novice needing help bringing in pigeon and grey squirel

[JAY SNIPER]

hello all

 

I have been shooting now for long enough to become a good shot. Now I have started on pigeon, my problem is I have no clue on how to bring them in. I shoot with permission on a section of my friends dads land, small woods of about 100 feet a small area but ther are loads of grey squierl and pidgeon. also the area has a open space and a emty shed I use as a hide.

 

Open space is ideal as this is were my hide is and both have reguly visit but by the time i have loaded and cocked my air rifle they have gone.

 

Any advice would be great, I am using spitfire pionted pellits with a 10 foot-pound air rifle. I was advise by owner of my usall place I go for my hunting stuff. I was impressed with it as I got a pigeon from quite a distance

 

I was wondering to once i have cocked my spring rifle is it ok to wait for a shot with it cocked or does it do it no good?

I seeem to load and cock rifle and my prey flies off then im left with a cocked rifle and dont want to give away my position by fireing a piontless shot and making needless noise.

 

Any way I am not big on posting, i like to read them instead but i will post fronm time to time, thankyou anyone oe everyone for any advise in advince

 

Thanks again

Edited January 8, 2010 by JAY SNIPER

[deny essex]

Any spring air weapon will lose a little power over time by being cocked for long periods, but for your purpose with a spring weapon it is the only way in which you stand a better chance of getting a shot off. 10 ft lbs power head shot on woodpigeon 35yds max IMO.

[JAY SNIPER]

Thanks for your advice in the above post, is there anything you can tell me about bringing in pigeon, grey squirel or magpie?

 

Im not sure if im allowed to talk about magpie or squirel as it might be classed as going off subject, if that is the case then could someone just advise me on bringing in pigeons?

 

Once again thanks for the above post/reply.

[Ozzy Fudd]

try setting out a few decoys, ive had pigeons landing in the middle of mine during summer/autumn only a couple of minutes after ive fired a shotgun

[stu_young]

buy some decoys an set them up 15-25 yds from your hide an just wait, be quite an dont move about hen they birds are coming in

[albob]

for the squirrels,,look for the dreys and the squirrels can be seen coming/going from them or even fixing them.

other thing to look for is fruit trees.,as squirrels will look round them for fallen fruit,which may even be still their,after some time or they bury them near the tree that bears that fruit.

sunny days at the moment are best,as they sit out to get warm.

face mask and gloves help.hide all parts of uncovered skin,this helps with pigeons to.also if you spot either ,raise your gun slowly as sudden movement will attact their attention very quickly and they will be off.

al

[JAY SNIPER]

Thanks everone for the advise, decoys are know on my list of things to get.

 

I think i will benifit from the above post as i often get to exicted when one lands in my range, I often swiftly move my gun into posotion. I am able to lie downin my hide , there is a section of wood misssing and it has another piece of wood lent up against the shed to keep it covered, if I remove it it would be perfect to poke my rifle out from a lying down position. I was thinking of getting a rifle stand and just keep rifle in position so when something comes into range i wont have to make any movment at all?

 

Does anyone know how many feet to a yard or what 50 feeet is in yards?

Edited January 8, 2010 by JAY SNIPER

[deny essex]

3 FEET=1YARD

[james w]

can i ask what gun you are using and what groups you are getting with smk pellets?

[JAY SNIPER]

I am using a 22 made by big boy toyz in dudly[dia-lieser].

 

It has a hawk scope and is between 9-10 footpound, spring breakbarrel.

 

It has the name westlake ingraved on the metal.

 

I set up my scope so its bang on, when set scope up i find it very acurae up to ABOUT 50 feet maybe more.

 

Still a novice sorry dont really know what you mean by groups.

Edited January 10, 2010 by JAY SNIPER

[kev1986]

hi mate groups mean how tight are your shots so if u fire 5 shots at a dot on a pice of paper how tight is the grouping like all in size of 10p or 50p or bigger

also mate for magpies just put out a dead carcus and get a tigtac tub an dput in some pellets and give it a shake to mimic a magpie call also remeber magpies like shiny things but it is illegl to attract magpies to shoot with shiny things but if there was a bit of litter about it not your fault :unsure: and for squirell if you can get in an area were you know th esquirrel are get 2 ten pence pieces and put them flat between your finger and thumb and rub the together hard to make a chattering noise as the end of the coins snap togeher and they will come out looking to see what it is and then shoot them i often shoot pigeons with an air rifle but i find it better shooting them from trees as they dont land very often with decoys try putting some decoys near trees about 15 yards away and they will land in trees to have a look at the decoys then shoot them any more info mate just give me a shout

[JAY SNIPER]

Thanks mate, thats a great help.

 

When shaking the tic-tac tub do I shake it fast or slow?

 

How long do I shake it for, and how long should I leave the intervels between shakes?

 

Thanks again. how come it is illegal to attract the mags with foil or shinny objects?

 

I am a novice but I thought they were classes as pests/vermin?

[doodie doo]

hi jay, when shaking your tic tac do it fast a few time it should sound like cha cha chaa, you can try baiting for magpies ie break an egg on open ground so the magpie can see it,he thinks its easy food!!! as he flies in be ready to fire cos magpies are very wary birds.good luck

[kev1986]

just shake it to mimmic a magpie go on you tube and listen to a magpie and have a play about and try match the sound etc i not sure why its illegal but it is just the same as using a crow caller to attract crows and shoot them is illegal in uk they are only supposed to be used as bird watching etc strange rules for vermin but we gotta live by them i spose , before you go shooting quarry try to get your grouping of 5 shots inside a 10p at 30 yards and have a play with you rhold under an dhold over , have a look on the hawke website and get chairgun pro and look at the ballistics etc as you wil be suprised how much your pellet risses from 10 yds and drop back at 30 etc so therefore you should be aiming under at 20 yards and over at 35 yards etc have a play around with targets etc mate moving back in 5yds to see were your pellet is landing and also try get hold of some decent pellets like accupell or webley venom mate they are a lot more accurate

kev

[Billy.]

Do you know what a magpie sounds like? If you shake a box of matches that's what it is.

 

MAGPIE SOUND

 

 

You need a magpie decoy and some broken eggs or a rabbit with its guts hanging out at it's feet. That'll pull them in.

 

Magpie's are clever birds, so you need to get properly hidden otherwise they'll not come within a mile of you whilst you've got a gun.

[JAY SNIPER]

Thanks everone, great help