own up

[zab10]

i find racers easy to identify but my father has kept them as long as i can remember so maybe a bit easier for me than others .

racers are smaller without white wing and neck bars and unless lost or resting are normaly very direct in there flight (heading back to the loft)

so easy to recognise on a race day , but when lost they will join up with ferals and then its anybodys guess and most pigeon fanciers wouldnt be interested in those ones anyway

[poontang]

Racers are very obviously different from Woodies both in size and flight pattern, but there's no way you can tell a feral from a racer

 

Very true

 

I did contact the owner of the one I shot. It seemed like the right thing to do - seeing as it had come all the way from Scotland!! :o

[Fishermanpaddy]

I raced pigeons with the old man years ago and can quite easily tell the difference (even at a fleeting glance). That said however I can quite apperciate how someone could mistake the two.

 

Iv never shot any although iv put a few out of their miserey.

[colin lad]

if it's in range of a shotgun then it's near enough to tell the difference between them,

 

colin

[walkallday]

would you shoot a dog at dusk because it may look like a fox. no i didnt think so .come on lads do your home work on your game. if in doubt dont shoot.

[cockercas]

Sorry chaps i can tell the difference between homers/ferals and wood pigeons....they fly completely differently,the one thing I would say that flys nearly the same as a woody is a rock dove or blue rock(whatever you call them) although again you still can tell the difference.

 

That's not to say I haven't shot them when I was younger though...

that is spot on. i can tell the difference between between a blue rock/feral/racer and a woodie when roosting in the wood. you shouldnt be shooting blue rocks. so if you carnt tell the difference between how they fly then you really need abit more time watching them without the gun.

and some of the comments was mad by people i thought was experienced

Edited April 9, 2012 by cockercas

[Frenchieboy]

OK, I bored stiff and peed off with this darned cold/man flu that I have so I thought I would pop in and be a bit mischievious! I've been sat here reading through this entire thread and find it very interesting how some of you can so easily tell the difference between racers, ferals, woodies and rock doves or whatever.

Rather than spending all of your time trying to find fault with each other or the OP (Which seems to be a favourite passtime of some members on here) let's see just how good some of you "experts"(?) that can easily tell the difference really are then.

Here's a photo taken at Martin Mere of a tree laden with pigeons, if these were on (Or passing through) your permission which could/would you shoot and which should you not shoot?

[welsh1]

OK, I bored stiff and peed off with this darned cold/man flu that I have so I thought I would pop in and be a bit mischievious! I've been sat here reading through this entire thread and find it very interesting how some of you can so easily tell the difference between racers, ferals, woodies and rock doves or whatever.

Rather than spending all of your time trying to find fault with each other or the OP (Which seems to be a favourite passtime of some members on here) let's see just how good some of you "experts"(?) that can easily tell the difference really are then.

Here's a photo taken at Martin Mere of a tree laden with pigeons, if these were on (Or passing through) your permission which could/would you shoot and which should you not shoot?

 

 

I wouldn't bother shooting any of them,I would be out for woodies,and I can't see any in that flock.(I wait to be corrected)

I lamp the ferals in the barns,much more effective.

[chrispti]

OK, I bored stiff and peed off with this darned cold/man flu that I have so I thought I would pop in and be a bit mischievious! I've been sat here reading through this entire thread and find it very interesting how some of you can so easily tell the difference between racers, ferals, woodies and rock doves or whatever.

Rather than spending all of your time trying to find fault with each other or the OP (Which seems to be a favourite passtime of some members on here) let's see just how good some of you "experts"(?) that can easily tell the difference really are then.

Here's a photo taken at Martin Mere of a tree laden with pigeons, if these were on (Or passing through) your permission which could/would you shoot and which should you not shoot?

 

I wouldn't shoot any, they could be racers having a rest. However, if they came into the decoys for a feed on the crops I was protecting. . . .

[Frenchieboy]

I wouldn't bother shooting any of them,I would be out for woodies,and I can't see any in that flock.(I wait to be corrected)

I lamp the ferals in the barns,much more effective.

