What would you do/change on this setup

[dunganick]

Hey all, Haven't been on the forum in months as i've hardly been shooting this year.

 

However I've taken 2 weeks off to have a shooting holiday.

 

So today was the first decentish day on the pigeon. But i feel it could of been a superb day, but it was only an ok day.

 

There was tons of pigeon around, i reckon that for every 1 pigeon that came into the pattern/into range maybe 15 would pass by not even showing interest.

 

So the final bag was 25 for an embarrassing number of shots. The issues were that lots of the pigeon wouldn't even look at the pattern, some jinked off well out of the pattern. Others would start to commit and then flare off before i had even moved.

 

I tried a rotary but this seemed to have little effect, so i brought it in.

 

Decoys were a mix of old shells and dead birds.

 

I was sat in set aside, no hide, but as the sun was bright and i was in the shade under some trees i don't believe that many birds were spotting me. However i think that maybe the birds didn't like the decoys being so close to trees? We have lots of buzzards around so maybe this isn't safe to them? And its part of a 200ish acre field, so there are bound to be other birds on the ground on the same field.

 

Any ideas? What would you of done differently. I'm back over there tomorrow, although looks like it will be less windy, so who knows if it will be the same.

 

Illustrator has had a bit of a moment, so excuse the excess white area on the diagram.

 

Blue arrows is wind, Grey are pigeon.

 

Edited August 1, 2011 by dunganick

[yickdaz]

maybe the birds were intent on feeding somewhere else so they wasn,t really committed to come to the decoys and you was just pulling a few birds off a flightline,thats whats been happening with me on the last 2 outings.. also no hide could of been part of the problem as well.

[Cranfield]

I am finding birds sometimes ignoring the decoys because they are going somewhere (probably to get a drink), I call these "10 minute birds", which mean they will be back in 10 minutes.

 

Birds flaring away from the decoys is a different matter.

 

One thing I have found is that a few decoys works better at the moment, than a load.

I have been using 6 shells plus a rotary and/or a floater.

 

Sometimes birds don't seem to like to come too close to "deep" trees , like a wood, but will come close to a large hedge line or row of trees.

 

Your layout looks OK, but I definitely would have had a hide.

Don't forget the birds have a much higher overview of things than you do.

[dunganick]

Thanks guys. Pretty much what i thought.

 

The catch with the hide is that i don't have one. I usually try to shoot from drainage ditches and i've never found the need. But this spot with the crop uncut i couldn't see low enough if i sat in the ditch.

 

Also the idea with less decoys is an interesting one. I will try that.

[malkiserow]

Nick,

 

An idea to try... where you have your long arrows showing pigeon flights in and out of the wood. split your pattern (a bit tight a horse shoe to my mind) up into 2 groups either side of the flight line, leave 20 foot gap and put your hide right on the corner so you can see more movement.

 

Put your rotary a but upwind of the decoys

 

As you have the wood, you can do much with a bit of net and some string for a hide

 

Good luck

[fenboy]

I would get a decent hide firstly ,also were you wearing a face mask ? gloves ?, if the birds are flaring there is something unatural to them could the sun have been reflecting of the decoys ,try dead birds only if possible much better IMO even if you start with plastic and bring them in as you get dead bird replacements .

[yankeedoodlepigeon]

I would have been under those grey arrows or as near as I could get. I used to put my decoys facing into the wind like soldiers but now I try one a little left of the wind another right and so on seems to work for me I once got 31 in a day. beat that

[simshaz]

i had similar issues in Dover last weekend with the Pigeon seeming to be pre occupied elsewhere.

It was better early morning and also late afternoon, summer sun tends to have them sitting off digesting food from the morning.

If you wanted a shooting buddy for the day to see if we can move them between us, i am up for that. Plus i have a couple of nets and all the rest of the gear.

currently sat in Sevenoaks typing this but live in West peckham (between Tonbridge and Hadlow) which is real close to you

Simon

[BenBhoy]

agree with others, hide be best starting point and gurantee it'll come in handy for years to come.

[JR1960]

I would get a decent hide firstly ,also were you wearing a face mask ? gloves ?, if the birds are flaring there is something unatural to them could the sun have been reflecting of the decoys ,try dead birds only if possible much better IMO even if you start with plastic and bring them in as you get dead bird replacements .

 

Same, especially the deeks, i've often found they don't like 'mixed' patterns, whether plastic/rubber/dead/full/bodied/shells. Also, i've always been a 'more is better' sort of guy until i got to my shoot once and found i'd forgotten my deeks; only had 4 old shells in the boot. As i cba to drive home again i set up with them, virtually every bird swung straight in, so it's deffo worth a try.

[dunganick]

Thanks guys, food for thought.

 

I went back tuesday and didn't even bother setting up. It was still as anything and there was barely a bird moving. Hoping to return thursday or Saturday. Will keep you posted.

Edited August 4, 2011 by dunganick

[Redditch]

Try to avoid having big trees behind you (Large high hedges too), or setting up in a corner, the pigeons don´t like it. Also have at least 15-20 metres away from your hide to the beginning of the pattern, and have the legs of the pattern anything from 30-50 metres apart.If the pigeons tend to fly over one leg, lengthen that leg to bring them back into the middle, and always keep the middle of the pattern clean, collect dead birds every time you have a short drop in the flight lines.

However, some days the pigeons just don´t want to play, no matter how you alter your patterns, add or subtract flyers and magnet, then it´s just one of those days

[motty]

Try to avoid having big trees behind you (Large high hedges too), or setting up in a corner, the pigeons don´t like it. Also have at least 15-20 metres away from your hide to the beginning of the pattern, and have the legs of the pattern anything from 30-50 metres apart.If the pigeons tend to fly over one leg, lengthen that leg to bring them back into the middle, and always keep the middle of the pattern clean, collect dead birds every time you have a short drop in the flight lines.

However, some days the pigeons just don´t want to play, no matter how you alter your patterns, add or subtract flyers and magnet, then it´s just one of those days

There is nothing wrong with having big trees or hedges behind you when decoying.

[proTOM1]

Try to avoid having big trees behind you (Large high hedges too), or setting up in a corner, the pigeons don´t like it. Also have at least 15-20 metres away from your hide to the beginning of the pattern, and have the legs of the pattern anything from 30-50 metres apart.If the pigeons tend to fly over one leg, lengthen that leg to bring them back into the middle, and always keep the middle of the pattern clean, collect dead birds every time you have a short drop in the flight lines.

However, some days the pigeons just don´t want to play, no matter how you alter your patterns, add or subtract flyers and magnet, then it´s just one of those days

 

 

Nothing wrong with tall hedges as most of the land i shoot has tall hedges to drive patridges over plus you dont really need your decoys out as far as 15 to 20 meters from the hide many a day i have mine just out at 5 to 6 meters from the hide .