Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

20 Sporting gun m ay 2019 http://www.shootinguk.co.uk

AfrustratingspellcametoanendforPeterTheobald

when a friend invited him to help solve a problem

I

thasbeena longwinterchasingpigeons

thathavebeenhammeringthefarmer ’s

rapefields.Numbershavebeengreater

thanformanya year,withflocksin

excessof1,000birdsnotuncommon.This

hasnotnecessarilyledtohugebagsand

resultshavebeenvaried.PaulandI started

well,withtwoconsecutivedaysofover100;

alwaysacceptableonrape.Butthebirdssoon

becameeducatedtoevenourmostadvanced

tactics,despiteuspickingweatherconditions

thatshouldhavesuitedourpurpose.We

soldiered on, mainly to repay the farmers

Pillage on

the rape

onwhomwerelytofacilitatebiggerbags

thatcanbemadelaterintheyear.It was,

though,becomingincreasinglyfrustrating

togothroughdaysofreconnaissance, only

to end up with a handful of birds.

Jointenterprise
MyshootingpalTimBarberwashaving
thesameproblemonhispatch—early
successtailingofftobagsinsinglefigures
—compoundedbythefactthathegenerally
operatesalone,sohasdoublethedifficulty
richArd fAulks in keeping the pigeons moving. However,

Peterheldhisposition

and,sureenough,the

birds began to respond

hehada situationthatcouldbenefitfromus

joiningforces,soheinvitedmetotakea look.

A hugeblockofabout 150 acresofrape

lookedimpossibletodealwithatfirstglance

butasTimhadshotit ona fewoccasions

andthebirdshadfolloweda similarpattern,

hefeltwecouldtakeadvantageofthis.The

farmerhad“bangered”twoofthebiggest

fields,condensingthebirdsintothetwo

smallestfieldsadjoininga busymainroad.

Thesefieldshadreallytakena bashingand

weregoingtobedifficulttodecoyduetotheir

proximitytotheroadandnearbyhouses.

I arrangedtomeetTimthedaybefore

weintendedtoshoottoassessthesituation.

Therewere1,000-plusbirdsontherape

when we arrived. They were extremely

in the field

Pigeon shooting

The pigeons had hit the oilseed rape hard