mellors Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 59 minutes ago, old'un said: He did...but that's not OSR. It looks like the SFI we have round here. And huge flocks on it. Be a brave person to set up on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 1 hour ago, JKD said: Yup, and stabila all the way 🫡 You certainly use a piece of class , that would be the Purdey in the world of shotguns , only the rich and famous have a Stabila , a man of sheer elegance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B686 Posted January 11 Author Report Share Posted January 11 (edited) 2 hours ago, mellors said: It looks like the SFI we have round here. And huge flocks on it. Be a brave person to set up on that. Thats maybe what he said when i asked SFI. Thought he said SSI scheme for wild birds . Got wheat and other seed plants in it just left with no chemicals or nothing just left to do it’s own thing. Edited January 11 by B686 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellors Posted January 11 Report Share Posted January 11 3 hours ago, B686 said: Thats maybe what he said when i asked SFI. Thought he said SSI scheme for wild birds . Got wheat and other seed plants in it just left with no chemicals or nothing just left to do it’s own thing. Be nice if there's a rape field nxt to it or on the flight line. Quite a few farms round here have gone as much as 50% SFI for safer income. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B686 Posted January 11 Author Report Share Posted January 11 3 minutes ago, mellors said: Be nice if there's a rape field nxt to it or on the flight line. Quite a few farms round here have gone as much as 50% SFI for safer income. When I asked about shooting he said he already has people on there and the sfi was keeping them off his rape . I shoot on 5 farms and only 1 has rape this year and sounds like he isn’t bothering next year with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 17 hours ago, B686 said: When I asked about shooting he said he already has people on there and the sfi was keeping them off his rape . I shoot on 5 farms and only 1 has rape this year and sounds like he isn’t bothering next year with it. Rape crop seems to dwindle year on year here with plenty of failed crops pitting farmers off growing what is a really expensive crop to grow! What I have found is that the fewer fields doesn’t result in more pigeons concentrated in a smaller area, they just mostly disappear through the winter and turn up again in the spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 40 minutes ago, Wilts#Dave said: Rape crop seems to dwindle year on year here with plenty of failed crops pitting farmers off growing what is a really expensive crop to grow! What I have found is that the fewer fields doesn’t result in more pigeons concentrated in a smaller area, they just mostly disappear through the winter and turn up again in the spring. Opposite around here, there’s over 600 acres on a number of farms and some farmers who have not grown rape for some years say they will be growing it next year. Strange thing is, I had some good days before Christmas but since this still cold snap they have just sat in the trees with very little movement, apart from them dropping out the trees onto the field. Hopefully we get a bit of wind with this change in the weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 45 minutes ago, old'un said: Opposite around here, there’s over 600 acres on a number of farms and some farmers who have not grown rape for some years say they will be growing it next year. Strange thing is, I had some good days before Christmas but since this still cold snap they have just sat in the trees with very little movement, apart from them dropping out the trees onto the field. Hopefully we get a bit of wind with this change in the weather. It’s a profitable crop to grow if you can grow it and a good break crop so as you say some that haven’t grown it for a while are giving it a go! Hopefully it’ll keep you busy with plenty of shooting. What is strange though is we always used to get reasonable shooting through the winter on rape but now even though it’s still grown, albeit in smaller acreage it just doesn’t attract the pigeons here like it used to. I think they just leave the area through the winter and return in the spring, but obviously I’ll never really know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 3 hours ago, Wilts#Dave said: It’s a profitable crop to grow if you can grow it and a good break crop so as you say some that haven’t grown it for a while are giving it a go! Hopefully it’ll keep you busy with plenty of shooting. What is strange though is we always used to get reasonable shooting through the winter on rape but now even though it’s still grown, albeit in smaller acreage it just doesn’t attract the pigeons here like it used to. I think they just leave the area through the winter and return in the spring, but obviously I’ll never really know! There's a high yielding variety of rape called Compass, in trials it was noticed that pigeons numbers were a lot smaller on these fields and did not graze the field for prolonged periods, in some trials there was no pigeon damage at all, this is believed to be due to the high levels of Glucosinolates, its thought this chemical, that produces heat in chilli and mustard seed, helps to deter pigeons….this year there was more than 20,000ha sown, your farmers could be growing such a variety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 4 hours ago, old'un said: Opposite around here, there’s over 600 acres on a number of farms and some farmers who have not grown rape for some years say they will be growing it next year. Strange thing is, I had some good days before Christmas but since this still cold snap they have just sat in the trees with very little movement, apart from them dropping out the trees onto the field. Hopefully we get a bit of wind with this change in the weather. Same here, just sit in the trees for hours, then drop for a mass feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 6 minutes ago, kitchrat said: Same here, just sit in the trees for hours, then drop for a mass feed. Yep, still cold sunny days are not the best conditions for pigeon shooting, very rarely go out when its like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blasterjudd