Help and tips please

[MJO]

Caveat: new to pigeon shooting so please bear in mind - no advice will be too basic

 

My permission is a smallish cattle farm with some woods and mainly pasture.

 

I have identified a flightline across the fields and set a hide and decoys as per the general advice (pattern, wind direction etc) but nothing. I assume that this is because of two possible reasons:

 

1) They would not generally feed on these fields so it would be unnatural for them to come down irrespective of the decoys. I have read that some people have had some success decoying on pasture......??

 

2) The flightline seems to run from their roosting location, a small wood, out and in, so am wondering if the hide / kill zone is too near their roost??

 

When I walk through the fields along the hedgerows I always put up a fair few pigeons flying away and fast - have had a few shots coming up through them and firing as i go through the target as I would with a clay going away from me, but no luck - any tips on lead, swing, aim point etc??

 

There are of course a good amount of pigeons flying the flightline, but I am not Mr Digweed!

 

The maize field has been cut last week so will try and get over tmrw and see how that develops, but siting the hide will be challenging as the maize field is bordered by a road one side and a golf course on the other.

 

This is the only permission I have at the moment and although lucky to have any, I want to exploit it the best I can - any and all advice would be welcome.

[andrew f]

how far is the one side from the other on the maize? or do some roost shooting?

[dougall]

Hi,

1.pigeons only really decoy to food sources,just setting up on 'pasture' is unlikely to work...have you ever seen numbers on the deck eating for example clover?If not decoying is not your answer here.Your best bet is roost shooting,find a nice clearing in the trees from about 3pm and take them as they come into roost.

If maize has been cut,ar ethere any on it?Is there much spillage/maize heads left on the floor?..It maybe possible to decoy here but you need to let them find it first...atb

[MJO]

how far is the one side from the other on the maize? or do some roost shooting?

At the widest it's about 300 m x about 500m long

 

Excuse the ignorance but would really benefit from a walk through of how to roost shoot

 

Thanks

Hi,

1.pigeons only really decoy to food sources,just setting up on 'pasture' is unlikely to work...have you ever seen numbers on the deck eating for example clover?If not decoying is not your answer here.Your best bet is roost shooting,find a nice clearing in the trees from about 3pm and take them as they come into roost.

If maize has been cut,ar ethere any on it?Is there much spillage/maize heads left on the floor?..It maybe possible to decoy here but you need to let them find it first...atb

That all makes good sens and i am inclined to think that maybe this is not the best place for decoying unless I find them feeding on the maize tmw.

 

Excuse the ignorance but would really benefit from a walk through of how to roost shoot - a-z style

 

Cheers

[fenboy]

How to roost shoot.

 

Have a look in the wood , start by looking for the tallest trees as these are often favoured for the pigeon to drop into first, if a area is being well used there will be plenty of droppings on the floor .

 

Bare in mind you need to be able to see the pigeon to shoot them so a small clearing will help.

 

 

Get in the wood a couple of hours or so before dark and get to your chosen spot , wear camo or drab colours and a face mask and hat ( a face mask is a big help when roosting)

Stand with your back to a tree , do not stand behind a tree as it will only get in the way .

 

When you see pigeon coming in if they are high do not be tempted to shoot them , wait and they will come around again lower, once you have the chance of a shot swing through and shoot as normal , ignore any tree branches when you do this , to compensate for pellets hitting twigs etc you may want to up the load to 32 grams of 6

[Maddaftspaniel]

Roost shooting is simple.

 

1. Identify a wood where pigeon are roosting

2.Spend some time in the late afternoon observing the flight lines into the wood. These may vary depending where the pigeons are returning from and according to changes in the wind direction.

3. Observe the favoured spots in the wood for roosting

4. Position yourself somewhere on the edge of or in the wood so as to get under the pigeon traffic. If you get a strong flight line coming into the wood it may pay to build a hide.

5. Shoot the pigeons as they fly in

 

Enjoy

[MJO]

That's great - thanks for your patience with the beginner.

 

It's quite a dense, high wood so think I'll go for the hide on the edge looking out to the incoming flightpath.

