Pigeon shootingSHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 37I
t’sthattimeofyearagain,but
thisyearhasbeenverydifferent
fromlast,especiallyintermsof
theweather.Therainshowers
andheavystormsinJunewerea total
contrasttothe30°Cheatof2018.
Thisyearhasfoundmewitha huge
amountofwinterbarleytokeepan
eyeon.Withtheincreasedcostsof
growingwinteroilseedrape,there
hasbeena definiteswingincropping
choices.Thestormsresultedina
lotofbarleygoingdownand,with
strawcostshigh,farmershavegrown
strainsthataretallerinthestem.As
a result,I havefoundmyselfshooting
laidcropsofold.Notsmallpatches
goingoverbutacresgoingflat.
Youhavetoalwaysweighupyour
optionsshootinglaidcrops.Thefirst
andforemostconsiderationis can
youpick-upyourdeadandwounded
birds?Secondly,areyousureyou
willnotcausemoredamagethan
thepigeonsbywalking through the
standingcrop?
May,JuneandJulyaresuch
importantmonthsoftheyearfor
thepigeonshooter,withcrops
movingintotheirvulnerablestate,
andif pigeonsdogetontocertain
crops— laidbarleybeingoneoftheir
favourites— therecanbenorecovery
anda hugefinancialloss to the farmer.Richpickings
Whenpigeonsswitchontobarley,
it’slikea drugtothem.Regardlessof
whatotherfoodsourceis available,
theycangowildfortherich
abundanceofeasypickingsina laid
crop.Whenthebarleyis at its
milkystagea woodpigeon’s
eyeswilllightup.Onthis
particularfarmthepeas
haveshotwellandfailed
rapeandmustardare
alsoperforming,buton
a reconnaissancetripit
feltasif therehadbeena
changeinfeedingbehaviour.
Onmydrivetothisparticular
farmI couldseebirdsgrittinginthe
road.Thisis a realgiveawaythebirds
havefoundgrainofsomesort,asthey
needthegrittohelpbreakdownthe
seed.I satwithbinocularswatching
asbirdafterbirdheadedouttothe
winterbarleyfields,knowing it could
onlymeanonething.
Thisparticularfarmhasabout 500
acresofwinterbarleybuttheycater
fordifferentparishesofpigeons— so
it’s a case of managing the numbers,dependingonthedamagebeing
causedonvariouspartsofthefarm.It
didfeelearlybutI sawgoodnumbers
ontheMonday,andfeltthatwithrain
overtheTuesdayandWednesday,
ThursdayorFridaycouldbeon.
I decidedontheThursdayasI had
toshootsomepeasonFriday.I had
arrangedtomeetMattFreemanon
theThursdayat 10am,butthetypical
M25carparkcameintoplayduetoa
crash.Alwaysa riskwhenshooting
farmsclosetoLondon.It wasn’ta greatstart,asI knewbirds
wouldbeheadingouttofeed
at about11am.It wasn’ta nice
accidentat alland,havingbeenin
a seriousonemyself,youalwaysfeel
forthepeopleinvolved.Mattcarried
onwithoutmeandgotsetup.
Thereweretwolinescomingto
thefield,oneovera verytalllong
woodandonetotheleftofthewood,
headingstraightupa hedgeline.
WatchingonMonday,myinstinctwas
togettothepointwherethreefields
metneara watertower.Therewere
some very large laid patches showinggoodpotential.AsI wasrunninglate,
Matthadtomakethecall.WhileI
wassittingintraffic herangonmy
hands-free,talkingmethroughthe
set-up.Hisinitialgutinstinctwasthe
placeI hadbeenthinkingof,buttime
wastickingon,sohedecidedtosetup
underanoakstraightundertheline.
Thethinkingwasgood,andit
wasthesafestoption,ashewould
bestraightunderthemainline.
However,I wasa bitconcernedthat,
withthebirdscomingsohighoverthetrees,gettingthem to decoy
wouldbetricky.
Eventhoughthewindwasgoodfor
thefrontofthewood,I’veneverbeen
a fanofshootingoffthefrontofbig
woods.Spinneysandsmallwoods,
yes,butbigwoodsarealwaysa risk.
Youcancreatea lotofnoiseblowing
upanareaandbirdsarerarely
confidentduetopossiblepredation
oftheairbornevariety.
Mattknowshisstuff, butit just
didn’tfeelrightfromhisdescription
ofthebirds’behaviour.Onthe
Monday, with a stronger wind,Tomtakesaimata
high-flyingpigeonon
the edge of the wood“Icouldseebirdsgrittingintheroad— thisis a realgiveaway thebirds have found grain”