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Pigeon Lofting Hooks


Trenta
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7 minutes ago, Trenta said:

Hi Guys, 

I know we are in the wrong season, but can someone tell me (or post a picture) how pigeon lofting hooks work?  I know they are supposed to hang from the trees, but how is the decoy (or dead bird) attached?

Thanks in advance

Trenta

The hooks have a 'spike' above where it hangs on the branch. These attach to the body of the decoy. These are not meant for dead birds.

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A few things about lofting, from my experience...

Firstly you don't have to spend a fortune on decoys, the cheaper plastic ones seem to work just as well as the more expensive flocked ones. My experiences are from using them for flighting/roosting during the early months of the year though, so it might be different in other applications.

The spike on top of the hook which goes through the decoy might not be long enough for the pre-made holes in the decoy, in which case select the correct size drill bit for a tight fit and make your own holes allowing about an inch of the hook protruding out of the top of the decoy.  Obviously keep it sitting reasonably level when mounted on the hook.

I mount the decoys on the hooks and then push about an inch of plastic tubing onto the end of the spike to lock the decoy in place.  Home-brewing syphon tubing from Wilko's, a home-brewing shop, or eBay, gives a tight fit on the spikes I've got (might need to dip the tube in hot water first to get it on).  The reason for locking them on is you'll very often lose the decoy off the hook when mounting/retrieving them if they're not securely fastened.

I've never used lofting poles sold by pigeon shooting suppliers, because I have some old sections of carbon fibre fishing poles which I have mackled together to give me about a 12m reach up into the trees.

On the end of my pole I gaffa taped a 1 gallon bottle like the one below, upside down with the bottom cut off, lid still attached

1-gallon-hdpe-jug-with-38mm-child-safety

 

This lets you both mount the decoy and retrieve it.  I suppose anything a similar shape would work.  It's a bit cumbersome, I should probably innovate something better but I sort of make it work..

Always have your gun safely on standby when setting up as you very often get a customer before you're even settled in to your shooting position!

Probably a million more things I could say but to avoid boring everyone I'll leave it there!

 

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there must be many ways of doing it, I used to use the rubber full bodied decoys "flexicoys" which have a recess underneath which will accept the lofting pole. I'd make a hook from a wire coat hanger and suspend them from the branches, the weight of the heavy rubber was enough to keep them stable and they work a treat!

Although they are effective I rarely bother these days because of the fiddle factor, perhaps I should have another go.

p.s. I was doing it on the cheap, my "lofting pole" was made of three long bamboo canes taped together and extended using another three with more tape

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Edited by martinj
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  • 5 months later...

I sued to just wind some twine around a stone and throw that up into the "sitty tree" then attach the deek to the loose end and haul it up. But as others say eBay and someone selling a redundant carbon roach pole can be your best friend. As another has said.

Quote

I've never used lofting poles sold by pigeon shooting suppliers, because I have some old sections of carbon fibre fishing poles which I have mackled together to give me about a 12m reach up into the trees.

 

Edited by enfieldspares
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You started your post by saying , I know we are in the wrong season , what make you think this is the wrong season for lofting decoys ? , I would have thought that now the trees are bare your decoys will show up better than when the trees are full of leaf.

Like some have already said , I no longer mess about lofting decoys up for the simple fact I now like to cut back on the gear I take , when I did try lofting a few decoys my method was a bit crude , I either chucked or used a catty to put a stone or a heavy steel nut over one of the top branches then hoist up a two foot branch with two full body decoys nailed in standing position , this I might do two or three times up the same tree , also if I was the only one allowed in the wood , or wherever I had lofted them , I would often leave them until I thought I had found a more likely place to do the same , like most forms of decoying , some days they worked and some days you wonder why they don't. 

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Had some success with crow decoys but never really found lofting pigeons a great help.   I made my own hooks. piece of 1/8th rod, obviously a hook at the top and I glued a washer underneath but left about 4 inches sticking out.  I could then use my lofting poles to put them up on branches...the bit sticking out slotted in the top of the pole and I could unhook them the same way.  The lofting pole would then have a couple of decoys on as well.  Crows like a crowd so I always put six or seven up as well as about 20 on the ground.  There again one of my best hours crow shooting was with just one decoy on some laid wheat and that was an old grey thing found in our storage shed on the shoot.  Sprayed it with some WD40 and gave it a rub AND it seemed to work.. 100 in 60 minutes individually timed and witnessed. 16 gauge Remington 1100.

