stevekeating Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Hello all, After much door knocking and many no's I finally got a permission from a farmer, really nice chap and after a few weeks he's given me open access to all his land. Great, this was in October, me and a mate have been going most weekends and mid week I drive round to see what's about. We have seen loads of crows and a few pigeons but we are struggling to get them to decoy with any degree of success. You might say we have all the gear and some idea. π. what would seasoned pros on here suggest, we are under flight lines, decoys in horse shoe pattern facing the wind, two camo nets and branches etc attached to them to the extent I lost the hide once I get out of itπ. We have in three month shot 5 pigeons and two crows, not what I was hoping for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoJackRussells Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Firstly well done you have acheived the hardest task by obtaining a permission. Dont get hung up on decoy patterns etc just yet, what you need to do is find whereabouts on the land the birds are feeding thats assuming they are actually feeding on your patch.Once You know where they are You then need to know when they are doing it( I know this sounds obvious ).It sounds to me like You and Your mate are probably sharing a hide , now I know its great to share the day but Split up, this enables You to cover more ground and You can push any birds to and fro increasing Your Odds. Next, if birds won commit to Your deeks then dont be frigtened to shoot them off the flightline. Many times Ive had 50 plus deeks and a rotay out and never had a bird commit but have still taken good numbers just be sensible about what You attempt.With regard to Decoys , Rotarys etc.. its very much trial and error and just when you get it right and birds are dropping in the wind will change, a buzzard will turn up, or a Tractor will appear!Just keep going and trying and asking and it will come together. Incidentally now You have Your 1st permission its quite likely others will soon follow. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekeating Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Firstly well done you have acheived the hardest task by obtaining a permission. Dont get hung up on decoy patterns etc just yet, what you need to do is find whereabouts on the land the birds are feeding thats assuming they are actually feeding on your patch.Once You know where they are You then need to know when they are doing it( I know this sounds obvious ).It sounds to me like You and Your mate are probably sharing a hide , now I know its great to share the day but Split up, this enables You to cover more ground and You can push any birds to and fro increasing Your Odds. Next, if birds won commit to Your deeks then dont be frigtened to shoot them off the flightline. Many times Ive had 50 plus deeks and a rotay out and never had a bird commit but have still taken good numbers just be sensible about what You attempt.With regard to Decoys , Rotarys etc.. its very much trial and error and just when you get it right and birds are dropping in the wind will change, a buzzard will turn up, or a Tractor will appear!Just keep going and trying and asking and it will come together. Incidentally now You have Your 1st permission its quite likely others will soon follow. Good luck. Thanks for that advice, we do share a hide and it would seem better to make two, I am also going to make more of an effort to get there more in the week and at dawn and sunset to see what the crack is. The fields are mostly rape and peas but its not that far along at the moment, all the pigeons seem to be in the back gardens and not on the fields round here, I suppose its a nice easy, riskfree meal on a bird feeder. The advice will be put to good use as soon as the rain stops. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekeating Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Ok so I went to see if there was any action on the rape today but there were no pigeons about at all, I then drove past another farm down the road to find the field was full of pigeons (wheat I think) I spoke to the farmer (turns out to be the brother of the farmer I have permission with) anyway he said I can shoot today but he has someone who shoots regularly left my card and the pigeons had moved off the wheat. Interesting that he said he wasn't bothered by pigeons on the wheat as they couldn't do any damage!! So why were they there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 (edited) Ok so I went to see if there was any action on the rape today but there were no pigeons about at all, I then drove past another farm down the road to find the field was full of pigeons (wheat I think) I spoke to the farmer (turns out to be the brother of the farmer I have permission with) anyway he said I can shoot today but he has someone who shoots regularly left my card and the pigeons had moved off the wheat. Interesting that he said he wasn't bothered by pigeons on the wheat as they couldn't do any damage!! So why were they there? Β Well done on your perm. The wheat should have been sprayed off in the autumn to kill weeds and grasses. As it has been so wet a lot of crops haven't been sprayed so theres all manner of foodstuffs growing in the crops. Thats what they are after. One field of rape on one of my shoots looks like a bowling green!! All the rape has been choked out by grasses and other weeds and the little that was left has been finished off by the slugs and pigeons. There are a lot of pigeons feeding on it but they are off as soon as there is any suspicious activity. Edited December 30, 2012 by turbo33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekeating Posted December 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Yep, same with us, any sign of movement and they are off to the next field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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