As even with my reasonable sharp vision I can't see the bands on the flying rats-only know if they are racers or homers after they land in the ploughed fields spread with cow poop-and our State game laws classify them all as Feral-if they fly they die-this isn't 1916 and carrier pigeons were used for warfare messaging- even then the Germans had some shotgunners along with their snipers in the trenches-and shot down many of them. My Doctor knows I am a serious shooter of the *&^%birds, I give him the bands from the % of the dead ones I find so they can be recycled-and my love of *&^%bird shooting doesn't keep him from being my duck hunting partner each Oct-Nov. The farms where I shoot welcome me- as it means fewer *&^%birds poopin' on their buildings, equipment and plugging up the silos- and even if I didn't reload, I pick up my empties and the dead ones I can find-Good reason for that- cattle will try to eat an empty plastic shell casing, and it can cause all kinds of problems in their multi-stomached plumbing- I have dropped pigeons in cattle feed lots, fun to watch the Holsteins wander over and "nudge" a fluttering *&^%bird in the mud and poop-you can almost see the question in their vacant eyes- WFT is this??-

"The field is the touchstone of the man"..