anser2 Posted May 9, 2015 Report Share Posted May 9, 2015 (edited) Over the years I've had buzzards, kestrels , foxes attack my decoys . I've had pigeons mount my decoys and mate with them , I waited till they finished and then shot them. Deer , pheasants ,hares and dog walkers walk through my decoys. Adults and children go to the loo behind hedges not aware of the the hide . Like you Pigeon controller I once had a pigeon mount a decoy . Perhaps I could understand if it had been a sift rubber decoy ,, but it was not , it was a hard shell decoy. After that I have complete faith in my decoys. Edited May 9, 2015 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigadam Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 2 years ago I heard a rustle in the bush behind me while decoying spun round to go nose to nose with a nice roe buck he **** I fell off mi bucket don't know who was the most shocked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigadam Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 2 years ago I heard a rustle in the bush behind me while decoying spun round to go nose to nose with a nice roe buck he **** I fell off mi bucket don't know who was the most shocked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 We had just got the permission in a wood and was exploring it complete with our springer. He suddenly ran in between the trees to near the far edge of the wood. Near the hedge was a green tent that Leo had found occupied by a young man with an foreign accent. He didn't speak much English and we weren't sure if he had permission from anyone to be there. It must have been quite a shock for him to be confronted by two people with shotguns although we did unload before we got to him. We contacted the woods owner when we got home as we didn't have their number with us and they didn't know they had a squatter. The farmers wife on our permission next to the wood saw him with his rucksack later that day on the track leading from the wood obviously having decided to leave after he had seen us. When the owners checked next day he had definatley gone. Sad that someone had to sleep in the wood as they couldn't find anywhere to live, but annoying as to all the rubbish he left behind him. The amount of carrier bags and empty containers he must have been their a while over Winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 We had just got the permission in a wood and was exploring it complete with our springer. He suddenly ran in between the trees to near the far edge of the wood. Near the hedge was a green tent that Leo had found occupied by a young man with an foreign accent. He didn't speak much English and we weren't sure if he had permission from anyone to be there. It must have been quite a shock for him to be confronted by two people with shotguns although we did unload before we got to him. We contacted the woods owner when we got home as we didn't have their number with us and they didn't know they had a squatter. The farmers wife on our permission next to the wood saw him with his rucksack later that day on the track leading from the wood obviously having decided to leave after he had seen us. When the owners checked next day he had definatley gone. Sad that someone had to sleep in the wood as they couldn't find anywhere to live, but annoying as to all the rubbish he left behind him. The amount of carrier bags and empty containers he must have been their a while over Winter. I listened to radio 4 yesterday and some guardian reading, graduate, giggling imbecile talking about wild camping, something we used to call simply camping. The only thing I agreed with was the bit where she said to leave no mess, obviously the foreign chap mentioned in the last post failed on that measure. Why does every thing have to have label these days, wild camping, adventure walking, wild swimming, I can't believe that so many of the population have so little connection with the natural environment around them that things I and all my friends class as normal. Any way this woman on the radio has written a book about wild camping, so if any of you have a nice little out of the way spot on your perm and it suddenly gets full of sissy wanna be types you will know who to blame, I think her name was Pippa or Philipa something or other!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 I have seen a few odd things but perhaps the strangest was when I witnessed Motty miss two pigeons on the trot ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clawback07 Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 Sitting in a hedge looking out at the decoys on a warm afternoon when a pigeon landed about twenty feet in front of me ,In waited to see if he would draw in any more when I noted he was acting a bit strange. While I watched him he lay down and went to sleep in the sun !Says something for my decoy pattern ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeh Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 5 Military helicopters in a V formation flying over my head at about 200ft. - The I saw them flying in from some distance away, Apocalypse now style.The best bit is they spooked every pigeon for 5 miles. Had a mad half hour after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 (edited) Shot an incomer whilst letting another settle on the ground so I could shoot it as it took off, it didn't but just sat there looking baffled as though deaf, easy sitter. Years ago was shooting a tiny bit of laid corn that was a good 30-35 yards out from the hedge, bird sailed in which I couldn't get on to and after a while I just got on with shooting the fresh incomers, after two or three down decided to do a round up and walking out minus gun got to the laid patch only to find the bird feeding completely oblivious to the sound of gun fire previously. Edited May 11, 2015 by Hamster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 I did once have a Parrot come into my decoys and have a little wander around , I didn't hear him say ( who is a pretty boy ) though . Another time I had a crop spraying plane come onto the pea field I was on and gave me a free show on how skilled he was in going underneath the power lines that went across the field , the down side was all my dead pigeons and decoys were covered with some White insect killer , at least it kept the flies off my dead birds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakeside1000 Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 Many years ago I had a single seat glider land right in front of me, he phoned his mate who arrived some time later with a trailer, at which point I gave them a hand to pull the wings and tail off and load it into the trailer, The worst or best one, depends on your point of view, last year I was hunkered down in my hide on some barley stubble when overhead came one of those weird looking RAF attack helicopters , the pilot did a low level pass at about 50 feet, then turned and came in right over my decoys, he dropped to about 20 feet above me, the downdraught sent my decoy shells in all directions, he hovered looking straight into my hide for a few seconds, then backed away, turned and disappeared across the field into the distance,I have no idea what he was looking for but spent the next 10 minutes retrieving my decoys, pigeons were back with minutes of him going, and I had quite a good day, 39 picked up so all in all quite a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 Many years ago I had a single seat glider land right in front of me, he phoned his mate who arrived some time later with a trailer, at which point I gave them a hand to pull the wings and tail off and load it into the trailer, The worst or best one, depends on your point of view, last year I was hunkered down in my hide on some barley stubble when overhead came one of those weird looking RAF attack helicopters , the pilot did a low level pass at about 50 feet, then turned and came in right over my decoys, he dropped to about 20 feet above me, the downdraught sent my decoy shells in all directions, he hovered looking straight into my hide for a few seconds, then backed away, turned and disappeared across the field into the distance,I have no idea what he was looking for but spent the next 10 minutes retrieving my decoys, pigeons were back with minutes of him going, and I had quite a good day, 39 picked up so all in all quite a day. y Probably picked you up on thermal imager and thought you were going to zap him with an RPG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffolkngood Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 Not whilst decoying, but couple of years ago we had the police helicopter land Behind the gun line whilst on a game shoot. The drive was brought to an end and the police explained there was an escaped prisoner who had left a suicide note and his abandoned car was found parked in a nearby wood. Then they got our beaters to line the wood out and make a search for them. Nothing was found..............the convict was eventually arrested several weeks later in another part of the country. He'd left the note and car as a decoy to allow him more time to get away from the area. Ruined the day for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooooper Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 (edited) having a slow morning shooting over winter rape I started to here in the distance but getting closer was what I would only call the village idiot shouting ALL ABROAD FOR LLANYRAVON I watched him all the way up to my decoys he walked straight to my flapper which was going like a goodun having a quick look about he quickly pick it up screaming Susie Susie Susie kiss it and run off at warp speed, I couldn,t tell you to this day what happened to Susie but all I know it cost me a flapper Edited May 12, 2015 by cooooper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pothunter Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 The surprising theme revealed by this thread is the remarkable number of law-abiding vermin controllers who've been buzzed in the course of their endeavours by military or paramilitary aircraft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrpip Posted May 13, 2015 Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 A few year ago, out rabbiting on a disused ash tip with the rim fire, spotted 2 rabbits grazing about 50 yds away. Shot the first off the bipod, chambered the next round & the second rabbit ran round in a circle then went behind the dead one & started nudging it with its nose, shot it clean head shot. When I went & picked them the first was a buck & the second a young doe, I've shot thousands over the years but these two stick in the memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columba Grey Posted May 17, 2015 Report Share Posted May 17, 2015 Back in late 80s Northern Ireland shooting wasn't confined to rabbits vermin and game. One had to be careful where and when one shot and it was sometimes advisable to let the police know where you were going to shoot. I was new to pigeon shooting and in the west of the province opportunities were few and far between. So when I discovered that a rape field was being attacked by the grey hoard I give a cursory thought to my own safety and let the police know where I was going to shoot. The fields were right on the border with Donegal and was jammed between the border and two main roads. A security watch tower no doubt with marksmen watching a comings and goings overlooked the rape fields some 800 yards distant. I set up with little regard for my safety and had a couple of hours of good shooting. Just as I eyed yet another bird coming to the decoys I spotted a squad of about 12 police and army marching in a straight line up the field. What to do ? Simple really:: remove my balaclava empty my gum make it out of the hide and alert the squad to my presence. Thankfully it all ended well ...a few local residents were complaining about the shooting and I moved the hide to the lower end of the field Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Neal Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 After only a few outings in my decoying career, my strangest experience so far is that I actually managed to decoy and shoot a few pigeons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 After only a few outings in my decoying career, my strangest experience so far is that I actually managed to decoy and shoot a few pigeons WOW!! That is weird but it happens to me sometimes. too!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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