belive it or not

[2sledge]

while out on friday set up the shot birds i n the pattan etc while having a slow 1/2 hr a buzzard came down on one of the shot birds ripped it to bits then flew of with it belive it or not

[sako751sg]

I well believe it.Had one dive onto the cushie deeks once and he got a fair shock.

[2bangs]

I've had them circling my deeks a few times, never had one swoop though

[gunners]

The other week i was shooting on rape and one came down and picked up one of my shell decoys then realised after about 10 to 16 feet somethig was not right and dropped it. There are now marks on the shell so i can believe it

[Guest beechris]

i get this problem? all the time, i few times i nearly shot them ( i realised they were birds of prey and left them alone) i always get a visit but i dont mind letting them have a bird, they need it more than i do

[Imperfection]

I've had Buzzards circle my decoy pattern before,but they end up getting mobbed by crows-which theres a lot of round here.

Edited March 31, 2010 by Imperfection

[aaron airgunner]

had a buzzard come down and pick up a shot pigeon once. i was really annoyed.

[Guest beechris]

had a buzzard come down and pick up a shot pigeon once. i was really annoyed.

 

 

May i ask why you was annoyed??? i see it as they need it to survive where we just go to the shops?

[TomV]

I've had them circling my deeks a few times, never had one swoop though

 

Me also, maybe its a matter of time before one does though

[Tobyb525]

Try having an owl repeatedly 'swoop' at your back while you lying prone for rabbits .....that was wierd

[gamechef]

i regularly get a buzzard doing the same rounds..every day same route ...

 

But the most amazing day ..was when..in the morning after setting up ..i was sat having a cuppa,when i heard something really close by...in fact it was in my food bag...stoat,helping himself to my lunch

 

but the funniest thing was watching a peregrine, fake swoop my plastics flocked deeks twice before coming back in for a third time, and this time he meant it..but you should ave seen the look on hisface, when he hit the deek at full pelt ,then looked back as if to say..'why didnt that fall over?'

 

lol...its what makes being out in the countryside so special...

[Pepe]

I've had one having a go at my crow decoys. They always have a look at the decoys. We seem to have a lot of them around here.

[KillStone]

about 1 month ago i was shooting on rape when all of a sudden out of nowhere a buzzard came and knowcked a decoy over at full pelt then moved to another then ******** off. i have also seen them havin a go at fully grown partridges and wild pheasant poults. I think this is a classic case of being overprotective and having too many of them in the area, too many scavengers and not enough roadkill etc they aint gonna starve without trying to kill first are they!?!

[Maltese Falcon]

I have had one circle above me but never taking one of my deeks, but i do believe it. After all the buzzard is after an easy meal. After shooting if buzzards are about i always leave a couple of dead pigeons for them after all they need to eat aswel. You go the next day and all is left is a pile of feathers.

[Delbert]

My pal CJ who occasionally shares a hide reckons he had one hit one of his

full bodies set on the edge of the pattern. Nearest I've come is swallows trying

to pick my dry flies off the water (I take that as a compliment to my tying ability.)

[hodge911]

had it happen and it was fantastic to see

[Scarpa]

I had a kestral land in the middle of my pattern, walk up to a decoy and swipe it over with his talons. It did the same to another one before flying off.

 

Also saw a bat grab my mates trout spinner in mid cast on a small river pool at dusk; flew a bit before dropping it.

[mrpip]

I believe it, had one hit a full bodied plastic decoy, best one ever had a left n right the second bird carried on well hit & dropped about 50 yds from pattern, before I could go & retrieve it a Sparrow hawk swooped from tree line & struck it full on, it departed minus the pigeon when I got out off the hide, also had a Kestrel sat on a dead pigeon in a cradle. who needs wildlife programs on tv times like these you wish you had a camera

[Red Raven]

Great stories, but chaps, if you are using lead shot never allow a raptor to eat the birds. Cover them or retrieve them quickly. It only takes a tiny piece of lead to destroy a bird as big as a Bald Eagle, be responsible in your shooting. http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11870530

Raptors are your allies when it comes to pest control. Most shot passes through a pigeon if shot from close enough, but there is always that slim chance one doesn't.

