roost shooting

[ips]

I need an idiots guide to roost shooting.

also a question why is it done and why only for a few weeks after season finishes.

ps

them pesky pigeon are harder to hit than they look

 

[balltrap]

Its considered as a beaters perk reducing the numbers for winter crops !

 

[ips]

cheers,

its chuffing hard, good fun though.

 

[PMG 63]

Yes a beaters perk but more to please the farmers

.Tradionallly done in Feb to reduce pigeon numbers prior to mating season and as alot is done on shooting estates  Feb is ideal so as not to disturb the pairing of game birds from March onwards.

We had our first one tonight and had a great turn out and the pigeons obliged, guess the total was over 100 and the shot count was a hell of a lot more.

 

[ips]

thanks pmg, I understand now. Think we had about seventy today. I probably shot thirty cartridges for little return. Don't really know the script and was just chucked into a wood. So, what's the best way of picking a spot and do you stay in one spot etc etc

forgive me if these are stupid questions

 

[balltrap]

thanks pmg, I understand now. Think we had about seventy today. I probably shot thirty cartridges for little return. Don't really know the script and was just chucked into a wood. So, what's the best way of picking a spot and do you stay in one spot etc etc

forgive me if these are stupid questions




 

Find a big tree put your back to it and shoot them coming from behind and stay there

 

[westley]

I need an idiots guide to roost shooting.

You could start with 50 years of experience and go from there  !

 

[balltrap]

You could start with 50 years of experience and go from there  !

As i am not 50 yet you better tell him :angel:

 

[PMG 63]

Find a big tree put your back to it and shoot them coming from behind and stay there

That's fine in an ideal world.

Reality is you are allotted a wood ,may be just you maybe 5 or 6.The way we do it is each person covers an area of the wood with the aim to keep the birds moving.The first hour is spent shooting high birds going from wood to wood and the last 40 mins when they come into roost.

Now where to stand??? If only it was that easy.I can honestly say that every week and every year is different and I've done some years.Yes there are good trees ie firs and holy wrapped but that's only the start of it.Try to look for flight lines to which way they go out feeding and return,if it's blowing a cold easterly they won't roost on an east side of a wood.

The best advice I can give is stand still and watch and then move to where the birds are coming in,and keep moving if required.All that said for me it's the best bit of shooting all season.

 

[ips]

Thanks pmg, that's pretty much what I did but everytime I moved the ruddy birds flew over were I had just left.

 

[PMG 63]

Yes and probably will do for the rest of  your days,that's what makes it addictive 

 

[ips]

ha, its bloody frustrating don't know about addictive

 

[westley]

Try and pick a place with a nice bit of clear sky in front of your chosen area. I use 2 poles and a small bit of net scrim to allow me to move about inside the 'hide' when pouring coffee etc. I have a swivel top shooting seat, which allows me to shoot sitting down. I am on a line of 'sitty' trees, just outside a small wood. The wood is not normally used as a roosting wood, being too cold, even though it is a fir wood, it is open. My shooting is usually over by 4pm., but I am out from 1.00pm. I prefer to be on my own, that way there is nobody moving about in the wood or worse,  shooting at 100 yards plus pigeons. Some would argue that they were only 98 yards high and therefore in range.  I only got to fire 13 shots, but I had 8 birds down, so I was well pleased.

 

[Finners]

...and remember pigeons have bloody good eyesight. You need to camouflage your face with a piece of scrim or some such, otherwise the little buggers will see you a mile off. 

I've not been roost shooting for a few years now, but it's definitely the best shooting of all.  

 

[chippy]

I always find a couple of hours roost shooting absolutely kills my neck.

 

[ips]

I always find a couple of hours roost shooting absolutely kills my neck.

yes, I found that too ?

 

[Jonny English]

Pigeons are usually like ducks, they come in head wind, so put your back to the wind and eyes forward. Can't beat a good stiff breeze to give them direction and pull their altitude down.

 

[westley]

yes, I found that too ?

Yes, I am paying the price for that today. Mind you I had been married for 30 years BEFORE I realised it was the pigeon shooting that was the cause of my pain in the neck  !   :???:

 

[ChrisPackham]

Mask all skin, move less than a dead person, look for bird crap on the floor and stand near there, hope for the best, shoot better than you can imagine, wear all the socks you own and you should have a fun hour or so...