by the movement of me reloading but I had the presence of mind to get 2 shots off and luck was with the second one. Dog dispatched for collection duty while I caught my breath. After the hectic start had tapered off, the pigeons started playing their favourite game. One would flit past, tantalisingly just out of reach whilst a second and third would slip by in shootable range whilst the hapless shooter was distracted. This set the scene for the majority of the afternoon which saw me restricted to sporadic shots garnering a further four birds for a handful of cartridges. They all seemed to be following the odd South-north path and carried by the strengthening wind were flying high and fast, requiring some significant lead. I had my eye in enough I guess, but more got through than I would have liked. Later on as the sun went down and the sky darkened I was joined by the old man who had a sour expression on his face. A pocketful of empties had resulted in a big fat zero. He blamed his gun, a new (to him) parker hale 804. So I took it off him and promptly shot the next two pigeons I saw, albeit slower ones coming in to perch in the big conifers. "Well, it must be these cartridges then". Hull superfast? Give me a couple I said. Took the next one that came in to land as well. I chucked him a pair of my fiocchis and he let them off just as the last light was being chased from the drizzly sky. Finally, he got on the scores sheet and with that, we headed for home. Total bag 11 between us, for a box of cartridges from me and an undisclosed amount from father. Welcome back old man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultrastu Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 (edited) Nice write up enjoyed that. I can picture it very clearly .you have a nack for story telling . Edited February 17 by Ultrastu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adzyvilla Posted February 17 Author Report Share Posted February 17 thanks, I do enjoy writing these out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 13 minutes ago, Ultrastu said: Nice write up enjoyed that. I can picture it very clearly .you have a nack for story telling . Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 nice you got your dad to come out,11 very good, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 A very detailed write up as we have come to expect and we were not disappointed , I take it your dad live in a bungalow and not one of these high rise houses if he was indulging in cleaning out his gutters , I do mine and can easily reach with the aid of a pair of steps . Our part of the county was very slow on what was the third week , half the woods seemed empty today with very little shooting going on , next week is the last week and apart from it being very mild I cannot see this years roost shooting breaking any records , still , as I keep saying it's the taking part that count Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adzyvilla Posted February 17 Author Report Share Posted February 17 3 minutes ago, marsh man said: A very detailed write up as we have come to expect and we were not disappointed , I take it your dad live in a bungalow and not one of these high rise houses if he was indulging in cleaning out his gutters , I do mine and can easily reach with the aid of a pair of steps . Our part of the county was very slow on what was the third week , half the woods seemed empty today with very little shooting going on , next week is the last week and apart from it being very mild I cannot see this years roost shooting breaking any records , still , as I keep saying it's the taking part that count Yes, last bungalow on the way out of the village. Having lived on farms his entire life he couldn't bear living amongst other houses. To be fair, we had a good crowd out today. Only jonesy wasn't out so pretty much all 17 big woods covered except 1. This was easily the best roost shoot so far this year, and I've heard from a couple of the other lads who had good afternoons. There was easily twice the amount of shots ringing out today. I can only hope next week is as good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matone Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 A good read and good that you both got out ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 A very detailed and interesting account of your time out. Many thanks for taking the time to type out and post. Keep them coming as many of us thoroughly enjoy your posts. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 Well done, a memory for ever. Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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