The pigeons have all but abandoned my favourite roost shooting wood of 10 years ago. Looking back through my notes, 40 to 60 pigeons of an evening was not unusual and one memorable afternoon, in perfect wind conditions, several trips were needed to ferry 93 back to the car. Where once I could guarantee shooting through 100 cartridges, now you would be lucky to fire 10 shots. Why this is so is not certain. The only thing we can guarantee in nature is that change is constant whether it is the moon, tides, or seasons. In regular conversation about the subject with the Head Keeper on the estate on which I have been lucky enough to control the pests for over a decade, we agree that it is probably down to three factors.

3 REASONS FOR CHANGE

Firstly the farming on the estate has changed over the years. The move from conventional to organic means that thousands of acres of farmland are no longer as attractive a buffet to the pigeons as they once were. After the process of gradual change to organic was well underway, the estate applied for a grant to switch from oil-fired heating for the entire village including the big house, to wood chip from its own woodland. We are all on one sustainable, cheaper grid. What this meant for the woodland was a programme of thinning of the less straight timber. This had a knock-on effect on the pigeons habits and the wind whistled through the newly thinned big wood. Not only had the free board become less palatable, but the free lodging gained a colder, stronger draft.

This activity, while adversely affecting the pigeons, has done wonders for the wild game management and English Partridges and wild pheasants thrive in the insect-rich headlands and brood-rearing strips that border all the organic pastures.

At the same time the estate was changing, buzzard numbers were increasing. I suspect that the big rise in buzzard numbers has had an impact on the nesting habits of the pigeons in the big wood. I watch every summer the Jackdaws fledge in the park and the buzzards switch onto the easy lunch of the plump, unwary talon-fodder that is a Jackdaw chick. The same focus may also be taking place earlier in the year on early pigeon nests in the big wood before the buzzards move into the park to hunt. One of the pigeon's greatest strengths is its adaptability. It is the principal reason for their success in the modern farmed environment. Data from the British Trust for Ornithology show what we as pigeon shooters know to be true - that 20 years ago pigeons hardly ever nested in people’s gardens. Now we can see the trend of them moving out of woodland habitat to nest in suburbia. This may well be down to buzzard predation.

BOUNDARY DAYS

All these factors combined to reduce the need for my activity as a pest controller. Except that is, on the boundary. Here there is a young fir wood that runs for almost exactly a mile along the main road, the other side of which is a conventional farm brimming with all the pigeon's favourite crops. Another block of firs juts out towards the estate reservoir a third of the way along and this is the pigeon's new, favoured habitat on the estate.

To roost shoot in this wood took some planning as these days we must take into account some of the factors of an extraordinary few years. Firstly ‘lockdown’. I could not justify travelling to my other favourite roosting wood on a friend's conventional farm several miles away - I had to keep my activity local. This could not be more local and I could see my house from the edge of the fir wood. Secondly, the revised general licences that we are all having to navigate must be observed if we are to conduct pest control legally.

ATTRACTIVE ELEMENTS

This young fir wood has several attractive elements to pigeons for as well as being very difficult for buzzards to hunt in, it is thick and warm. Not only that but the edges are flanked with mature hawthorns that stud the old hedge line. These are covered in ivy, the berries being a prized food particularly in times of snow as we had just had. The combination of fir, ivy, warmth and food is what I look for in many of the best roosting woods I have shot. The thick understory of bramble and blackthorn also adds an impenetrable layer to add the extra element of freedom from disturbance from all but the most determined muntjac. This also makes it very attractive for nesting Turtle Doves in high summer who benefit from the conservation effort for English Partridge on this estate. As a result, we must avoid carrying out pest control near these nests when they are occupied from early summer. To control pigeons here to help the neighbouring farmer protect his crops, it has to be now.

Also I had to find a spot where I could shoot near the road but be over 50 feet away from the centre of it to avoid a problem if anyone complained. Not only that but restrict my arc of fire so my shot didn’t land over the boundary, and try to shoot so the dog had every chance of picking the bird. There was far more to think about than just pulling the trigger, but it is why pigeon shooting is the greatest test for a shotgunner. The ability to shoot is not enough and you only get the opportunity to find out if you have it after much hard work.

Reconnaissance is always the first step in a successful pigeon outing and a morning looking round to try to find a shootable spot started with me having to cut a small path through thick bramble and blackthorn. My preferred choice was on the old cross hedge where a mature ash tree seemed to be a flight line. Another flight line was a far older, taller ash tree covered in ivy. I planned to be equidistant between the two and to be able to be in range of both.

PROOF OF CONCEPT

As it turned out on the day the plan did work but the birds tended to drift up the hedge more towards the ivy-covered ash and any crossing shots would have meant shooting over the road. I had to move. My second pre-prepared option was a hollowed-out bramble further forward and under the mature ash to the left of my original position. This meant I could take the birds heading for the ivy tree much earlier and shoot parallel to the road rather than across it. It also gave me a much wider field of vision and more options something I hadn’t considered during my reconnaissance. One of the hardest things to do though is to abandon a plan that isn’t quite working as well as it might in favour of another untested option. There is a tendency in our minds to stick with what we have planned in the hope it will come right, rather than adjust our settings in light of the reality of the behaviour of our quarry. To overcome this, especially when trying out a new spot I now tell myself that the first visit is always a learning experience and that trying new spots to find the best one for the given wind only enhances your level of knowledge for your next visit. As with much in life, if it doesn’t work then so be it - you are wiser than you were before but you must be flexible enough to give it a go.

As it turned out my 19 pigeons and one Jackdaw, the later returning stuffed full of pig food from a nearby unit over the road, were hard won, hard to pick, and the product of almost a military-style campaign in difficult circumstances. As the fir trees are still quite young the style of shooting was completely different to the 60 year old, mature big wood of 10 years ago where every successful shot was a screamer. Here the shooting was easier although this is of course relative to the pigeon’s ability to spot you and veer off in a wingbeat. Even so, the satisfaction comes from having applied enough thought to produce a few shots in difficult circumstances and the pigeon mince bolognese that is currently on my hob.

FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE SHOOTING TIMES, FEBRUARY 2021