Dispatching Winged or Pricked Birds

[Paul61]

Relatively new to Pigeon decoying but had reasonable success, however had a few winged birds, what is the best way to finish them off? I have no dog so leave the hide and pick them up myself straight away If I see there flapping. At the moment if there running I give them a second barrel, If I can pick them up I am "Wringing" there neck but to be honest pulled head off one and the others tend to be a bit messy round the neck and crop and feathers everywhere.

 

I know they are a pest but don't want to see them suffer unnecessarily. I also eat what I shoot.

[stubby]

you'll get loads of different answers, one way for me, is neck between thumb and first finger, bird hanging at your side (as you walk back to the hide) a quick flick of the wrist in a circular motion, say from 3.15 to 02.45 (if you get what I mean) and birds weight breaks its neck, no pulled off heads

[mpk]

I use a priest because it works for me, A quick short blow to the back of the skull works well. I have a freind who does what stubby does and there is many more methods out there. What ever works for you really , as long as they are dispatched quickly. If you try the search function there is a big thread on this to.

Edited August 27, 2010 by mpk

[danddo]

Use both methods above but I tend to go more for the priest if at all possible.

[poontang]

 

[Lez325]

I have a small sold brass priest which does the job- although most birds I shoot are "dead in the air" to be honest

 

Les

[silver pigeon 3]

Yeah same here, use a priest that i also use for trout

 

Nice and easy with no mess.

[CZ550Kevlar]

.22 or .177 air pistol if you really aren`t sure and you want to do your quarry justice with a quicky certain death with a tiny ammount of damage.

Otherwise it`s a priest, i use a Kukri, because it has a wide spine to it you get a nice heavy blunt edge that will easily snap the spine without severing it.

[MC]

.22 or .177 air pistol if you really aren`t sure and you want to do your quarry justice with a quicky certain death with a tiny ammount of damage.

Otherwise it`s a priest, i use a Kukri, because it has a wide spine to it you get a nice heavy blunt edge that will easily snap the spine without severing it.

 

 

That is a joke right?

 

In my opinion if you go shooting at some point in your shooting you will "wing" a bird. You should be damn sure you are capable of dispatching it cleanly without needing to carry an air pistol.

 

As has already been described you just get the bird by the head and in one swift circular motion you break the birds neck. Quick clean and simple. Priests will work but I find the first method a whole lot better.

[AlistairB]

I tend to pick them up by the wings so you are holding the wings above their back and then give them a sharp crack on the head with a priest. Holding them that way tends to make them stick their head out so you have a clearer target.

 

If i havent got a priest on me, either press on their back where the feathers change until it clicks, or break their neck.

 

AB

[ellebarto]

Its just technique buddy. Lots of advice above and I can remember when I started having the same issue and in my eagerness to dispatch cleanly I very often severed a head or two!

 

Personaly I think you should be able to do it without a priest and if Im honest its fairly simple but just takes some practice to get it right. The harsh reality is you might make a few birds suffer a second or two (presumably they are already wounded and sufferring anyway) and get bloody while you perfect the technique but once you have you'll be happier and your future quarry gets dispatched cleaner!

 

Just my 2 penneth!

[jcf1]

I carry a 50 BMG for ensuring humane dispatch.

 

But seriously - its a PIGEON, no weaponry is required. If you can't dispatch it cleanly and quickly with your hands then maybe you should take up a sport that is more in keeping with your temperament. Maybe lace making or embroidery.

[apache]

I carry a 50 BMG for ensuring humane dispatch.

 

But seriously - its a PIGEON, no weaponry is required. If you can't dispatch it cleanly and quickly with your hands then maybe you should take up a sport that is more in keeping with your temperament. Maybe lace making or embroidery.

:D :D

[ellebarto]

MMMMMMM!!! Way to help an support a newbie!!

 

I wonder if you dispatched everything quickly and cleanly from day one!! I suspect not!

 

However if your issue is you dont like to touch a wounded bird or get 'bloody' then Ive heard lace making is a lovely pass time!!

