Another morning and another beautiful
day in the great British countryside
Today, we're shooting pigeons on one of
Steve's permissions but before we get
started we need to get set up
Morning the Beast of the East is rolling in
and yesterday I walked up here and
these stubbled turnips on the top here was
absolutely loaded with pigeons. There was
thousands on here. We've just come up we
flushed them all off. They've just
disappeared over the ridge but they're
settled down again, so we're going to try
and shoot some pigeons this morning
You know what pigeon shooting is like it
could go well it could be a disaster but
that's the nature of the game. We're all
very excited no gonna get the decoy set up
I like to use two magnets when I'm decoying
I usually put one on the right and
one on the left and then lay my pattern
out in between. So normally we have the
decoys facing into the wind but like say
there's no wind so we're just going to
jot them out in pretty much a
horseshoe so the birds see the horseshoe
try and land at the front of it
hopefully no I just going to be at the
back of the wood there. It's just
starting to snow a little bit. We'll get
set up as quickly as we can
There's birds in the air. We've been
trying to come around because this is
exactly where they were feeding yesterday
shooting is as much an art as it is a
science everyone has their own system
so we'll get at it
and it's fascinating to see how
different people approach laying out
their pattern most people also have very
strong opinions about what's right and
wrong so you're never short of helpful
advice using steve's intimate knowledge
of the area and experience of previous
outings we follow his tried and tested
routine to me the high feels a little
exposed but I'm happy to follow Steve's
lead and do as I'm told for a change
ok we're all set up we're good to go
spacing the height also me now some
pigeons some keeps popping out the winds
changing swirling around us so we've set
the pattern up as best we thinks ok but
what looks good to us and pigeon come
over now you can think oh my lord what
is that but we'll give it a go and
hopefully we'll get a few on the ground
there's one coming in right now and I
missed it
ok because there's two of a shooting in
the height and it's always safety first
so we take it in turns therefore I'm not
jumping up in front of Ian it's not
jumping looking front to make one's in
one's out and that's the way it stays
there's nobody jumping up in front of
anybody else safety first always with
our first birds down I send out my
trusty and obedient retriever to collect
the fallen pigeons to add them to our
pattern
now he's back in the hide we can get
back to shooting
with a few more birds down Steve sets
out to retrieve them must I hold the
fort it may appear that I'm being a
little lazy but Steve is very particular
when it comes to his pattern and doesn't
want me messing things up
as Steve heads out again to collect more
fallen birds we can see a storm looming
ominously on the horizon we decide to
move the hide into the edge of the
forest to give us more cover hopefully
before the storm reaches us we get to
work rearranging the decoys pattern and
hide
as Steve rearranges the pattern I work
on repositioning the hide sometimes even
small changes can make the difference
between success and failure they have a
tactical change of plan we've moved the
pattern a little bit they seem to be
committed and at the last minute they
were veering off we've bought ourselves
back in the wood because everything
we've been shooting has been out in
front anyway so we've got a bit more
cover for ourselves and we've moved the
pattern a little bit and trial and error
we'll see how it all works out now under
the cover of the trees more birds begin
to approach and we start to get back
into our grief finally the storm has
reached us and Steve puts on his deer
hunt and move on went to jacket to fight
the cold with a strong wind and heavy
snow showers the shooting proves more
difficult in the blizzard-like
conditions despite the worsening weather
we begin to gain confidence in our shots
and our Rachel improves
he barked 'ok conditions have
transformed the landscape into a winter
scene fit for a christmas card at the
snowfall lifts a window opens for steve
to collect the shot birds before they're
lost in the snow
who'd have thought such a bright and
sunny morning would give way to this
i warm myself up with some soup while
Steve demonstrates his amazing sheep
herding abilities his skills truly are
limitless
so I think it's safe to say this is not
normal page and shooting weather now I
think it's taking a bit of a turn for
the worst it's been kind of four seasons
in one day first thing this morning it
was nice and frosty nice crisp bright
sky beautiful setting out the decoys in
the sunshine I'm thinking maybe medium
to mouflon
was a bit hardcore well as it's turned
out it's been the perfect choice to play
then so he started off early on got the
pattern out and the boys just didn't
want it birds want to set the wings and
land into the wind I think you're just
catching a glimpse of us from the
right-hand side as we're coming through
we move back into the hedgerow here yeah
and since then the birds have been
coming in nicely to the pack but it just
hasn't been the volume this afternoon
after this I think everything that's
been on the wing that's found somewhere
to feed or taking shelter say no it's a
spoilt it a little bit but I have to say
it's been a beautiful day we've had a
lot more shots than we've had birds
mainly that's down to I don't know maybe
some reacquire ization with the
semi-autos Nachman shooting those for a
while first pigeon day out the season
but yeah it's been great fun I've really
enjoyed it I don't know how many birds
we've got probably got about where I
don't know 20 odd down yeah I'd say
about that yeah hopefully we're gonna be
able to find them in the snow well
everything is turning white slowly well
very quickly now actually it's been a
beautiful day it's kind of carpeted
white for us now so I think the best
thing we can do really is gather up
these decoys have a bit of a clear up
and then you can make me a coffee I
think that's a very good idea but what a
great day they make no worries mate good
foot as we pack away our gear the storm
rolls in with a vengeance it's not been
a huge yield by any stretch of the
imagination but it's been great fun with
great company
these are the days in which stories are
created to be retold over a point on a
cold winter's day in front of a roaring
fire and in the wise words of the wild
man it's another day
they can't take offers
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