[M ROBSON]

Buzzards hit our dead birds on an almost weekly occurance.

 

Then we get the odd Sparrowhawk and Perigrine.

 

I've even watched an OSPREY land on a dead bird in the decoys.

 

Bet nobody can top that!!!!

 

Mark.

 

ps,

Red Raven, no matter how fast you think you are you'll never get there before a watching bird of prey.

Edited April 17, 2010 by M ROBSON

[sako751sg]

Buzzards hit our dead birds on an almost weekly occurance.

 

Then we get the odd Sparrowhawk and Perigrine.

 

I've even watched an OSPREY land on a dead bird in the decoys.

 

Bet nobody can top that!!!!

 

Mark.

 

ps,

Red Raven, no matter how fast you think you are you'll never get there before a watching bird of prey.

 

Think i can beat that Mark.Was fishing in the pouring rain on the Deveron one evening,and this lad Dougal was worming next to me,about 10 yards away.I wasnt looking at him,and heard him whispering to me.On turning round,theres a sparrowhawk sitting on his rod,which was in his hands.He said thank **** i was there or nobody would believe him.Unbelievable,but true.

[M ROBSON]

That's a one off.

 

Best I've had was a Kingfisher stop off on my rod (not in my hand though).

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[cocker3]

Raptors are your allies when it comes to pest control.

yes but there also a keepers enemy when rearing birds

not that i would ever want to see anything happining to one as i think they are stunning birds

but theres always to sides

and as before if a hawk is watching youl never get to a shot bird or decoy before it if it decides to take one

[Delbert]

Great stories, but chaps, if you are using lead shot never allow a raptor to eat the birds. Cover them or retrieve them quickly. It only takes a tiny piece of lead to destroy a bird as big as a Bald Eagle, be responsible in your shooting. http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11870530

Raptors are your allies when it comes to pest control. Most shot passes through a pigeon if shot from close enough, but there is always that slim chance one doesn't.

 

It really is odd how scientific views change over time the men in white coats are cautious before

making a statement which they can be assured will be scrutinised and if found to be weak challenged.

Its a pity the media don't give a fig for anything that makes a good story truth fabrication or just lies.

It has long been accepted that lead shot will pass through the digestive system pretty well unmetabolised

if it was not the case the regulars of PW would suffer chronic lead poisoning from ingested shot as would

our grandfathers. Now birds are known to suffer from lead poisoning and that has been blamed on lead

shot and that is a fact. That fact was used to ban split shot from angling use and that was unchallengable

a great many dead waterfowl were examined post mortem and their crops were found to contain anglers

weights none contained shooters unsplit shot! so that was cut and dried and split shot was made illegal.

The science behind this is waterfowl in common with many other birds pick up grit which is stored in their

crops to mascerate the grain and vegetable matter they eat sadly amongst the grit would be split shot

dropped at the waterside and in the shallows the grinding of the birds crop reduces the shot to fine

powder removing the outer film which allows lead to be absorbed in the gut producing lead poisoning.

After this victory of common sense shooting lead shot was banned over wetlands -remember that

unchallengable set of results no shooting shot found ? Now it seems there is a conflict of science shooting

shot is poisoning wildfowl against that evidence.

The story about eagles a single grain of lead can kill an eagle? well it took an awful lot more than a

single grain to kill much smaller waterfowl and heres the rub raptors don't pick up lead from the margins of

lakes when they are gritting for a good reason -they don't have a crop full of grit because they don't

need it to grind up seeds and plants because they don't eat them they eat meat and in the case of Bald

Eagles fish. No grit so how is that piece of lead going to get ground up ? well meat is torn up and

stuffed into the birds crop until it later passes into the gut but the indigestable bits bone fur scales feather

are rolled up into a ball and regurgitated which makes the possible of direct poisoning less likely.

Interesting how scientific opinions evolve isnt it.

An unrelated thought those deer guts laden with lead shot wonder how it got there? no self respecting

hunter in the US would be using bird shot to shoot deer but as my lovely Michiganer wife points out there are always

the odd A'holes.

[mossy835]

when im in the hide and one comes closee i just stand up and wave my arms,