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Frustrating lark this pigeon shooting.


JDog
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The first rape was cut on Wednesday. Today would be perfect. Except it wasn't.

We met at ten, glassed the fields in vain and agreed to reconvene at twelve.

I went home, drank coffee with my wife and contemplated my navel.

At twelve pigeons were moving. This field is easy to shoot, the line is along a hedge. Except it wasn't.

A great many birds then started to move but to the 'wrong' field, one with footpaths on two long sides. We have never shot this field in twenty years for obvious reasons. The option was obvious, except it wasn't.

So we set up in the usual place, saw possibly five hundred pigeons go to the wrong field and twenty odd walkers exercising their rights. We drew 10% off the line and shot fifty three pigeons. This was going to be a bumper bag day, except it wasn't.

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2 hours ago, JDog said:

The first rape was cut on Wednesday. Today would be perfect. Except it wasn't.

We met at ten, glassed the fields in vain and agreed to reconvene at twelve.

I went home, drank coffee with my wife and contemplated my navel.

At twelve pigeons were moving. This field is easy to shoot, the line is along a hedge. Except it wasn't.

A great many birds then started to move but to the 'wrong' field, one with footpaths on two long sides. We have never shot this field in twenty years for obvious reasons. The option was obvious, except it wasn't.

So we set up in the usual place, saw possibly five hundred pigeons go to the wrong field and twenty odd walkers exercising their rights. We drew 10% off the line and shot fifty three pigeons. This was going to be a bumper bag day, except it wasn't.

53 IS a bumper day in my book! You saw "A great many birds"! Different world..... (Nice entertaining post though!)

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1 hour ago, yickdaz said:

Had many of those days you end up with a good bag but you know it could of beem so much better 

You can also go the other way where you expect very little shooting and it end up a bumper day , these are the sort of days where you run out of cartridges because you didn't expect that amount of shooting , shooting a big bag is not always as enjoyable as people make out , if shooting on stubbles is on a scale say 1 to 10 for skill then it would fairly low on the list , a lot of people nowadays can no longer move there Pigeons on and in todays heat you would have to get a move on to take them to a dealer before the eggs have hatched out into maggots and the back end start to go Green , if shooting a big bag on stubble is yours or anyone's else idea of a good days shooting  and then you have got to dump the whole bag then so be it , where if I go and get some shooting in the time frame I have set myself then I have had a decent day and whatever the bag is I can normally handle that amount . no way would I shoot a big bag ( not that I am likely to ) and then go and dump the lot .   MM

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13 hours ago, marsh man said:

if I go and get some shooting in the time frame I have set myself then I have had a decent day and whatever the bag is I can normally handle that amount . no way would I shoot a big bag ( not that I am likely to ) and then go and dump the lot .

I’m with you on this. If you want to shoot big bags of pigeons then have a plan for disposing of the bodies.

Edited by Down South
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39 minutes ago, Down South said:

I’m with you on this. If you want to shoot big bags of pigeons then have a plan for disposing of the bodies. Leaving a pile of rotting pigeons is not a good image for shooting. At least take them to the dump or bury them.

Nobody has mentioned dumping pigeons 

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16 minutes ago, yickdaz said:

Nobody has mentioned dumping pigeons 

Correct. Why Marshman would infect my post with mention of dumping pigeons is beyond me. Mine always find a home. In this case the pub two miles from where they were shot. They were in the chiller ten minutes after we left the field and we were in the bar.

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29 minutes ago, JDog said:

Correct. Why Marshman would infect my post with mention of dumping pigeons is beyond me. Mine always find a home. In this case the pub two miles from where they were shot. They were in the chiller ten minutes after we left the field and we were in the bar.

And mine from yesterday are in the chest freezers 

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53 isn’t to be sniffed at Jdog but I sense your frustration, we’ve all been there and it’s damn annoying when you know full well how much shooting you could be getting if you could only be in the ‘right place’. 
I had a frustrating afternoon last week where there has been a large number of pigeons using several standing crop fields and was convinced I’d be able to get under them somewhere and shoot a tidy bag. I set up, never fired a shot for half an hour and just knew I wouldn’t be in for any action so packed up! 
Looking forward to a day on stubble where I can easily pick birds and drive to the hide. 
 

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22 hours ago, JDog said:

Correct. Why Marshman would infect my post with mention of dumping pigeons is beyond me. Mine always find a home. In this case the pub two miles from where they were shot. They were in the chiller ten minutes after we left the field and we were in the bar.

Perfect solution to the problem!

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On 21/07/2024 at 11:03, JDog said:

Correct. Why Marshman would infect my post with mention of dumping pigeons is beyond me. Mine always find a home. In this case the pub two miles from where they were shot. They were in the chiller ten minutes after we left the field and we were in the bar.

I didn't refer to anyone dumping Pigeons , I was stating that I wouldn't shoot a large bag of Pigeons and dump them as I have no longer got an outlet , I dare say the majority on the forum who shoot regular decent bags of Pigeons would have somewhere to offload them , it was certainly not intended at you or anyone else come to that , so please accept my apoligies   MM

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On 21/07/2024 at 11:03, JDog said:

Correct. Why Marshman would infect my post with mention of dumping pigeons is beyond me. Mine always find a home. In this case the pub two miles from where they were shot. They were in the chiller ten minutes after we left the field and we were in the bar.

