Pigeon shooting in Ireland with Jason Doyle

Here's a film I made for The Shooting Show with Jason Doyle in Ireland.

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Pigeon shooting with a young shot

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Big pigeon day with Geoff Garrod

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Pigeonshooting again with Geoff Garrod

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Pigeonshooting for The Shooting Show

This episode of The Shooting Show includes an outing after pigeons that I filmed with gamekeeper Geoff Garrod in Essex. It was a frustrating day as you'll see, but that made for an interesting tale and we made a decent bag in the end. I'm pleased they chose a frame from my slow-mo sequence for the title frame of the video - it took a lot of effort to get that shot right.

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Pigeon decoying in Essex

The Shooting Show this week features my piece on pigeonshooting in Essex, with Blaze Publishing boss Wes Stanton shooting with gamekeeper Geoff Garrod. It was a lovely day, if anything a bit too hot, but we were set up in the shade of the cherry trees with a nice breeze cooling us so I'm not complaining!

I'm still experimenting with settings on the XF100, and although I'm not there yet, the files come into FCP looking pretty good, with nice exposure and good colour balance and saturation. Oh, apart from the bit where I set the aperture manually (for the interview with Geoff) and then forgot to put it back on auto. Schoolboy error which I largely managed to correct in post - and by good fortune it also gave me a really fast shutter speed for the shots of pigeons coming in to the decoys. I might do that on purpose in future, just so long as I make sure I'm not overexposing in the process.

Also in this video, you'll see footage from my Sony HDR AS15, an alternative to the ubiquitous GoPro. I prefer the shape of the Sony, which lends itself better to being strapped to the side of a gun etc - and the footage is nothing short of amazing for such a tiny cam.

Just as an aside, filming the boss of your biggest client is not good for the nerves!

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Video: pigeon shooting with Geoff Garrod

Here's my latest piece on The Shooting Show - I made the first item in this week's show, with gamekeeper Geoff Garrod and Tomas Atienza of Eley Hawk out after pigeons in Essex. After a wet start, the sun breaks through and things begin to pick up, and Geoff and Tomas finish with a respectable total for the day.

The show also includes an extended news report from the CLA Game Fair - well done the Blaze team for filming and editing that so quickly to get the report out the day after the event.

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Pigeonshooting on The Shooting Show

Here's the latest episode of The Shooting Show, with my piece on Geoff Garrod shooting pigeons over rape. That was an enjoyable day's filming, and I managed to capture a good few pigeons being hit - always a challenge with video!

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Where are all the pigeons?

A group of farmers on a farming forum have been discussing their pigeon problems - or lack of them. It's hardly scientific, but I thought I'd make some blobs on a map of the UK to mark the places they're reporting pigeons. The map above is the result. I don't think it tells us much, but it did vaguely remind me of the classic U-shaped decoy pattern, with the landing zone centred around Northamptonshire!

With all the clever web tools available nowadays, it ought to be possible to create a live pigeon map, updated with reports from the field, to show which way the birds are heading. Maybe Google Maps has an answer? Suggestions and technical help gratefully received...

Talking of techy webby stuff, if you ever need to look up a gunshop, try the excellent dealer locator at Highland Outdoors.

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526 cartridges, 477 pigeons

Last week I was out again with ace pigeonshooter Andy Crow. As luck would have it, the weather was superb, and he had picked a great spot - a field of soya bean stubble with plenty of food laying on the ground. The birds piled in all day long, and by the end of the day the tally was an astonishing 477 birds for 526 cartridges - Andy's biggest day ever by a margin of 73. That kills-to-cartridges ratio is phenomenal, especially at pigeons, where every bird is different.

Those numbers may sound excessive, but you have to remember that this isn't sport, it's pest control - every one of those birds is pulling the farmers' seed out of the ground, day in day out (see photo below). Control is vital to prevent serious crop losses.

More on Andy and his techniques in forthcoming issues of the magazine.

A great day's pigeon shooting

For our Christmas issue's pigeon shooting feature, I went out yesterday with Andy Crow, a farm manager on the Kent/Surrey border. His job leaves him plenty of spare time through the winter to shoot pigeons - which is a good thing because if he didn't, there wouldn't be much oilseed rape come harvest time.

We set up on a field of fodder maize stubble in the early mist. Andy doesn't believe in tucking his hide away in a hedge under a tree - he planted this one smack bang in the middle of the field. Using hazel branches cut from the wood, he disguised it as a bush.

Then he rigged up his decoy pattern, using his home made cradles and about a dozen dead birds from the chiller - no plastic decoys for him.

Add a whirly, connect it up, and retire back to our 'bush hide' to await developments. In no time at all, the mist had lifted to reveal a lovely blue sky - and the birds were piling in.

Having taken a few 'in the hide' photos, I switched to trying to capture the moment a pigeon was hit - not an easy task! I was pleased with this one...

