clangerman Posted November 8 Report Share Posted November 8 22 minutes ago, kitchrat said: Some farmers! I try to explain that a pigeon in my freezer or casserole will eat no more crops in the future. I don’t tell farmers how to farm and they don’t tell me when the pige should be shot or they can find another sucker who will sit in cold wet mud all winter on their manky rape! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 8 Report Share Posted November 8 It still annoy me at times where numbers seem to be the main reason people go and shoot Pigeons , we hear where big numbers are often shot on stubbles ( just to keep the farmer happy ) t b h , a lot of farmers I know couldn't give two monkeys **** with how many Pigeons you have shot on a stubble field , at one time on the place where I went they were not that keen you going on stubble as they looked at it that while they were on the stubble then they were not on any of his remaining crops , if it was all about numbers then I would had packed up years ago , don't get me wrong , I have shot big numbers and enjoyed the sport while doing it ,each and everyone was moved on with nothing wasted , I know you cannot compare wildfowl with Pigeons but you often get a wildfowler go several times in all kind of weather conditions without firing a shot or coming home with a empty bag , then the time come where everything go right and you are in the right place at the right time , several duck or geese pass at a comfortable range overhead and before long you have reached your club or your self imposed limit and then for the rest of the flight you just enjoy watching them sail overhead while your gun is sleeved because you have shot enough , that is not fiction , it is certainly a fact . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted November 8 Report Share Posted November 8 (edited) 12 minutes ago, clangerman said: I don’t tell farmers how to farm and they don’t tell me when the pige should be shot or they can find another sucker who will sit in cold wet mud all winter on their manky rape! I remember many years ago when I was a young man and I thought I was the farmers saviour and would talk myself up as if they could not do without me on winter rape, only to be told by one farmer that really I was only there for my enjoyment and a gas-gun did a better job as it was there 7 days a week. That knocked me down a peg or two, he was right of course. Edited November 8 by old'un Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted November 8 Report Share Posted November 8 10 minutes ago, old'un said: I remember many years ago when I was a young man and I thought I was the farmers saviour and would talk myself up as if they could not do without me on winter rape, only to be told by one farmer that really I was only there for my enjoyment and a gas-gun did a better job as it was there 7 days a week. That knocked me down a peg or two, he was right of course. Maybe in a smaller field. The regularity of a gas gun lets it down. They can also keep coming back. With a shotgun they are dead. Some fields hear have the full suite. Gas gun, scary man etc and they are still less effective than a gun. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clangerman Posted November 8 Report Share Posted November 8 7 minutes ago, old'un said: I remember many years ago when I was a young man and I thought I was the farmers saviour and would talk myself up as if they could not do without me on winter rape, only to be told by one farmer that really I was only there for my enjoyment and a gas-gun did a better job as it was there 7 days a week. That knocked me down a peg or two, he was right of course. with three gas guns on his peas a farmer was hesitant about the perm pulled the semi out shot next bird said he’s never coming back perm granted I prefer to spend all winter by my warm fire unfortunately farmers won’t give me an excuse to like comments to let them to eat the loose seed but I live in hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted November 8 Report Share Posted November 8 57 minutes ago, oowee said: Maybe in a smaller field. The regularity of a gas gun lets it down. They can also keep coming back. With a shotgun they are dead. Some fields hear have the full suite. Gas gun, scary man etc and they are still less effective than a gun. 🙂 what do you call a small field? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 Let's be honest about gas guns, they are great for getting wood pigeons used to the noise. Several of the farms that I have permission on use them. I arrive and turn the gas gun off if I decide to set up. I turn it back on a gain when I leave. The gas guns do more to annoy the local residents than scare the WP's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 2 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: Let's be honest about gas guns, they are great for getting wood pigeons used to the noise. Several of the farms that I have permission on use them. I arrive and turn the gas gun off if I decide to set up. I turn it back on a gain when I leave. The gas guns do more to annoy the local residents than scare the WP's. The pigeons here must be a bit shy of loud bangs then. 14 hours ago, clangerman said: with three gas guns on his peas a farmer was hesitant about the perm pulled the semi out shot next bird said he’s never coming back perm granted I prefer to spend all winter by my warm fire unfortunately farmers won’t give me an excuse to like comments to let them to eat the loose seed but I live in hope! if only it was that easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted November 9 Author Report Share Posted November 9 16 hours ago, oowee said: Maybe in a smaller field. The regularity of a gas gun lets it down. They can also keep coming back. With a shotgun they are dead. Some fields hear have the full suite. Gas gun, scary man etc and they are still less effective than a gun. 