Flying the roost

Several years ago, my neighbour introduced me to experience the world of roost shooting. He casually inquired if I would be interested in an invite from our local estate office to participate in roost shooting, in addition to my clay target shooting. 

“What exactly is roost shooting?” I asked. 

“It’s simple,” he replied. “You stand in one of the estate woods and shoot woodpigeons as they come in for the night. It’s all for crop protection, as woodpigeons can decimate acres of oilseed rape. Plus, you get fantastic meat. I often come home with a dozen or more. I can show you how to prep them if you like.”

I had been searching for a way to transition from clay shooting to game shooting, and roost shooting seemed like the perfect opportunity. I was nervous about ‘buying’ a day and possibly embarrassing myself. How could I refuse this easy transition to roost shooting?

A few days later, an official letter arrived from the land agent, inviting me under a general licence for crop protection. It included an OS map showing a named wood and access advice. What could be simpler I thought.

A field-to-fork bounty was on the cards. However, the woodpigeons were wiser than I anticipated! My bounty from four Fridays that first year equalled one woodpigeon, and I shudder to think of the number of cartridges it took. Woodpigeons didn’t fly quite like clay targets.

My neighbour found my initial attempts at roost shooting hysterical. “At least you made a noise,” he often said.

He advised me to appreciate fieldcraft. Over the past five years, I’ve been picking brains, practising, learning, reading (familiarising yourself with the Woodpigeon Code of Practice is a must), and becoming thoroughly camouflaged and patient. As a result, I now regularly bag six or more woodpigeons weekly, and the delight is vast.