Addison84 Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Hi Everyone, My name is Adam and I'm very new to this forum but have been pigeon shooting for over a year, and have only just recently become obsessed with the sport! but am frustrated to MY WITS END I have read John Batleys book and have been inspired, I have adjusted my hide design and decoy patterns, done as much reconaisance as i possibly can and sat under flight lines; only to shoot one, two or even three birds in a whole day!! over various crops etc etc My best day ever has probably been ten birds! i have a magnet which appears to do very little...... Even under flight lines birds just seem to change the way they go and land 100-200yds away! What am i doing wrong?? someone pleas help! Regards Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 There is no easy answer to your question, as by your description you don't appear to be doing anything particularly wrong. The reconnaissance should show you when and where the birds are feeding and that is where you need to be. From then on its all about a good hide and an efficient decoy layout. Those three things are really the key. Of course you have to be able to hit them when they come. It would probably help you if you could find an experience pigeon shooter in your area to show you the ropes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrispti Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 As above, could be any number of things that could be wrong. Id also suggest asking someone to accompany you shooting to show you the ropes. Where in the world are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utectok Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Mmm could be all sorts but sounds like ur spooking them? Not sitting still ? Not enough room in the pattern perhaps or possibly replace magnet with bouncers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Where abouts are you? If you put up a location you may find someone local who will help and guide you. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon pete Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 magnets don't always work ,use a C shape deek pattern if that don't work then try L shape ,like the other chap says spooking them ,don't move till you see the whites of there eyes ,don't even move the gun barrel,have you got enough backing in the hide ,wear a head veil and gloves ,sometimes we put a few more deeks in the front of the pattern,are they facing into the wind ,are you leaving dead birds belly up ,even things like my stainless steel flask hanging out my bag and the sunlight hitting it has put them off ,we had also done everything right and the birds still land in the middle of the field ,you only need one bird to land 200 yards away and sometimes the whole flock can move ,yes can be frustrating ,but wait till you haven't got time to roll a fag or have a cup of tea when there coming it at all angels lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Hi Everyone, My name is Adam and I'm very new to this forum but have been pigeon shooting for over a year, and have only just recently become obsessed with the sport! but am frustrated to MY WITS END I have read John Batleys book and have been inspired, I have adjusted my hide design and decoy patterns, done as much reconaisance as i possibly can and sat under flight lines; only to shoot one, two or even three birds in a whole day!! over various crops etc etc My best day ever has probably been ten birds! i have a magnet which appears to do very little...... Even under flight lines birds just seem to change the way they go and land 100-200yds away! What am i doing wrong?? someone pleas help! Regards Adam Listen, don't be despondant. When i first started taking pigeon shooting really seriously about 12 years ago i used to go out decoying for up to 12 hours a day (with a friend) on a small piece of land and be lucky if we got over 10 pigeons. This went on for a while until i started to learn (although i had a small understanding of the basics) how to get more sport. Although it takes time, i honestly believe that the best person to teach you is yourself. I've heard so many 'experienced' hands talk so much rubbish and tell old wives' tales that are really not worth listening to. You may be doing nothing wrong. There may not be enough pigeons about to shoot a huge amount. Keep going out, find the birds and experiment until you get things right. Take in what happens and remember it. There is a lot of trial and error involved in pigeon shooting. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougall Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Everybody has days like that. Qs 1) do you have plenty of birds around?What are they feeding on now? Without the above the rest is pretty meaningless........assuming you have lots of pigeons around and you know where they are feeding the most important bit is hide location and keeping very still.Don't rely on magnet,flocked decoys or better still 12/15 real pigeons in cradles if on stubble .... keep going the bad days make the good days even better when they come along. Don't expect 100+ days,these are v rare despite what you read on here.......the big agricultural areas like Lincolnshire/Midlands/Oxon have bigger numbers of birds can produce red letter days......but in most parts of the country a reasonable bag is 20-40birds whereabouts are you/what crops/numbers do you have on your land? PS I have shot pigeons for nearly 40 years,I rarely have a clue how a day will turn out in ways that is the fun/sport part of pigeon shooting...you never stop learning and can never fully predict how pigeons will behave from one day to the next. John Batleys book is good so I doubt you are doing too much wrong in terms of decoys/hide construction.....the harder bits are right crop/right time but if pigeons are not hitting your fields/around in good numbers then there is no chance of decoying them to a place they do not want to go. ATB don't give up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addison84 Posted August 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Thanks everyone for your replies! I would love to have a more experienced pigeon shooter come with me to my permissions, its always good to learn from those who are more experienced! Im in kent and live in the Canterbury, area all my shoots are around here. Ive been shooting mostly over freshly cut wheat as thats what they seem to be eating (having looked at whats in the birds crops) however i will be trying some freshly cut pea fields this weekend. I dont always use the magnet, in fact im trying not to use it where ever possible. I dont have bouncers but ive heard they are good! One thing i am finding difficult is identifying legit flight lines, ive sat in fields for hours with pigeons flying every which way with so real dedication to one or two routes....