Why aren't they being good parents?

[Fellside]

3 hours ago, kitchrat said:

Very likely, it's difficult, if not impossible to measure distance in the "heat of the moment". They just seemed quite a long way away and I was pleased when they fell dead from the sky. I guess the 60 yards bit is just another example of my poor choice of words when just knocking off a quick note to Pigeon Forum , I should have said they were quite rangy, or something like that.

I never knew this forum was actually an English Language exam (which I passed in (about) 1969) and that my efforts would be marked so strictly. Sorry again, I'll stop.

Think you’ve passed again. Well done, your certificate is in the post….. 🙂

[marsh man]

I think anyone who shoot live birds will at some stage wound what they are shooting at , from the very poor to the very best shots wild take birds on to test there limit and if anything some of the best shots can be the worst offenders , take wildfowling for example , not many could resist a shot at geese after spending endless days and nights trying to get in the right place at the right time , then after many blanks flights a small skein come overhead about 60 / 70 yds up and look just about on , with the modern firepower of this day and age they could well be on , but to put the shot in the head area it would be beyond most fowlers skills , and in the mind of the person who is holding the gun it is certainly worth a shot as they might just strike lucky and after all it is worth a shot , after the shot the bird is hit but carry on as if nothing have happened , this sort of thing can happen on game shoots and just about any other type of live quarry shooting so maybe worth a mention now and again on the forum but no need to let rip at a member who is no different from 99.9 of other members whose main hobby is Pigeon shooting , glad peace have been restored and hope these members carry on posting as things can be pretty quite on the posting front at times .         MM

[kitchrat]

5 minutes ago, marsh man said:

I think anyone who shoot live birds will at some stage wound what they are shooting at , from the very poor to the very best shots wild take birds on to test there limit and if anything some of the best shots can be the worst offenders , take wildfowling for example , not many could resist a shot at geese after spending endless days and nights trying to get in the right place at the right time , then after many blanks flights a small skein come overhead about 60 / 70 yds up and look just about on , with the modern firepower of this day and age they could well be on , but to put the shot in the head area it would be beyond most fowlers skills , and in the mind of the person who is holding the gun it is certainly worth a shot as they might just strike lucky and after all it is worth a shot , after the shot the bird is hit but carry on as if nothing have happened , this sort of thing can happen on game shoots and just about any other type of live quarry shooting so maybe worth a mention now and again on the forum but no need to let rip at a member who is no different from 99.9 of other members whose main hobby is Pigeon shooting , glad peace have been restored and hope these members carry on posting as things can be pretty quite on the posting front at times .         MM

Thanks for the support from the last couple of posters. As to the unpleasant subject of wounding, in my opinion, steel shot is responsible for a lot of this. As MM said, a head shot at a goose 60/70 yards up is beyond most fowler's skill. Fully agree but the fact that we are supposed not to use a tighter choke than 1/2 with steel  makes the pattern density at that range very much hit or miss. In Canada I have had to resort to Tungsten shot, at $5 a bang, then I can use a tighter choke and have had great success at passing geese. The extra hitting power of the denser pellet also helps. Several of the birds I ate had steel pellets just under the skin.

The pro-steel lobby test steel on clay targets, where a tiny chip off a brittle target counts as a kill, NO sorry I mean a hit!! Not any comparison.

Anyway, I'm going to try a hide, with a roof, in the middle of the pea field on Tuesday afternoon/evening (should be less sunny then?), I'll let you know what happens.

[kitchrat]

By the way, "old 'Un" could be right about July being top breeding time. My "pet" pigeons have just started to pull twigs off my birch tree...

41 minutes ago, kitchrat said:

Thanks for the support from the last couple of posters. As to the unpleasant subject of wounding, in my opinion, steel shot is responsible for a lot of this. As MM said, a head shot at a goose 60/70 yards up is beyond most fowler's skill. Fully agree but the fact that we are supposed not to use a tighter choke than 1/2 with steel  makes the pattern density at that range very much hit or miss. In Canada I have had to resort to Tungsten shot, at $5 a bang, then I can use a tighter choke and have had great success at passing geese. The extra hitting power of the denser pellet also helps. Several of the birds I ate had steel pellets just under the skin.

The pro-steel lobby test steel on clay targets, where a tiny chip off a brittle target counts as a kill, NO sorry I mean a hit!! Not any comparison.

Anyway, I'm going to try a hide, with a roof, in the middle of the pea field on Tuesday afternoon/evening (should be less sunny then?), I'll let you know what happens.

I meant Thursday!! Another mistake for my critics to pounce on!!

[old'un]

10 minutes ago, kitchrat said:

By the way, "old 'Un" could be right about July being top breeding time. My "pet" pigeons have just started to pull twigs off my birch tree...

I meant Thursday!! Another mistake for my critics to pounce on!!

Come August-September there be lots of young birds coming into your decoys.

[kitchrat]

1 minute ago, old'un said:

Come August-September there be lots of young birds coming into your decoys.

I wish!! Nice and tender - I have pigeon casserole for dinner tonight!

[Wilts#Dave]

I think we all know what Kitchrat was getting at, we’re all more inclined to take on the more awkward shots when things are quiet. Likewise you can clip a bird in close just the same, no one’s spot on every time!