First Dabble On The Barley Stubble .

[marsh man]

Just lately I have spent far more time walking around the various fields than I have spent decoying Pigeons , yes I have been getting the odd few on some cover crop fields we have got but after a while they get used to the danger signs when they hear a few shots going off so after half a dozen or so then that's about it , you can pass an hour or so away with a few decoys on some high cradles and it give my dog a retrieve and me a few shots , but with all the rain we have had it was a job to pick a dry day , well with the start of the harvest in sight I was looking forward to a little session on the stubble fields , well when our farm boys start they don't know when to finish and where a few days ago you had the odd barley cut field, now you got enough fields to go on every day of the week , that's fine if you have got enough Pigeons going on to give you some sport , we have got Pigeons but nowhere near as many as we would like , the added problem is the next door neighbours on both sides of the estate are also going flat out , so at a guess I recon the three combines are cutting around 300 acres a day , after three or four days of solid cutting you can see what you are up against .

So today I set out about around 1.45 , I didn't have that far to go and I was setting out my Flexicoys pigeon decoys on top of the stubble by 2pm , dead easy when you can drive to where you want to go and when finished you haven't got to lug anything off the field , I was nice and cosy under a large Oak tree so I could  get some shade from the very hot sun when the first customer came sailing in , overflew the decoys and came up into the Oak tree without a shot being fired at him or her , so I moved my hide forward so I was still in the shade but had more time to get an oncoming shot , this only took a matter of minutes and I was ready for the next one , this one soon arrived and was a dead easy one above the decoys , I said dead easy but somehow the first shot had no effect and the second shot did knock it down but it was still very much alive , this was a retrieve for my dog Bobbie , like me he is getting on a bit and when he brought it in the hide he was puffing and panting a bit but soon recovered when his water was nice and cold in my large flask , well I would like to say that the Pigeons came in fast and furious but that would be a lie , yes they did come in to the decoys , some crossed in front of me and came towards the tree I was under every so often and it did help when the tractor and trailer came on the field next door to cart off 20 odd bails at a time , by 5 pm I have had enough . it was very hot and the Pigeons my dog had brought into the hide were being eaten alive by the flies so I sleeved my gun and walked up the hedge to get my motor , time I got back my dog was quite happy to stay in the back whilst I done the work , after I picked a few around the decoys and the ones I had in the hide I finished with 17 , plenty enough for me and it should get cooler next week so another little go might be on the cards next week , Sorry if you were hopping for a big bag but you will have to wait for BB ( Ben ) later on tonight or anyone else who have been out and got amongst them as they say around these parts . GOOD LUCK    MM

Edited July 20 by marsh man

[clangerman]

age brings wisdom to enjoy the day more than a large bag good report mm 

[oowee]

Excellent work out. Nice to be able to get close. 

I had a few myself over standing crop on Friday. It was a 400m walk in to the flat patch and carve a hide in the railway embankment. Picked 10 and dropped nearer 50. I have had to leave my dog as he again has had to have grass seeds extracted from his ears. 

[marsh man]

2 minutes ago, oowee said:

Excellent work out. Nice to be able to get close. 

I had a few myself over standing crop on Friday. It was a 400m walk in to the flat patch and carve a hide in the railway embankment. Picked 10 and dropped nearer 50. I have had to leave my dog as he again has had to have grass seeds extracted from his ears. 

Sorry to hear about your poor dog getting grass seeds in it's ears , some people will not take there dog(s) on standing grain crops , you can be very unlucky and get a problem the first time you take them on the crop , or go a number of years like me without a problem , mind you , apart from our cover crops which are mainly some sort of a mixture of wild flowers , my dog have had no problems , today I was on very short barley stubble as the straw is baled up , I often wonder how he can run about picking up any live Pigeons and as far as I know have never had any problems with his pads or any of my other Labrador's pads , maybe with all the walking over various grounds they harden up , have any other member have had problems with the dogs pads whilst walking , or running over stubble fields ? .    MM

[the hitman]

MM

Well done getting yourself and Bobbie out for an afternoon shooting. Thank you for posting- you are always first to reply to everyone else’s days out - so I was delighted to read your report.

