Nice day on the peas

[stu nesling]

Just finished a nice day on the peas, it was a bit cold but i never miss a chance to get out shooting. birds came on + off all day and i ended up on 107. first time on the peas this year and hoping it continues as good as this. strange how some peas get hit and others seem to get left alone. all in the chiller now waiting to get picked up.

 

Edited April 20 by stu nesling

[B686]

Great shooting 👍

[Wilts#Dave]

Lovely bag, I’m yet to go over the 100 mark this year. Always goes down as a good day when you do! 
I know what you mean ref the fields, some fields will produce and others left untouched even in the same area. 
Over the years you certainly learn where those fields that the pigeons like are, and I get excited when the right crops end up in said fields! 

Edited April 20 by Wilts#Dave

[stu nesling]

3 minutes ago, Wilts#Dave said:

Lovely bag, I’m yet to go over the 100 mark this year. Always goes down as a good day when you do! 
I know what you mean ref the fields, some fields will produce and others left untouched even in the same area. 
Over the years you certainly learn where those fields that the pigeons like are, and get excite me when the right crops end up in said fields! 

i know what you mean about the right fields with the right crops in. i think these fields on the edge of a village are going to produce a lot of birds. time will tell.

[Wilts#Dave]

1 minute ago, stu nesling said:

i know what you mean about the right fields with the right crops in. i think these fields on the edge of a village are going to produce a lot of birds. time will tell.

If you’ve shot an area for a number of years it becomes very apparent, a lot of shooters won’t have this knowledge which can work in your favour. 
I have some great shooting in an area that’s not too far from a town/housing. I think it’s because those areas can hold pigeons all year round feeding in parks and gardens etc, and have learnt where there may be a food source at certain times of the year. 
Fingers crossed those fields provide you with plenty more shooting! 

[marsh man]

Cracking bag on drilled Peas , I would have to go back many , many years since I last got a three figure bag on Pea seed and I very much doubt I will ever do it again .

You done well to stick the cold out , I went a little while this afternoon and I was well sheltered by a thick hedge , I went when the Norwich football started and I wasn't sorry when it finished as the cold was beginning to get through my extra jumper I stuck on , my dog enjoyed it as I let him pick the nine up , when I got back in my motor it was 6 degrees and then it started to rain , now sitting at home with the heating full on, roll on when the warmer weather come back .   MM

[mossy835]

thats a nice days shooting well done.

[stu nesling]

1 hour ago, Wilts#Dave said:

If you’ve shot an area for a number of years it becomes very apparent, a lot of shooters won’t have this knowledge which can work in your favour. 
I have some great shooting in an area that’s not too far from a town/housing. I think it’s because those areas can hold pigeons all year round feeding in parks and gardens etc, and have learnt where there may be a food source at certain times of the year. 
Fingers crossed those fields provide you with plenty more shooting! 

too true, been on the land for 20 years now

tks all for comments

 

Edited April 20 by stu nesling

[stu nesling]

had another crack at the peas today, 3 hrs shooting led to 51 birds.

was great when they came but the long gaps with no birds made me feel that it could have been better.

i found where they had gone on the way out....500+ birds on another field of peas 500m away, and thats an awful field to shoot.

 

Edited April 27 by stu nesling

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well done.      

[marsh man]

51 minutes ago, stu nesling said:

had another crack at the peas today, 3 hrs shooting led to 51 birds.

was great when they came but the long gaps with no birds made me feel that it could have been better.

i found where they had gone on the way out....500+ birds on another field of peas 500mm away, and thats an awful field to shoot.

 

You done well to get 51 and glad you wasn't deterred with the weather , today it have been cold , damp with constant drizzle and the wind had died down to dead calm , not the sort of weather for an o a p to sit about in the poor conditions , well that is my excuse for giving it a miss and it should be warmer and dryer next week so I might as well sit around in the nice weather if there isn't a lot about rather than how it is at the moment , writing this out I can hear the rain hitting my windows and won't be sorry when this month come to a close .  MM

[Krico woodcock]

Nice couple a runs out, 👍

[old'un]

Like marsh man, I also have not hit a 3 figure bag for some time, firstly pigeon number around here have been poor and secondly I have very little outlet for them but in your situation with a chiller and obviously an outlet, then well done on a very nice bag of pigeons, you must have had a fair few shots to hit that number and looking at all those pigeon made me think about the trek back to the car, hope it was not to far away.

[marsh man]

We hear a lot about W / Pigeons numbers are on the up ,  I am not disputing the fact and I can only go by my findings , I now spend as much , if not more time in the countryside than in my younger days of say in the 70s , 80s and 90s when I was full time employed as a bricklayer , working on the side and then working on my house when I had enough money to buy the material's , what little time I had for Pigeon shooting both me and my brother would constantly between us be shooting between 4 / 5000 each year , the drillings would start in March , Peas above the ground in April , Clover fields in May , Peas ready for vining by the end of June and then laid Wheat / Barley in July with the harvest staring August which would put us on stubbles till the end of the Summer , an average day then of 50 plus would now be a very good day and I now often go on fields in the warmer months to pass a couple of hours away that I wouldn't had even stopped and looked at in the past , One big difference was we had a ready market for both fresh and frozen Pigeons and nothing was ever wasted , I would go to the dealers one week and my brother would go the next , crop wise , the drillings were far superior than they are today with the modern air drills and the seed beds in the right condition , our Peas went to Birds Eye at Yarmouth and our fields were the first to be vined in the area so the Pigeons had little choice going on other fields , the Wheat and Barley had longer and thinner stems so after a day of heavy rain and wind when the crop was at a milky stage it would go down and you were in for some good shooting , now the stems are shorter and very often stay upright until harvest , so they are some of the reasons we no longer get the bags but the main reason is we just haven't got the volume of Pigeons we once had , I say we as other places might be having as many or even more than they once had , now with the lack of demand , shortage of Pigeons and the ole body getting past the sell by date the glory days of my Pigeon shooting is now well behind me and never likely to return 

[stu nesling]

the weather was a concern, but after sitting in the office all week i was not being put off.

put on the winter trousers, warm fleece and pullover and gave it a go. (glad iam not out today).

