scott78 Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Hi having dented the local squirrel population my sights have turned to pigeons. I have got a set of decoys and read the tips on this forum for setting the layout etc. I have thrown some grain on the gass to give them something to make them come back for more. The problem is after 4 days i am yet to see a bird on the ground. I only have 6 decoys, is it a case of not having enough and more is better? should i just leave the decoys out and wait? any help appreciated. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Be very careful when baiting for woodpigeons, it is illegal! Are you sure you've read the tips, one point you appear to have missed is that you need to set up your decoy pattern where the woodpigeons want to feed. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Sorry to rain on your parade but it is illegal to put out grain to tempt birds in to shoot them. If you have pigeons in the area watch what they are feeding on. Rape at this time of year will be a good bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott78 Posted February 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Thanks for the replies.The plan wasn't to keep on feeding them just to give a little so the few that fly overhead might come back with friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Thanks for the replies.The plan wasn't to keep on feeding them just to give a little so the few that fly overhead might come back with friends. Try that with the judge if you get caught! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Sorry to rain on your parade but it is illegal to put out grain to tempt birds in to shoot them. Might well be , but what is the difference in feeding a flight pond with grain and shooting the duck when they come in to feed.? You can see how the op get confused . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 Are you using an air rifle, or shotgun and are you shooting in your garden ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaunda Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 I note from an advertisement in the March edition of Sporting Gun (Page 92 ) that an organisation offers ' Rough shooting...........Crops grown and left for pigeon shooting '.Not quite " Baiting ", or is it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 Have you seen pigeons using this grass field or is it just in hope they will find your corn? If it is you could be waiting a very long time. If they are coming to the grass field 6 decoys will pull them but 10 or 12 would be better. With regards to it being illegal to bait a field, I have never seen any laws that would back this up, unless someone knows differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 I think that this is covered under the general licence conditions that the birds have to be doing real damage that isn't being stopped by flags and bangers ECT and other methods. So be thoughtful. The OP and others need to go and do a bit of a read up in the search area so that they know what the score is before potentially committing an offence. We have a bird feeder and the amount of pigeon that are coming down to feed on the grain spilt by the starlings is a lot. Should I be so inclined I could shoot a dozen a day by using an air rifle out of the window but it would be unsporting and unlawful because their not doing any harm out on agricultural crops. It would be like shooting the blackbirds or the robin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 I think that this is covered under the general licence conditions that the birds have to be doing real damage that isn't being stopped by flags and bangers ECT and other methods. So be thoughtful. The OP and others need to go and do a bit of a read up in the search area so that they know what the score is before potentially committing an offence. We have a bird feeder and the amount of pigeon that are coming down to feed on the grain spilt by the starlings is a lot. Should I be so inclined I could shoot a dozen a day by using an air rifle out of the window but it would be unsporting and unlawful because their not doing any harm out on agricultural crops. It would be like shooting the blackbirds or the robin. I would like to see the link to this illegal act and are we are all breaking the law when we shoot pigeons on flight lines, roost shooting and shooting on stubble fields in summer, where pigeons are doing no harm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 (edited) Take your pick there's a fair bit to choose from. As far as I know we should print off the relevant section and carry it when we're out shooting, although I very much doubt that anyone does or anyone has ever been required to show it. I know that I never have. This topic has been covered on here several times such as this. You can go on the DEFRA site or the gov site. http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/topic/335397-general-licence/?hl=%2Bgeneral+%2Blicence https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/general-licences-for-wildlife-management#birds https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wild-birds-licence-to-take-or-kill-to-prevent-damage-or-disease Edited February 8, 2017 by fortune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 But where does it say it is illegal to bait a field? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 But where does it say it is illegal to bait a field? I am sure there would be a cut off point somewhere , where , I don't know , but it wouldn't surprize me if the commercial pigeon guides haven't baited the odd field with left over seed at some time or other. We had about a quarter ton of bean seed left laying about in the grain store that the farm no longer wanted a few years back , rather than dump it I told them I would clear it up , at the time I had some splashes on the marsh that were getting the attention of a few duck , so each night I went down there I took a bucket of bean seed with me , this went on for a couple of weeks or more and to tell yer the truth I didn't see any extra duck only more and more Swans each time I went down there. After about a month I gave it up as a waste of time , the Swans were increasing daily and if anything there were less duck than before I started to feed it , I was also getting a bit worried about any seed that wasn't eaten might germinate and the field end up full of beans instead of grass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 I am sure there would be a cut off point somewhere , where , I don't know , but it wouldn't surprize me if the commercial pigeon guides haven't baited the odd field with left over seed at some time or other. We had about a quarter ton of bean seed left laying about in the grain store that the farm no longer wanted a few years back , rather than dump it I told them I would clear it up , at the time I had some splashes on the marsh that were getting the attention of a few duck , so each night I went down there I took a bucket of bean seed with me , this went on for a couple of weeks or more and to tell yer the truth I didn't see any extra duck only more and more Swans each time I went down there. After about a month I gave it up as a waste of time , the Swans were increasing daily and if anything there were less duck than before I started to feed it , I was also getting a bit worried about any seed that wasn't eaten might germinate and the field end up full of beans instead of grass feeding ducks, we had a flight pond and we used to feed them boxes of old bananas, it used to pull a lot of ducks but we never had a banana tree grow from them. I guess if you look at the rules by which we can shoot pigeons then I wonder how many of use have tried all other means before shooting pigeons? Like I said I have never seen anything that says it is illegal to bait a field for pigeons and yes it does go on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 It is certainly not legal to bait for pigeons. It is legal to shoot on flight lines and at roost and on stubbles. Pigeons do not need to be doing damage at the time they are shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hur5ty Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 (edited) Probably need some more decoys. Full bodied ones maybe.......... I have 20 I'll sell you? Edited February 8, 2017 by Hur5ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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