Gone with the wind

A fantastic day over lupin stubbles is in the offing, and there are plenty of birds in the area, but will the weather conspire against Andy Crow?

- Andy Crow

Andy has been excited about the prospects of shooting this particular field for the past week or so. This is the lupin crop that we shot over back in late spring when the pigeons were hammering the young plants. Now it is the last stubble in the area. They have already drilled the adjoining fields and this one is likely to be sown in the coming days. So this is Andy’s chance to protect both the neighbouring fields and the future drillings by moving the birds on.

During harvest, the brittle seed pods crack easily and deposit their contents on the floor. If you have a combine driver in a hurry, this can exacerbate the issue and this particular field must have been cut by Lewis Hamilton as it is still carpeted in little protein bombs.

As is often the case with lupins and beans, you often don’t see hundreds of birds covering the field and it is easy for the pigeon shooter to overlook an opportunity. Careful recon and local information are key as always. And the Crowman knows that although the pickings may look slim to the passer-by if avian traffic is steady throughout the day you can have a proper red-letter day.

Cousin Gary, aka ‘Plus One’ is joining Andy in the hide today, but unfortunately for the lads, the wind has shifted around completely overnight and the location Andy was hoping to shoot from is now definitely sub-optimal.

“In an ideal world, we would watch the flight lines on the day before picking a spot, but it’s not quite as straightforward in this instance. We are always trying to minimise disruption for any local residents and there are a number of homes quite close to this field. Although the houses are several hundred yards distant, I don’t want to be shooting directly towards them – especially if it was to be a big day with a few hundred cartridges used.”