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 (edited) Do not dispare, we all had days like that . When I started on my first shoot I was there from dawn till dusk for nine birds. Just keep at it , try moving the pattern about , magnet on/off, try keeping dead still and see if they will land in your pattern then MOVE MOUNT SHOOT. If the birds pass to your left or right put a flyer coming into your pattern from that direction. Try and remember what works and use it again. All the best in the future. Edited August 22, 2012 by pigeon controller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postie Posted August 31, 2012 Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 i don't know if this is could be the prob.i shot an 80 acre field with a chap once both on opposite sides of field i was getting all the shooting and he was getting none and the bird were coming from is direction . so i went over the brow of the field to find his glasses and watch were glittering and he did not have a clue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted September 2, 2012 Report Share Posted September 2, 2012 Your not doing anything wrong..if the birds arent feeding in your patch then your essentialy ********. Pigeons are amongst the most itelligent of wild birds, great eyesight, and an uncanny wariness. ( apart from young newly feldged which are pretty suicidal ) Ive been pigeon shooting man and boy for over 40 years and in that time pigeon numbers have become greater and their feeding habits have changed. They still have preferences for food stuffs and more choice than ever sometimes they will concentrate on one feeding area and ignore everything around it even though its laid out for them. With respect to other posters I think you can get too hung up on finding flight lines. If the birds are feeding in your chosen field then you have a good chance of decoying them no matter what direction or route they are taking to the feed place. Also in my experience the majority of the time birds flighting at speed and high are not interested in your decoy area they are just preoccupied with getting to the feed area to fill crops and get back to the young. These birds wont generally be attracted or pulled off course by a Magnet and will just sail on by. Get your self a good air rifle and get yourself in the woods and loft a few deeks this autumn and you will get some good and highly enjoyable sport. Try setting up where you have seen birds feeding heavily, make sure you are invisible, and keep still. An old Pigeon shooter told me once also to pick my shots and make sure you give yourself a better than good chance of a kill. Pigeons do soon learn ...they have to.. its how they survive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addison84 Posted September 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Thanks, great reply Fisherman Mike! Ive discovered that pigeon shooting is so varied and that there are so very many different ideas out there, but as you say; pigeons are very intelligent and after all they want to survive! And i think your right, some of these flight lines are routes that pigeons will take to food, so they wont necessarily come to decoys, ive noticed that they are flying very fast over my deeks and not even paying attention to them...... Turns out that pigeons aren't as stupid as people think! I have also noted that the majority of pigeons feed in the middle of fields, how would i get round that with a hide? I dont think there is a way, we're kind of restricted to hedgerows etc (unless theres bails of straw, which there rarely are nowadays, farmers seem to take them Off the field more quickly!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrispti Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Build a hide in the middle of the field. The more, or bigger the nets you have the better. Some foliage will also help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainman_l Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 (edited) Hi Adam Just a thought, make sure your magnet is camo'd or is matt finished. Most of the magents have a shiny like finish and this glares in the sun light and will sparkle when spinning. I camo mine in woodland tape in winter and lighter duck blind camo tape for stubble. Also keep it low as possible on stubble and if they jink away from it bring it closer to the hide/switch it off or bring it in. I only recently aquired a magent and there is a learning curve with its postioning in the pattern, but when its right I have definitaley noticed say 30% more birds coming in with it in the right place right speed. Best of luck Edited September 3, 2012 by rainman_l Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 i think Motty hit the nail on he head.....just keep on trying, what is right for us in our area dosnt really mean it will be right in your area, you are going to have to find out by yourself, keep logging on to PW and try different things, even silly little things like making small adjustments to the decoy pattern as the weather changes........if you are new to decoying and went out and shot 50 birds everytime you went out ...you would get board quick...the fun is getting it right and when you are not shooting thinking about how you are going to approach it next time.......keep on asking questions....... ditchman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodyPopper Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 I'm pretty unsuccessful at pigeon shooting. But I think the others are right about experimenting. I was out on wheat stubble the other day and had high hopes because there were loads of pigeons about. But after half an hour, nothing doing. Without having any idea what was wrong, I picked up all my decoys and set them out again. Bingo, almost instantly, pigeons started coming in. It was like magic. The annoying thing of course is that I don't know what was wrong with my first pattern. But lesson learned - trying something different beats sitting around getting fed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted September 6, 2012 Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 I'm pretty unsuccessful at pigeon shooting. But I think the others are right about experimenting. I was out on wheat stubble the other day and had high hopes because there were loads of pigeons about. But after half an hour, nothing doing. Without having any idea what was wrong, I picked up all my decoys and set them out again. Bingo, almost instantly, pigeons started coming in. It was like magic. The annoying thing of course is that I don't know what was wrong with my first pattern. But lesson learned - trying something different beats sitting around getting fed up. But were there any pigeons flying around when you had your initial pattern out? I suspect not. Time of day is important and the birds may have just started flighting to feed when you coincidentally changed the pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodpigeon100 Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 Hi Adam Have a look at my post on MAGNET NOT PULLING - it works and turns a magnet from bird scarer to what its supposed to be. Dont give up - when I was a kid I thought I'd won the lottery if I got 10 - 40 years on I've learnt a few things! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr salt Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 calm down. we all have bad days. some times you can have too much stuff. just a few dead birds or decoys can work better than flappers or magnets. just one thing with the set up make it a bit more radom than the books tell you. i.e not a perfect horseshoe and the odd one face away from the wind. space them out a radom distance for each other , not all equal. if they are landing 200m away ,just leave everything where it is ,and you move. just keep at it. scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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