Where can you find a pigeon paradise?

You need lots of arable, plenty of woodland and an abundance of birds but which is the best pigeon shooting county, wonders Tom Payne

- Tom Payne

Where’s the best place to go pigeon shooting, Tom?” is a question frequently asked of me down the pub or on gun buses throughout the season. It’s not an easy one to answer because there are so many factors at play and they constantly change. I’m fortunate enough to shoot pigeon in many different counties; by no means all — I’ve never tackled a Hebridean pigeon — but I shoot in most counties that suffer significant pigeon damage.

Instead of looking at this from a shooting point of view, for now I will first assess farming practices, habitat and urbanisation, which play a major role with regards to the woodpigeon populations of an area. Arable farming has played into the hands, figuratively speaking, of this most formidable agricultural enemy by offering a multitude of food sources all year round.

Food sources

Everything from winter crops such as oilseed rape to the huge amount of grain grown in the summer, are not only good food sources but they are vital in terms of birds being able to produce pigeon milk for young in their peak breeding months.

Areas that feature vast amounts of peas will always become pigeon hotspots due to the all-round food source the crop provides, from drilling to harvest. This is great for the pigeon and the pigeon shooter — but not so much for the farmer.

The major arable areas of England are the south-east, East Anglia and the East Midlands. These parts of the country hold huge populations of woodpigeon and I would be happy to almost guarantee that the bulk of the English woodpigeon population will be found in these areas.