pigeon master Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Hi Fellow shooters, I would just like to comment on a tip I have been using to gain land and its worked much more effectively than going round farms and asking to shoot their land. Its much cheaper also. Instead of driving all over the place why don’t you log onto yellow pages and search for the farmers in your area. I have and I contacted more than fifty farms in an afternoon, “beat that in your motor”. I first apologised for contacting them and said it was just a quick call to check if you have any problems with vermin, and if so would you like them controlling, If insured also mention this and also comment that you don’t expect them to give you the permission over the phone but would it be possible to come to the farm and have a chat. Some will mention they might have a few lads that shoot the land but ask them if they are doing a good job and ask if they come out to you at short notice, this comment clinched a couple of extra farms for me. This is the first time I have tried this method and I gained more land in an afternoon than I have done in the last two years, now that’s progress. The afternoon I gained two farms that are getting hammered with pigeons, three farms that have a problem with rabbits, one farm that has a problem with crows and a poultry farmer with rats. Yes that’s 7 new farms to shoot on. Give it a go, I’m up in the Cleveland area Northeast Uk so most got a call yesterday but give it a try where you live. Happy woody shooting The PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Thats all fine and dandy if you can keep them all serviced PM... Does it leave you any time to go to work? The Farms I shoot on regularly (3) expect me to be there at the drop of a hat if the Pigeons are hitting the crops hard and this cant always be accommodated. I would advise anyone who does shoot on new farms to give back the Farmer something in return. The Odd Bottle of Scotch, Slab of Beer or Bunch of Flowers for his missuss doesnt go amiss from time to time and costs less than 250 cartrdges? I recently provided one of my Farmers with a new stick I had made myself and it was gratefully received as a useful present. I am a great believer in what goes round, comes round. You might think that you are doing the Farmer a big favour in Shooting Pigeons on his land but remember there are always plenty to take your place. Remember also these people are a very Close Knit community and they talk to each other! Good Luck FM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon master Posted July 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Hello FM, I know what your saying about keeping them happy and I agree that you must take a little gift with you when you aquire new land. I make that a priority and all my new land owners will be getting a bottle of whiskey for those cold winter nights. I run a security company in the northeast so I am lucky in that I can find time to escape and get the DPM gear on when required. Hope it helps to get someone, or a newbie gun to get his or hers first patch. Happy woody shooting The PM, I knew you would be first to reply FM, you are a pigeon watch addict I'm sure, or someone else is doing your work for you...lol. You must be self employed or retired!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 I knew you would be first to reply FM, you are a pigeon watch addict I'm sure, or someone else is doing your work for you...lol. You must be self employed or retired!! I wish.... I am actually a senior Estimator for a Construction Company. Most of My work is sedentary and I am sat behind this Interface all day! Generally a good deal of it is done Evenings and Weekends which is why I dont post very often during those times. I try to break off from the brain blitzing and number crunching every 2 hours or so for 10 mins as it is a very stressfull job at times, construction has become much of a fire fighting exercise over the years. I did have a small company at one stage which was very successfull but the hassle from Joe Public and the tax man was affecting my health and I never seemed to have any time to shoot, or fish. Where I work now there are 3 of us running a 3.5 million a year turnover company and we have a successfull Philosophy to our business.... "Do what you need to do to get the job done"...... and "If the Job is on Budget and Time and The Client is happy nobody remembers what happened in between." It helps also if your Boss is a fishing Nut..... Good Shooting... FM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon master Posted July 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 FM dont you go working to hard, although the amount of time I see you on here I'm sure you get enough breaks. I know what you mean about the tax man and VAT man stress, if only they would leave us alone to get some work done. Hope you enjoy your job FM, its sounds a fairly good number. Bye 4 now Happy woody shooting and fishing. Caught my first mako shark this year in the canaries, missed the marlin and tuna coz they were out of season. Maybe next time. The PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcha Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 I'll give that a try. I'll let you know how it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Hi PM! I am very impressed with you!It looks like you are very enthusiastic.I hope you will be able to accomodate all those farmers when the fields are full of pigeons.Have you already had any good days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon master Posted July 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Hi Doc, its good to hear from you, I have my first day tomorrow, I have had a recce of one of the farms and I guess I'm in for a super bag. The three fields that I'm on tomorrow will be wind blown wheat and barley and a pasture field, I went the other day and there were two groups of birds in the barley field. One side there was about 750-1000 rooks and further up the field the pigeons were feeding in groups of 10-15. Somw were on the crops and some just feeding on the pasture land. The farmer has a major problem with ferals round the barns, but I will save them for some late afternoon airgun shooting. I will keep you all updated. Happy woody shooting The PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Have a good day tomorrow PM.I plan to shoot over flattened barley tomorrow.I had a reasonable 3 hour shooting last week on that field and a bag of 31 pigeons and 7 rooks.Let us know how you are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon master Posted July 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Doc, have you been getting extra fields to shoot over from the club. I phoned john a couple of minutes after you the other day and he said you had been speaking to you. I think I will give him a call tonight to mark myself free for next week. Good to hear you had a good bag. Happy woody shooting The PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 11, 2004 Report Share Posted July 11, 2004 Hi PM, I keep a close eye on several fields but the rape has not been cut or sprayed in our area.I think there will be some serious shooting within the next couple of weeks.We could arrange to go together if the field is big as I often find its better to keep the pigeons moving.As you can arrange to go out on short notice stay in touch!I had a miserable day yesterday as the gamekeeper's son had been shooting on the field I was planning to go.I managed 8 pigeons and a rook. DOC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilly71 Posted July 12, 2004 Report Share Posted July 12, 2004 Good idea. Have you ever tried the golf course's? I have a course near me and might give them a ring. Once i get a gun Do you think its worth it? Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon master Posted July 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2004 Hi Guys, Just to report that I have had 3 days shooting this week, one day on the local farms and 2 days on the NPPC land. My first outing was shooting on a large bald patch of rape but the weather just wasn’t in my favour on I only managed to down 7 birds. My next session was on a local farm where the wheat field was getting some hammer. I set up in the corner next to some sitty trees and bagged 3 within 5 minutes, the problem was I couldn’t find them and this bothers me because I hate to think that there could be injured birds sat there for hours. I decided to set up in a grass field that held a lot of clover and the birds were flying over this to get to the wheat so I guessed I stood a chance of a decent bag. 10 minutes in I had a steady flow of birds dropping to 12 shells and a magnet, and in three hours dropped about 35 birds and collected 30, which I was very pleased with. My third outing was again on NPPC land where I shot with the Doc, we set up after lunch and targeted two separate fields keeping the birds on the move as much as possible. Being a lazy shooter sometimes I set up with the wind coming across from left to right so the birds were fast crossers and difficult to shoot. I did bag a few before moving down the field where the wind was behind me, this made the shots much easier and another half dozen were added to the bag. A little later when the wind dropped I returned to my original spot where I had observed loads of birds dropping in. I didn’t set up the magnet this time and found the birds were much more confident at dropping in and the rest of the afternoon was very good. I hadn’t tried this before but I was allowing a couple of birds to land and this dragged birds from all around and the tactic worked as I was hitting and incoming bird and hitting a bird that was taking off so a very good day with. Just like to end by saying thank you to the Doc for a great day and also a big thank you to John Shooter from the NPPC Club. Happy woody shooting The PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.