Pigeon IR Vision

[Jaf4fa]

All the pigeons went quiet the other day and those that came over were not interested in the pattern. My shooting companion mentioned that pigeons have partial IR vision and the pigeons on the magnets were several hours old and would not get the interest of passing birds as they were cold. We decided to change them and managed to pull in about another 30 birds. Good luck or Good judgement, any ideas.

[Guest stevo]

Haha I think you where lucky. And very well spotted by your mate.

 

So many people just never notice this phenomenon

 

 

I have a feeling this could quite possibly turn into the best topic of 2017 so far

Edited February 5, 2017 by stevo

[steve_b_wales]

Pigeons have UV vision, as do many other birds/animals, according to the 'experts'

[cooooper1]

how come pigeons can`t see me in the hide then? or the magnet motor heat? or pecker motor heat? or flapper motor heat? or my red hot barrels after shooting loads?

maybe the ones from wales can`t afford IR`S or UV

[pigeon controller]

So my twelve thawed decoys are totally invisible to pigeons and it's just my personal magnetism that draws them to within shot??

[TIGHTCHOKE]

So my twelve thawed decoys are totally invisible to pigeons and it's just my personal magnetism that draws them to within shot? ?

 

And your moustache!

[pigeon controller]

And your moustache!

Is that for nesting material??

[Wilts#Dave]

Always best to keep those birds hot on the magnet, change them every half an hour for fresh to be safe.

[lloydi73]

So my twelve thawed decoys are totally invisible to pigeons and it's just my personal magnetism that draws them to within shot? ?

Na, it's just your natural charm and charisma.....lol.....

[old'un]

Pure coincident that you changed to freshly shot birds and they started decoying.

[Outlander]

Maybe you changed the birds from males to females on your whirly , its worked for me a few times.!!

[Shotguneddy]

So what about my hypa flaps should I pre heat them lol

[lakeside1000]

Not Infra red, Pigeons can pick out Ultra Violet, totally different on the light spectrum, I regularly repaint the white patches on my decoys with UV paint, I have never heard of dead birds losing UV after death, must look into that one, it might explain why my magnet yesterday just seemed to spook incoming birds, very frustrating.

Cold birds, decoys, ground, air,

Hot motors, breath, freshly killed birds, batteries, barrels all completely irrelevant.

If anyone has one of those disco purple UV lights perhaps you could do a comparison test between a fresh dead bird and an old cold one. let us know if there is any decay of the UV over time, some of my magnet birds have been in the fridge for 3 or 4 weeks,

Smell test, Hmmm pretty old, yuk!!

[stoxs]

I think you will do more harm getting out the hide to change the decoys than using cold/ frozen birds.

we often run two magnets and one will have frozen birds on the other set up with fresh, never noticed an attraction to the fresh birds!!

[Old Boggy]

I do believe that UV plays a good part in the pigeons or decoys being seen by incoming birds. On several occasions I have been shooting with a pal in two separate hides, initially him using silo socks and me using flocked full bodied decoys and the birds invariably came to his set in preference to mine. However, once a few were shot and my decoys were replaced with dead birds, things changed in my favour as he preferred just to keep to his silo socks.

I therefore do believe that nothing is better than real birds, whether fresh or old and that the older ones, i.e thawed out from frozen do not lose their pulling power.

 

OB

[umney531]

I have shot over 12 hrs with same birds on flappers and still pigeons come

If there ready to feed and want to be there they will come no matter what

[motty]

I am of the belief that UV plays no part in pigeons decoying better.

I do believe that a pattern that can be seen well is the most effective.

[Cosd]

Always change the birds on a magnet for last shot and freshest birds. A bird which has been dead for a minute will always draw more birds than one which has been dead for 10 minutes.

I also find that birds sit better on the magnet before rigor mortis sets in.

 

Don't forget to cut the eye lids off!!

[old'un]

Always change the birds on a magnet for last shot and freshest birds. A bird which has been dead for a minute will always draw more birds than one which has been dead for 10 minutes.

I also find that birds sit better on the magnet before rigor mortis sets in.

 

Don't forget to cut the eye lids off!!

What!!

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Good advice from Cosd there, got to make them look realistic!

[old'un]

Good advice from Cosd there, got to make them look realistic!

Yes, I always find that putting a piece of corn in its beak helps pull more birds and you do not need to cut the eyelids off, just use two small sticks to prop them open.

 

Another tip for keeping your birds warm is keeping a couple down your underpants.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Yes, I always find that putting a piece of corn in its beak helps pull more birds and you do not need to cut the eyelids off, just use two small sticks to prop them open.

 

Another tip for keeping your birds warm is keeping a couple down your underpants.

 

But you have to be careful, if you use the wrong crop in its beak it can put them off!

[achosenman]

I understood that it was UV and not IR that animals could see.

 

After many tries of all the best (expensive) gizzmo's for decoying pigeons with varying success, I now take just four items of equipment pigeon shooting. A gun, cartridges, a bag of bread and a full size replica of Nelson's column. I tell you, they keep coming all day.