chippy18 Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 Hi all New to the site and also new to pigeon decoying. Am after some advice about the birds that have been shot. Started out decoying last weekend with fair amount of success. ( 42 shot ) I started using shell decoys and went to real birds once i had some. What i wanted to know is; I was shooting for around 5 hours and had dead birds out as decoys for this time, only moving shot birds if they look a bit dodgy in the way they had fell and not wanting to scare of prospective customers. When i had had enough and collected up the birds i noticed that they had gone rather stiff, I know you will all probably be screaming now that they are dead and they will be, but as i was leaving the birds for the farmer in an out building i was unable to find out how long it is OK to leave dead birds on the field and also how long before they should be cleaned after shooting. Hopefully this does not sound to daft, but had no experience with this before as i have been shooting clays for years. Appreciate any help as i don't want to shoot them if i don't know what to do afterwards. Cheers guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stealth Stalker Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 Welcome Chippy you will love it it on here, loads of advice & help. What was you shooting over? If the birds have been on the rape its best to remove the crop of its contents as soon as possible, it will taint the meat. If the weather was hot you will probably find that the flies have found them the second they hit the deck. What I do is keep about 20 dead birds in the freezer, cut one leg off ( to id the frozen birds) and use these as deaks, use them as long as you can re freezing them. That way you can bring the freshly shot birds in to the hide and pop them in wet hessian sack to keep the flies at bay. Generally I like to prep the birds on my return from the field, obviously you can leave them longer in the winter months. Hope this is usefull SS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl h Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Nice to have you on board mate you will get loads of tips from these guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazza Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippy18 Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Welcome Chippy you will love it it on here, loads of advice & help. What was you shooting over? If the birds have been on the rape its best to remove the crop of its contents as soon as possible, it will taint the meat. If the weather was hot you will probably find that the flies have found them the second they hit the deck. What I do is keep about 20 dead birds in the freezer, cut one leg off ( to id the frozen birds) and use these as deaks, use them as long as you can re freezing them. That way you can bring the freshly shot birds in to the hide and pop them in wet hessian sack to keep the flies at bay. Generally I like to prep the birds on my return from the field, obviously you can leave them longer in the winter months. Hope this is usefull SS Hi thanks for the reply. To be honest i am not sure what was in the field, it was recently drilled that i do know. I had not intended to set up there as i was there after the Farmer asked if i could have a go at the crows which he has a major prob with. I was driving past this field and noticed there was a lot of pigeons landing so i thought i would give it a whirl for my first time. The weather was a tad warm for the time of year. I will certainly try your idea of the birds in the freezer and bringing the birds into the hide. The only thing i need to learn now is how to prep them when i get them home. Thanks again Chippy Nice to have you on board mate you will get loads of tips from these guys Cheers mate am looking forward to picking up a few tips as i have really got the pigeon bug now. all the best Chippy Thanks mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckytrigger Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 you will find plenty of good info on here. Top forum Intersting first post. Im just getting the cash together for a shotgun and cant wait to have a go at decoying.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippy18 Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 you will find plenty of good info on here. Top forum Thanks mate have already picked up some good tips just from reading other posts, looks like a top site. All the best Chippy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Prepping them is simplicity itself. Twist off or cut off the wings as close to the body as possible Rip open the crop from the front and pull back to expose the top of the breast Shove right thumb down behind breast into cavity, guiding it along the underside of the breast bone Shove left thumb (so that thumbnails face each other) also down into cavity Using some strength literally rip with the right hand, aim for a half-rotation of the right hand If you have done it right, your right hand will have in it a 80% separated breast on the bone, use the left hand to grab the remaining skin and feathers from the pointy end of the breast, pull apart. One perfect breast with no skin or feathers, on the bone Sorted. With practice you can easily do 50 bird in under 10 minutes. No mess, no mucking about skinning them or messing about with knives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 You may also consider that you only want the breast meat, in which case a sharp knife down each side of the breast bone, peel off the skin and feathers, job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippy18 Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 you will find plenty of good info on here. Top forum Intersting first post. Im just getting the cash together for a shotgun and cant wait to have a go at decoying.. Thanks for the note. Have noticed lots of info already should have joined ages ago. Good luck on the s/gun front, try guntrader.co.uk masses of guns there. All the Best Mate You may also consider that you only want the breast meat, in which case a sharp knife down each side of the breast bone, peel off the skin and feathers, job done. Thanks for the tip will try this method as well. It certainly makes sense to take the breast of as there does not seem a lot else. I have also seen a nice recipe for pan fried pigeon breast. Cheers Mate Thanks again Prepping them is simplicity itself. Twist off or cut off the wings as close to the body as possible Rip open the crop from the front and pull back to expose the top of the breast Shove right thumb down behind breast into cavity, guiding it along the underside of the breast bone Shove left thumb (so that thumbnails face each other) also down into cavity Using some strength literally rip with the right hand, aim for a half-rotation of the right hand If you have done it right, your right hand will have in it a 80% separated breast on the bone, use the left hand to grab the remaining skin and feathers from the pointy end of the breast, pull apart. One perfect breast with no skin or feathers, on the bone Sorted. With practice you can easily do 50 bird in under 10 minutes. No mess, no mucking about skinning them or messing about with knives Thanks for the advice. Think it will take me awhile to manage them that fast but will be having ago this weekend so hopefully get chance to try. Cheers Mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkeye Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Hi chippy welcome to the site i read you post and thought i was seeing things as i have read this somewhere before and replied to it... Then i found it on Deako's site posted on the 9th oct so you will have shot them on the 7th or 8th not last weekend which was the 14th / 15th Still it was a good bag for your first time out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chippy18 Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Hi chippy welcome to the site i read you post and thought i was seeing things as i have read this somewhere before and replied to it...Then i found it on Deako's site posted on the 9th oct so you will have shot them on the 7th or 8th not last weekend which was the 14th / 15th Still it was a good bag for your first time out... Hi Hawkeye Yep you certainly did reply to it on the other site. When i found this one i thought why not post it here and see what i get. So i just did a copy and paste to save typing it all again, so yep the dates for my first encounter with the pigeons was that weekend and not the one just gone, as i was not allowed to go this weekend. Her who has to be obeyed decided that i shoot to much and i needed to take her to that great old town Tonbridge Wells for her to carry out her hobby of shopping. Lucky for me she did not know that there is a great shop there and Low and behold i nip in while she was trying on the the trousers that she tried on 3 hours ago when we first got there and am told that the Beretta AL 391 Uricka they had for sale really should come home with me so it was not that bad after all. Cheers Mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkeye Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Hi chippy welcome to the site i read you post and thought i was seeing things as i have read this somewhere before and replied to it... Then i found it on Deako's site posted on the 9th oct so you will have shot them on the 7th or 8th not last weekend which was the 14th / 15th Still it was a good bag for your first time out... Hi Haweye Yep you certainly did reply to it on the other site. When i found this one i thought why not post it here and see what i get. So i just did a copy and paste to save typing it all again, so yep the dates for my first encounter with the pigeons was that weekend and not the one just gone, as i was not allowed to go this weekend. Her who has to be obeyed decided that i shoot to much and i needed to take her to that great old town Tonbridge Wells for her to carry out her hobby of shopping. Lucky for me she did not know that there is a great shop there and Low and behold i nip in while she was trying on the the trousers that she tried on 3 hours ago when we first got there and am told that the Beretta AL 391 Uricka they had for sale really should come home with me so it was not that bad after all. Cheers Mate Well done hope you enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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