Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

Great subscription deals at http://www.sportinggunsubs.co.uk MAY 2019SPORTING GUN 21

IN THE FIELD

Pigeon shooting

Perfect.I stilldidn’tfancythetreesformy

set-upbutchoseinsteadanexternalcorner

whereI hadthewindonmybackbut,more

importantly,mybacktothehopedflightline

ofthereturningpigeons.ThismeantI would

notbeshootinguptheflightlinebutwould

alsohavethenoiseofthetraffic onthemain

roadtohelpmuffle mygunfire.Puttinga roof

onthehideconcealedmeasthebirdspassed

overand,witha bigspreadofnearly 50

decoys,by10amI wasreadyforaction.

I hadmydoubtswhenthefirstpigeons

cameoverfrombehindbutignoredmy

layout,onlytolandinthetreesinthespot

whereTimadvisedI shouldgo.I toldmyself

thingswouldchangeasthebirdsbecame

hungryandsureenough,one or two were

beginningtorespond.

Tim,ontheotherhand,washavinga lean

time,withonlytheoccasionalbirdvisiting

hisfield;wecouldbutguesswheretheother

halfofmyoriginalflockhaddisappeared

(wefoundoutlaterthattheyhadgotinto

thefieldswherethebangerswereoperating,

ironicallyrightnexttooneofthem).Bynow

I wasgettinga steadyflowofbirds,allarriving

insmallpartiestojointheeverthickening

greypatchontheground.I nevertireof

watchingpigeonsrespondingtomyefforts,

particularlyaftera leanspell;it restoresfaith

inyourabilitytoreada situation correctly

andtakeadvantage.

Bytheendoftheafternoon,withmore

than 100 decoysout,everypigeonthat

camenearthatfieldcloseditswingsand

descendedtojointhem.Weendeda very

satisfying day with 92 between us.

fidgety,constantlyswirlingupintothetrees

surroundingthefields,onlytoheadoffto

a differentpart 10 minuteslater.I thought

thekeytosuccesswasthedirectionthe

pigeonsweregoingtocomefromonce

theshootingstarted.I washopinga good

proportionofthesebirdswerelivinginthe

nearbytown,asopposedtothewoods,

becausethe“townies”tendtoarrivein

smallerparties.Timshowedmea rowof

talltreesontheedgeofthefield,wherehe

hadshotpreviously.Thebirdswereusing

theseheavily,judgingbytheamountof

droppings,butI wasnotconvinced they

woulddecoywellthere.

Cometheday,I decidedtoflagthepart

oftheotherfieldwherebirdshadheaded

whenTimshotit previously,ratherthanuse

a ropebangerthatwouldpotentiallyhave

blownthepigeonsrightoutofthearea.Tim

was to cover another fi eld three-quarters of

a mileawaywherethepigeons had headed

the last time he shot.

Townwardbound

Asexpected,a hugeflockwasalready

feedingwhenI arrivedat9.30am.The

problemnowwaswhetherI couldcoax

themovertheroadandintothetown.I set

offtoputthemup.Theyliftedandsplitinto

twobunches,onehalfswirlingawayon

thestrengtheningwind,theotherbattling

upwind, over the road and into town.

Wind

direction

Flightlines

Hide

Bangered

rape

Bangered

rape

Rape

Main road

PETER’S SETUP

“The birds

werefidgety,

swirlingup

intothetrees

surrounding

the fields”

Thedecoysproved

irresistibletothe

passing birds