Posted Monday at 21:30 Report Share Posted Monday at 21:30 On 12/01/2025 at 14:54, kitchrat said: Same here, just sit in the trees for hours, then drop for a mass feed. Hiya John Many over Stebbing way if ur still shooting over that area ? I've had a few good roosts since Christmas ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted Tuesday at 08:52 Report Share Posted Tuesday at 08:52 On 10/01/2025 at 10:59, marsh man said: I also know a chap who is in fact still alive who rented a small field off a farmer just to shoot Pigeons , what ever crop was put in he added to it with a spinning device on the back of his land rover , this container was filled up with the sweepings and that from his near by grain store , it wasn't so much about the numbers he shot it was more about having somewhere to go without spending a lot of limited time in finding them , if he only had a Saturday afternoon then he knew he would get enough shooting from the time he arrived to the time he packed up , now it's another one of things that are now outlawed and no longer allowed . As for shooting into a big flock of Pigeons , twice over the years I have fired into a flock and picked up just into double figures , once was on a snow covered rape field , this had the round bales all the way around the headlands so you could creep up without been seen and the other time was on flattened grass down on the marsh , I then crawled around the bottom of the dyke and put two barrels across them when I was in range , they were dropping down like flies and those ole Russian cartridges must have had a delayed action, now I would get stuck in the dyke within ten yards from where I started off , how nice to be young again . MM I knew a chap that dropped 9 Pinks for one shot as they crossed a stone wall. On 10/01/2025 at 16:42, B686 said: I shot over 300 with my spirit level 🤣. 🤣🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted Tuesday at 08:59 Report Share Posted Tuesday at 08:59 On 11/01/2025 at 08:53, B686 said: Thats probably where they all are. I'd reckon you have most of mid Essex' doos, there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted Tuesday at 14:13 Report Share Posted Tuesday at 14:13 5 hours ago, Penelope said: I knew a chap that dropped 9 Pinks for one shot as they crossed a stone wall. 🤣🤣 That would take some explaining to the warden when coming off the marsh with nine geese when our limit was four a day , never got nowhere near anything like that and never likely to now, I did know a bloke who is long gone now that had a likely three figure bag with one shot but we are talking about a different bore gun and birds that were a lot , lot smaller than geese Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted Tuesday at 15:08 Report Share Posted Tuesday at 15:08 54 minutes ago, marsh man said: I did know a bloke who is long gone now that had a likely three figure bag with one shot but we are talking about a different bore gun and birds that were a lot , lot smaller than geese Pre 1954? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted Tuesday at 15:19 Report Share Posted Tuesday at 15:19 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Penelope said: Pre 1954? No , I can't go back that far , that was only a year after we were badly flooded and I still hadn't found my over sized water boots by then , this would have been in or around the mid 60s , punt gunning ceased after the estuary was made into a reserve in 1968 and me and my mate might had witnessed the very last shot , if it was then the ole boy went out with a bang and a very big bag of assortments . Edited Tuesday at 15:21 by marsh man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B686 Posted Tuesday at 20:18 Author Report Share Posted Tuesday at 20:18 11 hours ago, Penelope said: I'd reckon you have most of mid Essex' doos, there. They are still there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted yesterday at 08:17 Report Share Posted yesterday at 08:17 11 hours ago, B686 said: They are still there. And will be for some time, yet. We have similar SFI on our shoot (different variety sown each year) and few years ago the doos were on one field from October until it went under the plough the following spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manymissedpigeon Posted 4 hours ago Report Share Posted 4 hours ago Afternoon all, I was out yesterday and watched a flock of plus five hundred lift off from one of three adjoining o/s/r fields up into a far tree line. I had watched the same fields with many hundreds last week but there was a scheduled game shoot over land for the Saturday so this farmer usually asks me to wait until after last game shoot ( only a stand one walk one) I set up just out from the end of a game crop using my recently repaired spinner and around thirty shell decoys but no joy even with switching the spinner on and off remotely. I then moved to the other end of the game crop, put out the spinner plus one flapper and sorted my ten or so darkest coloured shell decoys ( I buy a dozen and loose half, then buy another dozen and the same thing happens so I end up with many shell decoys from many different suppliers of varying ages and wear and tear) I paint a few with dark grey undercoat and neck bars with tipex. Before I had remotely switched the spinner on, over came a half dozen pigeons, two came straight in and down they went. This put up the masses from the tree line and I had a fast five minuits as some came over with the tail enders of each group dropping in perfectly. I’ve shot pigeon for thirty years or more and I still have no idea what they are going to do on any given day ( this day was mostly sunny, very clear with only a light wind) I only picked just into double figures but this farmer drills both peas and beans so I put up with the travelling and the cost to have the better days through the warmer months. Again I was out on my own as various shooting friends just don’t want to or can’t afford to do ‘pigeons’ anymore but can I get even one box of carts from a farmer? No way even though he can have up to three gas guns blasting away using both gas and manpower to swap bottles etc Sorry everyone, I’m preaching to the converted aren’t I😩 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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