Pigeon hunt in Great Britain
I have just returned from four amazing days in England where my neighbour, his son and I were hunting doves in the English midlands.

My son Magnus would have helped but he was due to become a father and could not travel. In the area we hunted last year 28,000 pigeons were shot. This year's harvest was delayed for at least 14 days, due to a very wet spring and summer.

We arrived at the airport early, as we know that checking in firearms with our luggage takes time. Our hunting hosts collected us on arrival at the airport and drove us to the hotel that we had booked for 4 days. We were really looking forward to the hunt, having been on a similar trip in Scotland last year. Unfortunately that was not up to expectations, as many hunt providers believe that it is only a matter of putting up hides in a field and waiting for the pigeons to come. Nothing could be further from the truth. To deliver a good pigeon hunt is hard work for a hunting provider. He must be out from early morning to late evening observing pigeon migration routes and which crop which is their desired meal.
The place we had had chosen for our pigeon hunt had been monitored by our hosts, so everything was fine. Of course the weather can fail: rain doesn't suit doves but light wind, high sky and scudding clouds make perfect pigeon weather.
We were positioned in our hides - made from camouflage nets. A so-called pigeon magnet was placed in front of the hide at a distance of about 20-25m.
A number of decoys and the recently shot pigeons were placed in a "U" on the ground with facing into the wind. This was done to encourage other pigeons to land among the decoys. When we were tired of shooting over the decoys, we moved to a place that the pigeons like to fly over and this is very challenging shooting. Søren from Denmark is a very well-known TV host, not a big hunter, but he enjoys the atmosphere of the hunt and not least the company of his son Malthe who is a very skilled and avid hunter. Søren had one thoroughly exciting day when he shot 30 pigeons – a first for him!
The weather could have been better, however the overall result was 707 pigeons, and the number of cartridges used was not too bad either. My recommendation to all shotgun- hunters is to try pigeon shooting - the only clothing needed is camouflage and shorts. It is highly addictive and not too expensive. But beware, there are many so-called pigeon experts offering first class pigeon hunts, but they don't do their homework. Contact a serious hunting operator - it is the best way to avoid a bad experience.
We travelled with Gamekeeper Hunting Tours A/S