And this one is interesting - zoom in and you can see the pattern just ahead of the bird. A fraction of a second later the two had collided, and the bird was dead in mid air.

Andy kindly handed me his gun for a while and, after a few embarrassing misses, I managed to kill 14 or 15 birds, including a couple of nice long shots. When we cleared up at the end of the day, the total was 147. Out of the 'brick' of 250 cartridges we had 53 left, which gives a pretty impressive ratio of 3 birds for every 4 shots.

It was a very enjoyable day, and Andy was great company. I hope to be going out with him again soon - and you can read all about our trip, together with his methods and tips, in the Christmas issue.

Rifle shooting in Wales

Last night's Fieldsports Channel programme features our visit to Andrew Venables' WMS Steel Challenge in mid-Wales. It makes great viewing, and also provides a taster of our forthcoming foxshooting DVD, which I've been working on with the guys at Fieldsports Channel.

Don't forget, our pigeonshooting DVD, Pigeons With the Experts, is still available - check out a preview and order a copy here »

Great father's day gift

Our new pigeon shooting DVD is the perfect gift for any father who's a keen pigeonshooter. Order now for delivery in time for Fathers Day - you can order online here »

Watch the preview:

Filming in a pigeon hide

I'm out with Andy Pye again, this time shooting over maize cover crop. I was taking video, and used this combination of face veil, camo hat and a Jack Pyke leafy camo head veil wrapped around the camera. It meant that I could stand up at the back of the hide, to film the pigeons coming in to the decoys, and Andy popping up to shoot. It worked quite well, too. I got some good footage, and didn't put the birds off.

Lights, cameras... where are the pigeons?

 

Here's me trying to perfect my sincere and welcoming smile,
without appearing unbearably smug. More work needed, I'd say!

Yesterday I was in a pigeon hide with David Wright trying to film the last few sequences for our forthcoming pigeon shooting DVD. We were on some glorious rolling farmland near the MoD training area on Salisbury Plain. The weather was fabulous - bright sunshine, blue skies and not a breath of wind. Sadly, that's not the weather you need to see pigeons.

 David remained irrepressibly cheerful throughout, despite having
to sit on the frozen ground inside the hide to work on the script

There were plenty of pigeons when we arrived at the farmhouse - on the roof, in the ivy, on the trees around the farmyard, and flying overhead in clouds. And they were still there when we got back at the end of the day. But out on the farmland? Not a lot! Between five guns, spread over the farm, we had a total bag of 29 birds and 2 squirrels.

 I was shooting this Beretta AL391 Urika. I'm not normally a fan of
semi-autos, but for pigeons you can't beat it - a rugged, no nonsense tool

Still, on the bright side, we did get lots of the essential 'pieces to camera' done. When there are lots of birds to shoot, it's hard to tear yourself away for mundane details like an intro and links from one scene to the next. Now, with those 'in the can', we can begin to piece the whole thing together.

A frustrating day, but a productive one nevertheless.

Pigeons and video

 

Today I've been out pigeon shooting with Andy Pye, working with David from fieldsportschannel.tv on our forthcoming pigeonshooting DVD.

Andy started the day with high hopes: it was the first chance to get at the pigeons since the end of the game season, and a flock of 2,000 or so had been feeding on this rape field for the past few days. With a dozen or so other shooters out in the area, we should keep them on the move, and perhaps get a big bag.

Well, pigeons never read the manual, and these birds led us a merry dance all day. The forecast wind never really happened, and the sun came out. Conditions were far from ideal. 

We set up, changed our minds, moved into the wood, moved the decoys again, then went back into the wood. By the end of the day there were 74 birds in the bag between three of us, and we'd earned every one.

David appeared to have got plenty of good video, and now we're planning another visit next week, after the cover crops are cut.

More photos on my flickr page...

Look who's sitting outside the office window this morning

I opened the window quietly, poked the camera through, and snapped a few photos before the woodie flew off.

Battling pheasants

Driving to see my parents this afternoon, I stopped to let these two run across the lane in front of me. They never noticed the car - just carried on with their squabble until the winner sent his rival packing.


Walking round the place later, I was amazed by the number of berries on the holly trees. Some say it's a sign that a harsh winter is coming. Personally I think it's probably more to do with the summer we've had than the winter we're going to have.


Here's something else I noticed - several pigeon kills, probably by a sparrowhawk. This was the only one where the carcass remained, but I expect foxes etc took away the others. I do hope someone has explained the terms of the general licence to that sparrowhawk, and it's being careful only to kill pigeons that are damaging crops!

Mark Avery and the dead parrot

I do enjoy following the blog of RSPB conservation director Mark Avery. It's a real insight into the RSPB mind-set - and I'm constantly bemused by the knots these guys tie themselves in with their this-bird-is-better-than-that-bird approach to the environment.

