Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

Vintage Times

halfway down towards the bottom
of the 20-acre fi eld.
Quite a number of house sparrows
were having their fi ll of the ripening
corn, too. They were fl ying a
considerable distance out into the
fi eld in small parties to reach some
of the riper barley. Then, with one
accord, all the birds lifted into the
air and came sweeping low over the
rippling barley in one elongated fl ock
to reach the safety of the hedgerow.
Though the bulk of the laid corn
was near the top end of the fi eld, there
were three large patches within a
few yards of our hedgerow. On one
of these I set out a few rubber decoys
on short canes so they would be more
easily seen by approaching pigeons.
They looked quite realistic and
showed up well against the light-
yellowish stalks of the ripening barley.
By forcing two seasoned hazel sticks
into the surprisingly hard ground
near the hedgerow and draping a roll
of camoufl age netting over them,
I quickly made a serviceable hide.
I had quite a reasonable all-round
view of the neighbourhood, including
the mainline railway that runs along
the bottom of this small valley. The
turtle doves were still fl itting about,
even settling in the oak tree.

Dead in the air
While I was still preparing for action,
a single pigeon alighted in the tree,
spotted my movements and hastily
departed. I was more prepared for
the pair of birds that followed, though
I only saw them just in time as they
fl ighted in low against the green
background of trees beyond the
railway track. They were obviously
bound for the laid areas at the top
of the fi eld. I killed one of them as it
fl ighted by close to my hide, the other
bird passing somewhat out of range.
I had decided only to shoot at
those birds which, if hit, would fall
in or near the hedgerow, allowing
me to retrieve them without doing
any additional damage to the crop.

There never seems to be any point

shooting at pigeons that will fall well

out in standing corn and which you

will be unable to pick.

Several other pigeons rose from

the barley at the sound of my shot.

I killed another plump bird close

in front as it swept down upon me

over the barley with the wind in its

tail. Being dead in the air, it came

hurtlingintothenettlesbesidemy

hide,leavinga wholepuffoffeathers

blowinggentlyabovethebarley.

Anothertwobirdsmeta similar

fateinthespaceofa minute,both

fallingwithina fewyardsofeach

other.I placedallfouronthelaid

crop— onewithitswingsoutstretched

togivetheimpressionofa bird

flappingtokeepitspositioninthe

corn.Thenoiseofthisshootingmade

noapparentdifferencetotheturtle

dovesandtheycontinuedtoflight

aroundthearea,landinginthetrees,

withoneortwoevenperforming

their“display”flight.Theremaining

pigeons,however,swiftlydeparted.

Withinfiveminutesa heavydiesel

locomotivecamealongtherailway

track at a good pace and this had the

eff ect of putting up several pigeons

from the trees close to the line. The

majority fl ew off down the valley,

but two single birds headed into the

wind, lifted to get over the numerous

telegraph wires that fouled the track

and came fl ighting just above the

wheat in the adjoining fi eld.

Missing the fi rst as it swerved

onsightingme,I didhitthesecond,

sendingit planingdowninthebarley

20 yardsfromthehedge.I markedit

downinrelationtoa tallstalkofwild

oatsandpickedit withoutdifficulty.

HardlywasI backinmyhidewhen

I heardanotherbirdflapintotheoak

behindme,whiletwomoreveered

awayoutofrangeastheycaughtsight

ofmymovements.Thefirstalsosaw

mebutmyshotsentit topplingdown

intoa clusteroftall,pink-flowering

willowherbalongthefarsideofthe

ditch.BythetimeI hadcaughtup

withthebird,myshirtwasclinging

tomybackwithperspiration,while

myhandsandarmsweretingling

fromnettlestings.

Forthenexthouranda halfthe

pigeonskeptflightingwell,givingus

sometestingshots,butby7.30pmthe

flightingwasmorespasmodic,while

themosquitoeswerebitingwitha

vengeance.I walkedupthefieldtosee

howmypartnerhadfaredandfound

himhuntinginthethickherbage

oftheditchforhislastbird.Hehad

gatheredallbuttwoofthenine

pigeonshehadhitand,likeme,

hadthoroughlyenjoyedthesport.

This article was fi rst published in the

30 July 1964 issue of Shooting Times.

“I only saw them

just in time as they

fl ighted in low

against the green

background of

trees beyond the

railway track”

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 81

“The rubber decoys were

set on short canes so they

could be easily seen by

approaching pigeons”

“The decoys showed

up well against the

yellow barley”