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7 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, i am looking at making myself,  got my eye on a cheap fishing pole of 8 mtrs and i will try some coat hangers, just use the pole to hook decoys on the branches, i should be able to loft about 24 ft

Welding rods make a much cleaner tidier hook to mount your full bodied decoy upon.:good:

 

I do "enjoy" the old mixed measurements!:lol:

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On 06/02/2020 at 19:00, marsh man said:

You started your post by saying , I know we are in the wrong season , what make you think this is the wrong season for lofting decoys ? , I would have thought that now the trees are bare your decoys will show up better than when the trees are full of leaf.

He posted it August last year 

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On 07/02/2020 at 23:41, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, i am looking at making myself,  got my eye on a cheap fishing pole of 8 mtrs and i will try some coat hangers, just use the pole to hook decoys on the branches, i should be able to loft about 24 ft, 

You'll not get very far up with that.  It's amazing how small trees suddenly seem like very tall trees when you're trying to loft decoys up them.

One important thing to consider: The tip sections of a fishing pole will be no good to you because they're too thin and flexible.  You need to disregard at least 1 if not 2 of the thin end sections, thus losing you at least 1, probably 2 metres.

Holding your pole from around chest height, you'll probably have a 7m reach up into the trees.  Not really much good for woodlands, maybe OK if  you're setting up lofters in a small sitty tree you've got your hide under for decoying purposes.

You're better off getting a 12 or 13 metre pole if possible.  Takes some handling though but you get the knack!

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1 hour ago, Jim Neal said:

You'll not get very far up with that.  It's amazing how small trees suddenly seem like very tall trees when you're trying to loft decoys up them.

One important thing to consider: The tip sections of a fishing pole will be no good to you because they're too thin and flexible.  You need to disregard at least 1 if not 2 of the thin end sections, thus losing you at least 1, probably 2 metres.

Holding your pole from around chest height, you'll probably have a 7m reach up into the trees.  Not really much good for woodlands, maybe OK if  you're setting up lofters in a small sitty tree you've got your hide under for decoying purposes.

You're better off getting a 12 or 13 metre pole if possible.  Takes some handling though but you get the knack!

hello, having been a fisherman and shooting over 50 years i know all about poles and how to loft decoys, i even made my own from ally tube working in engineering, but thanks for you advice 

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10 hours ago, Jim Neal said:

You'll not get very far up with that.  It's amazing how small trees suddenly seem like very tall trees when you're trying to loft decoys up them.

One important thing to consider: The tip sections of a fishing pole will be no good to you because they're too thin and flexible.  You need to disregard at least 1 if not 2 of the thin end sections, thus losing you at least 1, probably 2 metres.

Holding your pole from around chest height, you'll probably have a 7m reach up into the trees.  Not really much good for woodlands, maybe OK if  you're setting up lofters in a small sitty tree you've got your hide under for decoying purposes.

You're better off getting a 12 or 13 metre pole if possible.  Takes some handling though but you get the knack!

I agree that a standard set of poles (25 ft) will not look very high in mature trees, but OK for a small copse or hedgerow. I now use a set and a half, say 8 five foot poles to hoist to 40 feet but with just two full bodied flocked decoys on a home made spreader tightly lodged in the top pole. This is then just rested against a branch. Five poles complete with decoys are hoisted from horizontal to the vertical position and then the last three poles added as the lot is pushed up into the tree. If that makes sense. Easier to do than to explain. This way, you only put the pole up and take it down once rather than having to fiddle and get five decoys hooked over branches and then get them all down again afterwards. 

Many times we see just one pigeon in the tree attract others in and consequently I have found that just two decoys higher up are far more visible and thus more effective than five lower down.

OB

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I used wire coat hangers and attached builders white cord (the sort brickies use). When I had  finished,  I just dragged the coat hanger and decoys down with the cord. It was far easier than trying to get them down with the pole in the half light. Any strong cord will suffice, I have even used old fly lines.

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