🙂 Plus they can tell the difference. With a gas gun they all jump up into the trees for a few minutes, then float back down again. A shot sends them miles away (if they are not into the freezer) and you have to wait ages for the next chance. (NB I am talking about winter rape here). Today, the birds I have be trying to pin down have moved about. Some have gone to a farm with a game shoot (on Monday) so that's a No No. The main lot have gone the other way, to a farm I don't have permission on. They are so flighty that every time I drove near the field, the sky was full of pigeons. Now, I know they don't like the low frequency sound of my diesel truck but this was getting silly. So I parked up nearby and watched thru' the bins. They were up and down like a whore's draws so I think they were a) not hungry or b) food on that field was running out or c) both the above. Either way they seem unshootable, even if I got permission. More frustration! NB I don't watch daytime TV, I do hard Sudoku to try and keep what brain cells I have left in an active state. Cheers, JK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 As for gas guns , with all the various scaring devices for moving Pigeons on none were made to kill Pigeons , they were only invented to try and stop them from feeding on the farmers valuable crop , having said that I have found by leaving them in the same position week in and week out they become less effective and Pigeons very soon find that the noise they create is not going to harm them , on the other hand if they are moved about fairly regular you find that the Pigeons become that much more jumpy , our place got a couple of new ones in the Summer that are timed to go off three times , these do seem a lot better than the earlier ones that either go off once or twice at the most . You watch the Pigeons half way down the field when the first bang go off and they nearly all stop feeding and are standing to attention , then the second bang go off and then some are air born , the others can't make there mind up until they hear the third bang and then they lift to fly to the nearest trees to weigh up if there is any danger , after a while the first ones drift back down quickly followed by the ones that are left , the feeding start again until the gas gun is timed to go off once again , after a while it become less effected until the gun is moved to where they have got used to feeding and the whole process then start all over again , can be time consuming and costly for the gas , but they are working daily , but you will always get the pros and cons about a man with a gun , verses a gas gun . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 39 minutes ago, kitchrat said: (NB I am talking about winter rape here). Today, the birds I have be trying to pin down have moved about. Some have gone to a farm with a game shoot (on Monday) so that's a No No. Then you should plan to be in an adjacent field on Monday and reap the benefit of the shoots noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 8 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: Then you should plan to be in an adjacent field on Monday and reap the benefit of the shoots noise. Lateral thinking,,,, and all part of the learning curve 🙈🤓 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted November 9 Author Report Share Posted November 9 2 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: Then you should plan to be in an adjacent field on Monday and reap the benefit of the shoots noise. Good plan but the adjacent fields are all nice green winter wheat and of no interest to our quarry, plus I will be in the beating line so that I can protect the farmer's OSR from Feb 2nd onwards. (also in the game cover area). This shoot is an amalgamation of three farms, so is very good for me. However, they have just drilled some fields down the road a bit, hopefully the shoot will move the pigeons down there ready for me on Tuesday? I could have a go tomorrow but it is Remembrance Sunday, so shooting is frowned upon, plus they haven't really found it yet. Tricky game this pigeon shooting, lots of factors to juggle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clangerman Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 shot three today full of ivy berries so even less birds have to leave the woods now chance of shooting more than a few definitely wont improve until some of this food drys up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 5 hours ago, kitchrat said: Plus they can tell the difference. With a gas gun they all jump up into the trees for a few minutes, then float back down again. A shot sends them miles away (if they are not into the freezer) and you have to wait ages for the next chance. (NB I am talking about winter rape here). Then the gas gun was in the wrong place or the tone set wrongly. 4 hours ago, marsh man said: As for gas guns , with all the various scaring devices for moving Pigeons on none were made to kill Pigeons , they were only invented to try and stop them from feeding on the farmers valuable crop , having said that I have found by leaving them in the same position week in and week out they become less effective and Pigeons very soon find that the noise they create is not going to harm them , on the other hand if they are moved about fairly regular you find that the Pigeons become that much more jumpy , our place got a couple of new ones in the Summer that are timed to go off three times , these do seem a lot better than the earlier ones that either go off once or twice at the most . You watch the Pigeons half way down the field when the first bang go off and they nearly all stop feeding and are standing to attention , then the second bang go off and then some are air born , the others can't make there mind up until they hear the third bang and then they lift to fly to the nearest trees to weigh up if there is any danger , after a while the first ones drift back down quickly followed by the ones that are left , the feeding start again until the gas gun is timed to go off once again , after a while it become less effected until the gun is moved to where they have got used to feeding and the whole process then start all over again , can be time consuming and costly for the gas , but they are working daily , but you will always get the pros and cons about a man with a gun , verses a gas gun . MM Most of the farmers I know who use gas guns always put them where the pigeons want to feed, usually 50-60 yards out from a wood or sitty trees, if its a biggish field 50+ acres it can push them to one end of the field which is usually near a house or road or a spot that is not shootable or suitable for a gas gun. Gas guns