My second decoying session of the new year was this morning. Winter rape of course.

It was cold. Bloody cold. My safety catch thumb was numb for an hour. Other bodily parts seemed non existent. 

Pigeons were on the field at first light. A good number got up as I crossed the field laden down with kit. These never returned.

My first three shots were ineffective. My fourth a very long bird to get proceedings started but only after a self-administered ####ing.

The sport wasn't red hot and there were long periods when no pigeons were in the sky. However I managed to shoot 22 pigeons and 3 crows in an hour and a half.

For amusement one of my pictures shows a pigeon I had saved as a decoy which was partly eaten by a rat in my shed last night. It did however do the trick.

 

Edited January 17, 20241 yr by JDog

Well done.   

Very well done for getting out. It was cold wasn`t it?

I went out yesterday into a small wood where the pigeons were still feeding on ivy berries (not touched the rape yet) and whilst the wood was quite sheltered, I stuck it out for just 2 1/2 hours and returned with 7 pigeons plus one which fell and got stuck into the top of any ivy clad tree.

Just breasted them out and all stuffed with ivy berries and not a sign of any rape.

OB

Nice result for the conditions 

Well you did better than I did yesterday, two and half hours 6 shots fired and 4 pigeons killed and yes it was bloody cold.

you are a hard man jd ....i get frozen to the bone just putting the bins out now.......all my toughness has gone..

22 a good result

perhaps you ought to take up rat shooting from the kitchen window

In all fairness , a lot of people would like to shoot 22 Pigeons and 3 Crows in a hour and half but at our age the cold can become a killer , you need to be very keen , or daft to sit about in minus 2 or 3 like it was around here this morning , as keen as I am the temp need to be well above freezing for me to sit about for the chance of a few shots , this is the time of year when someone looking for a new perm can scout about and try and find Pigeons feeding on rape as the game season finish in just over two weeks and you should easily find some shooting if you can find the Pigeons in the first place .   MM

Well done JDog at least you were out, well done.

Walking the dog with my five mile hike along the canal it is amazing with the number of pigeons on the ivy berries. The amount of mature tall trees that look like they are still in full foliage and covered with berries are a feast for the pigeons.

17 minutes ago, pigeon controller said:

Well done JDog at least you were out, well done.

Walking the dog with my five mile hike along the canal it is amazing with the number of pigeons on the ivy berries. The amount of mature tall trees that look like they are still in full foliage and covered with berries are a feast for the pigeons.

How are you feeling  now P C ? and do you shoot in these very cold conditions with it being minus 5 down here today .  MM

12 hours ago, marsh man said:

How are you feeling  now P C ? and do you shoot in these very cold conditions with it being minus 5 down here today .  MM

I’m on the list for a a spare bed and been fitted with a PICC line ready for my stem cell infusion. I’m in good heart and walking five miles every day. I was out with Ben two weeks ago as he had been called out on. A couple of farms and had seen the birds on the field of sprouting beans the day before. I set up the next day but no birds returned walking the field I noticed some drowned worms in the puddles so they may have been feeding on them??

I had a phone call yesterday asking me to be on stand by ready to go to the hospital, so my bag is packed!!

1 hour ago, pigeon controller said:

I’m on the list for a a spare bed and been fitted with a PICC line ready for my stem cell infusion. I’m in good heart and walking five miles every day. I was out with Ben two weeks ago as he had been called out on. A couple of farms and had seen the birds on the field of sprouting beans the day before. I set up the next day but no birds returned walking the field I noticed some drowned worms in the puddles so they may have been feeding on them??

I had a phone call yesterday asking me to be on stand by ready to go to the hospital, so my bag is packed!!

Keep well PC and all the best for your upcoming treatment. Those pigeons are getting too much of a break without you around full time! 

1 hour ago, pigeon controller said:

I’m on the list for a a spare bed and been fitted with a PICC line ready for my stem cell infusion. I’m in good heart and walking five miles every day. I was out with Ben two weeks ago as he had been called out on. A couple of farms and had seen the birds on the field of sprouting beans the day before. I set up the next day but no birds returned walking the field I noticed some drowned worms in the puddles so they may have been feeding on them??

I had a phone call yesterday asking me to be on stand by ready to go to the hospital, so my bag is packed!!

Many THANKS for the update and I really hope everything go according to plan , our paths have never crossed but you do seem like an old friend who share the same interests and like many other members we are keeping our fingers crossed and looking forward to more reports from one of the top players of the sport of Pigeon shooting.

1 hour ago, pigeon controller said:

I’m on the list for a a spare bed and been fitted with a PICC line ready for my stem cell infusion. I’m in good heart and walking five miles every day. I was out with Ben two weeks ago as he had been called out on. A couple of farms and had seen the birds on the field of sprouting beans the day before. I set up the next day but no birds returned walking the field I noticed some drowned worms in the puddles so they may have been feeding on them??

I had a phone call yesterday asking me to be on stand by ready to go to the hospital, so my bag is packed!!

Hope all goes well and you make a speedy recovery, I know what its like when something comes along and knocks you off your feet and stops you doing the things what you have always taken for granted.

All the best Dave