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
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…
Spring drillings and pigeons
Sport on spring drillings is a real change from chasing pigeon around winter crops, competing with hard weather and farmers’ pigeon scare tactics. There is something exciting about seeing the drills in action and shooting in mild conditions over a perfect carpet of dry soil. Pigeon decoying should become easier…
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…
Get in line for roosting results
In this piece, I will explain some of the techniques needed to shoot pigeon that are flighting and roosting. Flighting pigeon and roost shooting are challenging sports. The angles, speed and distances that the woodpigeon fly outmatch any other form of quarry we shoot in this country. It can also be…
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 cartridge makers realised the huge potential market in people who shoot pigeons, with all the top boys now producing specialist…
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 wait for the “right” weather, when planning a sortie. So what, in order of preference, are we looking for? Wind…
Pigeon shooting: The flightline factor
Like so many pigeon shooters, I have been in pursuit of Britain’s greatest sporting bird for more years than I care to remember. My enthusiasm has not diminished with the passing of time. My first experience of having some birds to decoy, however, was more by accident than design. I was 15 and working on a farm,…