 

All very helpful

[pigeon controller]

I've been successful on the edge of roost woods at dusk , best if you can get strong wind from behind. Put out shot birds on the grass to lead them on to your gun. Watch the wood one night to see the area they favour and go there on your shooting night. Just keep still choose your birds and come up through them and shoot. All the very best.

[MJO]

I've been successful on the edge of roost woods at dusk , best if you can get strong wind from behind. Put out shot birds on the grass to lead them on to your gun. Watch the wood one night to see the area they favour and go there on your shooting night. Just keep still choose your birds and come up through them and shoot. All the very best.

 

That's useful thanks. Day off tmrw so will give it a go. See how the maize stubble goes in the AM

[lakeside1000]

Don't forget you can also shoot along the flight lines, on windy days the birds will stay low to get cover from trees etc, lines normally follow roads or tree lines so look for the best spot, set up a hide and take them as they pass overhead, you can set up at a minimum distance of 50 feet from the centre of a roadway, but do not shoot across the road, your shot should always fall within your permission so direction of shot is crucial and be careful in strong wind conditions as shot will carry some distance on the wind, I've had shot fall 350 yards downwind,mind you it was a force 8 gale, hides work just as well in the open fields as in hedges and ditches, just ensure a good solid hide that will not show colour or movement to the approaching birds.as for decoys, you can set as many shells and full bodied as you like but if you want to attract birds in you need movement, use at least two flappers with dead birds mounted, and one or two floaters or bouncers, If birds are coming in with confidence a rotary magnet works well, but if they are a little wary I find they will shy away as they get near the edge of the pattern. I much prefer the turbo flappers but you need to take a couple of dead birds with you to set up,

Just one point , in your description you say you cant hit birds going away, if you line up on the bird it should be visible sitting right on top of the barrels, don't come up through them as you will invariable shoot high,if the bird is moving away to the left or right aim at the wing , to the left , left wing, to the right , right wing,

It can be very frustrating when you miss but practice will soon bring results, find someone who shoots well and invite them to come along to give you advice, you may even get a return invitation .

One last thing, if you are on grass land don't forget to take a few crow decoys, they often like 'grazing' especially where there have been cattle, and when there are no pigeons you might get a few shots on corvids. its all good practice. Good luck.

[MJO]

Don't forget you can also shoot along the flight lines, on windy days the birds will stay low to get cover from trees etc, lines normally follow roads or tree lines so look for the best spot, set up a hide and take them as they pass overhead, you can set up at a minimum distance of 50 feet from the centre of a roadway, but do not shoot across the road, your shot should always fall within your permission so direction of shot is crucial and be careful in strong wind conditions as shot will carry some distance on the wind, I've had shot fall 350 yards downwind,mind you it was a force 8 gale, hides work just as well in the open fields as in hedges and ditches, just ensure a good solid hide that will not show colour or movement to the approaching birds.as for decoys, you can set as many shells and full bodied as you like but if you want to attract birds in you need movement, use at least two flappers with dead birds mounted, and one or two floaters or bouncers, If birds are coming in with confidence a rotary magnet works well, but if they are a little wary I find they will shy away as they get near the edge of the pattern. I much prefer the turbo flappers but you need to take a couple of dead birds with you to set up,

Just one point , in your description you say you cant hit birds going away, if you line up on the bird it should be visible sitting right on top of the barrels, don't come up through them as you will invariable shoot high,if the bird is moving away to the left or right aim at the wing , to the left , left wing, to the right , right wing,

It can be very frustrating when you miss but practice will soon bring results, find someone who shoots well and invite them to come along to give you advice, you may even get a return invitation .

One last thing, if you are on grass land don't forget to take a few crow decoys, they often like 'grazing' especially where there have been cattle, and when there are no pigeons you might get a few shots on corvids. its all good practice. Good luck.

 

That's great advice - many thanks.

 

Sat up on the maize stubble yesterday - a fair few flew over fast and high, but couldn't tempt any down. May have to invest in some moving gadgets as you suggest!

 

Thanks again