Jason13 Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 When do you think is the best time of day to get set up, i usually get out for about 9am and get set set up by about 10:30am to 11:00am. But i've been told to get out for about 6:00am, what are your opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete k Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 jason , i set up at 13.30 on saturday and ended with 90 pigeons between two of us , so basically do some recon work to see what time they are feeding and where, pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodyfirst Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 yeh, and then on the day you go, they'll change their habits!!! I went out with a mate yesterday, we planned a long day with a big bag, but **** law came into play, and we got held up by a variety of things, so we didnt get out until two hours after we planned. Then, what do you know? Nothing. We shot 11 birds between us all day! they just were not decoying at all! We had a good day last week, with 44 and a crow. Irritatingly though, we were shooting much better yesterday, and took those 11 in 16 shots, compared with 45 in a lot more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul in North Lincs. Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Generally you will find that it all depends on the weather, and availabity of food. On cold winters morning they will be hungry from roosting all night and will feed first light for a couple of hours,. then sit up for a couple of hours to digest before fueling back up. When food is plentifull they will feed at their leisure, stopping to digest when full. Got to have a look to see what their upto first!! Paul in North Lincs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry c Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 certainly if crows are to be controlled the same time, the earlier the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hill billy Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 i have tried settin up in the morning and didn't fire my gun until 12 so now i just go out about mid day and it works great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry c Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Fair enough but if you can get near a roost, pigeons can be intercepted as they flight at sunrise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palombier Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Jason I used to be a first light man and had some good days. However a combination of experience and advice from old pros made me change my habits and I am now convinced that a late morning/early afternoon start is generally the best. It gives you more oportunity for reconnaissaance and allows you to see how intent they are on a particular field. Yes you can get some good sport early morning but I have found that it can spoil the rest of the day too. Regards P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Yes you can get some good sport early morning but I have found that it can spoil the rest of the day too. That sums it up perfectly for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 I have found over the years that it depends on the food source. on rape for example which is low in nutrients and quickly digested the birds will tend to graze throughout the day. On seed or grain they will often gorge early morning and sit up for the rest of the day digesting especially if its warm. During breeding peaks in late summer birds feeding young will feed throughout the day. The best shooting Ive had in recent years has been either very early morning or early evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNAKEBITE Posted July 4, 2005 Report Share Posted July 4, 2005 Well those answers made it much clearer! It looks like it is a case of doing your homework on your particular patch. Being an air rifle man I was thinking about doing a bit more pigeon work. It would make a nice change from rabbits. However it is going to be much harde work than with a shot gun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted July 4, 2005 Report Share Posted July 4, 2005 When do you think is the best time of day to get set up, i usually get out for about 9am and get set set up by about 10:30am to 11:00am.But i've been told to get out for about 6:00am, what are your opinions? Best ask the pigeons Field craft should be part (sometimes the biggest part) of pigeon shooting. Know your birds, where they are, when they'll be there. I've a field at the meoment, harvested peas, that has hundreds of birds on it most of the day (for over a week) but the best time is around 1500, 1600, 1700 hrs when the flight's constant. Do your homework. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big dave Posted July 4, 2005 Report Share Posted July 4, 2005 It all depends on what quarry you go for. If you are going to nail the vermin go early its the time they are doing there rounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hill billy Posted July 6, 2005 Report Share Posted July 6, 2005 i used to leave the field about half five six depending on what time of year it is because of light reasons and when the pigeons stopped feeding but one day when i was decoying with my uncle, and we were goin to go home at about 4 because it had been slow all day and the pigeons had found some peas the next field over, so we decided to put out all the decoys we had which was about 40 plus about 30 real birds we had shot we then found that the bird coming back to roost for the evening were coying in even though they had a full crop i think this may have been because pigeons will always try to join a flock for safety in numbers reasons but we ended up finishing shooting at about 8 with 147 pigeons and a couple of rooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitebridges Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Mid Morning or early afternoon when they're on laid barley this time of year. Sometimes with a really early start you can suprise the odd crow, stoat or weasel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROB REYNOLDS UK Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 10.30 they start to come in like one or two every few minits, 2 oclk till 4.30 is a good time i find ..when you shoot one rip open its crop and see what its been feeding on i had a look at two the other day one was full ov wheat and the other was full of rape ?? and i was shooting on barley stubble ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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