stu nesling Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 i did ask a couple of local pubs/restaurants around here but without the corect food handling certificate they were not interested ! i would settle for a couple of pints and give them as a gift but...... regs and all, you kow what its like now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 8 hours ago, stu nesling said: i did ask a couple of local pubs/restaurants around here but without the corect food handling certificate they were not interested ! i would settle for a couple of pints and give them as a gift but...... regs and all, you kow what its like now. When our county game dealers started to close down I put the feelers out at our local , pubs , restaurants and butchers , the first pub I struck lucky , it was on the estate where I do my shooting and he was buying up to 30 a week and game in season , then the lock downs started and he had to close like everyone else , then he reopened and carried on buying my Pigeons , the lock downs carried on and he was shutting and opening like a yo yo , finally his four lease ran out and he didn't dare to renew it , again I put the feelers out and to begin they were all keen , I delivered them fresh and was taking 25 a fortnight for £10 as I used about £3 in fuel to drop them off , after about four deliveries they had half a freezer full they couldn't sell , same with the butchers and the restaurant wanted them oven ready which I had to take to another butcher , pick them up and then take them to the restaurant , then sometimes you had to wait for your money having already paid the other butcher to process them , now this year I just cannot be bothered to do the running about and I give any I get to one of our shoot helpers .this is the first year in over 50 years of shooting Pigeons I haven't sold a single Pigeon and I cannot see anything changing very soon . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu nesling Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 sad times indeed, we have not had payment for pigeons for a couple of years now. ours are collected and its nice to know they are not wasted. maybe in the future things will change, we will have to wait and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted May 7 Report Share Posted May 7 On 20/04/2024 at 18:29, stu nesling said: 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. I know I'm always moaning about how hard it's getting round here, when chaps like Peter Theobald are shooting hundreds or thousands only a few miles away. Even the peas don't work like they used to. I have a farm up the road with drilled peas, very few on the surface but maybe a 100 pigeons showed up. I walked them off and took cover. Same old story, only the odd few came back and did the sit in trees tactic. Nothing on the crop for an hour so I went home. No doubt they eventually built up enough and did drop onto the field, which would look bad but they are virtually unshootable in any meaningful number. Now the peas are sprouting and there are 100+ stock doves hitting it, which again looks bad but no woodies. I'm checking daily. It's been the same all winter, my reputation is in tatters!! I have half the "normal" number for the winter, in spite of trying harder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted May 7 Report Share Posted May 7 6 minutes ago, kitchrat said: I know I'm always moaning about how hard it's getting round here, when chaps like Peter Theobald are shooting hundreds or thousands only a few miles away. Even the peas don't work like they used to. I have a farm up the road with drilled peas, very few on the surface but maybe a 100 pigeons showed up. I walked them off and took cover. Same old story, only the odd few came back and did the sit in trees tactic. Nothing on the crop for an hour so I went home. No doubt they eventually built up enough and did drop onto the field, which would look bad but they are virtually unshootable in any meaningful number. Now the peas are sprouting and there are 100+ stock doves hitting it, which again looks bad but no woodies. I'm checking daily. It's been the same all winter, my reputation is in tatters!! I have half the "normal" number for the winter, in spite of trying harder. You must be doing a good job then……..you have pushed them all onto his patch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu nesling Posted May 11 Author Report Share Posted May 11 wheels fell of the bus a bit today, despite turning up at what i thought was the correct time the birds had other ideas and had bu""ered off. 13 birds shot, 8 of which were blacks the 5 pigeons i got were just unlucky and lost....lol. 1 bird missed totally the rest fell nicely. lets see what next week brings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted May 11 Report Share Posted May 11 5 minutes ago, stu nesling said: wheels fell of the bus a bit today, despite turning up at what i thought was the correct time the birds had other ideas and had bu""ered off. 13 birds shot, 8 of which were blacks the 5 pigeons i got were just unlucky and lost....lol. 1 bird missed totally the rest fell