A stress-free situation

Shooting over lucerne reminds Tom Payne just what a privilege pigeon control can be

- Tom Payne

As I pottered around my pigeon shed, I had to remind myself that it can be a joy to manage pigeon numbers at this time of the year. The spring months, especially May, can prove challenging when trying to build a bag, and I know so many pigeon shooters have struggled across the UK this year. June is tricky too. There is plenty of food around so getting into the pigeons' mindset is key if you want to get a decent bag.

Crop growth in various counties has been behind, but there has been a very quick catch-up in the past few weeks. I'm always on the lookout for laid crops - winter barley is at the top of my list - but I still find myself shooting over green crops more often than not.

Putting my kit into the back of the Land Rover, I was secretly excited about the afternoon of shooting ahead of me. Lucerne was the crop of choice and it can be a woodpigeon's favourite depending on the time of year. Lucerne is a perennial legume with bags of protein, predominantly used for silage or hay along with some aftermath grazing. Like other legumes, such as clover, peas and beans, there are nodules in the roots that contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria, so the crop doesn't need additional nitrogen to grow.

Forage crop

While the crop isn't for human consumption, it doesn't mean it's not important to protect it for livestock farmers who rely on it as a forage crop. Interestingly, coumestans (estrogenic compounds) are prevalent within lucerne, which at high levels can affect fertility in livestock. The levels of this compound are known to increase when the crop is stressed, be it from pest damage, disease or extreme moisture stress. The field I planned to shoot has had constant visits by 50 to 100 pigeons every afternoon so was certainly 'stressed'.