Great subscription deals at http://www.sportinggunsubs.co.uk MAY 2019SPORTING GUN 73
VERMINWood workOurshoothasstartedanannual
roostshootforcrowsandpigeons
atthecloseoftheseason.We
shootina largeareaofwoodland
andoftenstruggletofindthebest
spottobeproductive.Doyouhave
anyrecommendationsonhow to
concentrate our efforts?Tomsays:Roostingcrowsisgreat
sportbutcanbetrickyinlargeareas.
Thefirsttrickistoobserveatnight
andseewherethebulkofthebirds
headwhentheyarriveatthewood;
thetimeandlocation.I wouldalso
walkaroundthewoodindaylight
andlookforthebirds’roostingspots.
Dependingonthenumberyouare
dealingwith,thiscanbespottedby
thevolumeofdroppingsandiswhere
youneedtofocus.Afterthefirst
fewshotsonyourchosennight,it is
worthmovingascrowswillsoonget
wiseandtrytopitchinelsewhere.
Also,makesurethatyouwaitforthe
crowstocomein.Peopleoftenleave
toosoonastheyareusedtopigeons
movingearlier.Crows can be really
last minute.GUNDOGS
Flush out
bad habits
Ihavea youngspanielandhepullsahead
alonghedgerows.Hegetsthroughtothe
other side and has run off. What can I do?
Grahamsays:Hedgerowscancauseallsorts
of problems for young dogs, especially when
birdsrundownthehedgebottom;thiscan
causethedogtopullaheadonthescent
line.Whenpossible,workthedownwindside
andthiswillencouragethedogtostaywith
you.Also,don’tpushontooquickly.Letthe
doghuntabout 10 to 15 yardsinfrontand
thenwhistlehimbacktoyouandencourage
himbackintothecover.Theideaistoform
a ‘stitchingpatter ’.Whenshootingoverthe
dogs,I findit bettertowalkoutfromthe
hedge-lineratherthanstayingclosebecause
thatwayI canseethedogandit givesme
longer to lock onto any game that is fl ushed.TUITION
Try too hard and you’ll miss
Iamhavingtroublebeingconsistent
inmyclayshooting,findingithard to
straight a stand. Any thoughts?
Tonysays:Weseethisa lotinsporting
competitions.Itisusuallydowntotryingtoo
hard.Tomakesureistomakesureyoumiss.
Alltheelementsoftheshotprocesshaveto
beinplace:thesamepick-uppoint,same
stance,thesamemethod,thesameswing,
same sight picture and last but not least, the
samefollow-through.A lotofshootersjust
concentrateonthesamesightpictureonce
theyhavefoundthetargetandforgetoneor
moreoftheotherelements.Weseeshooters
shootsixstraightwithpullawaymethod
thenonthelastpairmountinfrontandmiss,
subconsciouslythinkingit willbuya bitof
timetomakesure.Consistencyinallaspects
oftheshotprocessisthekeytoshootingthe
standstraightand your scores getting better
and better.Hedgerowscancause
problemswithyounger
dogs learning their ‘trade’Itiswisetowalkaround
awoodandobservethe
crows and their behaviour