The pigeon drought is broken.

[JDog]

It's been a month since I last shot a pigeon. Once everything was drilled and growing that was that. The peas (four fields in good locations) failed to attract pigeons on the drill even though there were lots of peas on top.

I had seen the same eighty birds on poor rape for two weeks. The wind was forecast to be 15mph from the west so off I went. I set myself a target of ten pigeons in the hour and a half I had spare. That included setting up, packing up and driving the 1.2 miles home afterwards. 

Two very smelly pigeons from a friends freezer were unceremoniously hoisted on the rotary. My usual fifteen flock coated shell decoys completed the pattern.

A pigeon was in the decoys before my ear plugs were inserted. It flew off unsaluted. In watching these fields I have never seen a line in. I know I shouldn't therefore have set up but so frustrated have I been that I risked it.

Pigeons actually came from the town. They came singularly or in pairs and descended from quite a height. I took some high ones on with some success but most were shot describing an arc into the pattern.

In seventy minutes shooting I shot twenty six pigeons and picked twenty four, greatly exceeding my expectations. 

 

[ditchman]

its very satisfying watching decoyed birds come in from height.....

good result

[clangerman]

that’s a good effort for the usual time of lean pickings they didn’t start to oblige here until June 20th last year 

[marsh man]

That would have been a good result at a more productive time of the year , let alone in what I always considered the quietest month for Pigeons outside the game shooting season , we might have had a drought for Pigeons but we are certainly not in drought conditions on the land as this have been the driest day for the last four and we have still had a few heavy showers today with more on the way for tomorrow , roll on June .   MM 

Edited May 29 by marsh man

[Wilts#Dave]

Cracking result Jdog, that would have been an exciting hours shooting no doubt! 
Been the same drought here since I shot a few on the drilled peas, a few have just started appearing on the first lot of peas I shot over but not yet in any great numbers. It’s not usually until June when they seem to appear again here. 
Well done on keeping an eye on a crop they would usually be feeding on at this time of year. 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well done.   

[7daysinaweek]

Great stuff!

[stockybasher]

A very rewarding 70 minutes !!  I wonder how you would have finished after, say, 5 hrs !!  👍

[pigeon controller]

Well done, great result and report.

[Old Boggy]

A good report.

As said, it can be a lean time of year for some of us and I’m pleased that you found some to shoot, so well done and thanks for posting.

OB

[JDog]

2 hours ago, stockybasher said:

A very rewarding 70 minutes !!  I wonder how you would have finished after, say, 5 hrs !!  👍

Sadly I couldn't do five hours if I tried. I lose concentration after two hours and the will to live after three.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, Well done JD, 👍

[marsh man]

4 hours ago, JDog said:

Sadly I couldn't do five hours if I tried. I lose concentration after two hours and the will to live after three.

I think that is the evolution of a aging Pigeon shooter , I am virtually the same , I allow myself an hour and a half to two hours at a maximum , after two hours it is time to up stumps , if I have had a few shots then hopefully my dog have had a few retrieves and there is always another day , one day there wouldn't but we mustn't look that far ahead , so for now we just enjoy the amount of time we go and when we get bored in that time frame then it well might be the time to call it a day .     MM

[old'un]

You did well to shoot that many this time of year.