I told my wife I was going out for
an hour to get some pigeons for the ferrets, as I arrived at the farm I looked at
the clock on the dashboard, it was 5:00pm.
I
pulled up in the yard, and saw 9 pigeons sat on the farmhouse roof. The rifle
was laid on the backseat, so I got out of the car, opened the backdoor and
slipped the rifle from its case. I pulled back the cocking bolt as I took it
from the case, popped a magazine in, and slid the bolt back.
I
turned to face the farmhouse, slipped the rifle to my shoulder and raised it.
The
pigeon fell from the roof, and landed with a thud, and the rest took flight.
They circled round and landed again.
Another pigeon hit the deck.
The lady came out of the farmhouse, and chatted for a moment, then I walked
around the corner of the farmhouse, and spotted a large rabbit sat grazing just
over the garden wall.
I walked across the garden, as if I was minding my own business, used the
trunk of an old Sycamore tree as cover and got within 20 yards.
He rolled over, and lay kicking for a moment, then was still.
As I peered over the wall, I saw a rabbit bolt for cover. So I slowly climbed
over, and went to see how far he'd gone. I spotted him darting across the field,
but then saw another sat on the edge of a small ditch, scoped him and...
He slumped, and lay still in his seat.
There was a noise in the huge Stinging Nettle patch nearby, and I caught a
glimpse of another dashing through the undergrowth. I let this one disappear.
I returned to the farmhouse, as the pigeons had returned.
I walked around the garden boundary, and slowly raised the rifle.
Pigeon #3 was in the bag.
The remaining pigeons circled, and then landed again. I took aim, squeezed
the trigger, and a cloud of feathers was left floating to the ground as the
pigeons took flight.
I stood talking to the farmer for a couple of minutes, and we saw a pigeon
swoop into the barn. We watched the others come in as we chatted.
The farmer borrowed one of my pigeons for a couple of minutes to help train
his Spaniel pup on the retrieve (which he did very well).
He took his dogs on their walk, and I went into the barn to find the pigeons.
There were 3 sat in the rafters, so I scoped 1...
He tumble from his perch, and landed stone-dead.
His friends fluttered about in the rafters, then settled again...
Another was in the bag, and the remaining pigeon flew out of the barn, so I
called it a day, and put the rifle in the car.
I talked to the farmer for a few minutes before driving off, and gained
myself some more permission on another stretch of land he has.
I got in my car, and as I drove off, looked at the clock on the dashboard, it
was 6:00pm. I had been there exactly 1 hour.