shawn9914 Posted March 1, 2019 Report Share Posted March 1, 2019 Been to one of my permissions today and sat with the binoculars watching the rooks frantically building their nests ready for the year This wood gas been very quiet over the winter not sure where they go but they are back here in numbers now Should I strart shooting them or let them be for a while as I know I need to thin them out for the farmer But I don't want to scare them off and stuff my shooting up and them to move on to another area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkeye Posted March 1, 2019 Report Share Posted March 1, 2019 I would wait till the branches are out in may then have a go you will get more when they are on the nest feeding.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted March 1, 2019 Report Share Posted March 1, 2019 (edited) As hawkeye said, wait till the young are just ready to leave the nest, don’t shoot the young ones as they will draw the adults, when you have given the adults a bashing move onto the branchers, I usually take the air rifle and the shotgun for these. Good luck Edited March 1, 2019 by old'un Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted March 1, 2019 Report Share Posted March 1, 2019 The rookery across the road from my house was making a terrible din this morning at 6am pitch dark still. They are certainly feeling the urge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-G Posted March 1, 2019 Report Share Posted March 1, 2019 My local golf club is desperate for me to shoot some because they peck the greens a lot - but I can't get there in daylight because of golfers. I'll need to be knocking ten bells out the nests just after dark come very early May - which is the only time I use a shotgun, bought for that very purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawn9914 Posted March 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2019 Yes I will leave it for now and hit it in May with either air rifle or shotgun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted March 1, 2019 Report Share Posted March 1, 2019 leave along till young are on the branches. i hit 85 last year in one morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkeye Posted March 1, 2019 Report Share Posted March 1, 2019 12 hours ago, old'un said: As hawkeye said, wait till the young are just ready to leave the nest, don’t shoot the young ones as they will draw the adults, when you have given the adults a bashing move onto the branchers, I usually take the air rifle and the shotgun for these. Good luck SNAP that's the way i do it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisheruk Posted March 2, 2019 Report Share Posted March 2, 2019 19 hours ago, Dave-G said: My local golf club is desperate for me to shoot some because they peck the greens a lot - but I can't get there in daylight because of golfers. I'll need to be knocking ten bells out the nests just after dark come very early May - which is the only time I use a shotgun, bought for that very purpose. Put some corn feed onto the fairway preferably on the first few holes. Crows will learn to come to that area. Go out towards the end of the day when the. Golfers will have moved onto the back end of the course, hide shoot. Key is to talk it through with the Course manager. If you have a rookery on site then when the branches are about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team tractor Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 I’ve lost most of the rookerys as most farmers are saying to leave them alone now. I used to get 40+ each time but apparently numbers are in decline I didn’t think so but I guess I don’t see fields covered anymore. Leave until may Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 leave them alone ,never. heard that one befor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team tractor Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 7 hours ago, mossy835 said: leave them alone ,never. heard that one befor. They eat the grubs . I haven’t lost permissions just the rooks. im under stricked orders on the one shoot not to touch rooks . Any thing else goes . I used to love rook bashing too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 Strangely enough the last time I was shooting some black’s most were crows and jackdoors with the odd rook, its surprising the amount of people who say they have shot a few crows but on inspection turn out to be rooks. Had a farmer once ask me not to shoot the rabbits as he likes to see them about, and there were lots of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) 47 minutes ago, team tractor said: They eat the grubs . I haven’t lost permissions just the rooks. im under stricked orders on the one shoot not to touch rooks . Any thing else goes . I used to love rook bashing too I love to be near a rookery in early spring with all that noise and the toing and froing, quintessential English along with church bells, rooks eat leather jackets, an agricultural pest Edited March 3, 2019 by islandgun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 1 hour ago, islandgun said: I love to be near a rookery in early spring with all that noise and the toing and froing, quintessential English along with church bells, rooks eat leather jackets, an agricultural pest I do as well , must be getting sentimental in my old age , I now only shoot a few Rooks to put on sticks if I am asked to , if not asked then I no longer shoot them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamch Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 Shooting branchers is I think out sated and unneeded. It's one aspect of shooting the general public will find objectionable and gives the antis ideal material to use against our sport. High time is was outlawed Insert other media.url Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewluke Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 On 01/03/2019 at 10:51, hawkeye said: I would wait till the branches are out in may then have a go you will get more when they are on the nest feeding.. if you are going to shoot the rooks wouldn't it be better to shoot them before the have young ones???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 1 minute ago, andrewluke said: if you are going to shoot the rooks wouldn't it be better to shoot them before the have young ones???? Rooks aren’t daft. The moment you appear with a gun they’ll be off, even before you fire a shot. Branchers are sitting targets if you get the timing right, and can be picked off dead easy with a variety of firearms. We can get dozens at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewluke Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 2 minutes ago, Scully said: Rooks aren’t daft. The moment you appear with a gun they’ll be off, even before you fire a shot. Branchers are sitting targets if you get the timing right, and can be picked off dead easy with a variety of firearms. We can get dozens at a time. doesn't make sense to me,surely waiting for them to have their young is for your shooting pleasure not pest control?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 5 minutes ago, andrewluke said: doesn't make sense to me,surely waiting for them to have their young is for your shooting pleasure not pest control?? Better for control. Shoot too early and they will leave and you just get a few. time it right and you can make a dent in the numbers. Some of my farms have literally hundreds at a time. They will scare the cattle in the yards and cause them to fall over. I have seen a flock so large on the feed troughs that the cattle refused to come into the yard. On a new sown field they will go down a row pulling seed for grubs and take out acres at a time. This year with the ban on maize treatments they are likely to be worse than ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewluke Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 1 minute ago, oowee said: Better for control. Shoot too early and they will leave and you just get a few. time it right and you can make a dent in the numbers. Some of my farms have literally hundreds at a time. They will scare the cattle in the yards and cause them to fall over. I have seen a flock so large on the feed troughs that the cattle refused to come into the yard. On a new sown field they will go down a row pulling seed for grubs and take out acres at a time. This year with the ban on maize treatments they are likely to be worse than ever. still doesn't make sense to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 11 minutes ago, andrewluke said: doesn't make sense to me,surely waiting for them to have their young is for your shooting pleasure not pest control?? It makes perfect sense if you think about it. Shooting branchers is by far the most effective method of controlling numbers. As Oowee says, you may get a few adults but like I also said, you can get dozens of branchers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkeye Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 Plus you get more than one chance at the adults if they have young they will keep coming back so you can get a few chances, then once the adults are dead go for the branches before they leave the nest... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewluke Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 7 minutes ago, Scully said: It makes perfect sense if you think about it. Shooting branchers is by far the most effective method of controlling numbers. As Oowee says, you may get a few adults but like I also said, you can get dozens of branchers. i'll have to try this scenario on my ratting permission,i'll tell the farmer that there are only a few adult rats about so if i give them time to breed then i'll get bigger numbers by shooting the young rats,i think the farmer would want me to shoot the rats before they breed ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkeye Posted March 3, 2019 Report Share Posted March 3, 2019 lot of difference between rats and corvids... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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