Chasing The Flocks (advanced decoying part 3)

CHASING THE FLOCKS (Advanced Decoying Part 3)
By The Ole Hedge Creeper


Well I left off in part 2 a couple of years ago now, thinking I had pretty much covered most parts of the art of wood pigeon decoying/hunting etc, but it appears either I was not clear on what I had written before or some of you had not bothered to read my previous articles or just chose to ignore my advice.

You see just of late I have been receiving a great many emails and messages from the same people I had given this advice to before, through The Countryman’s Diary Magazine or my website or on social media and indeed also on our stands at game fairs etc, almost every single one has been about how to get big bags what's the best and latest gadget or why I am so successful in all my hunting when others fail.

The answer was simple its the same answer I give every time, to be a successful hunter of any quarry you have to understand your quarry, by this I mean you have to live breath and think as your quarry, it matters not weather you are fishing/hunting/shooting/trapping or flying a bird of prey or working a dog, you cant just turn up in mother nature and expect to be successful, alas some folk get lucky and think that’s it all you have to do is turn up with the latest gadget and hey presto you will have a 100 bird day.


In reality you could not be further from the truth, so for this article I will just pic on pigeon shooting I may cover other disciplines in some future articles, now here is a bit of a rant especially to the dime bar who decided to write on one of my videos having a pop at a kid who was trying to learn, wind your neck in boy for what you proved you know about field sports and field craft my 6 month old grandson would have forgotten in the womb, anyway rant over and that was dealt with very quickly as I do not suffer fools gladly, deleted and blocked as arguing with a fool only proves there are two.

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The Young Sports are the next generation that are learning our traditions, so its up to each and every one of us to pass on the correct traditional knowledge and educate them properly, for field sports and conservation walk hand in hand, this is something that was drummed into me from a very young age by my family all old school Countrymen, now I am not saying the latest gadgets whirley gigs or flappers or whatever does not have a place in pigeon shooting etc, what I am saying is unless you learn good ole fashioned field craft starting off with a handful of decoys learning how to make a floater using a shot bird with a hazel stick from the hedge, you will never be truly successful with all the gadgets and vast amounts of money spent on gear, proper reconnaissance watching the flight lines and looking for sitty trees etc learning what your quarry is telling you.

I still now just go out with 6 shell decoys a gun and a bag of cartridges, go to a small field I have been watching just me and the dog tuck myself down into a natural hide put the decoys out in a staggered pattern and test myself, I will talk about patterns later on in this article or go have a look at advanced decoying 1 and 2 or another of mine called flight lines and decoys, the first bird shot I make into a floater, I do this by cutting a hazel stick about 3ft long not to thick a stick, then I cut another about 18” long, the first stick I put up the pigeons rear end until its in its head, I have already sharpened a point on it so the head stays stretched out, then the smaller thinner stick I sharpen each end and cut a slit in them, I press this through the underside of the pigeon near the wing joints then put the end of the wings into the slits, so there you have a natural floater, no expensive heavy and a dead bird always works better than any plastic decoy, make your own gear starting off learn your craft then and only then with all the gadgets coupled with proper field craft edge your bets against this worthy of a quarry.

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Recognisance is the key to a successful days pigeon shooting and get a good set of binoculars', this is how the old masters taught it such as Archie Coats and John Batley.

Also don’t waste any quarry if you can find a home for it a butchers/restaurant friends family eat it yourself but never waste it, my dogs/ferrets and myself eat like kings on wild game as do my friends and family and local OAPs, as my Pappy would always say its harder where there is none, he would know he grew up in a time of real poverty before and after the war, that’s another thing folk ask me how I come up with some of the amazing recipes I have put in my best selling cook books (available at www.theoutpostshop.co.uk) that’s another easy answer my Pappy taught me how to cook and to use anything I have at my disposal in the pantry and to make good food out of next to nothing or what others would throw away, so you see I was taught the old school way in all I am and all I do.​

Now going back to the kids etc I wont stand by and let anyone have a pop at a kid who is trying to learn, like the lad on my video he asked a question what he was doing wrong all this other fellow did was jump down his throat and try to tear strips off of him, he had no one to show him so knew no better, but with my guidance the lad now has a signed permission and using his air rifle is now making good modest bags and by this I mean 10 birds or less even, he uses everything nothing goes to waste and I enjoy his reports of hunts and sending us pics at The Magazine, So remember that with guidance and education our sport will live on in the young sports as we once were young sports ourselves, also remember as our past King said: The wildlife of today is not ours to dispose of as we please, we have it in trust and must account for it to those that come after us, that used to be inside the front cover of the Shooting Times Magazine I memorized that when I was 5 years old and still to this day recite it when I give a talk etc.

