Its a hobby, or is it?

Although we all call racing our birds as our main hobby, could anyone on here say that continued failure flying our birds would make them call it a day and pack it in? Ive known a few lads who have tried everything and spent thousands, still not won so packed it in and moved on, Ive been racing over 20 years and never had success, but my love of pigeon racing will mean I will continue whatever happens, as now it is a lot harder to get success I was wondering others thoughts?

it is a passion which i really enjoy winning is not everything but helps cant ever see me packing them up regardless of performances

Paul wrote:

Although we all call racing our birds as our main hobby, could anyone on here say that continued failure flying our birds would make them call it a day and pack it in? Ive known a few lads who have tried everything and spent thousands, still not won so packed it in and moved on, Ive been racing over 20 years and never had success, but my love of pigeon racing will mean I will continue whatever happens, as now it is a lot harder to get success I was wondering others thoughts?

hi paul, i think even if a fancier buys the very best pigeons he can get, it doesnt mean he will be a winner if his management is rubbish..........if he is not dedicated or managing them correctly he isnt going to do well.

not everyone will give them 100% this is what is needed to win

one thing i have noticed over the time this site has been running is the dedication given to their birds by our members.........wether this means getting up very early, training, cleaning out exercising and even standing in the rain with the birds when they are out........all seem very comited to doing their very best for the birds, even if some weeks dont go to plan they are staright back into it trying to do better next week.

not speaking bad of anyone but i know some fanciers who dont do this, maybe because they have been in it for many years and are just going through the motions or maybe its because they are demorralised by not doing well in the club as the top flyers are always taking the prizes, this could be disheartening for them maybe....?

a true fancier will not get sick of them

well i have watched a few vids like simply the best.if i were racing pigeons then i would try to copy what they are doing.dont know much about racing but if keeping pigeons becomes a chore and you cant be bothered going into the loft to see your birds after work then pack it in.several times over the past 5 years ive thought why the hell am i doing all this but given a few days then my mind changes.got to take the good with the bad.ive just lost most of the past 3 months of my breeding.last couple of weeks ive felt right thats it im getting rid of them and only keeping a few pairs.maybe these guys who are not winning anything are in the hobby for all the wrong reasons and thats why the are not winning anything.i tend to do ok with my show birds.some shows i go to and win nothing and others i do well.i have a large trophy in my living room which says best in show 2009-2010 i might never see it next year or any following year.their is more to keeping pigeons than keeping pigeons.i think my whole life would be turnedupside down if i gave up.probably go back to watching telly and drinking beer in the pub during the week.

ian wrote:

a true fancier will not get sick of them

maybe circumstances force people out of the sport.....? also read a lot lately about fanciers having to pack in due to bops/hawks killing their birds on a daily basis........its making it impossible to even exercise their birds.

then again, take don for instance.....hes been out for a couple of years but still has contact with pigeons/pigeon men and still reads up on whats going on in the pigeon world.....

Paul, that is a very good question mate and Im sure it will generate much thought..Funny thing is when I restarted in birds after being an off and on fancier since I was 6, I said thats it now Im going to die a pigeon fancier, I know all the problems and pit falls but will stick with it now no matter, because I love the birds...
However just this week I HAVE HAD MY DOUPTS, DISPITE MY BEST EFFORTS, basicaly I had 9 birds from last year I was going to race , so I started training and had a few fairly good tosses, losing a few along the way. I ended up with 4 from 9 all of which raced last year and in tip top condition. they had all had 25 training tosses last year and 2 or 3 races each, coming from some really hard races. Sent them last sunday on a warm sunny day 30 miles, and lost the lot all gone never seen a feather, now thats put a spanner in the works and made me question my future in the pigeons.

thats right the passion for pigeons is still there what iam on about people who get sick because of lack of success

ian wrote:

thats right the passion for pigeons is still there what iam on about people who get sick because of lack of success

ian maybe they are too competitive,are these guys who are packing it in been racing for years and years.

geordiejen wrote:

well i have watched a few vids like simply the best.if i were racing pigeons then i would try to copy what they are doing.dont know much about racing but if keeping pigeons becomes a chore and you cant be bothered going into the loft to see your birds after work then pack it in.several times over the past 5 years ive thought why the hell am i doing all this but given a few days then my mind changes.got to take the good with the bad.ive just lost most of the past 3 months of my breeding.last couple of weeks ive felt right thats it im getting rid of them and only keeping a few pairs.maybe these guys who are not winning anything are in the hobby for all the wrong reasons and thats why the are not winning anything.i tend to do ok with my show birds.some shows i go to and win nothing and others i do well.i have a large trophy in my living room which says best in show 2009-2010 i might never see it next year or any following year.their is more to keeping pigeons than keeping pigeons.i think my whole life would be turnedupside down if i gave up.probably go back to watching telly and drinking beer in the pub during the week.

