kitchrat Posted November 5 Report Share Posted November 5 Went on patrol yesterday, about 1.00pm. Saw a good-sized flock get up in the distance and found a drilled field (one of several) with loads still on it. Nosed my truck into the gateway in the hedge and they all got up in a huge flock and left. Continued on my rounds and came back 45 minutes later, not a pigeon to be seen. So today, I arrived about 9.30, loads of birds on the assorted fields, especially the favourite from yesterday. Again, they all jumped off in a huge flock. I watched for 45 minutes, a few smaller flocks came back but just landed in the trees and never hit the field. As I went to check the other fields, a huge flock took off from a nearby wood (nothing to do with me scaring them!) and departed. There were a few small groups around on the other fields but they too left. The tree-dwellers were still in the trees at 11.45 so I went home. Are they feeding from 1st light and are full of grain before I got there? Are they just plain not that hungry? Are they flocked up already? How can I get to grips with them? Ideas? Cheers, JK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted November 5 Report Share Posted November 5 Change your shower gel ? 🤷♂️🙋♂️😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted November 5 Report Share Posted November 5 We told them you were out and about................................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 5 Report Share Posted November 5 A lot of them might had come from across the channel and you must remember there clocks don't change so they will feed a hour earlier , or later ( I still get it mixed up ) then our ones that were born or hatched out in the UK . Back to your original question then the easy answer would be during the hours of daylight , I used to shoot a lot of Pigeons from first light but depending on what time of the Winter the late afternoons were a lot less productive . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted November 5 Author Report Share Posted November 5 2 hours ago, JKD said: Change your shower gel ? 🤷♂️🙋♂️😆 What's shower gel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted November 5 Report Share Posted November 5 6 minutes ago, kitchrat said: What's shower gel? Aaahh,,,, then that's your problem 😷🕊🙋♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted November 5 Report Share Posted November 5 go out at different times and have a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted November 5 Report Share Posted November 5 42 minutes ago, mossy835 said: go out at different times and have a look. This advice has been mentioned to this member a few times iirc 🫡😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted November 5 Author Report Share Posted November 5 1 hour ago, JKD said: This advice has been mentioned to this member a few times iirc 🫡😃 Yes and I keep doing it but cannot come up with a predictable or repeatable set of conditions. Nothing seems to add up. That's why I'm asking what others have found.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clangerman Posted November 5 Report Share Posted November 5 between the drill and rape here they can afford to snack so spend most of their time sat up keeping warm shot six today they were the only birds hungry enough to come in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted November 6 Report Share Posted November 6 There’s not always going to be a set pattern of birds feeding somewhere. I come across lots of situations that I’ll watch/keep an eye on and decide not to shoot due to no real pattern / lines in. That’s not to say I’ve never set up and been amazed at how things change once you start shooting, but sometimes through experience you get a feeling of what is / isn’t going to shoot well. If you’ve no other options and fancy going, just give it a go and see how it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 6 Report Share Posted November 6 32 minutes ago, Wilts#Dave said: There’s not always going to be a set pattern of birds feeding somewhere. I come across lots of situations that I’ll watch/keep an eye on and decide not to shoot due to no real pattern / lines in. That’s not to say I’ve never set up and been amazed at how things change once you start shooting, but sometimes through experience you get a feeling of what is / isn’t going to shoot well. If you’ve no other options and fancy going, just give it a go and see how it goes! There is a lot of truth in your post Dave, if you have only got a few Pigeons going on some fields that you can shoot on then they are your choice , if you cannot convince yourself if it is worth setting up then you carry on looking at what you have got on offer , it is hard enough in the warmer months of the Summer when you have got numerous grain fields , then as you well know with o s r it is a sight harder in the Winter months when the weather can be dull , no wind and get dark early like it is at the moment , sometimes you can set up when you think you are on a decent day and it turn out a total blank , then it go as expected and finally a lot better than you thought it was going to be , but that is the way it have always been , so unless you give it a go then you will never know if it was worth going or not . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted November 6 Report Share Posted November 6 5 hours ago, Wilts#Dave said: If you’ve no other options and fancy going, just give it a go and see how it goes! He's been given this advice many times in his other threads whinging about nothing goes as he 'expected' 😆😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 6 Report Share Posted November 6 1 hour ago, JKD said: He's been given this advice many times in his other threads whinging about nothing goes as he 'expected' 😆😂 I think he's a wind up merchant JKD , as it is around Guy Fawkes night he is seeing which one of us have got the shortest fuse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted November 6 Report Share Posted November 6 3 minutes ago, marsh man said: I think he's a wind up merchant JKD , as it is around Guy Fawkes night he is seeing which one of us have got the shortest fuse Yeah, perhaps he'll soon,,,,,,, fizzle out 😆🥳😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 6 Report Share Posted November 6 3 minutes ago, JKD said: Yeah, perhaps he'll soon,,,,,,, fizzle out 😆🥳😂 Oh here we go again, and there was me trying to be serious , I can see this ending up as being a damp squid.😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted November 6 Report Share Posted November 6 1 minute ago, marsh man said: Oh here we go again, and there was me trying to be serious , I can see this ending up as being a damp squid.😄 Or damp 'squib' even ? 🙄😆🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 6 Report Share Posted November 6 Just now, JKD said: Or damp 'squib' even ? 🙄😆🤣 You Southerners pronounce things different to us as you can (sea ) I have still got water on my brain . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted November 6 Report Share Posted November 6 Anyway,,,, I'm off to prepare my gear for some pigeon shooting at first light tomorrow, because that's the best time in my neck of the woods 🤭😆 7 minutes ago, marsh man said: You Southerners pronounce things different to us as you can (sea ) I have still got water on my brain . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted November 7 Author Report Share Posted November 7 14 hours ago, JKD said: He's been given this advice many times in his other threads whinging about nothing goes as he 'expected' 😆😂 Thank you all for your support. (heavy sarcasm!) I am a struggling pigeon shooter, finding it more and more difficult to get a few birds in the freezer. Clearly, Pigeon Forum members are more interested in slagging me off than coming up with any useful advice. I have found this over the years but have continued to post, hoping some of my posts would be of interest to others. I now, finally, see that I was p*****g into the wind! Goodbye and good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted November 7 Author Report Share Posted November 7 As an addendum to my farewell post above, I have this to add: I do not have access to a huge amount of land, the area is not pigeon rich and I rarely even see the number of pigeons some of you chaps can shoot in an afternoon. Here in semi-rural Essex there are lanes, footpaths, horse paddocks and "Antis" all over the place. I have to compete with Greek cafe-owners from London who offer £100 for a days shooting. So, it is difficult. If this is whingeing, I'm sorry, but it's the facts of life. So, I have to try and think my way to some success. If it doesn't work and I got it wrong, I have asked you chaps for more "data", ie what you are finding and what you suggest. I am sorry for having been a whinger but I thought Pigeonwatch was about sharing information and advice. Clearly I was wrong and have wasted my time, and yours. So sorry, I won't do it again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellors Posted November 7 Report Share Posted November 7 Hi. I see your frustration but look at it this way you have somewhere to go a lot on here don't. Just make the most of what you've got it's far better to sit in the hide with a chance of pigeons than sit at home with non. In answer to your original questions yes its hard at the moment i have drilled fields covered in grain to wet to roll pigeons all over it put them off and they don't come back. There flocked up now and with this unusually warm spell there spending most of the day just sat in the woods and trees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 7 Report Share Posted November 7 40 minutes ago, kitchrat said: As an addendum to my farewell post above, I have this to add: I do not have access to a huge amount of land, the area is not pigeon rich and I rarely even see the number of pigeons some of you chaps can shoot in an afternoon. Here in semi-rural Essex there are lanes, footpaths, horse paddocks and "Antis" all over the place. I have to compete with Greek cafe-owners from London who offer £100 for a days shooting. So, it is difficult. If this is whingeing, I'm sorry, but it's the facts of life. So, I have to try and think my way to some success. If it doesn't work and I got it wrong, I have asked you chaps for more "data", ie what you are finding and what you suggest. I am sorry for having been a whinger but I thought Pigeonwatch was about sharing information and advice. Clearly I was wrong and have wasted my time, and yours. So sorry, I won't do it again! You are not wasting our time or anyone's and our comments were only intended to be light hearted so please accept my apologies if you took it wrongly , a lot of your questions you can only answer yourself to do with timing and the availability of feed on the surrounding fields , by giving it a go a few times then that should answer what you need to know , keep on posting and let us know how you get on MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down South Posted November 7 Report Share Posted November 7 The frustration of pigeon shooting. There is no definitive answer to your question, every area is different. Let the farmer know you are available if he sees birds hitting the crops. This time of year, seeing large numbers of birds feeding does not equate to good shooting, the flocks move on and at best you can pick up a few birds that might decoy. Big bags in winter are usually due to hard weather and limited food sources. As others have said, be happy you have permission, it’s better to be out there trying than being at home watching day time tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted November 7 Report Share Posted November 7 3 hours ago, kitchrat said: Thank you all for your support. (heavy sarcasm!) I am a struggling pigeon shooter, finding it more and more difficult to get a few birds in the freezer. Clearly, Pigeon Forum members are more interested in slagging me off than coming up with any useful advice. I have found this over the years but have continued to post, hoping some of my posts would be of interest to others. I now, finally, see that I was p*****g into the wind! Goodbye and good luck. I think my post was fairly constructive to be honest, certainly not taking the p***. My point was and still is that sometimes there just isn’t any definitive answer, every situation is so different but broadly speaking you’ll want to be out in the morning at this time of year to stand a chance of catching the main flight/feed. And as I said, give it a go…..I’ve had many days where I’ve shot great bags from doing just that when I’ve had little choice of location and fancied getting out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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