Branchers

[gotgcoalman]

23 minutes ago, grahamch said:

Thanks for the clarification. Still think shooting 'branchers' is immoral and unethical and should be banned. 

What about blasting the nest with eggs in?

[clangerman]

28 minutes ago, grahamch said:

Thanks for the clarification. Still think shooting 'branchers' is immoral and unethical and should be banned. 

so what are you supposed to say when the farmer tells you to shoot the branchers then refuse? 

[andrewluke]

aren't rook available the rest of the year?

[motty]

Yet another thread that, if one didn't know better, reads like it is infiltrated by antis.

[mossy835]

if you dont shoot them some one will,

[Dave-G]

12 hours ago, andrewluke said:

aren't rook available the rest of the year?

I'm slightly dyslexic and struggling to express the right words here but I'll try. 

After they've eaten a huge stack of tiny spring drilled seedling that is too small a meal they'll destroy a much larger amount of plants than if the crop was more established, larger and a bigger meal. This is why spring drillings are so vulnerable

Similar occurs with rabbits - check out huge bare patches nearest their warrens where they fed on tiny morsels of crop before feeling safe to thin out the larger crop area when its grown enough to hide in.

Edited April 5, 2020 by Dave-G

[FOXHUNTER1]

9 hours ago, motty said:

Yet another thread that, if one didn't know better, reads like it is infiltrated by antis.

My thoughts exactly who needs antis when plenty so called shooting folk are just as bad. If there wasnt a reason for corvids to be controlled they wouldnt be on the General Licence. I used to look forward to my annual cull on the branchers shooting around 700 or so and the numbers never reduced year on year. Some folk wont be happy until there is nothing left on the quarry list.

[andrewluke]

7 minutes ago, FOXHUNTER1 said:

My thoughts exactly who needs antis when plenty so called shooting folk are just as bad. If there wasnt a reason for corvids to be controlled they wouldnt be on the General Licence. I used to look forward to my annual cull on the branchers shooting around 700 or so and the numbers never reduced year on year. Some folk wont be happy until there is nothing left on the quarry list.

it seems that anyone who respects their quarry is an anti,why get so excited about shooting a chick off a branch when you could be shooting the adults before they begin to nest,i just dont get it??,

c'mon, bring it on

[Scully]

31 minutes ago, andrewluke said:

it seems that anyone who respects their quarry is an anti,why get so excited about shooting a chick off a branch when you could be shooting the adults before they begin to nest,i just dont get it??,

c'mon, bring it on

It’s not exactly straightforward to shoot the adults as, like all corvids, they are very intelligent and rarely stray within range of a shotgun. It is much easier to get right under the relevant tree and pick off the branchers with either a .410, an air rifle or rimfire. The latter two options are my preferred method as it is much quieter. 

[andrewluke]

9 minutes ago, Scully said:

It’s not exactly straightforward to shoot the adults as, like all corvids, they are very intelligent and rarely stray within range of a shotgun. It is much easier to get right under the relevant tree and pick off the branchers with either a .410, an air rifle or rimfire. The latter two options are my preferred method as it is much quieter. 

couldn't do it myself so i must be an anti

there must be others who think like me but frightened to come out of the closet

Edited April 5, 2020 by andrewluke

[Scully]

3 minutes ago, andrewluke said:

couldn't do it myself so i must be an anti

Obviously. 👍

[clangerman]

9 minutes ago, Scully said:

Obviously. 👍

have every respect for you mate but it’s a case of instructions landowner/ keeper/me i think it’s a waste of cartridges whatever size they are but refusing is not a option on some places 

[Scully]

26 minutes ago, clangerman said:

have every respect for you mate but it’s a case of instructions landowner/ keeper/me i think it’s a waste of cartridges whatever size they are but refusing is not a option on some places 

I think you’ve misunderstood my response; I’m not against shooting branchers with ANY cartridge. 

[clangerman]

7 minutes ago, Scully said:

I think you’ve misunderstood my response; I’m not against shooting branchers with ANY cartridge. 

no my fault I caught the wrong comment mate been keen on your stuff lately i’m a fan almost 

[WalkedUp]

1 hour ago, Scully said:

It’s not exactly straightforward to shoot the adults as, like all corvids, they are very intelligent and rarely stray within range of a shotgun. It is much easier to get right under the relevant tree and pick off the branchers with either a .410, an air rifle or rimfire. The latter two options are my preferred method as it is much quieter. 

