David has been to Norfolk pigeon shooting with me on two previous occasions so I know very well what his expectations will be. 

The thought of David Bruwier from France arriving with his three friends for pigeon shooting for three days was, shall we say, a bit of a worry. Don’t get me wrong, David is a lovely guy but very demanding in terms of the number of pigeons he wants to shoot.

David has been to Norfolk pigeon shooting with me on two previous occasions so I know very well what his expectations will be.

"So you can see where I’m coming from when I say that this man is hard to please!"

On a previous occasion when passing the 100 bird mark, he was clearly a very happy Frenchman, but on another day when shooting a bag of 50 pigeons he was not at all impressed. So you can see where I’m coming from when I say that this man is hard to please!

His group of 4 hunters arrived during the last week of June and we weren’t off to the best of starts when the Pub/B+B announced that they had fouled up the booking and could only accommodate three of the group and the fourth man would have to lodge at another local B+B. However, all arrangements were organised quickly and all transport was laid on to minimise the cock-up. The group could dine and socialise together so we got away with it without too much of a problem.

Please God, let there be pigeons!!! The birds are feeding on clover, weeds and peas at this time of year so that’s where my time is spent. Many hours of my time would be used on reconnaissance around gravel pits, pea fields and meadows containing clover.

Day 1 produced a good bag for all the guys and in particular David who shot a very respectable 70 birds. While the guys were enjoying their shooting I had been trying to locate the owner of a field where there was an abundance of clover and an even bigger abundance of wood pigeons.

It was one of those situations that you just knew would produce a big bag. Several flight lines were ensuring that birds where moving back and forth continually throughout the day and it seemed that at any given time there was birds in the air overhead.

When contacting one of the local farmers who always gives me permission to shoot pigeons on his land, he confirmed that the farmer who owned that particular field worked very closely with him and he was confident that he could get the OK for me to shoot that field the following day.

Day 2 and two hides were put on that field, weather conditions were good and the pigeons didn’t disappoint. David was in the first hide with decoys set and rotary spinning and while we were putting up hide number two, he was already shooting woodies.

"By the end of the day he had a total of 144 birds recorded on his clicker"

The field shot just as I thought it would and David who was running a “clicker” in the hide to keep a check of how many birds he had downed was definitely running the risk of repetitive strain injury to his clicker finger.
By the end of the day he had a total of 144 birds recorded on his clicker.
A real Red Letter Day! My only fear is how do we match that next time he visits.