pigeon magnets? are they worth it?

[here iam]

Hello guys i have been using a mates magnet for my last 5 outings and still not convinced wether they work or not what do you guys think? the last time out i was sure it was scare ing birds away rather than pulling them in birds were having a quick look then doing one so i have pulled it in and things seem to settle down better with out it i am thinking if birds have seen a lot of these magnets they become jumpy and will not comitt i have tried the magnet in differant angles to the pattern put out but it does not seem to matter every now and then out of the blue a pigeon will try to mount it but apart from that they clear off so i am still unconvinced carrying all the extra kit about may be its me who useless

[EastSussexLad]

You basically answered your own question there fella, If used too much the magnet will eventually start spooking birds - But the magnet is a great tool if the birds are not weary of it.

 

When i go pigeon shooting i won't leave the house without it, so buy yourself one or make one yourself.

 

Edit, The birds could still of been spooked by a number of reasons tho - was it sunny? as the glint from the arms could of been put them off.

Edited June 4, 2010 by EastSussexLad

[here iam]

Thank you for the reply it was a very windy overcast day up here last sunday afternoon the magnets painted nato green with some foam deeks on i am shooting nppc land so i suppose the birds have wised up

[Cranfield]

Get some dead birds on the rotary as quickly as possible, they will probably pull the birds in better than the foam decoys.

[yickdaz]

wont go out without one meself i;m not saying they work each and every time you put it out i have pulled it in sometimes and like you say improves the situation but my own experiences it works 9 times out of 10.we had ours out today and it pulled most of the birds in from a distant flightline over the boundary which statics wouldn;t have done. also some birds came to have a look and just skirted round it just out of shot so we had both experiences of most birds commiting totally and some not having it.

[here iam]

wont go out without one meself i;m not saying they work each and every time you put it out i have pulled it in sometimes and like you say improves the situation but my own experiences it works 9 times out of 10.we had ours out today and it pulled most of the birds in from a distant flightline over the boundary which statics wouldn;t have done. also some birds came to have a look and just skirted round it just out of shot so we had both experiences of most birds commiting totally and some not having it.

yes thats just what they are doing they come to have a look and just skirted round it out of shot , you might have some thing cranfield about proper deeks because if i just put a flapper out with a bouncer and a dozen shells they are less wary nice one thanks am on the peas tomorrow so see what happens

[yickdaz]

yes thats just what they are doing they come to have a look and just skirted round it out of shot , you might have some thing cranfield about proper deeks because if i just put a flapper out with a bouncer and a dozen shells they are less wary nice one thanks am on the peas tomorrow so see what happens

put the rotary in front of the decoy pattern about 20 yards from your hide and leave a gap of 10 yards between decoys and rotary hope that helps thats the standard setup i use.try it out

[henry d]

Get some dead birds on the rotary as quickly as possible, they will probably pull the birds in better than the foam decoys.

 

+1, get some dead birds on it ASAP, keep them in the freezer between shoots

 

Foam

[vampire]

Selling mine

[magman]

It would be the last thing i left at home tbh , so yes there worth it

[Cosd]

yes thats just what they are doing they come to have a look and just skirted round it out of shot , you might have some thing cranfield about proper deeks because if i just put a flapper out with a bouncer and a dozen shells they are less wary nice one thanks am on the peas tomorrow so see what happens

 

 

If they were coming towards the magnet and skirting round to your left lets say 50yard from the hide, I would have moved the magnet 30 yards to the right, so as they skirt around it they are in shooting range.

 

That's part of the art of decoying, watch what they want to do and use that knowledge and adjust your tools decoys and gizmo's to your benefit and their detriment!

Edited June 4, 2010 by Cosd

[proTOM1]

I would not leave home with out 1 ,but like you have said and others aswell sometimes it does not work but ive had days when it has brought birds in from a long way .

 

Like cosd has said keep changing the where abouts of the rotary and other decoys till you get them coming in how you wont them too

[yickdaz]

put the rotary in front of the decoy pattern about 20 yards from your hide and leave a gap of 10 yards between decoys and rotary hope that helps thats the standard setup i use.try it out

also i didn;t add in this post always if you can use dead birds and have 2 in freezer at all times then take em out day before you go shooting so defrosted.and use on the rotary if not.foam to start until you get 2 down then change straight away.

[Lez325]

Had one and a couple of Hypaflap deeks- sold the lot as it seemed to frighten rather than encourage birds into the kill zone - might be just in this area as I see plenty of magnets when Im out and about - perhaps the birds have got used to them and become wary

 

I just use Silosocks now and replace with dead birds in the pattern as and when I've shot them

 

Les

[here iam]

Thanks Lads sound advice as usual

[anser2]

Had one and a couple of Hypaflap deeks- sold the lot as it seemed to frighten rather than encourage birds into the kill zone - might be just in this area as I see plenty of magnets when Im out and about - perhaps the birds have got used to them and become wary

 

I just use Silosocks now and replace with dead birds in the pattern as and when I've shot them

 

Les

 

 

A few months back i took a guy pigeon shooting on rape several times over a couple of weeks and we set up 400 yards apart on each side of the field. ( swapping positions twice ) He insisted on useing hyper flaps on his magnet. and over 4 days managed to bag 1, 3 5 and 2 pigeons. I had almost 200 birds. I was using dead birds and they were pulling pigeons past my mate and into my decoys from miles away but even though his decoy set up and hide were the same as mine the birds ignored his decoys and hyper flapper. You cant beat real birds on a magnet.

Edited June 6, 2010 by anser2

[Highlander]

Agreed, dead birds will pull pigeons better than manmade decoys BUT even so there are times when nothing will pull ‘em. Some days almost anything will work but on other days nothing seems to. Magnets have their uses but like all the other kit in your bag they are no substitute for fieldcraft and knowledge.

 

Unfortunately there are also times when dead birds are not so clever...summertime when the flies are so damn busy!

[UKPoacher]

Nothing is guaranteed to work 100% of the time, but I think it is a rash move to get rid of a rotary as they have been proved to work most of the time when set up right. Foam deeks are the last thing I'd use on one though. I would rather not set it up until I got dead birds than spin foam deeks. They are OK for floaters placed a long way back, but I won't have them anywhere near the pattern. I've got some plastic full bodied deeks with removable wings that work OK on the rotary if dead birds aren't available, but I put the first two I shoot on the magnet and swap the plastic ones onto floaters.

[swiss.tony]

im just same as u sum days they work sum they dont and pigeons run a mile but we all keep hunpin the things about so looks like im stuck with it good job i can drive in feilds so yes mate get one bought

[UKPoacher]

Been out today on self-set barley on a set aside. The pigeons were settling all over the field so deeks would not have had much effect. The whirly bird brought them in from all over the place. Without it I wouldn't have shot a fraction of what I ended up with.