mcmj Posted September 15, 2016 Report Share Posted September 15, 2016 This has probably been done to death so please bear with me. I want a few pigeon decoys for a bit of air rifle shooting and was wondering what the consensus was on best ones. I was thinking either FUDS, some old shells with the new silosocks socks on or some flocked decoys. Don't really want to bother with magnets etc. What are your views? Thanks in anticipation, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilksy II Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 They all work on there day but obviously you need them to land confidently, I would say hd full body ones,if your feeling flush those enforcer full body deeks are the best just a bit pricey! or if weight/ bulk is an issue, sillosocks but I'd say it would be more important to get your pattern right which is just trial and error, my last two outings they've decoyed great to hd shells landed straight in! But it does tend to be the younger birds, good luck, I've never tried decoying with an air rifle but I like to try it one day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmj Posted September 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 They all work on there day but obviously you need them to land confidently, I would say hd full body ones,if your feeling flush those enforcer full body deeks are the best just a bit pricey! or if weight/ bulk is an issue, sillosocks but I'd say it would be more important to get your pattern right which is just trial and error, my last two outings they've decoyed great to hd shells landed straight in! But it does tend to be the younger birds, good luck, I've never tried decoying with an air rifle but I like to try it one day! Thanks for the reply WilksyII, I've heard so.e good reports of the Siloscks. As you say, the pattern is probably the most important thing and getting that right and close enough to the hide as well! Give it a go sometime. Best wishes,Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrowningB525 Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 As above. Full body decoys. Magnet etc bring them in, but they are unlikely to land with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougall Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 I would guess with air rifle you are better finding their favourite sitty tree/trees.........Im gussing but would think even on a good day only@ 20% coming in would actually go on to land and as the stubble is 8-10 inches at mo think decoying with air rifle would be very difficult...flocked full body probably best chance to get them to land if you have to?Is shotgun not possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Dougall, @ means 'at'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adge Cutler Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Best advice I can give for air rifle shooting over decoys is take a good book and a days supply of provisions.! If you are intent on trying to shoot pigeons with an air rifle...find a field where they are feeding which has a tree on the boundary and set your decoys out under the tree... you might be lucky to pop one or two outof the canopy if they alight. Even with a shotgun I've shot very few pigeons that have actually landed in the pattern and as Wilksy said these are normally young birds which are so stupid I don't have the heart to shoot them anyway. Got any woods on your permission. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 I often have pigeons land amongst my decoys. Pigeon shooting with air rifles can produce good bags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adge Cutler Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 I often have pigeons land amongst my decoys. Pigeon shooting with air rifles can produce good bags. So have I...but they hardly stay long enough to put a bead on let alone the cross hairs of a telescopic sight... and then you have to be completely hidden and comatosely still. I've done it...but couldn't honestly say they were good bags. one or two at the most.! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve d Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Best advice I can give for air rifle shooting over decoys is take a good book and a days supply of provisions.! If you are intent on trying to shoot pigeons with an air rifle...find a field where they are feeding which has a tree on the boundary and set your decoys out under the tree... you might be lucky to pop one or two outof the canopy if they alight. Even with a shotgun I've shot very few pigeons that have actually landed in the pattern and as Wilksy said these are normally young birds which are so stupid I don't have the heart to shoot them anyway. Got any woods on your permission. ? Really? The main reasons not many land amongst the decoys are 1. Theres normally a rotary/flapper which they soon suss out when close enough and 2. You tend to shoot them on the way in/way out with a shotgun, the noise and the fact that their mate just folded and dropped out of the sky tends to put them off landing. I shot 107 with the shotgun last sunday, no rotary, just decoys. The hide was under the canopy of a bush so i only had a narrow window through which to shoot. Because i couldnt see them in the sky directly above me due to the bush, i was looking through the netting and in the small envelope of view i had above the netting. 35 were shot on the deck as i hadnt seen them come in(not very sporting i know, but its pest control after all) Besides, the lure of air rifle shooting IMHO is not massive bags, but more like the skill in getting a shot at your quarry that youve got within 30yds of without it having any inkling that youre there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Steve d, your outing sounds thoroughly boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adge Cutler Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 I often have pigeons land amongst my decoys. Pigeon shooting with air rifles can produce good bags. I happily stand corrected.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnPyWemjrOk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 when I first started shooting in the mid 80s I used to shoot the odd one that landed in the decoys, but most were dead before they landed due to the old fella shooting them with the shotgun before they landed lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve d Posted September 17, 2016 Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 Steve d, your outing sounds thoroughly boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno22rf Posted September 17, 2016 Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 IMHO dougall pretty much sums it up - I would not choose to shoot them on the ground if you can use a set up that will attract them into a tree - you might try a small pattern of full bodied flocked deeks say 40-50 yards out and then loft a couple in a tree upwind to encourage them to land above your head where they present a far easier target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmj Posted September 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 Thanks for the replies and suggestions guys, keep them coming. Best wishes,Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longbower Posted October 16, 2016 Report Share Posted October 16, 2016 I use a mixture of 6 FUDS , and one or two 'flocked' shell on wobble spring sticks. Always seems to work. I've shot them from a ' Pop up hide' , from simply some cammo sheeting tied across branches in the hedge. And just recently huddled in between big some white bags of logs , I just put the decoys out to explain to a novice, and, in they came. I think we got thirty odd in an hour. I have used an FAC Air rifle on occasion , but usually when ones dropped nearby when staking out a rabbit borrow, or after Squirrels raiding a Bird feeder ! I never tried deeks and an air rifle . Maybe worth a try though??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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