I agree that lamping ferals inside buildings is very effective (Possibly the best way of controlling/culling them), I do it myself when asked to but there are the occasional one or two that I shoot that have rings on - So are they racers having a rest or ferals, should I have tried to get close enough to see if they had a ring on their leg first?

If a farmer phones to say that pigeons are hitting his crops and asks you to deal with as many of them as possible are you going to tell the farmer that you will shoot the woodies but refuse to shoot any ferals that might be amongst them in case any of them might be racers just taking a rest?

[welsh1]

I agree that lamping ferals inside buildings is very effective (Possibly the best way of controlling/culling them), I do it myself when asked to but there are the occasional one or two that I shoot that have rings on - So are they racers having a rest or ferals, should I have tried to get close enough to see if they had a ring on their leg first?

If a farmer phones to say that pigeons are hitting his crops and asks you to deal with as many of them as possible are you going to tell the farmer that you will shoot the woodies but refuse to shoot any ferals that might be amongst them in case any of them might be racers just taking a rest?

 

You are playing the devils advocate today

It is always going to be a hard call in a barn or in a field to identify a ring on a leg,if not near impossible,but thankfully the law of averages are in our favour.

If I saw a ring I would not shoot it,my neighbour two doors up has a loft, and we have chatted about this before,and he is of the opinion that things happen,storms,to hot,guns etc.

No shooter would like to shoot the wrong quarry,but inevitably it will happen,especially as you said about clearing a field of ferals eating the crops.

[Ferret Master]

Racers are very obviously different from Woodies both in size and flight pattern, but there's no way you can tell a feral from a racer

This.

 

It is impossible to mistake a great big woodpigeon with a racing pigeon or a feral. I've never even accidently shot a stock dove and they look far more similar to a woodie than a feral does.

 

It's not a case of being holier than thou, it just isn't difficult. :blink:

 

FM

[Thunderbird]

I did contact the owner of the one I shot.

 

As a matter of interest Poontang what sort of response did you get? I suppose pigeon fanciers consider it an occupational hazard to some degree..?

[poontang]

As a matter of interest Poontang what sort of response did you get? I suppose pigeon fanciers consider it an occupational hazard to some degree..?

 

I filled in a form and e-mailed it to some racing pigeon association. They e-mailed me back giving me the owners name/loft number etc.

 

I e-mailed the owner and informed him I'd found one of his pigeons 'dead in a field'. :blink: and he was fine with that, although he said if it had been alive he would have had it picked up by special courier!! :o

[Thunderbird]

I e-mailed the owner and informed him I'd found one of his pigeons 'dead in a field'.

 

I suppose that was technically true. Crikey though, serious business, this pigeon-fancying.

[stubby]

if a racer is in the field it doesnt meen its nogood as a racer,it could be on a long race & in need of food or water or just a rest.so it would come in to decoys the same as woodys.& im sorry but if you dont know the difference between a woody & other pigeons you shouldnt be shooting pigeons. as said shooting racers is ilegal

 

 

 

 

please, as it seems you know how to identify ringed birds as opposed to unrung, Ill put you in touch with our method statement legal section on pest control, as this was brought up in a monthly meeting, a rung racing pidgeon, sitting on a ledge next to a feral pidgeon, shows no sign of its feet or legs, thus we have no indication, yet our rules stated we wouldent shoot rung birds the same can be said for birds on the wing, you dont see legs/feet hanging down for ID,

so the rules were changed to "we wont PURPOSLY shoot a ringed bird"

which I belive is true of all shooters out there, we dont set out to shoot rung racers, but it happens, its a bit like the law, cruelty to animals, as at the point of shooting that wood pidgeon, but only winging it, surely YOU are breaking that law, so you dispatch it by hand as soon as possible, would we all get silly and start saying to you your breaking the law, or perhaps you'vre never winged a bird

[poontang]

I suppose that was technically true. Crikey though, serious business, this pigeon-fancying.

 

Yes, I didn't lie to him. It was dead, and it was in a field.

 

As an aside, I was walking through the town centre yesterday and amongst the feral birds pottering around the pavements I counted 3 with leg rings.

Their colouring and markings were very similar to the feral birds, and had they been in a field and amongst decoys it would have been extremely hard to differentiate them from ferals.