Let me take you to the field with me now as I have prattled on enough, myself a young sport and a couple of novices from the shooting club I am chairman of had to go out and move some pigeons off the crops, the farmers had been on the phone saying our crops had turned blue with pigeons over night come quick please help get them off they are destroying the wheat, of course I was out on it faster than a terrier on a rat with binoculars in hand driving the fields working out the flight lines sitty trees etc, oh that’s another thing invest in a good set of binoculars the best you can afford they are worth their weight in gold for any field sport, especially locating pigeons etc, I had found a largish flock hitting the wheat on a 5 acre field next to a roost wood, they had all they could want for food shelter and water as there was a small pond just over the hedge, I knew this place well I had shot here many times, this farm was either switched on with pigeons or you would not see a single bird, so the birds being there told me shoot this fast.


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My friend Nik joined me this was only his third time coming pigeon shooting so this would be a good one for him, I would let him do most of the shooting whilst I coached him, another thing hide discipline, I rarely allow more than one gun to be shooting in a hide at a time the only time I allow this is when two experienced shots are together and good hide discipline is the order of the day, by this I mean each shooter calls the shot who is taking it etc, as in birds to the left one shooter takes them and the other takes birds to the right, if one side is the hot seat than the other take it in turns to shoot swapping sides etc.​

Now it was a good job I let Nik do most of the shooting as I thought I broke my ankle, there I was setting up the hide just carrying the guns in that were still in their slips as I slipped on some loose stones and promptly fell over, my instinct was save the guns which I did but from that I severely sprained my ankle, Nik had to help me up and wanted to call it a day, NO was my answer put me on my swivel seat I will be fine much to Nik not being happy with that as he said he hear the snap and thought I had broken my leg, it was just the tendons I had done worse on the ruby pitch and nothing gets in the way of my sport unless it drops and knocks me out cold now that’s dedication for you.

This was a good start for Nik as he was thrown in the deep end as he had to learn how to put the decoys out hide up set the floaters and him and my Labrador Brook do all the retrieving, of course I was there to supervise and shout advice in my grumpy voice as I was in a lot of pain, almost immediately the pigeons started to drop in as bird after bird fell to Nik it amazed me how the pigeons in the wood took no notice hardly of the shots, they just lifted up flew round in a circle and landed back in the wood and started cooing again, so this was when I hit them with the pigeon call and blow me over they came out of the woods straight into the decoys, those that say you cant call pigeons are dime bars as I have called them in to both decoys and roost woods more times than I care to mention, I get all my calls from Calls Of The wild over at www.callsofthewild.co.uk.


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Teaching calling in my main ring at The Game Fair Ragley 2016, Claire here is learning how to control her air and give the call voice we then moved into the decoying display to a huge crowd, who heckled and applauded in fine stylie too.

I had a little go with my little 20 bore Auto and put a few cracking birds in the bag if I say so myself, I have taken years to decide what gadgets or decoys I use for pigeon shooting, I still like making my own gear just like my purse nets for ferreting but alas I just don’t have the time now, I do have whirley gig and battery flapper but don’t use them they have their place but I use them as a totally last resort when traditional methods need a little something extra, in fact I don’t think I have used them at all in the last 5 years, but I have decided on a brand I truly love and that is the Jack Pyke gear, everything from the clothing to the hides/decoy poles/decoys/floaters even the wildfowling gear and corvid decoys are awesome, this stuff is made by Countrymen for Countrymen, they think of the little details and its good quality too, OK it might not be the cheapest but it certainly is the best in my book and does what it says on the tin, buy quality and it lasts buy cheap and it wont its a false economy, or as my dad says buy once cry once and of course he is right, that’s why the Jack Pyke Brand has the coveted Ole Hedge Creeper’s thumbs up seal of approval take my word for it the gear is bang on the money, I get all mine over at www.theoutpostshop.co.uk if there’s something wrong with it they and Jack Pyke sort it out in no time their customer service is second to none I telle.​

After 3 hours my foot was hurting so bad I thought I was going to pass out and I dare not take my boot off or I would be stuck, Nik Cleared up and carried all the gear back to the truck and I used a hide pole as a crutch and hobbled back. The walk should of took no more than 5 minuets to get back but my hobble took me 30 minutes and I still had to get the pigeons to the game dealer, I will say I was glad to get home and get my foot up, Nik got to cut his teeth today on my pigeons and he now wants me to teach his two sons the art of decoying, that will be another two young sports added to the growing list of young sports under my wing who are being taught the old school way.

