Is It Worth Using A Magnet On Stubble ?

[marsh man]

This afternoon was the first opportunity I have had this year to shoot the Barley stubble , the field was cut during the week and was bailed yesterday , when I got there around 1pm there were around 50 /60 scattered around the field , I had shot this field in the past and more or less knew where they would come in from , driving across the stubble was a doddle compared with me lugging gear to set up on growing crops for these past few months , I took two dead pigeons to put on the magnet but decided to put them on the floaters instead and see what happen , the stubble was strong enough to support the shell and full body decoys by resting them on the top , so having 26 decoys and two floaters I was ready for any action .

Having only been in the hide for a few minutes the first one came in with all the confidence in the world , this was easily dealt with and I was impressed with the manner it floated straight in after using the magnet for the last few months on the standing crops , well sport was never fast and furious but the odd one kept coming straight in like the first one did and the bag was slowly increasing , unlike some of the recent days, I was shooting well and the first eight were dealt with without a miss , then what should have been an easy one came in without me seeing it and two quick shots went off without a feather being touched , the days weather was lovely and the forecast  was rain moving in around tea time , so with the cloud building up and less and less pigeons on the move I decided to call it a day bang on five o clock .

When I cleared everything up I had 26 , not a big bag by any means but I have had a lovely afternoon and decoyed like we did before the magnet came along , could I have done any better with one out ? that I couldn't tell yer , but what I did find was how they came in to static decoys and how weary they now seem to be when they approach a rotary .  

When I came off the field I was going to look for one that made it's way to a tree that was beside a track used by dog walkers , when I opened the gate some kind person had picked it up and laid it neatly on the gate post , so it ended up 27 . 

[clangerman]

nice report there i’m big fan of minimum kit shot 23 yesterday using a air rifle and seven dead birds so much more satisfying without a rotary hate the things 

[Old Boggy]

Nice report there John and obviously a great afternoon.

Rightly or wrongly, we tend to rely too much on magnets these days as a 'must have' bit of kit, but your day proved that one was unnecessary. Whether the magnet would have made any difference, who knows, but at least they were coming in confidently, so why fix it if it ain't broke.

OB

[martinj]

it depends on the day, I have had some good days using a magnet on stubble, set with the motor at ground level with 8 or so dead birds on cradles. If it's not working you can always bring it in

[mossy835]

 

 

 

 

 

not used a magnet for years, all i take is a kit bag with hide in it and decoys.and fold up seat,and carts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[yickdaz]

4 hours ago, clangerman said:

nice report there i’m big fan of minimum kit shot 23 yesterday using a air rifle and seven dead birds so much more satisfying without a rotary hate the things 

whats wrong with them ? they are brilliant 

5 hours ago, marsh man said:

This afternoon was the first opportunity I have had this year to shoot the Barley stubble , the field was cut during the week and was bailed yesterday , when I got there around 1pm there were around 50 /60 scattered around the field , I had shot this field in the past and more or less knew where they would come in from , driving across the stubble was a doddle compared with me lugging gear to set up on growing crops for these past few months , I took two dead pigeons to put on the magnet but decided to put them on the floaters instead and see what happen , the stubble was strong enough to support the shell and full body decoys by resting them on the top , so having 26 decoys and two floaters I was ready for any action .

Having only been in the hide for a few minutes the first one came in with all the confidence in the world , this was easily dealt with and I was impressed with the manner it floated straight in after using the magnet for the last few months on the standing crops , well sport was never fast and furious but the odd one kept coming straight in like the first one did and the bag was slowly increasing , unlike some of the recent days, I was shooting well and the first eight were dealt with without a miss , then what should have been an easy one came in without me seeing it and two quick shots went off without a feather being touched , the days weather was lovely and the forecast  was rain moving in around tea time , so with the cloud building up and less and less pigeons on the move I decided to call it a day bang on five o clock .

When I cleared everything up I had 26 , not a big bag by any means but I have had a lovely afternoon and decoyed like we did before the magnet came along , could I have done any better with one out ? that I couldn't tell yer , but what I did find was how they came in to static decoys and how weary they now seem to be when they approach a rotary .  

When I came off the field I was going to look for one that made it's way to a tree that was beside a track used by dog walkers , when I opened the gate some kind person had picked it up and laid it neatly on the gate post , so it ended up 27 . 

its  worth using them on any crop anytime of the year 

[hawkfanz]

i rarely use mine,i find it scares more away than it atracts.

