Pigeon shooting
26 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
qualityofpigeonshootinginthearea
andtheamountthebirdsareshot
at.If thestandardis poor,theyget
missedbuttheygeteducated,causing
themtobecomeverywary.
It wassoapparentthatbirdshad
seenit allbefore.I’mprettypositive
thattheyhaveseeneverydecoyand
mechanicaldeviceonthemarket
andona regularbasis,whichis the
problem.Whena populationofbirds
inanareais gettingpesteredevery
daytheyremember;once a week
is nota problem.
If youfindyourselfinthissituation,
whenbirdsareeducatedandliving
ontheirnerves,thereisn’tmuchyou
cando.Goingbacktorealold-school
methods,usingstaticdeadbirdsin
perfectconditioncansuddenlywork;
nomechanics,justmakingsureyour
fieldcraftis perfect.Withplentyof
otheroptionsavailable,whywould
thebirdsputthemselvesat risk?With
fourinthebagI decided we were
wastingourtime.
Warybirds
Wehadenoughtimetoheadto
a barleystubblethathadshotwellas
a laidcrop.Therehadbeeninterest
inthestubblesbutit wasthesame
story;wesetupbutthedaywaslost.
It maywellhavebeenthatsomeof
themissingpigeonswereonstanding
wheat,feedingnearby,butthe biggest
problem was wary birds.
AsI drovehomeI thoughtbackto
thecoldwintermonths.Often,it feels
likeit’sonlyMattandmewhoareout
inEssex.Evenif theweather’spoor,
if thefarmerneedsme,I willbeout,
regardlessofthe time of year.Pestered
I’moftenoutinperiodsthatcertainly
wouldn’tbeconsideredgoodtimes
tobuilda bag,buttheytendtodecoy
muchbetterbecause they haven’t
beenpestered.
Thisyear,assoonaswordgot
out that the peas had been drilled itwasa free-for-all.Therewerepigeon
shootersqueuingat thegatesoffields,
discussingwitheachotherwhere
theyweregoingtosetupfortheday.
Wheredidtheyallcomefrom?I did
someresearchandfoundthatthearea
hasalwaysbeena partofthebiggest
pigeonshootingclubinthecountry
andthementionofdrilledpeas had
stirredthemintoaction.
I’msuremanyreaderscanrelate
totheseproblems.It’slikebeingapart
ofa beatingteamanddecidingtodoa
coupleofdays,thenturningupforthe
beaters’dayat theend of the season.Undecoyable
Asa result,insteadofpigeonsbeing
managed,thebirdswerebeing
pestered,pulledfrompillarto
post,chasedandeffectivelymade
completelyundecoyable.That’s
notidealwhenit is theonetimeof
yearyoucanreallymakea denton
thelocalpopulationgoingintothe
autumndrillingsandthepossible
numbersthatcouldcauseserious
damagetothewinterrape.
I feelasthoughI’mstartingto
soundlikea douroldpigeonshooter.
Perhapsit wasalwaysgoingtohappen
soonerorlater.I dothink,though,
we’vereacheda pointwhereit’snow
easiertocontrolpigeonnumbers
outsidethetraditionalpigeonseason.
I havehadmoresuccessonfarmsand
estateswherenumbersarelowbut
I’mtheonlyonewithpermission.
Perhapsnextharvest,I’llbuya
motorhomeandtourlesspopulated
partsofthecountrywherethere’s
a smallerpigeonshootingscene.
Forexample,therewillbepartsof
Scotlandwithfailedspringbarley
at themoment,beinghammeredby
pigeonswhowouldn’tknowa magnet
ifit hitthemintheface.“Tom’s
Hebrideanpigeonshootingtour”;
perhaps there’s an article in that.“Theyhadseenit
allbeforeand,with
otheroptions,why
wouldthebirds
putthemselves
at risk?”
Waiting in the hide for the pigeons to come in
Thebagwasfour
birdsforfiveshots—
far from a bonanzaTombelieveswarybirdshavemorefaithin
feathered decoys than the plastic sort