condition where camo, staying still and selecting a top shooting spot become increasingly important. It’s also a good idea to move your shooting spot from time to time – sometimes during the same day, certainly for return trips to the same farm. I always offer to pick up the dead
pigeons, but more often than not the farmer will say, “Leave ’em lay – cats’ll get ’em,” which sort of shows their dis- gust with pigeons that cause disease and wreak other havoc with their cows. Of course, pigeons defi nitely are edible. Fil- let the breast off each side and sauté in olive oil. Young birds are best for this as older pigeons tend to be pretty gamey. You also can grind up the breast meat in a food processor, and then combine that with mayo, spices or other condiments – and then use as a sandwich spread. Any shotgun or any gauge can be
used for pest pigeon shooting. I don’t shoot with semiautos or pump guns very often – because I don’t want any spent shells lying around after I leave. Even if I try to pick up all the shells from a pump or semiauto I won’t fi nd them all. I shoot a lot of pigeons with an English side by side 12 bore. It has two triggers – the right barrel choked .003 (very open), the left barrel choked .040 (very tight). Such a setup can be ideal. While I often use a 12 gauge over and under, I’d say my favorite pigeon gun is a 28 gauge Caesar Guerini Summit Sporting with 32-inch barrels. Mostly I shoot reloads with ¾ ounce of #7½ or #7 Magnum shot at 1,150 feet per second. A top factory 28 gauge dove load is the Kent Velocity in size #7½ that’s packed with their excellent Diamond shot – very round, very hard, very lethal. Shooting a 28 gauge, I usually choke up with improved modifi ed and full. I’ve been shooting these pest pi-
geons for many years, but six years ago I got very serious about it. In late Febru- ary or early March the pigeons begin to pair off so you don’t see the big fl ocks around the farms where you have shot a heck of a lot. After raising their young, the birds start showing up in big fl ocks again in late July to early August. I think in only one of the last six years I’ve killed fewer than 500 pigeons – starting in late summer – and ending when the birds begin to pair off in late winter. Some years I’ve killed more than 700. This year as of this writing I’m already
over 400, and I have part of September, all of November, December and January to go – plus some or all of February. I’m sure this is going to be a banner year for me. Pigeons could produce some ban- ner shooting for you as well. There’s no better time to get started than right now.
Nick Sisley has been writing full time
about the outdoors for more than 42 years. His thousands of articles have appeared in a myriad of magazines. The author of eight books, Nick is a National Sporting Clays Association and National Skeet Shooting Association shotgun instructor – as well as an NRA shotgun instructor. A pilot, Nick owns two airplanes, has fl own many others, and has many ratings. He welcomes your emails at
nicksisley@hotmail.com.
Dairy cows stick their heads out through individual troughs – to feed on silage the farmer has spread with a front-end loader. It’s in this silage where pigeons love to feed – as well as release their disease-causing droppings.
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