Started early!

[Wilts#Dave]

A little late to report but have managed a couple of outings in the last ten days……earlier than usual for me, but I’ve kept up the weekly recce and noticed one field of peas in particular where there was always a few on but not enough to warrant decoying.
I looked again on the 30th May knowing I had a free afternoon the following day and to my surprise there was a good number there now and more importantly upon watching for an hour or so a good line in. 
The next day when I arrived at 1 o clock there wasn’t the numbers I’d seen the previous day but trusting the reconnaissance set up by 1.30 with the little 28 bore for a change where I thought they’d be. Within a few minutes the first one in and down disturbed birds from all over, with the next 15/20 minutes accounting for 20 pigeons. 
The following 4 hours provided a consistent flow of pigeons, flying across the field into the wind and heading for the pattern, the majority decoying well with the rest offering nice flighting shots. I’d say 90 percent of what we saw came to the pattern, which made for lots of opportunities and when I stopped shooting at just after 5.30 picked up 176. 
An amazing afternoon that far exceeded expectations (I’d expected to shoot maybe 50/60). 
Over the weekend I checked another field close to home where I shot on the drilling and they’d started to find that field also, so checking it again briefly on Sunday couldn’t resist shooting that on the Monday afternoon. Setting up again around 1.30, it wasn’t to be an overly long session as the farmer was spraying it at around 5 o clock so said we’d be off the field by then. 
A slow start but picked up steadily as time went on, and would have definitely shot more due to the action hotting up from 3.30 onwards but packed up just before 5 and off the field picking up 75. 
Hitting the peas here a little earlier than usual, hopefully more to come! 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, Well Done 👍, That looks a grand chair for your hide , Oh you send some pigeon over to the Vale 🤔

[JDog]

Very good. Echoes of your days on Lupins last year.

Those people who shoot decent bags of pigeons always put in the reconnaissance a number of times beforehand.

These are presumably self employed (which I presume you are) or old and useless like myself.

[marsh man]

Wow , what a fantastic bag of Pigeons after a fairly prolonged lean spell , then following up with another very good bag on Peas , we have yet to see any numbers and I have just been getting the odd bread and butter bag off weeds and various bits and pieces off cover crops which we seem to have a big acreage this year , I believe now that the Winter barleys will produce more shooting than the Peas this year . MM

P S   Did your dad go along with you ? , if so I hope he is keeping well    MM

Edited June 9 by marsh man

[aga man]

Nice report Dave & brilliant bags. Well shot

[old'un]

Lucky boy...that's a nice couple of outings, well done.

[pigeon controller]

Well done, great report and results.

[Wilts#Dave]

9 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, Well Done 👍, That looks a grand chair for your hide , Oh you send some pigeon over to the Vale 🤔

Thanks. They’re aluminium directors chairs, ideal and comfortable with a back to rest against. 
I’ll send some your way 👍🏼

 

9 hours ago, JDog said:

Very good. Echoes of your days on Lupins last year.

Those people who shoot decent bags of pigeons always put in the reconnaissance a number of times beforehand.

These are presumably self employed (which I presume you are) or old and useless like myself.

I don’t think I’ll ever repeat those three days on Lupins last year, averaged over 200 each day. The second bag on peas was shot on the same farm though, only a few fields away. 
Spending hours looking and watching is definitely key as you say, many don’t see the need. I am indeed self employed (electrical business), so make time to look for pigeons on my travels as well as late afternoons. I also tend to shoot afternoons following a morning at work during the week now I’ve got young children at home. 

 

8 hours ago, marsh man said:

Wow , what a fantastic bag of Pigeons after a fairly prolonged lean spell , then following up with another very good bag on Peas , we have yet to see any numbers and I have just been getting the odd bread and butter bag off weeds and various bits and pieces off cover crops which we seem to have a big acreage this year , I believe now that the Winter barleys will produce more shooting than the Peas this year . MM

P S   Did your dad go along with you ? , if so I hope he is keeping well    MM

Indeed MM, very satisfying especially when you’ve put the leg work in finding/watching them. It’s odd how pigeons will behave in different areas also, I’ll be keeping an eye on the winter barley also (although I haven’t shot so many on it the last couple of years, due to little or no laid crop).
Thanks for asking, Dad was with me in the hide on both days actually although only shot a handful of the my gun on the bigger day. He still enjoys the day out and likes to be there but is happy for me to do the shooting on the whole, and in turn I do the majority of humping of kit and pigeons at the end of the day, as well as dropping them off to outlets etc. 
Fingers crossed they turn up for you too 😁

6 hours ago, aga man said:

Nice report Dave & brilliant bags. Well shot

Thanks 👍🏼

 

2 hours ago, old'un said:

Lucky boy...that's a nice couple of outings, well done.

It certainly was, I enjoyed both days immensely. 

 

1 hour ago, pigeon controller said:

Well done, great report and results.

Thanks PC, I hope you’re keeping well and able to get out when you can. I do miss your regular reports of some great bags! 

