Vineyard shooting (help)

[Jonboy14]

Hi all

I have a very large permission which is a vineyard in fact one of the biggest in uk, I have only just got this perm in last few months , the owner has asked to control the pigeons rooks and rabbits mainly as pigeons over the last few years seem to of taken a taste to the buds which shoot in spring about 3-4 weeks time,the buds that come out on the vines have taken a beating the last two seasons and now the land owner has had enough as he has worked out that the decrease in his harvest was upto 30 % as they eat the young buds and therfor stop the future growing of the trees. I have been roost hooting his woods last few weeks and on Sunday I walked the vines after a few rabbits and there were pigeons coming out the vines everywhere , I must of seen between 100-150 , I am asking for thoughts on how to decoy ? The best Ive come up with is attaching my magnet to one of poles on the end of vines and putting decoys out ( basically a normal set up)but I am more interested if Any other pw members had ever done Anything like this be for ?

[evo]

put some full bodied decoys on hangers in the trees mate and sit tight and blast away, think you will be better with the shotgun but would certainly give an air rifle a pop aswell,

 

one perm I have has vines on one side and will normally decoy very well if I put decoys out in the adjacent field but close to the vineyard also it sounds like you need to start straight away because the pigeons are already eating the buds if you scared off 100-150

 

hope this helps

 

Evo

[HDAV]

DO you have FAC?

 

Fieldsports britain had an article quite a while ago about a chap who shot them in around fruit trees with an air rifle of adjustable power so as not to damage the fruit. Try and look it up he hid in a hide and had a few decoys.

[pigeon controller]

We use to shoot an orchard, about five acres, in the spring when the pigeons were on the buds/ flowers, we would flag off the centre with paper overalls and shoot the windward side of the perimeter which had a twenty yard grass section with normal decoy methods. It would be a long job as we covered it from dawn to dusk. We did this as it gave us the shooting on the rest of the farm over the rest of the year.

[Kes]

It might also be a good idea to ask a few friends for a couple of weekends/days as it sounds like you need to be in more than one place - also the disturbance you all cause will make the pigeons more prone to find alternative food sources quickly. You could also try large hawk/owl decoys in certain areas to 'channel' the birds to where you are. The paper overalls above is a good idea. I'd be careful to scare as many pigeons as frequently as possible since your permission will remain only if you are effective. Try a few crow scarers with the landowners permission if its a very big area.

[Bobba]

I recently visited a vineyard SW of Bristol which has placed long / high floater poles (possibly about 10 ft) around the vineyard. On the end of each was a black winged silhouette plastic bird. I didn't look too closely to see whether it was a crow or bird of prey. But they were quite an amazing sight swaying in the wind and, I was told, very effective.

[HDAV]

I the landowner is seriously loosing crop and money (high value crop) then point him to these people http://www.scarecrow.eu/ then shoot around the system using it to control birds when no shooting can take place. PM me for more info

[Jonboy14]

Thanks for all replys lads , going to give it a go this weekend and just see how it goes , the land it's self is approx 80 acres plus a further 20 on the other side of the road so defnetly going to need a few guns to cover it properly but I will flag off the bits I'm not shooting near

[Bear1cat]

That is a big vineyard.

I think the above posts do give most the information you need.

If I was you the plan would be to channel them to their favoured area by flagging off the other areas or by using predator decoys.

Then set some pigeon decoys and be waiting for them. Happy days

Or as mentioned arrange to have a few guns there at the same time. They will soon get the message that it is a dangerous place to feed.

[Bleeh]

I recently visited a vineyard SW of Bristol which has placed long / high floater poles (possibly about 10 ft) around the vineyard. On the end of each was a black winged silhouette plastic bird. I didn't look too closely to see whether it was a crow or bird of prey. But they were quite an amazing sight swaying in the wind and, I was told, very effective.

You see quiet a few of them around here. Very effective at first, give it a couple of weeks and the pigeons start feeding around them with no worries at all!

[Penelope]

A few local schools have them on the roofs to keep the gulls from nesting on them and I had one installed on a building I used to manage in the City of London as there was a pair of Herring Gulls that used to nest there and dive bomb anyone that went to the boiler room and cooling tower, vomiting and c rapping all over them. Took a few hits myself, had to wear a hard hat. Maintenance engineers refused to go up there in the end, hence the kite. Appears to have worked so far, but there is this breeding season to come.

 

 

You see quiet a few of them around here. Very effective at first, give it a couple of weeks and the pigeons start feeding around them with no worries at all!

[Mightymariner]

I wouldn't bother with decoys if the birds are already feeding there, just find the best spot to make a hides, and maybe flag off other areas if you need.

[Jonboy14]

Thanks all going to give it a bash tommorow and I shall see how it goes and let you all know