can be very effective at keeping pigeons off fields if the tone is set correctly and is in the right place and moved every 2 or 3 days, if I get to a field and hear a couple of gas guns on a field I usually move on, in all the years I have been shooting I could count on one hand the times I have seen pigeons taking no or very little notice of a gas-gun and they were starving pigeons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted November 9 Author Report Share Posted November 9 46 minutes ago, old'un said: Then the gas gun was in the wrong place or the tone set wrongly. Most of the farmers I know who use gas guns always put them where the pigeons want to feed, usually 50-60 yards out from a wood or sitty trees, if its a biggish field 50+ acres it can push them to one end of the field which is usually near a house or road or a spot that is not shootable or suitable for a gas gun. Gas guns can be very effective at keeping pigeons off fields if the tone is set correctly and is in the right place and moved every 2 or 3 days, if I get to a field and hear a couple of gas guns on a field I usually move on, in all the years I have been shooting I could count on one hand the times I have seen pigeons taking no or very little notice of a gas-gun and they were starving pigeons. What's this tone thing? Don't know anything about it, never seen a setting apart from the timer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 48 minutes ago, old'un said: Then the gas gun was in the wrong place or the tone set wrongly. Most of the farmers I know who use gas guns always put them where the pigeons want to feed, usually 50-60 yards out from a wood or sitty trees, if its a biggish field 50+ acres it can push them to one end of the field which is usually near a house or road or a spot that is not shootable or suitable for a gas gun. Gas guns can be very effective at keeping pigeons off fields if the tone is set correctly and is in the right place and moved every 2 or 3 days, if I get to a field and hear a couple of gas guns on a field I usually move on, in all the years I have been shooting I could count on one hand the times I have seen pigeons taking no or very little notice of a gas-gun and they were starving pigeons. Whatever you do with either someone shooting ,or by moving gas guns around you will never keep Pigeons off of every field where they can feed on , we haven't got as much rape now like we had in the peak years , having said we have still got several fields , gas guns tend to push Pigeons from A to B then a gas gun on that field might then push them off and they go on field C , if the gun is turned off or need moving then the Pigeons might hang about to fill the crops up before they head off to roost , if you have got say two fields that are fairly close to the farm then the land owner can normally keep an eye on things and either move the guns about or get someone in to try and kill a few , then you get the other end of the scale where our land is three miles from one side to the other and you would often need a lot of gas guns and man power to keep moving gas guns about , the farm can tolerate so many Pigeons and unless they start stripping the field then they are not to concerned , On our Peas they often put a gun out that is switched off so the fieldsman can see it when he come and check the Peas , then they leave it to me , it would be wasting my time and fuel if I left mine say every other day and when I get there a gun is constantly going off with not a Pigeon in sight , I am not greedy but it would be pointless me sitting about on Pea fields knowing there was not a single Pigeon on the Peas when I look a day or so before . On the other hand if I am going a couple of times a week and several Pigeons are feeding away then I would switch the gas gun on but that situation very rarely , or if ever arise , at the end of the day I am not going to sit about as a scarecrow and I like a bit of sport like anyone else , so while the crops are growing then my job is to avoid any serious Pigeon damage and then I can trim a few out before the numbers got out of hand . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 38 minutes ago, kitchrat said: What's this tone thing? Don't know anything about it, never seen a setting apart from the timer. A lot of gas gun have loudness controls, it can be set to give a low boom or a loud bang more like a shotgun but uses more gas. 4 minutes ago, marsh man said: Whatever you do with either someone shooting ,or by moving gas guns around you will never keep Pigeons off of every field where they can feed on , we haven't got as much rape now like we had in the peak years , having said we have still got several fields , gas guns tend to push Pigeons from A to B then a gas gun on that field might then push them off and they go on field C , if the gun is turned off or need moving then the Pigeons might hang about to fill the crops up before they head off to roost , if you have got say two fields that are fairly close to the farm then the land owner can normally keep an eye on things and either move the guns about or get someone in to try and kill a few , then you get the other end of the scale where our land is three miles from one side to the other and you would often need a lot of gas guns and man power to keep moving gas guns about , the farm can tolerate so many Pigeons and unless they start stripping the field then they are not to concerned , On our Peas they often put a gun out that is switched off so the fieldsman can see it when he come and check the Peas , then they leave it to me , it would be wasting my time and fuel if I left mine say every other day and when I get there a gun is constantly going off with not a Pigeon in sight , I am not greedy but it would be pointless me sitting about on Pea fields knowing there was not a single Pigeon on the Peas when I look a day or so before . On the other hand if I am going a couple of times a week and several Pigeons are feeding away then I would switch the gas gun on but that situation very rarely , or if ever arise , at the end of the day I am not going to sit about as a scarecrow and I like a bit of sport like anyone else , so while the crops are growing then my job is to avoid any serious Pigeon damage and then I can trim a few out before the numbers got