Judging distance

Geoff Garrod looks at how to find the right range for shooting pigeons – too close and they won’t be fit to eat, too far away and you will miss or prick them

- Geoff Garrod

Just like comedy, timing is everything when pigeon shooting. For somebody new to the sport, judging the distance and right time to make your move and mount your gun can make all the difference to the success of the shot.

Standing up too early when the pigeon is still way out from your pattern will almost certainly spook the bird and cause it to jink. A pigeon changing direction at speed and distance is just about the hardest shot in the book. More often than not, this will result in a miss, and the chances of getting a ‘left and right’ are almost non-existent. Mounting your gun too late can see the bird too close for a sensible shot, and can ruin the meat and render the bird unfit for the table. Here are a couple of tips that may help you successfully bag more birds.

Decoying

Many a day’s decoying can be doomed from the first moment you arrive at your chosen field. I’m going to presume that you’ve done all your reconnaissance and have located a good spot to shoot – where the birds are feeding, you know the flight lines and have checked the weather. You’ve built the perfect hide and are ready to put your decoys out. Whatever pattern I use, and where I leave a hole in the pattern for decoying birds to land, can vary depending on the wind, sun and how the birds are feeding. The one thing that won’t vary when I set up is the maximum distance of the decoys from the hide.

There sometimes seems to be a misunderstanding in my book as to what decoying is all about. For me, it’s about fooling the woodies into coming over to your pattern and committing to landing at a distance that gives me the best shot at the perfect range for a good, clean ethical kill.