Working in tandem.

[JDog]

My old shooting companion in these parts is still my shooting companion. He works full time, I am the idle poor pensioner. I do all of the looking.

Not this time. He sent me the video of a lot of pigeons feeding in a direct drilled field. We met this afternoon to shoot it.

We had to face the wind, the decoys and rotary were 50m out in front. It was slow for half an hour then matters picked up and we had every shot in the book. The high birds coming from behind were exciting.

We ended on 62 picked just in time to get off the field before a violent rain storm hit.

Edited May 1, 2024 by JDog

[marsh man]

Lovely way to spend a nice afternoon decoying a few Pigeons , this was the first day I was hot walking around with just a jumper on and your thunder storms are forecast tonight with the wind also getting up .

Looking at the various crops today I would imagine there are going to be a lot of variations in the months ahead , we have got rape that is well in flower at one end of the field and the totally bear the other end , same with the Winter grain fields , big bare patches and looking very poor and yet the Spring crops are looking good , don't seem possible that in a few weeks time the Pea viner's will be getting ready and the grain crops wouldn't be far behind , MM

[Wilts#Dave]

Cracking stuff Jdog, had you went the day before you may have avoided that heavy shower. Been great weather for pigeon shooting the last few days (although I’d never choose to have the wind in my face), sounds like you made the most of it! 

[old'un]

Well done, nice bag of pigeons, not ideal with the wind in your face and decoys 50 yards out, I would have tried setting up out in the field with the wind on my back or coming from the left or right, having said that, I would have been happy with 62.

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, old'un said:

Well done, nice bag of pigeons, not ideal with the wind in your face and decoys 50 yards out, I would have tried setting up out in the field with the wind on my back or coming from the left or right, having said that, I would have been happy with 62.

One of my main pet hates in Pigeon decoying have always been and still is was shooting with the wind blowing in your face , half the fun in decoying is watching a pigeon reacting to your decoys from a distance out in front , when they come in from behind then half the fun is missing and with the decoys 50yds out in front it can result in a lot of clipped Pigeons that were hit at the maximum range from behind , I am sure with how much Pigeon shooting Mr JDog have done over the years he would have found a better way if it would had been possible , so I dare say he made the best of what was on offer .    MM

[old'un]

17 minutes ago, marsh man said:

One of my main pet hates in Pigeon decoying have always been and still is was shooting with the wind blowing in your face , half the fun in decoying is watching a pigeon reacting to your decoys from a distance out in front , when they come in from behind then half the fun is missing and with the decoys 50yds out in front it can result in a lot of clipped Pigeons that were hit at the maximum range from behind , I am sure with how much Pigeon shooting Mr JDog have done over the years he would have found a better way if it would had been possible , so I dare say he made the best of what was on offer .    MM

Have you never set your hide out in the field?

[marsh man]

7 hours ago, old'un said:

Have you never set your hide out in the field?

Yes I have shot in the middle of a field a lot and the times were mainly from a bale hide that was put in position when the crop was first planted , in the early days these were the small oblong bales of straw that could easily be lifted when dry but a different kettle of fish when sodden wet , down on the marshes you have little cover apart from getting down the side of the dyke so a hide in the middle is a bonus  , the bale hide was a godsend in the height of the Winter when you get a cold Easterly wind off the North sea that would find every hole in a net hide and then the gaps in your clothing .

The farmer would drop us off 13 to wherever we put a flag to mark where we wanted them , these were put in between the tram lines so the sprayer could still operate , then on another field I had down the marshes near my house I left two 5ft x 4 ft fencing panels laying down on the field , when I shot it I put the two in a V shape , then with a couple of cable ties you soon had the bulk of the hide sorted , a fold up stool and and a light net to drape over the front and you were all ready to go and the panels kept most of the wind off your back .

Then two years ago another farmer left one of those big oblong bales , these were ideal as you could shoot in all wind directions , although you had more room from the sides but it was still possible by putting a hide up against the end .

Now with having the time I can easily wait until the wind is favorable rather than rough it out with a head on wind , I would still go to the middle of the field if a hide was already on site but the days of lugging all the gear out there and then back are now a distant memory and good luck to those fit guys who are prepared to sit it out , with the lack of Pigeons now going on rape fields in the Winter time even seeing a bale hide is rare sight nowadays .    MM

[old'un]

1 hour ago, marsh man said:

Yes I have shot in the middle of a field a lot and the times were mainly from a bale hide that was put in position when the crop was first planted , in the early days these were the small oblong bales of straw that could easily be lifted when dry but a different kettle of fish when sodden wet , down on the marshes you have little cover apart from getting down the side of the dyke so a hide in the middle is a bonus  , the bale hide was a godsend in the height of the Winter when you get a cold Easterly wind off the North sea that would find every hole in a net hide and then the gaps in your clothing .

The farmer would drop us off 13 to wherever we put a flag to mark where we wanted them , these were put in between the tram lines so the sprayer could still operate , then on another field I had down the marshes near my house I left two 5ft x 4 ft fencing panels laying down on the field , when I shot it I put the two in a V shape , then with a couple of cable ties you soon had the bulk of the hide sorted , a fold up stool and and a light net to drape over the front and you were all ready to go and the panels kept most of the wind off your back .

Then two years ago another farmer left one of those big oblong bales , these were ideal as you could shoot in all wind directions , although you had more room from the sides but it was still possible by putting a hide up against the end .

Now with having the time I can easily wait until the wind is favorable rather than rough it out with a head on wind , I would still go to the middle of the field if a hide was already on site but the days of lugging all the gear out there and then back are now a distant memory and good luck to those fit guys who are prepared to sit it out , with the lack of Pigeons now going on rape fields in the Winter time even seeing a bale hide is rare sight nowadays .    MM

I was thinking more on the lines of a brolly, net and poles, keep it simple.

[marsh man]

9 hours ago, old'un said:

I was thinking more on the lines of a brolly, net and poles, keep it simple.

I have never used a brolly myself , but I used to take P / W member Lakeside 1000 ( Alan ) with me on the laid crop fields , he used to put a fishing brolly up but this was mainly to keep the sun off him during the very hot weather , the times I have carted my ( light ) gear was to put a hide up around a telegraph pole or at the bottom of a pylon , no doubt a few of the telegraph poles that are still down the various marshes I went on would still have a couple of galvanised plasterboard nails that I used to leave in the poles about 6ft up to hang your net on , this was the doorway to get in and out , and there were times where I would leave a sack containing an ole net , decoys and wire cradles at the bottom of the pole or wherever throughout the Summer as I was the only one who went and this would save me carrying next to nothing when I had a go , Alan was a dab hand when it came to labour saving devices and he converted a golf cart with a small motor on to carry his gear , but lets say it had it's limitations 

[7daysinaweek]

Good stuff! 👍

[Terry2016]

Excellent, its funny how after all these years seeing pigeons coming in still excites me !