@ old'un  shots wise on the 107 was about 140 and the 51 was about mid 60's missed a few silly ones but that always happens.

also got a few high curling ones that just make you think....why cant i do that all the time....lol. using fiocchi pigeon 32/6 a bit heavy but they do the job when i do mine, using a mk38 32" which soaks up a lot.

Edited April 28 by stu nesling

[Wilts#Dave]

2 hours ago, stu nesling said:

the weather was a concern, but after sitting in the office all week i was not being put off.

put on the winter trousers, warm fleece and pullover and gave it a go. (glad iam not out today).

@ old'un  shots wise on the 107 was about 140 and the 51 was about mid 60's missed a few silly ones but that always happens.

also got a few high curling ones that just make you think....why cant i do that all the time....lol. using fiocchi pigeon 32/6 a bit heavy but they do the job when i do mine, using a mk38 32" which soaks up a lot.

That’s a very good average, most won’t do that unless the pigeons are decoying really well and not taking on lots of long shots / birds flaring in the wind etc. I like to think I’m a fair shot on pigeons but I don’t believe anyone who says they never miss silly ones sometimes, personally think you get complacent and lose concentration occasionally which leads to those easy misses! 

Well done on your last two outings, those peas are certainly producing for you already…..hope there’s plenty more to come 👍🏼

[marsh man]

43 minutes ago, Wilts#Dave said:

That’s a very good average, most won’t do that unless the pigeons are decoying really well and not taking on lots of long shots / birds flaring in the wind etc. I like to think I’m a fair shot on pigeons but I don’t believe anyone who says they never miss silly ones sometimes, personally think you get complacent and lose concentration occasionally which leads to those easy misses! 

Well done on your last two outings, those peas are certainly producing for you already…..hope there’s plenty more to come 👍🏼

I would agree with 107 picked for around 140 shots is a very good average and I would say that if the op was using a magnet then the variety of shots he would be taking would then make it well above average , I never used a clicker and I found if I thought I was shooting fairly well and was getting through my sixth box of cartridges then I would be hovering around the 100 mark , a lot of my big bags were made in pre magnet days and that made shooting a lot easier , still by taking everything that came in range and you end up picking up two out of three then to me it is a pretty good average .   MM

[stu nesling]

1 hour ago, Wilts#Dave said:

That’s a very good average, most won’t do that unless the pigeons are decoying really well and not taking on lots of long shots / birds flaring in the wind etc. I like to think I’m a fair shot on pigeons but I don’t believe anyone who says they never miss silly ones sometimes, personally think you get complacent and lose concentration occasionally which leads to those easy misses! 

Well done on your last two outings, those peas are certainly producing for you already…..hope there’s plenty more to come 👍🏼

you are right about the concentration, i can relate to that 100%. first 7 birds yesterday killed outright 1st barel before i missed a sitter and had to have words with myself...lol a 32" mk38 can be hard to move onn quick jinking birds, but its an advantage on the crossers.

yesterday, like the previous week they were decoying ok as long as the pattern was kept clean....i mean for some reason just 1 upside down bird can spell disaster! dont know why but in this area they seem very sensitive to upsdie down birds. never had so much problem before. only thing i can think of is the drill, being bare and open shows them off much beter.

8 minutes ago, marsh man said:

I would agree with 107 picked for around 140 shots is a very good average and I would say that if the op was using a magnet then the variety of shots he would be taking would then make it well above average , I never used a clicker and I found if I thought I was shooting fairly well and was getting through my sixth box of cartridges then I would be hovering around the 100 mark , a lot of my big bags were made in pre magnet days and that made shooting a lot easier , still by taking everything that came in range and you end up picking up two out of three then to me it is a pretty good average .   MM

yup magnet, with flapper on auto flap placed 10 yards away from the rotor (not the hide lololol ). some birds decoyed too well and had to be taken early before they came in the hide.....lol

i like to stand to shoot a take the birds as they flare away giving a nice crossing shot with large kill area, some dont flare but most see me and do. nice easy birds are the way to get the bag filled quick.

Edited April 28 by stu nesling

[stu nesling]

another decent day out on the peas on another farm. 58 on the clicker, not a huge bag but all that could be expected from the field.

shot with a friend who had been watching the field for a while and it was a good afternoon of banter. birds played ball for a while then went off the boil and

we were stuck with a slow trickle of birds until the end. all in all a good afternoo out and a nice bonus crow.

[marsh man]

Your Peas have pretty consistent and long may it continue , ours have been in around three weeks and only seeing the odd Pea starting to see daylight , just been so cold of late but now getting more like it and should warm up next week .

[stu nesling]

hope they pick up and get growing for you. the ones we shot over today are about 2-3 inches high now and proving very attractive to all sorts.

even had a roe deer browsing the field and enjoying them.

[Old Boggy]

Your first post title of ‘Nice day on the peas’ was somewhat understated, that was a brilliant day. Even your second day on them would have been a brilliant day for me at present.

I’m pleased to see that some are getting good bags. Unfortunately no peas grown on my farms and drillings were a non event, so it’s going to be waiting for a field of triticale to be harvested for biofuel before I can get a half reasonable bag. My local game dealer is crying out for pigeons which indicates not many being shot hereabouts.

Thanks for posting your interesting read.

OB