I can’t imagine using a rifle to shoot upwards into the sky, exception for air rifle, just seems unnatural somehow. I may be misunderstanding however, have dipped in and out of this thread. 

Edited April 5, 2020 by WalkedUp

[andrewluke]

8 minutes ago, WalkedUp said:

I can’t imagine using a rifle to shoot upwards into the sky, exception for air rifle, just seems unnatural somehow. I may be misunderstanding however, have dipped in and out of this thread. 

i think Scully climbs to the top of the tree when using rimfire 😁

[Scully]

24 minutes ago, andrewluke said:

i think Scully climbs to the top of the tree when using rimfire 😁

🙂 No, I just stand directly underneath the bird at the base of the tree. 

[WalkedUp]

I suppose at vertical there is no real risk of bullets escaping the boundary or causing injury. The terminal ballistics of a .22lr in free fall would be pretty harmless I would hazard. 

[Scully]

20 minutes ago, WalkedUp said:

I suppose at vertical there is no real risk of bullets escaping the boundary or causing injury. The terminal ballistics of a .22lr in free fall would be pretty harmless I would hazard. 

That’s always been my train of thought also. I’d always done it this way but mostly kept it to myself to avoid finger wagging, and then came across an article by Richard Brigham in Sporting Gun in which he described shooting branchers in exactly the same way. 
It really is very effective. 
The wood is about a long acre and a half, but the rookery is mostly just one end. I bag around a couple of dozen at most and then leave it til the next year. The landowner is happy with this. 
At another rookery on another property I can no longer shoot any, as the house and grounds were bought by a couple from London some years ago. Despite seldom being there, the owner says she likes to hear the birds, so has stopped the farmers wife next door ( the actual property I shoot on ) from letting me control them. The farmers wife has a caravan site on which there are around ten tourers, and the caravans and the owners cars get covered in poop if they’re there for longer than a couple of days. The birds also carp all over the farmers wife’s washing and her grandchildren’s trampoline. She is a very organised and meticulously clean lady, and it annoys her greatly. She has been very close to contacting environmental health on a few occasions, but knows it will cause lasting resentment. She may yet do it, but I doubt it will matter this year now.  

[clangerman]

try this one for annoying then one farmer won’t allow me to shoot them nesting soon as it’s over up goes a bale hide and phone call to muggins here to waste at least a slab of cartridges no idea what his thinking is must think cartridges grow on trees 

[London Best]

1 minute ago, clangerman said:

try this one for annoying then one farmer won’t allow me to shoot them nesting soon as it’s over up goes a bale hide and phone call to muggins here to waste at least a slab of cartridges no idea what his thinking is must think cartridges grow on trees 

You ungrateful so and so springs to mind.

[clangerman]

6 minutes ago, London Best said:

You ungrateful so and so springs to mind.

one of those rather not do it jobs branchers launch of for first feed on the maize and silage clamps most don’t make it rather he let me trim them my way but it’s his farm so his call 

[Walker570]

When working as a Coroners Officer I had a colleague on the opposite side of the city who told me about a case he had where a chap had fired at a crow in a tree and the 22 bullet had hit and killed a lady sitting having a picnic almost 3/4 mile away. In my view even 22rfs are not for firing into the sky even IF you think it is vertical and will not hurt when it comes down.

I have no problem with numbers control whichever way you do it, but at least do it safely.

Edited April 5, 2020 by Walker570

[Scully]

4 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

When working as a Coroners Officer I had a colleague on the opposite side of the city who told me about a case he had where a chap had fired at a crow in a tree and the 22 bullet had hit and killed a lady sitting having a picnic almost 3/4 mile away. In my view even 22rfs are not for firing into the sky even IF you think it is vertical and will not hurt when it comes down.

I have no problem with numbers control whichever way you do it, but at least do it safely.

In my view they are; I’m doing it safely.  Each to their own. 👍

[London Best]

A clever person could work out the residual energy left in a 40 grain .22 bullet fired vertically at 1050 FPS when it returns to ground. 
I’m not clever enough, but I’m not stupid enough to fire one vertically and stand under it either!