The latest muddle is over "the lovely ring-necked parakeet" being added to the list of birds that can be killed under General Licence. Birding types don't know which way to jump. It's non-native, and a threat to our native wildlife, so perhaps it should be wiped out like the mink (they seem to have no problem with the idea of exterminating mink with extreme prejudice: two legs good, four legs bad). But parakeets are birds, so perhaps they should be protected at all costs? Erk! It's a conundrum worthy of a Monty Python sketch.

When it comes to birds of prey, all logic flies out of the window, along with any chance of the birders comprehending the concept of wildlife management. Shooters get sterotyped as bloodthirsty killers, and the clamour for 'tighter regulation' drowns out all sensible discussion.

Just look at the RSPB's latest Birdcrime report, and see the huge fuss about "raptor persecution" (for which the numbers are actually down). There's hardly a whisper about the 746 incidents (62% of the total) which relate to non birds of prey. Are some birds more equal than others? It would appear so. Simon Hart of the Countryside Alliance has some good points to make on the subject - read them here.

As an aside, I'm amazed at how little we hear of the illegal trade in songbirds like goldfinches and linnets. Huge numbers of these lovely little birds are trapped and sold on the black market, and yet how often do we hear the RSPB campaigning about it? It doesn't appear on any of the lists of 'wildlife crime priorities'. I'm keen to follow this up in the magazine - any info on the trade, and the methods used by the illegal trappers, would be gratefully received, anonymity respected if you request it.

Anyway, back to the point: The General Licence system is a nonsense, made necessary by the nonsense that is the EU-driven bird protection legislation.

On the one hand we have the humble rabbit, which has been chased, shot, caught and eaten by man for thousands of years. Until recently the law placed an obligation on landowners to control rabbits, to reduce the damage to agriculture. Are rabbits remotely threatened? Of course not. And do we need some twisted law that says 'all rabbits are protected, except when we say they're not'? Of course we don't

And on the other hand we have the humble woodpigeon, which has been chased, shot, caught, etc etc just the same. Is it remotely threatened? Of course not. And yet each year we sit and chew our fingernails, wondering what ridiculous nonsense the government will have dreamt up. Will we even be allowed to shoot pigeons any more? Will we have to fill out a form in triplicate, proving that we tried offering the pigeons counselling, serving them with ASBOs, and still they won't stop eating the crops, so reluctantly we'll just have to shoot them?

It's a complete nonsense, a product of the confused protectionism that says four legs are bad, two legs are good, and two legs with talons are right up there with God.

Stalking high up on a Perthshire hillside last week, I was privileged to see a sea eagle (swooping after a pair of grouse we'd disturbed from the heather). We stood and watched through the binoculars, in awe of the magnificent bird.

Funny, I remarked to the stalker, that 'they' are busy introducing one deadly killer into the Highlands, while doing their utmost to exterminate another, the mink. 'Aye' he said, and shook his head. He's used to being dictated to by do-gooders who think they know his hill better than him - folk who won't let him burn a small patch of heather to stop the heather beetle because of rules to protect the very environment that the heather beetle is going to devastate.

In days gone by we managed the countryside like an allotment, encouraging nature to produce a surplus which we then harvested. Nowadays we treat it like a municipal garden, selecting our 'favoured' species for the flower beds according to their popular appeal. Everyone loves a raptor. Keep off the grass, don't pick the raptors. What's that non-native weed species doing there, get rid of it, it doesn't fit the plan.

Local people whose fathers and grandfathers created the countryside are no longer trusted to look after it; they're tied up with red tape, rules, regulations and certificates to ensure they've been brainwashed into accepting the 'approved' way of thinking. Independent spirits, eccentrics and characters are not tolerated.

Maybe that's why I find myself increasingly drawn to the wild places (and the wild people) where the dead hand of modern countryside management hasn't yet reached. Hopefully the tide will turn before it does, because we're in danger of losing something we don't even know we've got.

Meet the future - FUD

This is a FUD (Fold Up Decoy). Produced by an Australian company, it's supposed to be the next big thing in decoying. I've had a look at them at the Midland Game Fair, where they're being sold by decoying.co.uk, the official UK importer.

It seems great - basically the decoy is made of neoprene with a fabric facing (similar to a mouse mat), printed with photo-quality images of the quarry - there are already pigeons, duck, geese and crows available, with more species coming soon.

The great thing is they're light and easy to carry - you can clip a couple of dozen to your belt. Once in position, fold them out and set them up. The design allows 'feeding' and 'sentry' positions, and the duck decoys will float right-way-up.

Plus the people behind them are full of enthusiasm and promotional ideas - I reckon we'll be seeing a lot more of FUDs over the coming months. They're on sale at the Midland GF for £25 for a pack of 6 pigeon deeks; if you can't make it to the Midland check out www.decoying.co.uk for more info.