The next shoot was on some blown flat wheat near Taunton here in the West Country, my uncle a fine farmer who has both cattle for beef and milk and arable was on the phone saying in his broad West Country accent get your arse down here and get these grey buggers off my wheat and tell your Dad to bring my trailer back too, now uncle is a mountain of a man I have seen him carry a calf under each arm and a bag of feed on his shoulder all at the same time so you don’t argue with uncle when he says get your arse down here boy, I took young sport David along with me as he wanted to have a go at pigeon shooting again as he had not been out for a while with me, we set up under an old oak tree next to a flat spot my ole mucker Shadrach (Kevin JT Snr) joined me as the farm was not far from his house he set up in the next field under another old oak tree, we put the decoys out on my 4ft garden canes to raise them above any standing crop, oh it must be 4ft canes no bigger or smaller for wheat of barley and the scene was set. We were using the new clear view netting from Jack Pyke its like looking through a TV screen but the birds cant see you so longs you keep still and have a solid back stop.
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I let Young David have the first hour using the little 20 bore auto, it did not take long for him to get his eye in, OK he was only shooting 25 yards tops but for just over a box of cartridges he bagged 15 pigeons all to himself not bad for a boy of ten years old, if I say so myself I have taught him well both on clays and on live targets, now it was my turn I was using a new gun I had swapped with JT junior he wanted a side by side and I had those a plenty but no real rough shooting auto so we swapped, this was basically a Hatsan although it said Midland Gun Company on the side (it took some cleaning too as JT had never been shown how to strip an auto properly) the gun has very long barrels that with the action make it nearly 36” long so is a monster of a gun to swing, actually it reminded me of using my old Franchi years ago for the close birds it was like swinging a scaffolding pole but those birds at distance it was perfect for, I twinned the gun up with a full choke and my favorite cartridge a 32g fiber wad no6 shot Hull Special Pigeon, I telle those pigeons and corvids never knew what hit them.
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I was taking some good birds out at some good ranges David even said who do you think you are Andy Crow or George Digweed, I laughed and said no I think I am my fathers son my boy another fine countryman my ole Dad. David and Brook did all the retrieving for me and well what can I say for an hour and a half I bagged some fine birds, I went over to see Kevin and he had a great time too with a good few birds down, uncle was pleased with our efforts and asked us in for coffee and cake much to David’s smiles.
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The last shoot I literally chased the flocks of pigeons from farm to farm, my initial recce the pigeon were hitting a wheat field next to the maize, ahhhhh proper job I thought no need to set up a hide travel light a few canes a dozen decoys and a floater stand back in the maize and Bobs your uncle and Fanny is your Aunt, oh how wrong can one man be, yup I chose my spot set up Brook and I hid in the maize right lets get shooting, almost on cue a pigeon dropped right into the decoys as I nail Brook goes to retrieve it right were on, another three drop in almost immediately I bag a left and right in fine style if I say so myself, I look at Brooks and say I hope we have enough cartridges dog, that’s when it went as dead as a door nail, the odd pigeon here and there the other side of the field but that was it so after 45 minuets of no action I cleared up and went in search of the flocks.​

You see there are lots of little fields around my way what I call bandit territory for pigeon shooting, plenty of woodland and places the pigeons can get a drink, so if your on your own no other guns in the area shooting they can just up sticks and bugger off to another field and that’s exactly what they did, I set up on a further two fields that day and moved my decoys more times than I care to mention as the wind kept changing, don’t just sit there like a dime bar if the birds wont commit they are telling you that you have it wrong is it the decoys or the hide are they seeing you, well as a last resort I set up under a tree my family calls Pappy’s tree, the reason we call it this was Dad had a 300 bird bag under that tree 15 years ago thus my son Ryan called it Pappy’s tree.

I set up pretty quick a rough set up for if I was wrong I would have to move or change something or give up and admit the birds won today’s battle, I even did a little video that I will put with this article saying this as I fired a shot and every pigeon in the county left, I was about to pack up when all of a sudden for the next hour or so the action was non stop and what can I say I managed to turn a hard days decoying in to a cracking one with a humble bag achieved with traditional field craft and knowledge of this awesome bird with no more decoys than a dozen shell flock coated pigeons and a floater all from Jack pyke.

I telle I enjoyed my wild meal from in my tagine that night when I got back, the aroma of the roe buck shoulder (from my own venison I shot) cooking in my Pappy’s Recipe Arabic Sheiks Delight was quite simply enchanting and a well deserved glass of cider was earned and enjoyed I telle boys and girls, if you take anything away from this article I would like you to take this, learn your craft properly with proper field craft teach and inspire the next generation of Young sport coming behind you, treat your quarry with the respect it deserves and remember all field sports and conservation walk hand in hand, also learn to shoot go get a lesson or three on a clay ground from a reputable instructor this will pay for itself in gold in your futer shooting.

Sheiks Delight an Arabic dish cooked in my tagine with the Roe Buck shoulder from above.

Please keep the emails and messages coming in we do try to get back to you all but some do get past us without a feather ruffled un saluted, but until then may I wish you Dry Powder and straight barrels as the Wildfowling Season fast approaches.​

Chasing The Flocks
By The Ole Hedge Creepers
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk
www.reallywildadventures.co.uk
www.theoutpost.co.uk
www.woodspringpigeonshootingclub.co.uk
www.countrymans-diary.co.uk
www.callsofthewild.co.uk