Bussta Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 The end of the season has finally copme and am gearing up to do a bit of vermin/pigeon shooting in some woods on my shoot. I have noticed that there are numerous flights of pigeons that come into the wood, but all seems pretty random, also there are a lot of rooks about. I can only really go in the day, but intend to stay all day long, so what would be the best advice for the following: pigeons in the wood Rooks in the wood Rabbits in the wood & field - how to spot them & not spook them Squirrels Magpies & Jays would any bird calls help? Its a massive wood, so don't think I need to worry too much about scaring away birds from the whole wood, but would like some advice as the best way to go abouts hunting all of these. I have a face net and will be greener than the Jolly green giant! Also what shot load should I go for - 30g 6's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 For magpies i find that a predator call brings them straight in very often. Why don't you try shooting the pigeons at roost time? If it is a massive wood you could do with finding out the flight line the pigeons are on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tody27 Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 No pigeon calls will work at this time of year. - The rooks and magpies can be brought in by calls tho. Shoot the pigeons when they come into roost. This will be between 1430hrs -1500hrs. u will get sum good sport till bout 1730hrs. 30g 6's r a good load. I sumtimes use 28g 7.5s aswell. Tody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bussta Posted January 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Thanks Guys, May have a look into getting a crow call or something, what call attracts maggies, jays & crows the best? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 If you spend some time watching the woods, at different times of the day, you will notice "flight lines". These can vary slightly with wind direction, but they are there. Locating them can save you lots of wasted hours. If you find trees covered in ivy on the lee of the wood, they would be worth watching. At the moment round here, ivy berries are the food of choice. I have never used calls for pigeons and I,m not sure if they work. The predator calls do work, for magpies and jays. All you have to do is sit very, very still (small hide ?) they will come to you. The same applies to squirrels, once you locate their favoured areas, its just a case of sitting still and waiting. I would take the chance of a rabbit as a bonus and just walk around the perimeter carefully, hoping to "jump" one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red_stag88 Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 On the tree rats, I always keep very open ears, stalking along very slowly. Watch the ground at the base of trees, as well as the canopies. When you see a drey, or a good looking area, what I tend to do is sit in the ride for about 15 mins, waiting for activity. If you use a shotgun (which I dont) after you fire, collect the tree rat, and return to your sitting place. Doing this I shot 25 out of a ride about 100yds long, all within one morning, with the airgun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 Bussta. Much of my late winter and early spring shooting is done in woodland. I generally leave my 12 guage at home an use a Weihrauch HW 90 gas ram in .22 which I can leave cocked indefinately. I will stalk slowly through the woods stopping for an hour or so at a predetermined spot normally on the outskirts . and let the prey come to me. Cammo is not that important, I have it, but generally will use a olive battered barbour with a similar colur balaclava. The most important things are silence and keeping still. You will be suprised at what you can observe when things settle down. Do a reccy of the woods first and work out where the prey is likely to appear. Crows and Maggies often float around the outskirts looking for carrion and can be decoyed with a bag of empty rubbish or couple of slices of bread. ( Attracts those white crows too.) One of my most productive shoots has a cattle trough about 25 m away from the wood edge and all manner of things besides cows come to drink during the day. I wait till they settle on the rim and give them a Eddy Waring ( Early Bath ). By the way did you know that the pigeon family is the only bird that can drink without the need to tip its head back! The best decoy I have used for crows and maggies is a buzzard I carved from a lump of wood. I used it mainly for scaring the pigeons away from my allotment so I doubt if it would work as well on them. Some people use a match box or smarty tube with ball bearings or pellets inside. a quick shake sounds like a Maggie, but the Maggie call we normally hear is an alarm call and I have never found this that effective. Crow calls work best early breeding season when young birds are pairing off and territorial. As I said I normally dont use a shotgun for this type of shooting and it requires abit of patience... But thats why I am a Fisherman!!! Give it a try you wont be dissapointed. FM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bussta Posted January 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 Thanks for the advise Mike, I have a 410 double barrel that I can use and a single barrel folding one which is obviously much lighter - would you recommend these to the old trusty 12 bore? - I take it it's all down to noise and disturbing the wood. Would a .410 be powerfull enough to knock down pigeons and rabbits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red_stag88 Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 If you are rifleing the birds out of trees, and the bunnies are just sitting, then the .410 is perfect. Just go for a head shot on rabbits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hymax12uk Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 