One last hurrah

[adzyvilla]

There was some unusual enthusiasm on the estate group chat about the potential shooting this afternoon, but I must admit to not sharing in the outbreak of positivity. Still, come 3 o'clock father and I were in our respective portions of the Carr eyes heavenward in expectation of seeing some pigeons. There wasn't much about first thing, with nothing disturbed on the way in except for a wary cock pheasant put up by my ever faithful labrador, flying off to the safety of the common on the other side of the river.

The weather was warm, with a partially cloudy sky and virtually no wind so not ideal conditions, but with my back to the sun it was pleasant enough just standing in the clearing and watching the world go by. Above me in the trees a multitude of smaller birds flit about busily building up for spring and clouds of insects danced in the shafts of sunlight filtering through the canopy.

As it happened, I didn't have to wait long for my first half chance, and I landed a glancing blow with my first shot on a high fast pigeon to my left, and I saw it falter far behind me as its wingbeats gave a rasping sound. No thud could be heard through my fancy electronic ear defenders so I guessed it finally came down out in the park somewhere. I didn't have time to send the dog so made a mental note to look for it later, for another pair soon glanced past me. I had enough time to get off a double, but such was their speed I missed behind both times and they were away safely into the distance.

There followed long periods of quiet, with barely any shots to be heard in the surrounding woods and no pigeons coming into my range. I could hear plenty cooing in the distance but they seemed content to sit tight today. There was a brief interlude when a buzzing to the east resolved itself into a couple of microlights slowly passing above me which really stirred the birds up and a frantic few minutes of pigeons swirling and dipping around saw me bring another two birds down for a handful of shots. For a brief while it was almost like old times. Silence and stillness was never far away though and it was a long time before I raised my gun again.

Father joined me for the final 20 minutes as the sun started to dip towards the horizon and we chatted about this and that while an uptick of activity resumed in the sky. We shared another half dozen shots with one more bird added to the bag, with it falling into the only patch of brambles within 200 yards. A tricky retrieve for the dog who isn't the most intrepid of labradors and needed a bit of help to make an extraction, but picked it was and with that, roost shooting (for me at least) was over for another year.

A vintage year it was certainly not. As we made our way home for a brew we mulled over the state of the game and mused on what has changed. Weather conditions have certainly made a difference, and the lack of a proper winter for the last decade in our corner of Norfolk has played its part. Changes in the crops grown on the estate were also discussed with the acreage of rape ever decreasing as the farm switches to vegetables and maize. But in the end, we both agreed that with the retirement or loss of a lot of the older beaters, there just aren't the numbers out any more to man the woods and keep the birds moving. We averaged just 6 shooters over the last month to cover two dozen woods, where in years past we may have got 20 people out on an afternoon. Maybe pigeon shooting needs a PR campaign for 2026? 

 

Edited Saturday at 19:02 by adzyvilla

[adzyvilla]

Forgot to say, I found the 'runner' not far from the car. It had flown on for nearly half a mile before succumbing. Pigeons really are remarkable creatures.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well done for getting out.   

[marsh man]

As per normal a good account of your afternoon out , our roost shooting finished last week and going by what I saw yesterday afternoon you can understand why , it was possibly the best afternoon weather wise we have had this year , not for roost shooting but to be out in the countryside , I went out around 3pm and you could feel the warmth of the late sunshine , not a breath of wind or a cloud in the sky , if it had been our last day then you would have heard very few , or if any shooting , a few Pigeons got out of the different woods but not that many .

Maybe not as keen as I once was but for the last few years I have said it was the quietest I have known it and this year beat the lot , a fair bit of shooting heard the first week and the best I heard of was 18 , the second and third week was bitterly cold with rain and sleet showers and I didn't hear of anyone getting into double figures , then what was our last week it was as good as over , very , very little shooting and only the one or two shot , no good keep looking back, but I recon the four weeks combined bag this year would have easily been beaten in one day and the odd person would have nearly done it by himself , my how times have changed .    MM