We have had some harvest activity locally which began only yesterday, which is very encouraging- and as you mentioned getting the vehicle to the hide is always a bonus for us shooters who can only reminisce about walking miles without breaking sweat. Tomorrow I am off to S/West Scotland (non- shooting holiday) for a week, then I will have a crack at stubble- hopefully.

Keep posting- always a good read.

[oowee]

13 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Sorry to hear about your poor dog getting grass seeds in it's ears , some people will not take there dog(s) on standing grain crops , you can be very unlucky and get a problem the first time you take them on the crop , or go a number of years like me without a problem , mind you , apart from our cover crops which are mainly some sort of a mixture of wild flowers , my dog have had no problems , today I was on very short barley stubble as the straw is baled up , I often wonder how he can run about picking up any live Pigeons and as far as I know have never had any problems with his pads or any of my other Labrador's pads , maybe with all the walking over various grounds they harden up , have any other member have had problems with the dogs pads whilst walking , or running over stubble fields ? .    MM

Thanks. He picked it up on a coastal walk 😒 about a week ago. Unfortunately its the second time last time was pushing through for pheasant a couple of years back. I suspect its a spaniel thing. 

[B686]

I went to to Holkham the other week with the family for a couple of days ( what a lovely part of the world) and whilst driving about went past some buildings that were something to do with Adnams brewery and all the stubble fields around there were covered in pigeons. But getting on the subject of dogs ears I noticed the other week my labs left ear was a bit mankey took her to the vets and apparently she has an infection that according to the vet they pick up from water . We have a brook at the back  where I live that she always has a swim in and this is where he reckons she would have got it. Anyway a quick swab what the vet took and a tiny pot of ear drops to put in twice a day £120 it cost. Got to use for 3 weeks, then take her back for a check up wonder how much that will cost again?? But her ear is getting better that’s the main thing.

[Wilts#Dave]

A nice little afternoon MM, enough for you to handle and nice to decoy over stubbles. 
I’ve yet to shoot any but the combines did begin rolling here on Friday. 

Edited July 21 by Wilts#Dave

[marsh man]

10 hours ago, B686 said:

I went to to Holkham the other week with the family for a couple of days ( what a lovely part of the world) and whilst driving about went past some buildings that were something to do with Adnams brewery and all the stubble fields around there were covered in pigeons. But getting on the subject of dogs ears I noticed the other week my labs left ear was a bit mankey took her to the vets and apparently she has an infection that according to the vet they pick up from water . We have a brook at the back  where I live that she always has a swim in and this is where he reckons she would have got it. Anyway a quick swab what the vet took and a tiny pot of ear drops to put in twice a day £120 it cost. Got to use for 3 weeks, then take her back for a check up wonder how much that will cost again?? But her ear is getting better that’s the main thing.

I also like Holkham , one of the nicest places along that stretch of coastline with some lovely walks , back to dogs , Yes I have had various trips to the vets over the years and I remember one of my dogs did have a similar problem with either one or both of his ears , this might also been caused by going in the water , on really hot Summers a lot of our Broads and Lakes do turn Green with algae , I am not saying it did cause the Problem but since then I have kept all my dogs out of any algae covered water , talking about water , I gave my dog a swim today in a big reservoir near mine that is used for irrigating the crops , it was crystal clear and smelt lovely and fresh .

[Old Boggy]

Well done John for getting out, getting a nice bag and enjoying it. Time out in the field is so important for you and Bobbie and the bonus of course is the ability to drive to your hide position.

We are both of an age where large bags are no longer as important as our ability to get out there, shoot a few and enjoy the time out.

Many thanks for posting.

OB