yes geordiejen, i agree.....if it becomes a chore and you cannot give them the time and effort they need then its time to get rid.......since ive come back to pigeons all i think about is them.....what im going to pair to what and how they are going to race, its an illness or an obsession acording to the wife...
sometimes i too think what am i doing messing with pigeons, cleaning out, letting them out etc but i suppose a lot of fanciers might go through this every noe and then, i know fanciers who have had pigeons since they were 10 years old and are in there 60s and still they are obsessed with them. even if i dont race after this season i will still keep my birds as they are a way of life now.....

they cant be can they if they pack in without a fight

i always tend to think the ones who pack in are doing it because they dont/cant win.....i know its not always the case but sometimes i think it is..........some do get disheartened.

rudderfett wrote:

Paul, that is a very good question mate and Im sure it will generate much thought..Funny thing is when I restarted in birds after being an off and on fancier since I was 6, I said thats it now Im going to die a pigeon fancier, I know all the problems and pit falls but will stick with it now no matter, because I love the birds...
However just this week I HAVE HAD MY DOUPTS, DISPITE MY BEST EFFORTS, basicaly I had 9 birds from last year I was going to race , so I started training and had a few fairly good tosses, losing a few along the way. I ended up with 4 from 9 all of which raced last year and in tip top condition. they had all had 25 training tosses last year and 2 or 3 races each, coming from some really hard races. Sent them last sunday on a warm sunny day 30 miles, and lost the lot all gone never seen a feather, now thats put a spanner in the works and made me question my future in the pigeons.

hi martyn, would have though experianced birds would have been home.......could it be hawks or bops maybe.....? were these the main part of your ob team.....?

Paul wrote:

Although we all call racing our birds as our main hobby, could anyone on here say that continued failure flying our birds would make them call it a day and pack it in? Ive known a few lads who have tried everything and spent thousands, still not won so packed it in and moved on, Ive been racing over 20 years and never had success, but my love of pigeon racing will mean I will continue whatever happens, as now it is a lot harder to get success I was wondering others thoughts?

well i thought i was the only one mate.now i see that you are the same as me and raced for many years without winning a thing,its helped me see things better and yes it is about the birds and how we injoy the hobby,just seeing them get home on the day and to think you trained them to do so,is the best feeling in the world and to get that feeling in any hobby that you do and still get it after all the years that you have been into it says it all.

Hi David to answer your question from the other day, the birds I lost were part of my main team and I expected lots from them this year? however we do have lots of problems down here with the hawks and perigrines, but surely they dont get them all. I was disheartened but have got over it now and will be looking farward to the youngbird season again. I have 6 more to start later, for the comeback races see how they go.

hi martyn, i know how you feel when you said you were disheartened.....when i lost my no1 stock cock i didnt see any point carrying on as the other birds were untested mainly, but like you ive got over it now and looking forward to the yb season.......i suppose being involved with pigeon racing we are from time to time going to get setback but we just need to remember what pleasure we get from them and carry on.......

best of luck martyn,

cant let minor things like losing them get to you , just enjoy the sport if you dont want to loose any dont send them,

i bet there are members on here you can give you good birds to win but its not just down to the birds its the fancier as well.it took me a few years to win then i won 2 or 3 races every year after that,once even 7 .thats including fed wins section wins and so on ,this fed i bt is one of the hardest to win as there are at least 12 combine winners in it, so you can imagine hard sick i was trying to beat them but all the hard work pays off eventually

peel bros wrote:

i bet there are members on here you can give you good birds to win but its not just down to the birds its the fancier as well.it took me a few years to win then i won 2 or 3 races every year after that,once even 7 .thats including fed wins section wins and so on ,this fed i bt is one of the hardest to win as there are at least 12 combine winners in it, so you can imagine hard sick i was trying to beat them but all the hard work pays off eventually

harder to win yes but more satisfactions with the wins ray

exactly

Ray wrote,

so you can imagine hard sick i was trying to beat them but all the hard work pays off eventually

Agrre to a certain aspect Ray but at the end of the day theres only 1 winner so for that 1 winner you may have had 10 trying as hard as each other, end result 1 winner 9 pulling there hair out asking what more they can do =disheartment=considering packing it in

but theres always the following week