[yickdaz]

At least somebody is getting good bags on here excellent stuff,  I think I've shot about 60 or so pigeons this year up to now been a terrible year lack of birds everywhere  I've looked and when you do find a promising situation after setting  up they wave goodbye I'm starting to doubt myself that I have lost the knack but you can't shoot what isn't there 

[marsh man]

4 hours ago, yickdaz said:

At least somebody is getting good bags on here excellent stuff,  I think I've shot about 60 or so pigeons this year up to now been a terrible year lack of birds everywhere  I've looked and when you do find a promising situation after setting  up they wave goodbye I'm starting to doubt myself that I have lost the knack but you can't shoot what isn't there 

You haven't lost the knack Daz and you are certainly not alone , the year leading up to the pandemic I was supplying a pub with 30 Pigeons a week from when the game season finished , throughout the Summer and up to the following game season , some weeks I got more and other weeks I got less than I wanted and I would fall back on the reserves in the freezer , time it was over they had used up around 700 , now this year even if I had a order for half that amount I can honestly say I very much doubt I could get them , I have got the odd field that can produce a few but you can't keep shooting the same field and expect to keep getting a bag when there isn't many going on there in the first place , I know I am not as keen as I once was but the number of birds around this way either changed there feeding habits , or there isn't as many about as there once was , I tend to think it is more of a lack of birds rather than the birds changing the feeding habits .

[oldypigeonpopper]

1 hour ago, marsh man said:

You haven't lost the knack Daz and you are certainly not alone , the year leading up to the pandemic I was supplying a pub with 30 Pigeons a week from when the game season finished , throughout the Summer and up to the following game season , some weeks I got more and other weeks I got less than I wanted and I would fall back on the reserves in the freezer , time it was over they had used up around 700 , now this year even if I had a order for half that amount I can honestly say I very much doubt I could get them , I have got the odd field that can produce a few but you can't keep shooting the same field and expect to keep getting a bag when there isn't many going on there in the first place , I know I am not as keen as I once was but the number of birds around this way either changed there feeding habits , or there isn't as many about as there once was , I tend to think it is more of a lack of birds rather than the birds changing the feeding habits .

Hello, it is interesting that there are pigeons in one county and not others in UK

[marsh man]

57 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, it is interesting that there are pigeons in one county and not others in UK

There could well be plenty of Pigeons inland in our county but on the coast it is certainly quieter than it used to be , I have got a big area on my doorstep so I no longer travel around looking on other perms I had but yesterday I had a run up the coast and came back to a place I can go where a large Pea field was planted that is now on the verge of coming into flower , I come past this field every two weeks and up to now haven't seen a single Pigeon on the field , many years ago when I first got the go ahead  this field was gold mine for Pigeons and me and my mate shot good numbers throughout the growing period and a very good bag on the Pea stubble , and if there have been nothing on this field then I very much doubt there would be any numbers in the surrounding area , where are they ? God only knows , or do he / her    MM

[Wilts#Dave]

9 hours ago, yickdaz said:

At least somebody is getting good bags on here excellent stuff,  I think I've shot about 60 or so pigeons this year up to now been a terrible year lack of birds everywhere  I've looked and when you do find a promising situation after setting  up they wave goodbye I'm starting to doubt myself that I have lost the knack but you can't shoot what isn't there 

It’s been an unusually good start to the year for me here, primarily down to two farms that can produce planting peas in some of my favourite fields. This was the case in 2021 when they last grew peas in the same area and I had some great sport on them. 
As you say you can’t shoot what isn’t there. Some years I really struggle to find any decent numbers to go at, which usually coincides with poor pigeon shooting cropping. 
Where I am isn’t the prime pigeon shooting that other places like Lincolnshire are for example on the veg etc where I read about people shooting huge bags week in week out, but when the pigeons are there where I have access to I’ll usually find them as I spend a lot of time looking! 
Fingers crossed they turn up where you are soon, have you got crops in that you’d expect to be attracting numbers at the moment? 

[Old Boggy]

Only just seen your report of your brilliant two days with great bags. I think that peas are the main, if not the only draw at the moment so well done you. 
Thanks for sharing.

OB

[yickdaz]

14 hours ago, Wilts#Dave said:

It’s been an unusually good start to the year for me here, primarily down to two farms that can produce planting peas in some of my favourite fields. This was the case in 2021 when they last grew peas in the same area and I had some great sport on them. 
As you say you can’t shoot what isn’t there. Some years I really struggle to find any decent numbers to go at, which usually coincides with poor pigeon shooting cropping. 
Where I am isn’t the prime pigeon shooting that other places like Lincolnshire are for example on the veg etc where I read about people shooting huge bags week in week out, but when the pigeons are there where I have access to I’ll usually find them as I spend a lot of time looking! 
Fingers crossed they turn up where you are soon, have you got crops in that you’d expect to be attracting numbers at the moment? 

Well there's no.peas grown ever  on any of our farms or neighbouring ones for that matter, so after the drilling which didnt produce yet again, its either the odd go on cut grass fields then laid crops then stubbles  just waiting for a few grass fields to be cut then might get a few 

[Wilts#Dave]

5 hours ago, yickdaz said:

Well there's no.peas grown ever  on any of our farms or neighbouring ones for that matter, so after the drilling which didnt produce yet again, its either the odd go on cut grass fields then laid crops then stubbles  just waiting for a few grass fields to be cut then might get a few 

Where in the country are you?
On years where there’s no or very few peas grown on the farms I’ve access to the shooting drops right off here as well, for a while everyone stopped growing them as well as rape! When there’s nothing to draw the birds to the area you just can’t shoot what isn’t there can you. 
Last year there was hardly any peas but quite by chance one farmer grew some Lupins which I happened upon quite by n chance and gave me some amazing shooting through June…..had it not been for them I’d have been very quiet, so there can be the occasional spot you don’t expect to produce that does. 
Winters here are terrible for pigeon shooting now, which is a shame. 
I hope we get some good weather for laid crops so you can get amongst them 👍🏼

Edited June 11 by Wilts#Dave

[Old Boggy]

No peas at all grown on the farms I shoot, so the next opportunity will be on triticale which will be the next crop for biofuel to be cut.

Acres upon acres of maize now grown here for biofuel which can provide good shooting when cut, as it did for me last year.

OB