[Llanshooter]

If you hold the bird with your hand across its back so your fingers are on one side and thumb on the other. Behinf the wings you will feel an indentation on each side. If you squeeze hard at this point, the bird dies very quickly, no mess.

 

You have to get it right though to squeeze at the right point so best practice on a dead one before trying it on a live bird

[jcf1]

Actually I can genuinely say that each and every pigeon I have had to dispatch on the ground has been done quickly and cleanly with zero hassle. My grandad taught me to neck chickens and rabbits at a fairly early age, so not found it hard. To be fair you should be confident with this well before you feel happy to point a scattergun at a living animal - end of.

 

As for the lacemaking jibe - it was only a wind-up not aimed at the OP although the sentiment I think is fair. Killing it with a hand neck break is far easier, faster and more reliable than priests especially when a pigeons head is so small.

 

Edit: maybe if there are indeed so many newbies without this 'skill' perhaps a how to should be a sticky?

Edited August 27, 2010 by jcf1

[gddoodles]

hi , pick the pigeon up by the head and as others have said spin it about 3/4 of a rotation , this will break its neck cleanly and quickly . cheers

[kent]

Why has anyone not stated the obvious? Shoot it again on the ground asap, forget the meat of the occasional wounder it is more fitting to finish the cripples as quick as possible. I get visions of a shooter here bolting out of his hide chasing about after a flapping pigeon wafting a cosh about reminicent of a sceane from a Tom and Jerry cartoon, think how that looks to the casual non-shooting observer. Descreate and quick hand or tool dispatch is fine if you have a dog and i feel the casual observer would not be shocked by such looking effecient and profesional, but chasing cripples about a field? No i think not, shoot it again we owe it to our quarry

[Evil Elvis]

There IS another way.............the death grip. Put your middle finger around its neck from behind the head and squeeze very hard, between the index finger and the ring finger. They asphyxiate and go to sleep, but you need to make sure its for the full 30 seconds .............or they wake up in your bag!!!

 

Its very humane, no blood and they simply go to sleep

[Imperfection]

There IS another way.............the death grip.

 

 

Not the Vulcan death grip..!?

 

Sounds a good method though ad will give this a try.

[sitsinhedges]

There IS another way.............the death grip. Put your middle finger around its neck from behind the head and squeeze very hard, between the index finger and the ring finger. They asphyxiate and go to sleep, but you need to make sure its for the full 30 seconds .............or they wake up in your bag!!!

 

Its very humane, no blood and they simply go to sleep

 

I suggested the taxidermist method on another thread which comprises of compressing the ribcage directly underneath the wing bones but it was pointed out that it is still a relatively slow way to go.

 

I found that a priest is effective but often ends up with a bleeding carcase and it's just something else to forget to take with you.

 

Pressing down on the spine high up between the wings until it depresses kills cleanly but does take a few seconds to take effect.

 

I found the quickest way is to grasp the neck between finger and thumb a little way down from the head and give it a vigorous rotating movement. If you keep a tight grip it breaks the neck between your hand and the pigeons body and so doesn't twist off the head higher up.

[kdubya]

I use the head/neck held back then press the spine between the wings till it cracks method, kills them clean as a whistle far better than trying to whack them over the head.

 

KW

[njc110381]

It's a very fine line between breaking the neck and pulling the head off. The way I do it is to grab the neck between the index and middle fingers and just flick it in a circle so the weight of the bird breaks the neck.

 

The best bet is to do it to every bird you've cleanly killed until you master it. That's what I did. Until I got it right on the dead ones I used to just pull off the heads. It's messy but it works!

[Cranfield]

There are 999 answers here.. http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/ind...=%2Bdespatching

[Stretch]

As has already been described you just get the bird by the head and in one swift circular motion you break the birds neck. Quick clean and simple. Priests will work but I find the first method a whole lot better.

 

+1, you'll feel it's neck snap and it's all over for the bird, quick and easy. Would'nt fancy clouting it with a stick the be honest,