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storing shot birds whist in the field in warmer weather


Moley1508
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evening all,

 

I had some good trips towards the middle to end of last year but in the warm weather how do you keep your shot birds?

 

I know some will be left to build a pattern but what do you do with the rest?

 

freezer box? or just shade with some form of breathable fly proof cover like hessian?

 

thanks for the advice in advance.

 

best wishes,

 

Moley

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Blow flies will find a dead carcase in a few minutes. I have shot one and in the time it has taken me to walk and pick it up two flies have been on it. I pick up shot birds as soon as possible and check them around the beak and under the wing armpit area for eggs and if any are found I remove them. The birds are put in a fine mesh bag/sack on their backs in the shade and checked again when home.

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I rarely bother trying to stop flies getting to my birds. I want to spend my time shooting, not messing about with dead birds all day. I rarely get birds spoiled by the heat, to be honest.

 

An honest post as always and one with which I agree.

 

Even on the hottest days it is rare for a pigeon to turn green during a decoying session. It is impossible to avoid pigeons set out as decoys from getting fly blown. The important thing is to get the birds in the fridge/freezer as soon as possible after the session or get them direct to the game dealer.

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I think the issue is them getting fly blown, if you have a decent bag it can take ages to check them over, I suppose it depends how picky your Game Dealer is.

The two Game Dealers I use even open the beaks to check for eggs.

In hot weather I pick dead birds ASAP and never send dead birds I have used as decoys to the Dealer, I freeze them separately and use them for future dead bird decoys.

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thanks guys, all really useful.

 

I just wanted to ensure any surplus cold be sold on or given away in the best condition possible.

 

carps sacks in the shade with maybe some damp hessian over the top with quickly collected birds seems to be the way forward.

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Some years ago I set up under an oak in the middle of a field of barley that had a fairly large area that had been flattened by the wind. Another shooter had shot it two days before and had, had a good day. I to was having a good day with a good supply of birds. In a quiet spell I noticed that a small maggot had fallen down on me. After looking up through the branches I noticed that there was a pigeon up there. I put a shot up through it and brought it down. upon inspection it was riddled with maggots. When I saw the bloke who had shot there before me I mentioned about the maggot ridden pigeon and he said that he had shot it late in the afternoon and it had gotten stuck up in the tree somewhere in the branches. So in the day and a bit the fly had laid eggs which had hatched out into maggots that were falling down on me. Luckily not in my cup of coffee. This incident made me aware of fly attack on dead meat and not to dump the birds out in the garage.

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I use damp hessian sacks, spread the birds out in them and fold the opening underneath to seal it shut - keeps the birds cool and the flies off them ..... I have had sacks covered in yellow fly eggs as they lay them on the hessian sacks - which does no harm to the birds and keeps the flies busy rather then pestering me and the dog. Birds I have kept out as decoys I de-breast for myself. Birds for the game dealer go into a cold store overnight and then in the freezers in the morning.

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You could use bottles of frozen water in with the dead birds.

 

I use old net curtain which is a very fine mesh and helps to keeps the flies off and not able to lay the eggs onto the bird.

 

Birds used in the decoy pattern I cut one leg off so that I know which ones are which even when they have been put in the freezer and brought out again.

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You could use bottles of frozen water in with the dead birds.

 

I use old net curtain which is a very fine mesh and helps to keeps the flies off and not able to lay the eggs onto the bird.

 

Birds used in the decoy pattern I cut one leg off so that I know which ones are which even when they have been put in the freezer and brought out again.

 

I tie a short length of bright coloured string on the leg so I can discard at the end of the day.

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Hessian sack if I'm expecting a big bag or just lay them out on shaded cool earth and cover with as much grass/shrubs as I can chuck on top. You can watch flies settling on top but they never seem able to weave their way in, which is nice.

Edited by Hamster
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