The desolation of the roost

[adzyvilla]

Back again for another year, although I'm not sure it was worth the bother. Last Saturday I was much more enthused, both with the weather conditions and with the sheer number of pigeons about. Sadly it was decided we wouldn't go out as some of the regular crew including the keeper were off to a cock shoot and we couldn't cover enough woods to keep the birds moving around the estate. Perhaps this turned out to be an opportunity missed as I have heard tell of some good sport and decent bags on the 1st, but never mind, we shall fast forward a week to today and ruminate on what might have been.

Half two and father and I arrived at our usual spot in the Carr. Dad took off to the drier Western end and I took up my regular position in the marshy 'neck' at the far end. There was negligible breeze and barely a twig was stirring in the canopy with an overcast and moody sky above. We hadn't seen much about during our approach through the village, into the estate and finally down the long stretch of flailed game cover that leads to the mouth of the Carr. This was to be a sure sign of things to come. In previous years the whole area would have been alive with flashes of grey as our prey fled the scene, but today all that met our eyes and ears as we picked our way through the undergrowth were innumerable pheasants, strangely absent from the area in previous weeks...

A long wait worthy of the most gullible apprentice ensued. Straining my digital ear defenders to their limits I failed to hear any shots coming from neighbouring woods, even from the usually prolific Greatwood to my immediate north. I saw the odd bird or two over the next 45 minutes, but nothing remotely shootable came my way. A barking muntjac on the other side of the river provided some unwelcome ambience as the minutes ticked by, and a light drizzle permeated the meagre cover of the treetops.

Eventually, my solitary chance arrived. Something crashing through the wood behind me moved a group of four pigeons who took off and quickly gained altitude. I eyed them through the trees as they swirled around, reluctant to leave the vicinity, coming closer and closer to my position. As they finally crossed in front of me, I raised my gun and took a swing through the leader of the flock, sending him tumbling onto the disappointing drilling of winter wheat in the adjacent field. They scattered with the shot, but within a minute I spied them inexplicably coming back for part two. Further away this time, but just within range I had a go at the nearest of the trio and was delighted to see it flinch, a definite hit but not terminal. Setting its wings, it made for the cover of the belt on the other side of the wheat field. Marked by its proximity to a thicket of ivy clad pines, I returned to the task at hand.

Sadly, that was all the action I was to experience this day. Another half hour tripped by without incident and even the vocal muntjac got bored and wandered off. Taking the opportunity of a little training exercise for the spare dog, I picked my way through the boggiest corner of the Carr, jumped the ditch and walked over to the belt in search of the runner. 

Dog #2 is to my eternal shame a lost cause when it comes to being a competent working labrador. At 5 years old I have put many more hours into attempting to train her that I ever have with her predecessors but she just wouldn't take to it. I'll never give up though, hence the reason I brought her with me today, with dog #1 resting after a long and demanding season. I could see the bird lying dead at the base of a tree as we arrived so I cast her out, and after a little while she found her way there and picked it up. She wouldn't  bring it back to me of course, preferring to parade it around like some sort of macabre feathered trophy.

So that was it. Will I try again next week? You bet I will. Until then, happy hunting.

 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Yes, it always used to be good when the turnout was high.

Not these days though.

[7daysinaweek]

Good on you for getting out.

Enjoyed the write up.

[marsh man]

An excellent account of your afternoon in the woods , I was out over the last two Saturday afternoons and i might say it each year now but this year is certainly the quietest I have ever known it , my permit cover a large area as I like to put some decoys from anywhere from the sides of the woods or hedgerows as long as the wind is behind me , over the years I have had some brilliant afternoons along with some very poor ones but nothing like it is this year , last week was bitterly cold and both me and a mate of mine were freezing when we made our way home at a little after 4pm which normally you can still hear a fair bit of shooting going on but by then everywhere the shooting had died down to just the odd shot here and there.

This week I had a walk around Friday afternoon and again it was very cold with a strong Easterly wind but walking  around I saw very little to tempt me to go early the following day , come Saturday I had a bit of running about to do first thing and was all sorted out by dinner time , I looked at all the kit in the garage and with hardly a breath of wind I decided to leave it where it was and just take my gun and flask , getting out there things were no different from the day before except the wind from the previous day had died right down to next to nothing , yes there was the odd shot but with the amount of people about in the various woods then that was only to be expected , my mate rang me up to see if I was out and he reported nothing at all in his wood , I then left my gun locked up in my motor and just had a walk around , again a few shots were heard but very little Pigeon activity anywhere , so with the time getting on and my flask half empty I was very soon heading back to where I started from with a clean unfired gun .    MM

[JKD]

Great write up and thanks for sharing 👍 Plus, with not shooting as much as expected, you still enjoyed the session, right ? 😉

[adzyvilla]

It's always nice to be out, whether I pull a trigger or not, and I'll never take that for granted. I agree with MM it doesn't seem to be improving, maybe the pigeons are evolving to evade the roost shooters? Driving through the very same estate today, and there were pigeons everywhere, upwards of 300 on one field of beet tops alone. Work that out?

[JKD]

3 minutes ago, adzyvilla said:

It's always nice to be out, whether I pull a trigger or not, and I'll never take that for granted. I agree with MM it doesn't seem to be improving, maybe the pigeons are evolving to evade the roost shooters? Driving through the very same estate today, and there were pigeons everywhere, upwards of 300 on one field of beet tops alone. Work that out?

We can't suss them out, yet they can suss shooters out,,,, hmmmm 🤔 🤣