Well im just back from hunting wood pigeons at a friends farm just on the outskirts of my village.
Not exactly the same amount of birds like normal (usually 90 per day) we only got around 19 today and that isn't including those disgusting feral pigeons and crows.
It was a very nice day and perfect for our shoot. Im gonna cook them all, wood pigeon is sold in restaurants all over the world and can be expensive to eat like pheasant etc. They are very tasty, strong and gamey like hare.
Here are some pictures
My dad setting up the decoys, you have to use them.
My first woody in about 14 years. I was very nervous but proud
How those disgusting feral pigeons compare to a woody, don't worry we ain't gonna eat them our fox will enjoy them
Our hide or blind
For the fox
These big brutes are all gutted and in my freezer mmm
Good eating
Wood pigeons can be shot all year round i have shooting rights in every farm/land around here and glad to be a hunter!
Thanks all, we had a very good time but slightly disappointed in the amount of waiting we only got 20 birds (not counting feral pigeons) my dad went out himself last week and managed to get around 90 in one day which is usual because the barley has been cut. They must be getting wise
But I had a really fun day, we may go again next week if the weather is nice.
Good shooting! If they taste anything like pheasant I'd be all over them!
They are more like dove. Most people in Texas just let them fly by and not mess with them, but not me. They are great to eat. In Texas there is no bag limit, and no closed season.
Out east of Denver they have large flocks of pigeons that feed in the wheat fields. I used to live in Phx and considered Pigeons vermin, like rats. After a couple of seasons on Dove huntingout there I brought a pigeon down to see what it tasted like. If figured if they are living in flocks, staying out of the city and eating grain then they couldn't be bad. Anyway it tasked slightly better than dove and had a lot more meat. Pigeon is open season here, year round. If I get a chance to talk my way on to a farm again, I'd be happy to land some.
Rem'girl, by the way when you say it tastes like hare, I think of Jack Rabbit, which is one of the only hare's we have. Not many people will touch them here. It's funny how people perceptions differ. I wouldn't touch a hare (jack rabbit) but I'll down and eat what you call a ferral pigeon.
Spud
__________________ "In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.""
Charles A. Lindbergh
Out east of Denver they have large flocks of pigeons that feed in the wheat fields. I used to live in Phx and considered Pigeons vermin, like rats. After a couple of seasons on Dove huntingout there I brought a pigeon down to see what it tasted like. If figured if they are living in flocks, staying out of the city and eating grain then they couldn't be bad. Anyway it tasked slightly better than dove and had a lot more meat. Pigeon is open season here, year round. If I get a chance to talk my way on to a farm again, I'd be happy to land some.
Rem'girl, by the way when you say it tastes like hare, I think of Jack Rabbit, which is one of the only hare's we have. Not many people will touch them here. It's funny how people perceptions differ. I wouldn't touch a hare (jack rabbit) but I'll down and eat what you call a ferral pigeon.
Spud
I think you would take back what you said if you seen feral pigeons (those city ones) they're disgusting and no hunters eat them. I guess we're lucky to have the wood pigeon it is open season too but it is classed as a game bird like grouse. Hare is a game animal, i wouldn't eat vermin but only game animals.
I guess its what you like to eat but i wouldn't eat crows, pigeons, fox or anything that is a no no just game like i said previously. I have only tasted hare once anyway, rabbit is nicer. But I much prefer pheasant, wood pigeon and grouse. Patridge is way too small so is dove, not worth the shooting in my opinion.
But yes we're civilised, we don't eat just anything. Hunting has been a way of life here for thousands of years and passed down for generations, especially in my wee village where it is nice and semi-rural. We got pleanty of deer heads in our pubs, pleanty of fox mounts from fox hunting. We're similar in so many ways.
It's great when my boyfriend shares his hunting stories from TN and MS, its good to trade hunting stories. He's got his eye on a red stag, actually we both do. I've got family up north near Inverness (Loch ness) theres tons of deer up there. Its good to have the best of both worlds hunting wise (US and Scotland)
I think we're saying the same thing. The pigeons we have here are probably similar to your feral pigeons. Typically what we have in the city and what we have in the country are the same bird, but live and feed completely differently, which makes all the difference. I would never eat one of our city pigeons but would definitely take as many as I could of their country cousins. I know of very few people brave enough to eat Jack Rabbit (hare). Dove hunting is a pretty big thing here, but you're right, there just isn't much on them. Hunting them is addictive, though.
Spud
__________________ "In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.""
Charles A. Lindbergh
Woody hunting
