Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

F

orkeepingyoureyeinready

fortheopeningofthegame

andwildfowlseasons,

there’snothinglikea few

hours’woodpigeonshootingduring

thesummermonths.

Thevarietyofshotsthatthese

birdscanoffer— frequentlyinquite

a shortspaceoftime— is really

remarkable,andoftenbetterthan

youwouldexperienceat anaverage

covertshoot.

Flightingpigeonsoffersperhaps

thebestsportofall.Youcan,

accordingtothestrengthofwind

andyourposition,havea selection

ofhigh-approaching,overheadand

departingshots;medium-heightand

lowbirds;andbirdsthathaveveered

offina morebewilderingmanner

thana coveyofpartridgesexploding

overa hedgerowat thesightof

waitingGuns.

Pigeonscan,at times,fly aslowand

fastasdrivengrouseand,withthe

windintheirtails,theycanbemore

difficulttoconnectwiththantealand

wigeon,sweepingfastoverthebleak

mudflatsoftheestuary.Oncethe

winterbarleyandwheatbegin

Unseasonablywetweatheranda fieldofflattenedbarleyprovideda feast

forwoodpigeons— anda chanceforA.E.B.Johnsontohavesomesport

Pigeon gains on grain

CEL

EBRA

TING^ OUR^ BEST WRIT

ERS

to ripen in July, pigeons start to feed

on these crops in earnest. They start

on any patches of corn that have been

fl attened by storms and strong winds

long before the grain is anywhere

near ripe.

It was on just such a fi eld that

I recently had some excellent sport.

Driving past I noticed a pair of pigeons

fl ighting low above the corn, parallel

with the roadway. They circled once

and then dropped down among what

appeared to be standing barley.

Stripped

I stopped my car and walked through

the gateway for closer inspection.

What, at a distance, had appeared to

be standing corn was in fact several

sizeable patches of laid barley — the

result of heavy storms that had hit

our area more than a month earlier.

From the bare stalks that had been

stripped of their still-soft grain, the

pigeons and doves had been having

a wonderful time.

The following afternoon I collected

my shooting partner and we set off

to see whether we could get a few

of the raiders. There was a stiffi sh

breeze blowing diagonally across the

fi eld from the road and the pigeons

appeared to be mainly fl ighting over

the hedgerow that ran down one side

of the barley.

We decided to split up — my

friend staying near the top end of

the hedgerow while I went just over

80 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

PA PHOTOS / GETTY IMAGES

“A number of house

sparrows were

having their fi ll of

the ripening corn”