nicely. lets see what next week brings. You are human after all Stu , our wheels haven't even been on the bus yet to fall off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu nesling Posted May 11 Author Report Share Posted May 11 not many birds but got a good tan 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 8 hours ago, stu nesling said: not many birds but got a good tan 😀 Tell yer what Stu , it is far better to sit about in the sunshine when things are quite than it is in the cold and wet conditions , Friday was like a nice Summers day but yesterday we had a cold Easterly wind coming straight off the North sea and wasn't a nice day on the coast but inland it wasn't that bad . Today is nice and I am now going to have a run up the coast and see what things are like Pigeon wise up that way and then treat myself with some fish and chips.. A t b and have a good day . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu nesling Posted May 12 Author Report Share Posted May 12 @marsh man enjoy yourself 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 1 hour ago, marsh man said: Tell yer what Stu , it is far better to sit about in the sunshine when things are quite than it is in the cold and wet conditions , Friday was like a nice Summers day but yesterday we had a cold Easterly wind coming straight off the North sea and wasn't a nice day on the coast but inland it wasn't that bad . Today is nice and I am now going to have a run up the coast and see what things are like Pigeon wise up that way and then treat myself with some fish and chips.. A t b and have a good day . Good morning John, No doubt that will be your favourite chippie in Cromer. Have a nice day and enjoy your fish and chips. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 5 minutes ago, Old Boggy said: Good morning John, No doubt that will be your favourite chippie in Cromer. Have a nice day and enjoy your fish and chips. OB It's a game of swings and roundabouts! Funnily enough, it finally fell into place for me and a buddy yesterday, peas were sprouting and the pigeons had found them. Difficult place to shoot, deep water/slime filled ditches but got set up under an oak tree. The cover hid us but also hid the incomers from behind, which was where the wind brought them. Not many from the bigger bunches made the effort to swing back and decoy but some did and the singles/pairs did. It wasn't mad, no hot barrels but we picked up about 60 with quite a few lost in the deep wheat field behind. It's been a long wait.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadeyealan Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 47 minutes ago, kitchrat said: It's a game of swings and roundabouts! Funnily enough, it finally fell into place for me and a buddy yesterday, peas were sprouting and the pigeons had found them. Difficult place to shoot, deep water/slime filled ditches but got set up under an oak tree. The cover hid us but also hid the incomers from behind, which was where the wind brought them. Not many from the bigger bunches made the effort to swing back and decoy but some did and the singles/pairs did. It wasn't mad, no hot barrels but we picked up about 60 with quite a few lost in the deep wheat field behind. It's been a long wait.... Nice bag was worth the wait and more to come I bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu nesling Posted May 12 Author Report Share Posted May 12 2 hours ago, kitchrat said: It's a game of swings and roundabouts! Funnily enough, it finally fell into place for me and a buddy yesterday, peas were sprouting and the pigeons had found them. Difficult place to shoot, deep water/slime filled ditches but got set up under an oak tree. The cover hid us but also hid the incomers from behind, which was where the wind brought them. Not many from the bigger bunches made the effort to swing back and decoy but some did and the singles/pairs did. It wasn't mad, no hot barrels but we picked up about 60 with quite a few lost in the deep wheat field behind. It's been a long wait.... nice one, cracking bag way better than my poor effort 🙃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted May 12 Report Share Posted May 12 5 hours ago, Old Boggy said: Good morning John, No doubt that will be your favourite chippie in Cromer. Have a nice day and enjoy your fish and chips. OB Afternoon Chris .... Just got back on what was possibly the warmest day so far this year , went as far as Blakeney and walked around the sea wall to Cley , then went to Cromer to charge the body batteries up , whatever I have left my dog make short of it , from Cromer I went to Waitrose in N / Walsham to stock up on the reduced items and get my free coffee , then looked at some Pea fields on the way home and although they were 2 / 3 inches above ground they still didn't hold any Pigeons , I go that way about every two weeks when the weather is nice so things might improve the next time I am out that way , hope the weather have been nice in your area of Kent , the garden of England don't they say ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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