Getting the lay of the land

Tom Payne tries his luck over laid barley and rues missed opportunities earlier in the year

It’s been quite a long time since I’ve seen laid barley like the ‘good ol’ days’. New shorter-stemmed strains, growth regulators and accurate nitrogen application have made shooting vast laid patches a thing of the past — or so I thought. After weeks without shooting, as pigeons held on the buds, suddenly everything changed. It was like somebody had turned on the pigeon tap; great for a pigeon shooter but not for a farmer.

It’s been quite a sombre summer so far, with temperatures fluctuating and sporadic conditions. I’ve known the birds were starting to hang around the winter barley for a while. The telephone lines running through the middle of fields are a great indicator as they slowly start to warp under the weight of hungry pigeons looking to get into the bounty of milky grain. Where most would be looking forward to warm sunny evenings by the barbecue, I was becoming increasingly excited by the thick, thundery clouds forming. Stormy skies are a welcome sight to any passionate pigeon shooter, as the tall winter barley fights to stay upright.

When the thunderstorms arrived they were consistent, with evening after evening of heavy downpours. After the third evening, the phone started ringing. Crops were going flat everywhere and not just the small patches that have become common over the past few years. Whole acres were going over. The first two calls came from Rob Swift and Ian Adams. I couldn’t make the first outing as I was trying to shoot the team flushes at the Schöffel Country Ptarmigan 30year celebration, superbly organised by Gordon Robinson and his team. Gordon won’t mind me saying that the shoot he set up was great, but no match for the pigeon hide.

Enjoyable challenge