time to start shooting

[anser2]

This is realy related with the last topic. I had a friend up from Kent last winter and he recons he never sets up before 10.00 am and is often does not go out until late morning or afternoon at this time of year. Of course the pigeons may act differently in various parts of the country but , I find in my part of Norfolk at this time of year the best pigeon shooting over crops is between sunrise and midday with the cream of the shooting between 9.00 and 10.30. After that the supply of birds seem to dry up as I guess they fine a safer feed.

 

Its a waste of time for me to sett up in the in mid winter after miday unless its a very windy day as few birds seem to move. Different story in spring and summer when some of my best shooting has come between late afternoon and dusk.

 

Is this early feeding just a Norfolk or a more general habbit , what have other forum members found ?

[Jim Sarakun]

This is realy related with the last topic. I had a friend up from Kent last winter and he recons he never sets up before 10.00 am and is often does not go out until late morning or afternoon at this time of year. Of course the pigeons may act differently in various parts of the country but , I find in my part of Norfolk at this time of year the best pigeon shooting over crops is between sunrise and midday with the cream of the shooting between 9.00 and 10.30. After that the supply of birds seem to dry up as I guess they fine a safer feed.

 

Its a waste of time for me to sett up in the in mid winter after midday unless its a very windy day as few birds seem to move. Different story in spring and summer when some of my best shooting has come between late afternoon and dusk.

 

Is this early feeding just a Norfolk or a more general habit , what have other forum members found ?

 

We find it is the same here in Cambridgeshire ansar2, and my buddies and I are usually set up by first light, and in any case before the Crows are up and about. Do you have that pattern where you are, ie first the Crows are about, then the Gulls and then the Pigeons? In fact we usually always start at dawn, right through the year. The summer pattern this year, for the best shooting was sunrise to mid day, then about five pm till dusk. So where do they go in the middle bit? Many times we have driven around our shoot, and not seen more than a couple of birds, and it is a big shoot.

 

We have a few unanswered questions that you, or maybe some of the older more experienced shooters may be able to answer. Here is one, why, when you have 3x60 hectare fields, side by side, with the same crop, do the birds choose to feed in one particular spot? Bearing in mind 2 guns have 4 shots which after discharged they all fly away, and then they all come back in 20 minutes or so, after 2 or 4 of their mates have been shot. Why don't they move up the field, out of range, straight away? Why move when 50 of their mates are dead, if they move at all that is? Then when they move, we move with them, and the cycle starts all over again. Weird eh?

 

We reckon it's because between mid day and 5pm, they go up the pub on the lash, and lose their ability to reason, what do you reckon?....Jim

[Cranfield]

The best time to start shooting in my opinion depends on the weather, as much as anything.

A hard frost, normally means the birds have a late start , or a very wet and windy morning might mean they never leave the woods.

Dry and overcast often means they are on the fields before the sun is properly up.

 

I rarely set up before 9am, often liking a last minute recce just to make sure the birds are where I think they are.

Some guns also like to give the birds time to get on the fields before setting up, believing that this increases the chance that birds will return to the same field after being disturbed.

 

Why birds prefer certain fields is an often discussed topic.

I think their "perfect" field is close to natural flight lines, near to water and sitty trees, with sheltered areas, so that no matter which way the wind is blowing they can "tuck up".

Its also handy if it contains something they like to eat.