Cosd Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 I read a few years back an article in Sporting Gun where they talked about setting decoys up in a straight line to direct the birds. The concept was that the traffic of birds on flight lines can be quite wide, so even when you can get beneath one the birds can still fly out of range either side of your hide. The article spoke about adding a straight line of decoys along the field directly in front of the hide and that the birds would follow the line of decoys even when not commiting; If they do commit though they would head to the front of the pattern which would be your kill zone. I tried this method last year and again yesterday in a slightly different scenario to the one described in SG and it worked well both times so I thought I'd share it here. I was set up with my back to a hedge row which ran the length of the field, this was thick and consisted trees as well as bushes. There was zero wind and I was shooting over rape which is around 15" high. I placed 12 FUD decoys out in a random pattern looking for bare/thinner patches so they were visible; I had the magnet with Hyperflaps and the Turbo flapper. The day turned out to be quiet but 95% of the birds were all coming from the corner of the field from my left following the hedge line and heading for the magnet, as they neared 60/70 yards they would veer off either over the hedge row behind me or out into the field. I knew they could see the decoys but they wouldn't come closer. After an hour or so I decided to change the pattern to see if I could get them to come in closer. I placed the decoys in two tram lines, and using the 12 decoys I staggered them between the two lines starting from about 40 yards to my left and stretching to about 10 yards to my right, with the flapper between the tram line and my hide and the magnet another 20 yards past the end of the last decoy again to my right. This worked a treat. Pretty much every bird that came along that corner followed the line of decoys and didn't come off giving me perfect left to right shot's at about 25 yards out. As said, I did this again last year and it worked text book fashion then too. As said, it wasn't busy but I shot well dropping 18 birds for 24 shells. I really enjoyed the day because I get a real buzz when you do something and the birds respond as you want them to. I'll see if I can post a diagram of the set up..... Cos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the pigeon man Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Great tip !! Il be trying this at the weekend cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deny essex Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Good one Cos , your turn to teach me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted May 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Good one Cos , your turn to teach me I doubt that very much mate!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynny Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 I diagram would be great mate, sounds good, ATB Flynny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardo Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 sounds a similar principal to what i call the motorway setup - two parralel lines... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Very interesting! Looking forward to your diagram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted May 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 sounds a similar principal to what i call the motorway setup - two parralel lines... It's very similar to that Nick, except the two lines are much closer together so it almost looks like a rough single line for the birds follow. The length of the line is also longer on the method I used, roughly 40/50 yards from the front decoy to the back one. Anyone thinking to try the method I'm talking about, it's only good if the birds really are coming from the same direction. If birds are coming in from everywhere then I wouldn't use this pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Nice write up Cosd and well worth a read. I'll be trying that when the situation arises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickB65 Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Will give this a go tonight and see what happens.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Look forward to hearing how others get on with Cosds' "cunning plan" I will give it a go next time out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Good write up Cosd. If I ever get to see another pigeon I will give it a try. I presume that you would not attempt to put the decoys out as you described if the birds were decoying well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted May 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Look forward to hearing how others get on with Cosds' "cunning plan" I will give it a go next time out. It's not a "cunning plan" BB, it was a trial run for my cunning plan to run a line of decoys from your permision to mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 It's not a "cunning plan" BB, it was a trial run for my cunning plan to run a line of decoys from your permision to mine :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norfolk Ern Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 The motorway pattern is the pattern I've used to greatest effect on the rape I've been shooting. I've also used my whirly off to the left or right of the pattern depending on wind direction. The pattern isn't regimented and spacing of the 2 lines varies depending on the bald patches on the field. Have found a 25 to 30 yard spacing between the lines channels them in nicely. Sitting under a freshly budded oak tree, the birds decoy a treat with some deciding to glide in to the tree giving me some beautifully presented shots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitey10765666 Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Yea Ive used it a few times i call it the runway.like an airport runway directing planes in but it works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawntredder Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 motorway set up yeh..i used it after seeing article in mag..had me best flight on drilled barley for along time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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