I have a similar problem in some feilds i shoot. the wood is on the side of a hill with large mixed trees as of yet i havent had a good bag pigeons of this land i have tryed watching wating till it goes dark decoying few feilds awy ones and twos are all i get! the problem is they come in so high .their is a lot of pigeons but not in range i was thinking of placing a platform up in the wood but it would be a hell of a hight to shoot out of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 A predator call you would use for foxes is the type i use for magpies. When you shoot a magpie sit close to the perimeter and set the dead bodies up the trees they work great as decoys and the magpies come straight into them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 Bussta. Yes Red stagg is right 410 perfect for that use. I have an old s/b webley which I often use. I sometimes use a d/b .410 for pigeon shooting also at a little closer range.( if I want a real days testing sport.) I Dont find that I injur any more than I would with my 12 or 16 gauge and it ceratinly hones your shooting skills. One thing I would say about staking out a wood for an hour or two you would be suprised at the number of Tree rats that appear out of nowhere. Only last week I shot 6 in 2 hours with the HW90 and must have seen about 25 in all. Dont make the mistake of thinking they hibernate because they dont. A warm sunny day in winter will bring them out on the feed and they will be preoccupied with trying to find and dig up the food they buried in the Autumn. You might be interested to Know that the strangest thing I have ever observed whilst sat stake out in a wood was two male moles fighting it out in the leaf litter. The territorial conflict went on for almost 1 1/2 hours. I didnt know that the little ******* were so vicious! FM..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bussta Posted February 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 thanks for the advise, My major reason for mentioning the .410 is that I am worried about "spooking" the wood if I fire off with a 12B or doesn't it make that much difference? I will probably be taking pot shots at low flying pigeons and trying to get as close upto maggies, jays and tree rats as I can. I am a good shot, but would I do better going with the 12bore and leaving the 410? - or would it be a better idea to take the 410 as It doesn't make as much noise and would lessen the risk of everything in the county flying away? sorry for the 100 questions, but I want to make as much of a day of it as possible! Thanks for all of your knowlege guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bussta Posted February 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 oooh and one last thing - if you rekon the .410 is the best bet, what load cartridges are most suitable for rabbit/pigeon/magpie/squirrels e.t.c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoves Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 The best thing for pidgeons at this Time of year is to sit in the wood about half an hour to an hour before it get dark, just as the pidgeons are coming back from a day of feeding, and as long as you sit tight out of sight you should be able to pop the pidgeons as they come into land for roosting. this is a very succesful method and as long as there is a bit of wind the pidgeons will keep on coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeon_decoyer Posted February 4, 2004 Report Share Posted February 4, 2004 Thanks Guys, May have a look into getting a crow call or something, what call attracts maggies, jays & crows the best? If you put about 7 22.cal air rifle pellets in to an empty match box and rattle if often you will bring in the magpies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pike Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 If you are worried about spooking the wood out how about a 12 gauge hushpower? I regularly shoot with a hushpower 12 with subsonic 32g 6s with very good results roost shooting. Yes they do look a bit "lumpy" and you only get one shot but they really work - would always pick up my Hushpower before any of my 'traditional' shotguns Pike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeon_decoyer Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 If i was you i would go into the wood, try and put a couple of each up in the trees as high as possible: Pigeon decoys Crow decoys Magpie decoys But dont put them to close together. If you have camo then wear it, it does really help if you see a pigeon coming in to the wood right in front of you then stay dead still dont move an inch these all really help i have tried them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjimmer Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 The best thing for pidgeons at this Time of year is to sit in the wood about half an hour to an hour before it get dark, just as the pidgeons are coming back from a day of feeding I allways think that people start banging away much too early on February Saturdays. If there is someone with a gun in every bit of cover, the birds just clear off into the next parish. 4.00 pm is the earliest time to start on the first Saturday in February, in my opinion. By that time, it is getting almost duckish, and the birds panic a little, only flying short distances to pitch in again. A couple of dozen decoys on the ground just outside the wood, on the flightline, is allways helpfull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeon_decoyer Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 The best way for decoying magpies is to make i realistic nest with twigs and branches and put 3-4 eggs in there and crack one open, the magpies come along and think that its another birds nest and eats the eggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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