[marsh man]

11 hours ago, martinj said:

it depends on the day, I have had some good days using a magnet on stubble, set with the motor at ground level with 8 or so dead birds on cradles. If it's not working you can always bring it in

That is the thing , we all know sometimes it work and at times it is more trouble than what it is worth , but what I am getting at is just about everyone put it out at the start of play , then if pigeons come in and flair off you can then move it in or out and from one side to the other side,. then after giving it a good go they either turn it off , or bring it in , but how many do it the other way round , start off with static decoys with maybe a couple of bouncers and add dead birds to the pattern either just laid down or raised up on cradles , then if everything fail you can then put out your magnet .

 

7 hours ago, yickdaz said:

whats wrong with them ? they are brilliant 

its  worth using them on any crop anytime of the year 

On crops maybe , but is it always necessary to use them on say drillings or low stubble ? . magnets tend to be like a drug , we had good days in the past and for some they still get good days but for other decoyers they are played out and part of the problem is over used .

Changing the subject slightly , I recon if you are going to use a mechanical aid on stubbles, a flapper look more convincing than a rotary , 

[Cranfield]

Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't and there are sometimes when nothing works.
Keep an open mind and be prepared to change the setup.

I do agree that electronic flappers seem to work more consistently, especially with corvids.

[dead eye alan]

Very nice outing for you and educational too, yesterday i too started with out a magnet and had little success after an hour i put one out and it made it worse. It was just one of those days that no matter what I tried nothing would work, shot 7 picked up 5.

[clangerman]

9 hours ago, yickdaz said:

whats wrong with them ? they are brilliant 

personal choice I shot an obscene amount with one friends are welcome to use them but it’s more about getting them to come in on just a dead bird pattern for me now than shooting large bags 

[Cranfield]

44 minutes ago, clangerman said:

personal choice I shot an obscene amount with one friends are welcome to use them but it’s more about getting them to come in on just a dead bird pattern for me now than shooting large bags 

So you don't use them because they are too effective ?
Thats almost a recommendation.😉

[clangerman]

5 minutes ago, Cranfield said:

So you don't use them because they are too effective ?
Thats almost a recommendation.😉

definitely effective when used correctly a friend slays them using one making birds land on the spot i want is my thing now must be old age 

[mossy835]

4 hours ago, clangerman said:

personal choice I shot an obscene amount with one friends are welcome to use them but it’s more about getting them to come in on just a dead bird pattern for me now than shooting large bags 

 

 

+1

[motty]

11 hours ago, marsh man said:

That is the thing , we all know sometimes it work and at times it is more trouble than what it is worth , but what I am getting at is just about everyone put it out at the start of play , then if pigeons come in and flair off you can then move it in or out and from one side to the other side,. then after giving it a good go they either turn it off , or bring it in , but how many do it the other way round , start off with static decoys with maybe a couple of bouncers and add dead birds to the pattern either just laid down or raised up on cradles , then if everything fail you can then put out your magnet .

 

On crops maybe , but is it always necessary to use them on say drillings or low stubble ? . magnets tend to be like a drug , we had good days in the past and for some they still get good days but for other decoyers they are played out and part of the problem is over used .

Changing the subject slightly , I recon if you are going to use a mechanical aid on stubbles, a flapper look more convincing than a rotary , 

I disagree that magnets are over-used. I just think that some areas are over-shot.

In one area that I shoot, I have seen one old boy out three times in a week, all within a mile radius. That is the way to get decoy-shy pigeons. I also saw another duo out on a rape stubble that the old boy shot two days before! I shall be doing  my homework before I shoot there again.

9 hours ago, clangerman said:

personal choice I shot an obscene amount with one friends are welcome to use them but it’s more about getting them to come in on just a dead bird pattern for me now than shooting large bags 

For me, it is about getting birds into range. I choose whatever works best.

[marsh man]

13 hours ago, motty said:

I disagree that magnets are over-used. I just think that some areas are over-shot.

In one area that I shoot, I have seen one old boy out three times in a week, all within a mile radius. That is the way to get decoy-shy pigeons. I also saw another duo out on a rape stubble that the old boy shot two days before! I shall be doing  my homework before I shoot there again.

For me, it is about getting birds into range. I choose whatever works best.