out of hand . MM Never said you can keep them off every field on the farm, why would you? but in test one gas gun in the middle of a 30 acre field will keep the pigeons off the desired field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 7 minutes ago, old'un said: A lot of gas gun have loudness controls, it can be set to give a low boom or a loud bang more like a shotgun but uses more gas. Never said you can keep them off every field on the farm, why would you? but in test one gas gun in the middle of a 30 acre field will keep the pigeons off the desired field. In your previous post you hit the nail on the head by saying they need moving every 2 or 3 days ( gas guns not Pigeons ), that might be the way to do it , but in reality that just don't happen , more like weeks , months or left in the same place where it was originally put and in most cases where the truck can drive right all way up to it so the farm hand can easily change the gas over . like I said , unless it is serious damage then they are not over concerned , rape often look in a poor ole state in February , then after some spray and feed it look fine when all in flower at the end of April or the beginning of May , last year the wet weather was ten times more of a problem than any Pigeon damage which was either very little or none at all . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted November 9 Author Report Share Posted November 9 1 hour ago, marsh man said: In your previous post you hit the nail on the head by saying they need moving every 2 or 3 days ( gas guns not Pigeons ), that might be the way to do it , but in reality that just don't happen , more like weeks , months or left in the same place where it was originally put and in most cases where the truck can drive right all way up to it so the farm hand can easily change the gas over . like I said , unless it is serious damage then they are not over concerned , rape often look in a poor ole state in February , then after some spray and feed it look fine when all in flower at the end of April or the beginning of May , last year the wet weather was ten times more of a problem than any Pigeon damage which was either very little or none at all . MM Around here we also have the trouble with ******, sorry travelers, stealing the propane bottles, deer also seem to dislike them and kick them about. So, some end up in steel mesh cages. Deer are a big problem, you can often see herds of 50+. The rifle boys don't do much about it because they only get peanuts from the game dealers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted November 9 Report Share Posted November 9 15 minutes ago, kitchrat said: Around here we also have the trouble with ******, sorry travelers, stealing the propane bottles, deer also seem to dislike them and kick them about. So, some end up in steel mesh cages. Deer are a big problem, you can often see herds of 50+. The rifle boys don't do much about it because they only get peanuts from the game dealers. Around these parts the travelling boys leave the gas bottles and borrow the gas guns although they seem to forget to bring them back after they had done with them . deer are not a major problem as they do get some income for letting some of the oversea rifle shooters to come and clear one or two up . I agree there is very little money in selling deer , sheep and Pheasant poults are now more at risk . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted November 10 Report Share Posted November 10 13 hours ago, clangerman said: shot three today full of ivy berries so even less birds have to leave the woods now chance of shooting more than a few definitely wont improve until some of this food drys up Most of the ones that I shot on Thursday for my short trip out were also full of ivy berries which now means that they are using my favourite small wood. My drive around yesterday confirmed the birds going into this wood so with the right wind direction, this is where I’ll be heading this coming week. I’ve got ready made hides making the short walk to the wood less of a burden. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted November 10 Report Share Posted November 10 2 hours ago, Old Boggy said: Most of the ones that I shot on Thursday for my short trip out were also full of ivy berries which now means that they are using my favourite small wood. My drive around yesterday confirmed the birds going into this wood so with the right wind direction, this is where I’ll be heading this coming week. I’ve got ready made hides making the short walk to the wood less of a burden. Don't forget your "picnic" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted November 10 Report Share Posted November 10 2 hours ago, Old Boggy said: Most of the ones that I shot on Thursday for my short trip out were also full of ivy berries which now means that they are using my favourite small wood. My drive around yesterday confirmed the birds going into this wood so with the right wind direction, this is where I’ll be heading this coming week. I’ve got ready made hides making the short walk to the wood less of a burden. OB And all that comes from is,,,,, experience 🙃 The small wood I shoot woodies in has a border along the edge of a crop field. The wind direction is very important as to where and when they access the trees for roosting/resting. Certain wind directions won't have me trudging across said field to shoot nothing 😒 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted November 10 Report Share Posted November 10 47 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: Don't forget your "picnic" Never forget that However, I did once pack the wrong cartridges for the gun. I took a 20 bore and picked up a cartridge bag with 16 bore cartridges in. I have now overcome this school boy error by marking each cartridge bag with tape on the strap i.e yellow for 20 bore, blue for 16 bore. No red tape necessary. Another ‘fault pas’ occurred a couple of years ago when I quickly grabbed out of the freezer what I thought was a bag of two breasted pigeons for the whirly the night before going shooting to thaw out, only to find when I got to the field two dressed and ready to cook pheasants It’s an age thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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