Big bags best

Do you think there should be a ban on big numbers of pigeon shot during a day of sport? I often see people on Facebook saying they have shot anywhere from 100 to 300 or more birds a day. Are they being overshot? Not that the farmers would mind. I am quite happy going out and shooting 30 to 40 birds and have not had the luxury of shooting big bags.

You are probably asking the wrong person on this one. I take crop protection very seriously and the only sure way of achieving this is to kill large numbers of pigeon. My records show that far from declining, pigeon numbers are increasing; certainly in the areas that Paul and I cover, with bag sizes almost doubling in the past 10 years. It is easy to forget that the only reason we are allowed to kill pigeon all the year round is to reduce the damage, as much as possible, to farmers’ crops. When we get a call from a concerned farmer to protect his crops, he has no interest in us having a good day’s sport, he just wants us to kill as many pigeon as possible. I have no problem with decoyers going out for a few hours for small bags, but serious crop protection will always involve taking large bags.

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