 

Awesome JDog - May i ask do you / or the pub need a handling licence for them ?

Our local would take any pigeon or pheasants - but as they are a bit of a "small chain" - the controller said no more - Sad as its a little village and the game and pigeon was the best seller! 

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Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, jall25 said:

 

Awesome JDog - May i ask do you / or the pub need a handling licence for them ?

Our local would take any pigeon or pheasants - but as they are a bit of a "small chain" - the controller said no more - Sad as its a little village and the game and pigeon was the best seller! 

The pub is privately owned by a friend of mine. He will take up to 50 at a time. Whether he has or needs a licence I cannot say. They sell very quickly.

I get paid in pints. I am owed twenty at the moment.

Edited by JDog
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Just now, JDog said:

The pub is privately by a friend of mine. He will take up to 50 at a time. Whether he has or needs a licence I cannot say. They sell very quickly.

I get paid in pints. I am owed twenty at the moment.

A very good relationship !!

Just now, jall25 said:

A very good relationship !!

And just how thing were years ago !

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1 hour ago, JDog said:

The pub is privately by a friend of mine. He will take up to 50 at a time. Whether he has or needs a licence I cannot say. They sell very quickly.

I get paid in pints. I am owed twenty at the moment.

Try and stay sober! Hot weather makes one thirsty!

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1 hour ago, JDog said:

The pub is privately by a friend of mine. He will take up to 50 at a time. Whether he has or needs a licence I cannot say. They sell very quickly.

I get paid in pints. I am owed twenty at the moment.

I think you will find Mr JDog it is the person who have got the small game / Pigeons who need a hygiene certificate to be able to sell small game to the pub or wherever, and if I am right not the person who is buying it , or in your case swapping Pigeons for beer , at the end of the day it is still being sold on to the public.

We had one on the estate and I sold my Pigeons on paper through the estate as the dealer always put who they were from , when it came to selling small amounts to pubs ect , I stopped selling a few at a time in case the environmental people got in on the act and asked where they came from, there might well be ways of getting round these sort of things but I wouldn't want to be the one they make a test case of selling game / pigeons without the proper paperwork . 

Might well be worth looking into it the ones who do sell or swap a few birds for money or beer if they can legally do so without a hygiene certificate , like I said the other day that now the weather have turned hot it is very easy for the birds to get fly blown and turn green well before you get home if you have been out for several hours , and who would want to eat Pigeons with maggots hatching out , of gone off a bit around the backside which they can do on the same day they are shot .   MM  

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53 minutes ago, JDog said:

You might be able to get more up to date links from the Food Standard Agency when the Wild Game Guidance was last updated on 25th July 1922 , Your link above don't come up on mine but I would imagine it is well outdated .

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26 minutes ago, marsh man said:

You might be able to get more up to date links from the Food Standard Agency when the Wild Game Guidance was last updated on 25th July 1922 , Your link above don't come up on mine but I would imagine it is well outdated .

Yours is a little out of date too.......................:w00t:

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10 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Yours is a little out of date too.......................

Could well be Dave , That was the first one I came across and I didn't surf the net for an up to date account of modern days requirements as I no longer sell any  Pigeons , game or wildfowl , there is also different regulations for those who handle and sell the odd deer.

As I done the maintenance on our estate I was in charge of bringing our game larder up to the required standard to get the certificate to handle and to sell game , this involved a lot of work and expense and at a guess I would say it was around 20+ years ago ., things like everything else have moved on since then and no doubt it would have been upgraded if required.

Until Mr Packham nigh on stopped Pigeon shooting overnight a lot of us ( me included ) didn't even know a G L existed and this is now revised every so often , even now we still get members asking if they are allowed to shoot on stubbles , which at the moment they are , but who knows when it's revised again ?.

A simple thing like taking a few Pigeons or game to the pub or butchers could bring you more problems than you would ever imagine, so it would pay you to get it right and not go by what your friends say , if you are in doubt then check the net for up to date information , it could save you a lot of stress and problems .    MM

 

 

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15 hours ago, marsh man said:

I think you will find Mr JDog it is the person who have got the small game / Pigeons who need a hygiene certificate to be able to sell small game to the pub or wherever, and if I am right not the person who is buying it , or in your case swapping Pigeons for beer , at the end of the day it is still being sold on to the public.

We had one on the estate and I sold my Pigeons on paper through the estate as the dealer always put who they were from , when it came to selling small amounts to pubs ect , I stopped selling a few at a time in case the environmental people got in on the act and asked where they came from, there might well be ways of getting round these sort of things but I wouldn't want to be the one they make a test case of selling game / pigeons without the proper paperwork . 

Might well be worth looking into it the ones who do sell or swap a few birds for money or beer if they can legally do so without a hygiene certificate , like I said the other day that now the weather have turned hot it is very easy for the birds to get fly blown and turn green well before you get home if you have been out for several hours , and who would want to eat Pigeons with maggots hatching out , of gone off a bit around the backside which they can do on the same day they are shot .   MM  

From what I understand you need to register with your local council 
as a primary food producer to sell/exchange any game in fur or feather, I presume that includes pigeons that will be used for human consumption.

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