[Thunderbird]

Yes, I didn't lie to him. It was dead, and it was in a field.

 

As an aside, I was walking through the town centre yesterday and amongst the feral birds pottering around the pavements I counted 3 with leg rings.

Their colouring and markings were very similar to the feral birds, and had they been in a field and amongst decoys it would have been extremely hard to differentiate them from ferals.

 

Yes, I agree it would. Full marks to the hawk-eyed who can spot them a mile off but we're living in the real world and I don't imagine many could consistently spot it.

[T-Bolt94]

Coming from a pigeon racing background I can identify a racer from a woody with great ease. Racers even when on training tosses fly much faster than woodies and are generally a much larger looking bird in the air. Woodies also have a white patch on either side of their neck and have an orange beak which racers don't generally have. Racers tend to have a more sleek flight and its rare to see them in ones they are usually in small batches. Wood pigeons also tend to appear grey, racers are often darker and more varied in colour. I hope this helps, you can find a bit more ID info here http://www.basc.org.uk/en/codes-of-practice/wood####.cfm

[littlerob]

a mate shot one last month had decoys out to 35 yards this single pigeon comes in and start feeding in the midle of the decoys mate shot it walk over to pick it up and found out it was a racer with a tag/ ring on it leg the week befor we shot about 20 ferals in the same field so mistakes can happen i made my mate feel guilty about it say that it was someonze prize winning bird that he loves to much so my mate pick up the brid got the phone number of the ring gives the guy a call and explaind that he shot his bird and he would pay for a meal out to say sorry for two and pay for the cost of his racer the bloke said you did me a favor if it was that thick to land and feed in a field of decoys and his other birds had returnd home 20 days befor this so it was a lost brid to he thank my mate for doing the right thing letting him know and said dont worry about it mistakes happen

[cockercas]

I filled in a form and e-mailed it to some racing pigeon association. They e-mailed me back giving me the owners name/loft number etc.

 

I e-mailed the owner and informed him I'd found one of his pigeons 'dead in a field'. :blink: and he was fine with that, although he said if it had been alive he would have had it picked up by special courier!! :o

i found a racer in a stubble field, it couldn't fly but could flap. so i chased it down and its owners number was under its wing. phoned him up and he sent a courier to pick it up. i offered to neck it if that's what he was going to do to it but he declined.

[Al69ec]

Try to distinguish between a woody a feral and a rock dove when there all feeding the same field. After a few outings and seeing slightly different traits between them I'm quite confident I can identify all legal avian quarry from well before shooting range

[karpman]

I think pigeon folk are obliged to send a courier to pick there birds up if found, and have heard of stories shipping em back from the continent. I would imagine that a good number of ferals started from racing stock at one time or another and a racer will just as quick go feral if its lost etc.

 

As for rock doves if your shooting in an area of the coast they are still known to exist then you should take great care, the other 80 per cent of the population would be better served keeping an eye open for the stock dove.

 

And mistakes do happen.

 

Karpman

[the crowman]

if a racer is in the field it doesnt meen its nogood as a racer,it could be on a long race & in need of food or water or just a rest.so it would come in to decoys the same as woodys.& im sorry but if you dont know the difference between a woody & other pigeons you shouldnt be shooting pigeons. as said shooting racers is ilegal

Very well said my friend :)

[T-Bolt94]

I think pigeon folk are obliged to send a courier to pick there birds up if found, and have heard of stories shipping em back from the continent. I would imagine that a good number of ferals started from racing stock at one time or another and a racer will just as quick go feral if its lost etc.

 

As for rock doves if your shooting in an area of the coast they are still known to exist then you should take great care, the other 80 per cent of the population would be better served keeping an eye open for the stock dove.

 

And mistakes do happen.

 

Karpman

 

You are more less correct, we are required to make every attempt possible to recover the bird as it is highly frowned upon by the public if you ask them to neck it cause its a waste of space and can't find its way home it would also give the sport a poor name amongst society, so most will bear the expense and try to at least make some effort to retrieve the pigeon and give it any go. Like you say though any that do become lost and don't get reported often do join feral flocks.