When I acquired my first shotgun, aged 14, I became obsessed with the pursuit of the few woodies that lived on our farm on Canvey Island. Though the farm was…
Peter Theobald
A guide to improving decoy patterns
We’ve all been there. Our days of reconnaissance have suggested a field will produce a bumper bag. We constructed the ‘perfect’ hide and the decoys are out, and we await…
Spring pigeon shooting – Peter Theobald on the best drills
Come April, most of the fields due to be planted with spring crops should be drying out nicely and a lot of the lighter soils already sown. Indeed, I saw…
Conflicts with the public in the countryside
Many of my shooting permissions border large urban towns and while I reap the benefit of pigeon flying out to feed in the fields surrounding them, I inevitably come into…
How to zero your own rifle
How to zero your own rifle: Set up your rifle on a proper bench rest, making sure it is stable and secure so it will not move.
How pigeon feeding habits change with the seasons
Wood pigeon feeding habits We should have a mental picture of the different crops grown on our pigeon shooting permissions. But at what time of the year should we be…
Which calibre is best for wild boar?
What calibre is best for wild boar? I intend to go wild boar shooting soon. In your opinion, what calibre would you say is best for boar?
The intelligence of rooks
Few birds divide opinion like the rook. On the one hand we have farmers, who often endure massive damage to crops at certain times of the year, and on the…
So why would you want a lightweight gun?
I find my 12-bore is getting a bit too heavy to carry game shooting all day, so I’ve changed to a lighter 20-bore.
What time of day are woodpigeons most active? When do they feed?
I'm just starting out shooting on my local farm and would like to know at what time of day are the pigeons most active?
When is the best time to start pigeon roost shooting? (And other frequently asked questions on the subject.)
When is the best time to start roost shooting, is November too early for the rooks and pigeons?
When pigeons come home to roost
Handy hints for successful roost shooting
Pigeon shooting days – how they have changed!
Shooters of my age often lament that things were better in “the good old days”, when all you had to do was throw an old stuffed grey sock out on a likely looking field and…
The myth of pigeon pattern
As you would expect, I spend a lot of time watching pigeons, from picking up flightlines to trying to find their favourite field at any given time of year. I get plenty of opportunity to…
Pigeon shooting: 6 pieces of kit you won’t want to be without…
Pigeon shooting expert, Peter Theobald, runs through his list of ‘must have’ decoying accessories.
What’s the perfect pigeon cartridge?
The cartridge-making business is a fiercely competitive one, won or lost on marketing strategy, so if one company can find an edge, it is quickly exploited. It is only relatively recently that…
What is the right weather for shooting pigeons?
Most articles written about pigeon shooting mention, at some stage in the proceedings, the weather conditions on the day in question. Indeed, I have written many times, how Paul and I…
In search of Orkney greylag
Having shot geese in most of the iconic Scottish locations, there was still one area that I hadn’t yet explored – the Orkney Isles. So when the opportunity presented itself…
Sharing your hide
Peter Theobald reveals why two hides can be better than one and how to play nicely with others while sharing a hide
How to place rotary decoys
To spin or not to spin – that is the question. Of all the questions that I get asked when I run BASCs pigeon courses, the one that crops up…