Yesterday the conditions looked right and I was sure they had been drilling, so I set off for the farm. Until you actually do it you do not believe how much kit you take with you for pigeons ! When I turned up about mid day at the sown fields there were pigeons and "black ones" all over the place. That was a problem, and I took ten minutes with the bino's to fathom out.... nothing. They were all over the place, with no discernable hot spots, or flight line.
In the end I set up on a corner (my usual spot) with the wind directly behind me. It was all but gale force, blowing the hide all over the place, and I set my decoys out in a realistic pattern, with a few whole body crows off to one side. I got the gun out and we (Peggy, my Springer and I) were off. I had birds over me straight away, and I tried to go after the crows in preference to the pigeons. This meant letting a pigeon or two go by whilst watching a crow come in from a long way out. I had some early success with the crows, but soon it was pigeons only.
The birds were buffeted by the strong winds, and were scything across the sky at great speed. Even if several came in together, the rest of the birds were well out of range as soon as the first shot was fired. Anything that saw you just flicked a wing and was instantly going in the other direction like the clappers. Shoot was challenging, but great sport. They came steadily, if not in profusion, until three o'clock, when some one turned the tap off, and they just disappeared.
The end result was 10 crows and 18 pigeons. The crop had been protected, and I had had some great sport. Cartridges I hear you ask ? Yes, I am a bit deaf. 30 gms of Number 6 shot with a fibre wad. Quite a few of them, actually.
In the end I set up on a corner (my usual spot) with the wind directly behind me. It was all but gale force, blowing the hide all over the place, and I set my decoys out in a realistic pattern, with a few whole body crows off to one side. I got the gun out and we (Peggy, my Springer and I) were off. I had birds over me straight away, and I tried to go after the crows in preference to the pigeons. This meant letting a pigeon or two go by whilst watching a crow come in from a long way out. I had some early success with the crows, but soon it was pigeons only.
The birds were buffeted by the strong winds, and were scything across the sky at great speed. Even if several came in together, the rest of the birds were well out of range as soon as the first shot was fired. Anything that saw you just flicked a wing and was instantly going in the other direction like the clappers. Shoot was challenging, but great sport. They came steadily, if not in profusion, until three o'clock, when some one turned the tap off, and they just disappeared.
The end result was 10 crows and 18 pigeons. The crop had been protected, and I had had some great sport. Cartridges I hear you ask ? Yes, I am a bit deaf. 30 gms of Number 6 shot with a fibre wad. Quite a few of them, actually.
