When It Rains, It Pours Pigeons!

Andy Crow braves a deluge to protect his winter rape crop and is rewarded with a stunning afternoon’s pigeon shooting

- Andy Crow

Last month, Andy told us about how something as simple as a wind shift transformed what he’d predicted to be a bumper bag into a real grind. Weather plays a huge part in our success as shooters, but for the pigeon shooter, clear blue skies and light winds are not what you want.

“I am always pleased to hear the wind howling because it can make it much easier for us to target the birds. They naturally seek the shelter of treelines and ground contours to escape the wind and minimise energy consumption. As a result, they tend to fly lower, putting them at shorter range. The sounds of the shots are muffled and whipped away in the wind too, making it much less likely to disturb other birds from flighting in. Plus, when the wind is up their tails, I don’t believe there is a wing-shooting challenge on the planet quite like a woodpigeon with the afterburners on!

“But while I like the wind, I ain’t so keen on the rain. I don’t mind a passing shower or some light drizzle, but a prolonged downpour just isn’t fun. Your kit gets soaked, your gun gets soaked, you get soaked… and all you can do is stand there with it running down your neck. Horrible. But sometimes…”

And this was one of those times.