Pigeon shooting: Is it okay to build a hide in the centre of a field or is it best to stick to the hedgerows and margins?
Pigeon Shooting
Shooting pigeons with an airgun and placing decoys
While I can’t deny that the shotgun is the most effective tool for keeping woodpigeon at bay when they are hammering crops, it is possible to make decent bags with the air rifle. Not everyone has a shotgun and, with a little forethought and lots of fieldcraft, airgunners can enjoy…
Should you shoot pigeons with a semi-auto?
The gun you choose to shoot pigeons — whether decoyed, flighting or roosting — should always be given maximum thought if you are to shoot to the best of your ability. The gun must suit you and the bore size, weight, length of barrels and, of great importance, the gun…
What’s wrong with your pigeon shooting?
Where do you go wrong with woodies and what can you do to put things right? Build your hide right Over the years, I have come across countless people who fall at what, in the pigeon shooting game, we might consider to be the first hurdle. All too often you…
How to build a wooden tower for shooting pigeon – and why you should
Some of the most enjoyable afternoons’ sport shooting pigeon I have had has been from high towers. It brings an entirely different challenge. In the right conditions it can be fast and furious and it is great to be shooting among the treetops — it is the last place pigeon…
Pigeon shooting influenced by Syd Barrett?
There are two difficulties for me in writing this story. Firstly, while readers love tales of everything going wrong, this happens to be an unashamed success. Secondly, while it is immodest to write about one’s own performance, this was so extreme that, like an out-of-body experience, it was not me but someone in my dreams shooting in my…
Will Garfit’s dream pigeon shooting team
The first would have to be the late Archie Coats, father of modern pigeon shooting. He was like a sporting father to me as friend, tutor and influence, for better or for worse. He was a superb shot using his Webley 700 boxlock, side-by-side, with nimble footwork, fast reactions and intense concentration for the opportunity of a safe shot at whatever quarry entered…
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 pigeons would swarm to their doom. They would recall flocks of woodies leaving the roosting woods that were so big it would take 20…
Secrets of successful winter pigeon shooting
Due to the mild weather, this year’s autumn drillings went well, the best they have for a few years — it was more like shooting over spring drillings. With the new farming schemes, there have been a lot of over-wintered stubbles, which is encouraging, and mustard has been the crop of choice for the green cover crop schemes in…
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 watch birds on the ground, and to observe how they cover the ground while feeding. After 50 years of doing this, I can…
Top tips for a successful pigeon shooting technique
I am so fortunate to be out and about shooting pigeon all the time. I’ve had the privilege to learn from some of the finest pigeon Shots over the years and have learned and modified some of their techniques to my advantage. I am a great believer in using traditional methods, making use of the limited but good…
Harvest shooting time and the pigeon is easy
Shooting pigeon over stubbles is the pigeon shooter’s easy time of year. The weather is favourable; it’s easy to get to the exact spot where you want to shoot because often you can drive right to it. The short, cold days of shooting over winter rape seem a distant memory and it is the pigeon shooter’s real…
Five reasons to use an airgun to control woodies
You may never get the large bags you get with a shotgun, but there are numerous advantages to shooting decoyed woodies with an airgun. We’ve listed a few below: When shooting a woodpigeon with an airgun it is best to aim for the head or – if the bird has…
Which crops should you shoot over for big bags in late spring?
For many a pigeon shooter, once the spring drillings have been completed and have started to germinate, and pigeon interest in them disappears, there often follows the slowest period of pigeon shooting. I am fond of this time of year, however, because it is now that, as a pigeon shooter,…
How to shoot more pigeon from a hide
So many pigeon shooters forget to practise when they get the chance, only to suffer inconsistent results when they shoot from a hide. I find this lack of preparation confusing. Shooting pigeon can be expensive if you take into consideration the price of kit, cartridges and fuel for reconnaissance trips. I’m…
Cartridges for the pigeon shooter – what’s best for you and your gun ?
Even in these early years of the 21st century, price is still a factor among pigeon shooters, though now we have readily available dedicated pigeon cartridges, and all from reputable makers. Pigeon cartridges tend to be a more economic buy compared with game cartridges, not because they are in any way inferior…
How to get the right line for roost shooting
The local pigeon population has been patchy; some areas are holding massive numbers and others very few. Many of the larger farms and estates have drawn birds away from certain areas. This is common here and is mainly due to the large draw of gamecrops. Once they finish, birds tend to…
Where to sell your woodpigeon
A gamedealer Gamedealers will be more than happy to buy woodpigeon and, depending on the time of year and numbers available, will pay a fair price for birds in feather. You can expect about 30p to 50p for a bird in feather. It may not seem much but if you…
How to handle woodpigeons after you’ve shot them
Once pigeons have been successfully shot and picked-up, they must be treated with respect; they are a food source and should be handled as such. At different times of year you’ve have to handle the birds differently before hanging woodpigeon in the chiller without spoiling. It is wrong to shoot a good…
What you need to know about guided pigeon shooting
If you are new to pigeon shooting, do not have permission or simply want a hassle-free day out on the woodies, hiring a professional pigeon-shooting guide is an inexpensive way to experience shooting one of Britain’s biggest agricultural pests. But what’s in store for you and what should you expect…