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…
Pigeon Shooting
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,…
Guns for pigeon shooting for under £500
If you’re gameshooting then you’ve got to be aware of etiquette. You have to dress the right way and say the right things. And be a safe Shot of course. Pigeon shooting is different – although you obviously still need to be a safe Shot. What you wear is dependent…
Pigeon shooting over beans
September is the month when the harvest comes to a close. All the farmers’ hard work is now inside and, as usual, the last crops to come off are winter and spring beans. Farmers in my area have not had a happy end to the harvest, not because of grain prices, but due to a change in the…
Top pigeon shooting tips from Will Garfit
Want to make the most of your sporting day? Here are 10 practical pigeon shooting tips.
Pest control on covercrops drillings
After a very early alarm call I was up and on the drillings setting the decoys up, in anticipation about what the morning pest control would bring. Shooting over the drilled crops gives me a rare chance to get stuck into our limited supply of pigeons. However, enticing both pigeons…
Peas and pigeon shooting
It has been a very strange — and disappointing — couple of months with regard to pigeon shooting. From the start of the year I was having a pigeon-shooting bonanza, with good numbers being shot over winter rape and birds decoying brilliantly. The trend continued into the spring drillings. I…
Have you booked your Shooting UK Event?
Shooting UK has now launched three exciting new events for the readers of Sporting Gun, Shooting Times, Shooting Gazette and The Field – and of course, visitors to the Shooting UK website. Whether you want to find out what jobs a gamekeeper has to do throughout the year, how you have a…
Pigeon shooting in the fog
The plan was to try a couple of hundred woodies feeding on high ground above my house, but under what were almost white-out conditions it would now surely be a waste of time. Having waited all morning for the murk to clear, I could at least give it a look,…
Pigeon shooting predictions for 2015
Tom Payne looks back at the last pigeon shooting year and predicts what lies ahead for 2015
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
The pigeon shooter’s code
There are some occasions on which the responsible pigeon shooter must turn down outings that sound good in favour of prior arrangements or more pressing needs. I’m lucky enough to manage pigeon on many farms and estates, and I do my best to be there when there is a problem,…
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 most frequently is: “Do rotary decoys work any more, and if so, where should I place them in the pattern?”…
Do you shoot pigeon for sport or pest control?
Here’s a question for you, do you shoot pigeon for sport or are you doing it as pest control? Under the terms of the general licences, we are only allowed to kill pigeon all year round to prevent unacceptable damage to farmers’ crops, even if that occurs during the birds’…
How to shoot pigeon over oilseed rape in winter
Want to bag more when pigeon shooting over rape this winter? Here, Eric explains how to do it.