In this day and age the magnet is now part of the most basics bit of kit for the pigeon decoyer , very few people have resisted the temptation in owning one and at a guess I would say 9 out of 10 decoyers own one with a good number owning two , these are now religiously put out with the decoys without first trying well placed out decoys either on cradles or with the chins propped up , any movement required was by a floater or like Geoff Garrod's method by inserting a stick through the pigeons body and putting it in the ground at an angle , he was one of the countries top Pigeon shots and as far as I know he never owned a magnet .

They will pull Pigeons into range and often into the pattern , but not all , if you are lucky enough to have a lot of pigeons using the field you are not to bothered about the ones that flair off because you will still be getting a fair bit of shooting and the more you shoot and lay out the more chances you will create , but at the other end of the scale if you have only got small numbers around where you are shooting then your field craft needs to be bang on with a realistic set up as possible , this is when the old fashion way might be a best to start off with, as two pigeons going around in circles with the arms glinting in the sun might and can be a bit unnatural from a Pigeons point of view .

I do agree with you about homework as without it you will have many wasted days.

[Mightymariner]

I think you are spot on. If there are loads of pigeons about, you may not need to worry.

I like to start out without the rotary to see what happens. I do think my old flapper is better though in many cases, not sure why - maybe it presents a more realistic picture?

I've seen some posts/videos on social media where they have two magnets, various floaters, and a couple of flappers. I am quite lazy so certainly wouldn't want to be lugging around all that gear, anything more than my two holdalls is too much for me.

On the right day that must bring in many more birds than you might have seen without. Mind you, I have seen some FB posts where people are fanatical about a certain brand of flapper and how good it is, and how "....sport dried up when my flapper packed up...". I think they must be relying on it way too much in that case.

[lakeside1000]

Hey John, well done on the bag, I did 33 on the marsh behind the caravan centre on Thursday, with two magnets 20 yards apart in the tram lines, it was just an experiment but what a result, I was pulling them in from 200 yards away and they almost all committed straight into the few dead birds I had on the ground, only had 2 young birds among the total,  I know it was not stubble, but a standing crop, but its changed my mind on magnet use. 👍

[motty]

12 hours ago, marsh man said:

In this day and age the magnet is now part of the most basics bit of kit for the pigeon decoyer , very few people have resisted the temptation in owning one and at a guess I would say 9 out of 10 decoyers own one with a good number owning two , these are now religiously put out with the decoys without first trying well placed out decoys either on cradles or with the chins propped up , any movement required was by a floater or like Geoff Garrod's method by inserting a stick through the pigeons body and putting it in the ground at an angle , he was one of the countries top Pigeon shots and as far as I know he never owned a magnet .

They will pull Pigeons into range and often into the pattern , but not all , if you are lucky enough to have a lot of pigeons using the field you are not to bothered about the ones that flair off because you will still be getting a fair bit of shooting and the more you shoot and lay out the more chances you will create , but at the other end of the scale if you have only got small numbers around where you are shooting then your field craft needs to be bang on with a realistic set up as possible , this is when the old fashion way might be a best to start off with, as two pigeons going around in circles with the arms glinting in the sun might and can be a bit unnatural from a Pigeons point of view .

I do agree with you about homework as without it you will have many wasted days.

I have never considered Geoff Garrod as one of the country's top pigeon shooters. He shoots a good few, but certainly not in the realms of the big bag boys.

His sticks up the bum pigeons don't look realistic, but I don't think realism comes into decoying that much.

I don't agree about loads of birds flairing off due to magnets. 

[captainhastings]

I have one of them plastic jobs on a bit of string. You pull the string and the wings lift. Got it off an old friend. It must be donkeys years old. All you need I think is just a little movement to catch there eyes then the decoys do the rest. I also have the ff6 which does basically the same job but automated obviously 

[GingerCat]

I've found on stubble and drillings that if you have a decent line and the birds want to be there then you don't need a magnet or anything really bar a few decoys to get you started. They seem to  come into the pattern better also.  If on the other hand you can't quite get the line or the birds are favouring something else then a magnet helps to pull a few more in. Horses for courses and the magnet is nearly always in the boot and nearly always used. Sometimes put away if birds are veering off. 

[marsh man]

14 hours ago, motty said:

I have never considered Geoff Garrod as one of the country's top pigeon shooters. He shoots a good few, but certainly not in the realms of the big bag boys.

