An itch is no good if there isn’t a plan

In the shooting season, farmers use non-lethal methods to discourage pigeons from devouring their precious crops. But we know that the best way to manage pigeon numbers effectively is through shooting. Last year’s general licence fiasco only served to prove the importance of the pigeon shooter and the ridiculous costs farmers incur without us.

My friend Ian Adams is torn between running a successful arable farm and making sure that his family shoot, syndicate and the community that his shoot creates are successful. Pigeon numbers have increased and his winter oilseed rape has been hit hard on multiple fields this season.

“Conditions were as bad as they could be