magpies

[stubby]

I had the same problem, a small permission has loads of maggies, farmer always asked me to give them a go, yet everything I tried failed, plastic decoys,pigeon magnets with magpies,magpie motion decoys,large plastic owls, everything I tried saw them flying the opposite way was using a fully silenced shotgun too, anyhow, I took the rimmy over there for some bunnies, and on the walk back to the car, decieded to try the "rabbit in middle of field" ploy, belly up, not split open, I tucked myself under a stationary tractor 60yds away, within minutes the 1st maggie landed, to be quickly dispatched, once he was down, the sky errupted with screaming magpies, taking it in turn, they landed near their shot commrade, to be dispatched quickly by me, I got 6 before they figured it was'ent a safe place to be, SUCCESS AT LAST, I kept all six birds in my freezer, so each time out I can thaw a couple out, and use them instead of a rabbit, reckon they will come down to investigate two dead commrades quicker, so Id say, ditch the shotgun, and go with either air rifle or rimmy if you have FAC

 

 

failing that, get the plans to build a ladder trap, bait up with something dead, pheasant works well and check daily, only empty after dark but always leave a couple in to attract others, remember to provide water too.

[Jamie_]

I have had a fair bit of success on them this past week (work has been called off due to the cold) I think the tally is now running at 11 since Sunday.

 

Anyway, all I did was to get the first one (not an easy task) and lie him out in the open, 20 minutes later and the Magpies went bloody mental all sitting in the trees screaming there heads off, 3 shots later, 3 dead magpies and I have been doing the same everyday since with varying success.

 

As others have said get hidden and stay hidden in my experience Magpies are incredibly clever birds if they see you they won't stick around and I have even noticed that they won't land for more than a couple of seconds in this particular area now as I am guessing they are beginning to associate it with danger.

[Catamong]

I'm told that if you put a Magpie and a Crow on a rotary, that will really draw them in, got to be worth a try.

 

I wouldn't recommend using a Larsen trap at this time of year with a live call bird, as it will die of exposure overnight, far better to wait until the end of March, when, as others have said, you will catch plenty.

 

Cat.