any help with decoying paterns

[sixhills 69]

Hi Guy's

I went to my local farm at the weekend and found a are in the corner of the wheat which has beeen squassed/flattened down the wind was coming from the north direct into the hedge were i had set my hide.

I placed the decoys in a horse shoe with the open end loking at me and had to bouncers facing it to the wind is this right as some of the birds went to land and the quickly bailed out i took a few birds away and they came in giving me a fe shots but the the hevans opened up.

 

Was i on the right idea?

 

Regards Nigel

I

[kamikazepigeon]

Hi Guy's

I went to my local farm at the weekend and found a are in the corner of the wheat which has beeen squassed/flattened down the wind was coming from the north direct into the hedge were i had set my hide.

I placed the decoys in a horse shoe with the open end loking at me and had to bouncers facing it to the wind is this right as some of the birds went to land and the quickly bailed out i took a few birds away and they came in giving me a fe shots but the the hevans opened up.

 

Was i on the right idea?

 

Regards Nigel

I

the horse shoe pattern should normally be set out with the wind blowing behind you and the open end away from you as incoming birds land into wind and normally land behind birds the reason for the horse shoe is to give you a kill zone where the birds tend to land heres an example but u can as move it to suit the wind if it is a sidewards wind

Edited July 30, 2010 by kamikazepigeon

[woody swacker]

Hi Guy's

I went to my local farm at the weekend and found a are in the corner of the wheat which has beeen squassed/flattened down the wind was coming from the north direct into the hedge were i had set my hide.

I placed the decoys in a horse shoe with the open end loking at me and had to bouncers facing it to the wind is this right as some of the birds went to land and the quickly bailed out i took a few birds away and they came in giving me a fe shots but the the hevans opened up.

 

Was i on the right idea?

 

Regards Nigel

I

hi sixhills, i,ve always been led to believe that pigeons are quite reluctant to feed in corners of fields because 1; its normally shaded ,limited vision 2; cuts down there route of escape.

[soreshoulder]

sounds like youve got the jist of it, it could've been down to a number of reasons, it could of been your hide or something poking out the bottom of the net like a drink flask reflecting when the birds got close which caused them to suddenly jink away, also sometimes if your horseshoe isnt wide enough birds can lead out the sides :unsure:

[sitsinhedges]

I have had trouble getting birds to commit to my pattern until yesterday when I decided not to put the magnet out and bingo, they were straight in and even on the floor feeding when I wasn't paying enough attention.

 

This is on land that has been shot quite heavily by various people in the last couple of weeks too.

 

The magnet seemed to help get their attention on swathed rape but I think it'll go back in the cupboard now :unsure:

[Maidment78]

OK daft question time,,,,

 

How wide does the pattern usually need to be? At the widest point in yards please as I work in old money.....

[Cranfield]

IMO there are a few basic things to remember when putting out a layout.

Leave plenty of room for the birds to land (within range of the hide).

Pigeons prefer to land into the wind.

 

You said;

"the wind was coming from the north direct into the hedge were i had set my hide.

I placed the decoys in a horse shoe with the open end loking at me and had to bouncers facing it to the wind is this right as some of the birds went to land and the quickly bailed out"

 

With the wind in your face the birds would have to come from behind you to land.

Your decoys should have been placed well into the field giving the birds room to land, I would have had the nearest decoy at approx 35 yards.

The idea would be to shoot the birds as they approached the back of your layout.

 

If the flattened area was small and too close to the hide to set up as suggested, then just use 2 or 3 decoys to one side of the flattened area, once again leaving enough room for the birds to land.

 

With regard to the size of a decoy layout, I try to ensure that any bird coming to the pattern passes within range.

[sixhills 69]

Thanks every one thats very helpfull i did change my pattern and redused the amount of decoys and moved the bouncers closer to the hide facing into the wind after building my hide i was out for 4 hours i got 9 birds for 25 cartridges not good but a start me thinks

 

Thanks Nigel