Harnser Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 (edited) Whilst i love to shoot the fresh stubbles and are on them as soon as i can i find this is not the best time for stubble shooting . I find the best time for stubble shooting is later in the season from late september through to early winter . The harvest is over and your farmer is planning for next year . He will have ploughed in some of the cereal stubbles ready for a winter sown crop . Other stubbles will be left for spring ploughing and drilling . These are the stubbles that will pay dividends . They will have been sprayed off to stop weed growth and will be fullof grain for the pigeons to gleen off . A lot of the time these left stubbles will get a good growth of chick weed and fat hen in them in early autum and these weeds are deadly for shooting pigeons over ,a combination of chick weed and cereal stubbles it dosent come any better . Keep your eye on the stubbles for later in the year . Harnser . Edited July 27, 2009 by Harnser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Harnser, Yes, a good post, but you're lucky to have any stubbles left, in our area, they're ripped up very often within a few days of being combined, and very few are left to over Winter, more's the pity. Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 (edited) Harnser, Yes, a good post, but you're lucky to have any stubbles left, in our area, they're ripped up very often within a few days of being combined, and very few are left to over Winter, more's the pity. Cat. FYI - Just popped home for lunch, and had a little look to my left just off Motorway number 1 - to see the Claas gear going to work on that field of rape we spent most of the winter shooting over Edited July 27, 2009 by garyb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted July 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Harnser, Yes, a good post, but you're lucky to have any stubbles left, in our area, they're ripped up very often within a few days of being combined, and very few are left to over Winter, more's the pity. Cat. now thats a shame Cat , I will have stubbles right through to spring drilling when my farmer will plough and drill at the same time . Any body not having the late stubbles really do lose out on the best stubble shooting . Harnser . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 yep theres not much round us either the only bit that gets left we have mustard broadcast onto it as a cover crop for partridges so no pigeon shooting on it sadly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 (edited) now thats a shame Cat , I will have stubbles right through to spring drilling when my farmer will plough and drill at the same time . Any body not having the late stubbles really do lose out on the best stubble shooting .Harnser . Yes, on my many clay shooting forays up into East Anglia during the Autumn / Winter months I often drool over the vast flocks of Woodies I see feeding completely unmolested on the stubble fields, there are obviously fewer serious pigeon shooters in your part of the World..?? And Gary, stock up with shells, get that battery charged and give that pup some high protein food, he'll need all the energy he can muster soon..!! Cat. Edited July 27, 2009 by Catamong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 And Gary, stock up with shells, get that battery charged and give that pup some high protein food, he'll need all the energy he can muster soon..!! Ready when you are sir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turk101 Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 now thats a shame Cat , I will have stubbles right through to spring drilling when my farmer will plough and drill at the same time . Any body not having the late stubbles really do lose out on the best stubble shooting .Harnser . Harnser, i'm the same as Cat, will be lucky if there is any stubble left. The current farmer that we have been crop protecting for (even in -6 and snow and then the warm, basically through good and bad) has ripped it up as soon as he has cut it almost! I suppose we might get lucky, as we now have a lot of land and a fair few farmers, so may get the odd field of stubble! Also none of the wheat or barley has been cut, so maybe one or two of them fields will be left for spring drilling. regards turk101 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 they'll only get left if its really wet for the rest of the harvest season, so unlikely but I know farmers are getting bad memories of last year with this constant rain stopping things at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight32 Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Harnser, Yes, a good post, but you're lucky to have any stubbles left, in our area, they're ripped up very often within a few days of being combined, and very few are left to over Winter, more's the pity. Cat. Yes I can also say that is normal procedure around here, everything plough/chisled with-in a week or two of being cut. Sad old day for me and no doubt many others to see ponds being filled in, hedgerows ripped out just so it makes it easier for the combine. Bring back the days when they drilled and left as much on top as they did below ground. Face of the farming industry and more to come I feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 i all ways have stubble left till next year and they do give good shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Yes I can also say that is normal procedure around here, everything plough/chisled with-in a week or two of being cut. Sad old day for me and no doubt many others to see ponds being filled in, hedgerows ripped out just so it makes it easier for the combine. Bring back the days when they drilled and left as much on top as they did below ground. Face of the farming industry and more to come I feel. We've been discing all the rape and barley stubble as we go along this last week, usually working the same field that the combine is tackling. It's not something I'm proud of, but from a financial perspective, there's not much point in tillage kit sitting idle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 We often have too many stubbles left in for the winter! On my Pheasant shoot we could have upwards of 2 thousand pigeons using 10-12 stubbles and they are often on a different one each day! This is when the knowledge of flightlines comes into play. Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted July 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 We often have too many stubbles left in for the winter! On my Pheasant shoot we could have upwards of 2 thousand pigeons using 10-12 stubbles and they are often on a different one each day! This is when the knowledge of flightlines comes into play. Mark. Absolutly correct . This comes with knowing your farms . Harnser . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEINVISIBLESCARECROW Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 I useually ignore harvest, yes loads of pigeon but one bang & off they go to a quieter field for the rest of the day. A short while later, green shoots & food a little scarcer, much much better time for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrispti Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Whilst i love to shoot the fresh stubbles and are on them as soon as i can i find this is not the best time for stubble shooting . I find the best time for stubble shooting is later in the season from late september through to early winter . The harvest is over and your farmer is planning for next year . He will have ploughed in some of the cereal stubbles ready for a winter sown crop . Other stubbles will be left for spring ploughing and drilling . These are the stubbles that will pay dividends . They will have been sprayed off to stop weed growth and will be fullof grain for the pigeons to gleen off . A lot of the time these left stubbles will get a good growth of chick weed and fat hen in them in early autum and these weeds are deadly for shooting pigeons over ,a combination of chick weed and cereal stubbles it dosent come any better . Keep your eye on the stubbles for later in the year . Harnser . Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ROBSON Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 We shot our first barley stubble today, ended up with 67 for 1 gun. It's so much easier at picking up than standing/wind blown stuff, we only lost 2 birds from that field. I love working on stubbles!!!!!!! It was interesting that 43 of the birds were shot after 3pm which can be quite common in these parts. Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted July 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 We shot our first barley stubble today, ended up with 67 for 1 gun. It's so much easier at picking up than standing/wind blown stuff, we only lost 2 birds from that field. I love working on stubbles!!!!!!! It was interesting that 43 of the birds were shot after 3pm which can be quite common in these parts. Mark. Drive to the spot you want to shoot and unload the gear . No humping gear across the field . Harnser . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the hitman Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 (edited) The only fresh stubble worth shooting in my patch is OSR , the barley and wheat is untouched until later on. Bean stubble can also be a great draw. Edited July 28, 2009 by the hitman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magman Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 We shot our first barley stubble today, ended up with 67 for 1 gun. It's so much easier at picking up than standing/wind blown stuff, we only lost 2 birds from that field. I love working on stubbles!!!!!!! It was interesting that 43 of the birds were shot after 3pm which can be quite common in these parts. Mark. After 3pm works here to at the minute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted July 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 Had a look round today . A field of rape was harvested yesterday and now have several birds feeding it . Will give it a couple of days and then have a go . You should be paying more attention to your rape stubbles at the moment as they wont last as long as the cereal stubbles . Your farmer will be wanting to plough it in soon or it will go green very quickly ,because the seed will self propergate very quickly . It amazes me how the pigeons can see the rape seed on the fields amongest all the chopped straw . Harnser . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 they ideally want the seed to germinate Harnser, if it germinates and they plough it in then it kills the seed and stops volunteers in future years crops. Some even take it one step further and let it grow and spray it off before cultivating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerseaDavid Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 We are lucky on the farm we shoot because the farmer swathes his rape and once harvested he is never in a rush to mole or cultivate the field. We have had a fantastic few weeks shooting over the fields and our best bag was on the 18th july where we shot 351 birds in 5 hours but over the past mont we have shot over 800 pigeons and they are still coming. But on the farm I work on all the fields have been moled and cultivated or ploughed, the last 3 fields we havested we had the quad tracks in the field with the combine. The shooters did not get much action on them fields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted July 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Had a look round again today ,a few birds on the rape stubble and a few on the barley stubble . But guess where most of them were ?, wrong , they are hitting a harvested potatoe field that was harvested about a week ago . Who knows what they want to feed on . Harnser . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 If you find any Harnser, please send some this way... All week i've been putting in the time and effort to find them - and so far... Nothing worth setting up for! 2 Weeks ago, You could count them in the near hundreds dropping into tramlines and laid wheat - This week Nothing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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