Warlock Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 My land owner is drilling 80+ hectares of beans and peas this week, using his laser guided all singing all dancing machine before it goes away for a service. When is the best time to shoot drillings? also how long will they be good to shoot on as he is meant to be drilling this week but the earliest i can get out is friday. I`m hoping i can get a few weeks out of them at least as my farmer has sprayed all the rape with nitrogen no pigeons are off elsewhere due to burnt leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Shoot it whilst he's drilling them if you like. If he's got peas and beans going in, every pigeon in a 30 mile radius will be heading your way. Stick to the field as soon as it's drilled and don't move! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Hmmmm, I always reckon it takes them generally about 3 days to properly find it, then they've generally swept it clean after another 3 days, so you need to plan it well. This does vary according to the crop, and the time of year it's drilled, with Spring drilled peas or beans, they're on it in force more or less straightaway as young Will says, cereals take a bit longer to find, the best advice is keep an eye on the field, once you see a reasonable number of birds on there feeding, get there before dawn the next day,....... (and don't do a Nickbeardo and run out of shells.. ). Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warlock Posted March 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Slightly concerned that if he drilled on Monday then i have probably missed the best of the shooting, do you only get a small window on drillings or will the shooting continue for a while? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Ahem....can you not read my post..?? Keep your eyes on the field, that will tell you all you need to know, if you can only see a few ferals and the odd rook or crow, you know you're too late. Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerseaDavid Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 I agree with Cat, it normally takes a couple of days for a good number of birds to find the field and start feeding happily. But then saying that the pigeons were landing on the field behind my drill yesterday when I was drilling beans. It is best to keep your eye on the fields and I am sure you will get a good shoot out of one of your fields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Keep your eyes on the field Best advice you can be given. I too have done a boo boo by not watching the fields before a day out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MK38 Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 I think it depends on how deep the beans have been drilled..... any laying on the surface will soon be eaten , and you will have to keep your eye out for when that begins.... it can be a small window of opportunity . Modern drills don't leave many on the surface... But i find they will also take them when they start to sprout and on into young leaf .... then they might also take any weeds that have sprouted as well, so it might be good for a little while if your lucky. Dave :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scifiden Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Last April i had two good weekends on drilled cereal (crows scratching it out) then nothing for two weeks until it started to show :unsure: :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerseaDavid Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 I went down to the fields that I drilled on monday,tuesday and there is not a bird left on them, all the seed has been eatenand they are now back on the rape. But then there was only seed on the headland where the drill had pulled out, so I am ot surprised that they have cleared the field. I am going to be drilling again tomorrow so the birds will be on that soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warlock Posted March 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 Once they clear all the seeds that they can get easily will they come back when the shoots start showing? i didn`t know if pigeons eat bean/pea shoots or whether they are happier on rape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 No, Pigeons won't touch beans or cereals once they start to sprout. They will go for peas however, from drilling right the way through till the stubbles are ploughed back in. Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) If you have a recently drilled field and the birds do not use it still keep an eye on it. Last spring I had a field of drilled barley , that was well drilled with little in the surface. For 10 days only an odd pigeon visited it. We then had a strong dry wind and it blew a lot of the soil off the field and the pigeons quickly found the corn giving me a 70 bird afternoon. Edited March 5, 2009 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 I drilled 20ha of beans on sunday they have found them today so I am having a go at them tomorrow, hope I am not to late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MK38 Posted March 6, 2009 Report Share Posted March 6, 2009 No, Pigeons won't touch beans or cereals once they start to sprout. They will go for peas however, from drilling right the way through till the stubbles are ploughed back in. Cat. Agree totally about the peas..... but i'm not sure about the 'won't touch beans or cereals once they sprout' bit. .... i've had them on 'chitted' beans and ceareals.... and found them in the crop.... maybe they go to the field in the hope of finding seed, then take whatever they can.... maybe they are looking for chickweed, groundsell or whatever. With bean, wheat and corn fields, though the plant itself may be of no interest.... the birds can still be decoyed over them, allthough it might need the flocks break up abit for that to happen. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwakka Posted March 6, 2009 Report Share Posted March 6, 2009 Is this the same for maize??? I was told by an old boy who shoots on the same permission as me that the farmer would be drilling maize soon, well coming home from work the other afternoon there he was drilling away, I have been going past the field at various time of the day and can only see the odd crow and about 1000 seagulls. I did get out and have a look to see if I could see any surface seed but there was nothing to be seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortshot Posted March 6, 2009 Report Share Posted March 6, 2009 maize doesn't get planted before end April. Pigeons luv pea drillings but beans aren't v.attractive to them in my farming experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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