adzyvilla Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 (edited) The solitary magpie that crossed my path on the drive over turned out to be fairly portentous of the afternoon ahead. I can't blame it all on bad omens, but it makes me feel a bit better if age old superstitions carry the can, at least for today. The weather was decent. Broken cloud was scudding across a bright blue sky driven by a light south westerly and it was a balmy 13°c making for unusually pleasant shooting conditions. There were plenty of pigeons in the air as we parked the car, and they scattered to all corners while we disembarked. I wanted to cut a couple more sticks I'd had my eye on before we got going but I loaded up just in case. The Carr was absolutely heaving with wildlife as I picked my way along the river towards a thicket of the straightest blackthorn I've ever seen. The dog, who never stops hunting put duck and woodcock up, and two roe made an acrobatic escape across the river. Sticks cut, a few minutes walk put me back in my usual spot. My first shot bought some fleeting good fortune as I downed a bird coming in to land in one of the mighty pine trees to my left. Almost immediately another hoved into view right in front of me, but I clean missed it and it flared away unharmed. I missed my next two as well, chances I would usually take and baffling to comprehend. But I kept on plugging away and was eventually rewarded with what looked like a well hit bird. The dog was dispatched behind me, and despite a good five minutes searching, of the pigeon there was no sign. There followed a frustrating afternoon of fleeting glimpses, easy misses and another missed retrieve. I managed to put another couple in the bag before we packed it in just as dusk decended but I was far from happy with what should have been the best afternoon roost shooting this year. The birds were there in numbers, the other woods had plenty of coverage and the weather was right, but sadly it wasn't to be. Edited February 22 by adzyvilla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 That is Wood Pigeon Shooting in a nutshell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 Weather wise it was a complete contrast from the previous three weeks but sadly the weather didn't improve the roast shooting , the afternoons are getting well spread out now and the sun was still well up after 4.pm , the other guns in the woods were either still at home or they had fell asleep as only the odd shot rang out from time to time with no set pattern from any any one direction , I had already walked around the area where I go yesterday so I more or less knew it was going to be a struggle , and a struggle it certainly was , again I had a walk around and if the previous three weeks had been below par then this week was well below par and in a way I am not sorry it was the last week , we just haven't got the numbers this year and could be down to not having any rape , although the Pigeons are now working on the fresh beet tops and are moving around with the beet harvester , still I have been in it but at the other end of winning it . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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