His sticks up the bum pigeons don't look realistic, but I don't think realism comes into decoying that much.

I don't agree about loads of birds flairing off due to magnets. 

There are some very good pigeon shooters up and down the country but due to the area they live and shoot in will never match the top boys for numbers who live in a high populated pigeon area . take the late great Archie Coates , he got his record bag at the time with his normal set up , no magnets or battery operated flappers , just very good field craft and someone who could shoot straight , even to this day there are very few individuals who have beat it without baiting the field first and using one or more mechanical devices and the population of today is believed to be higher than when Archie got his record in the sixties 

Geoff Garrod always started off with dead pigeons and fresh dead pigeons are considered the best decoy of all , the method he use is to make the decoys more visible from a distance and looking at his video's they certainly seem to work .

I think your right about realism , as there is nothing realistic about two pigeons flying round in a six foot circle and never catching each other , but as we all know they are fooled by this gadget from a good distance and can't wait to see what is going on , or shall we say sometimes they do and other times they don't , why this is ? , up to now nobody know for sure .

[motty]

3 hours ago, marsh man said:

There are some very good pigeon shooters up and down the country but due to the area they live and shoot in will never match the top boys for numbers who live in a high populated pigeon area . take the late great Archie Coates , he got his record bag at the time with his normal set up , no magnets or battery operated flappers , just very good field craft and someone who could shoot straight , even to this day there are very few individuals who have beat it without baiting the field first and using one or more mechanical devices and the population of today is believed to be higher than when Archie got his record in the sixties 

Geoff Garrod always started off with dead pigeons and fresh dead pigeons are considered the best decoy of all , the method he use is to make the decoys more visible from a distance and looking at his video's they certainly seem to work .

I think your right about realism , as there is nothing realistic about two pigeons flying round in a six foot circle and never catching each other , but as we all know they are fooled by this gadget from a good distance and can't wait to see what is going on , or shall we say sometimes they do and other times they don't , why this is ? , up to now nobody know for sure .

I actually think that Archie's record bag has been bettered by many people. The best man at my dad's second wedding has bettered it at least twice. Big bags are taken more than ever as the population of pigeons increases. I see regular bags of 400+ posted elsewhere.

Incidentally, I shot 90 pigeons today on a rape stubble. Many pigeons were homing right in on the magnet. I even had a couple of adult birds land about 3 yards from it.

[marsh man]

24 minutes ago, motty said:

I actually think that Archie's record bag has been bettered by many people. The best man at my dad's second wedding has bettered it at least twice. Big bags are taken more than ever as the population of pigeons increases. I see regular bags of 400+ posted elsewhere.

Incidentally, I shot 90 pigeons today on a rape stubble. Many pigeons were homing right in on the magnet. I even had a couple of adult birds land about 3 yards from it.

I agree that since Archie shot his 550 in a short Winters day ,many people have done there best to beat it , one of the first was John Ransford in Shropshire with a bag of 561 , then I believe there was a young lad who reportingly baited a field , waited till they built up and started at first light and shot all day till it was nearly dark and ended up with around 600 , another one was George Digweed and I am sure there would have been many more , but what I was getting out Archie shot a crop field with his normal set up and without the intention of breaking the record , it was only as the day wore on he thought with the amount of shooting he was getting it might be possible getting close or even breaking the existing record , after running out of cartridges twice I believe and setting himself a time deadline to finish on he ended up with what was then a record , whereas with the people who have broken his record since , did they start there day with the intention of beating the record ? , was the field left until numbers had built up for the person to have a good chance of beating it , did they use all the modern day gadgets and I guess they had more than enough cartridges for the days event .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[motty]

1 hour ago, marsh man said:

I agree that since Archie shot his 550 in a short Winters day ,many people have done there best to beat it , one of the first was John Ransford in Shropshire with a bag of 561 , then I believe there was a young lad who reportingly baited a field , waited till they built up and started at first light and shot all day till it was nearly dark and ended up with around 600 , another one was George Digweed and I am sure there would have been many more , but what I was getting out Archie shot a crop field with his normal set up and without the intention of breaking the record , it was only as the day wore on he thought with the amount of shooting he was getting it might be possible getting close or even breaking the existing record , after running out of cartridges twice I believe and setting himself a time deadline to finish on he ended up with what was then a record , whereas with the people who have broken his record since , did they start there day with the intention of beating the record ? , was the field left until numbers had built up for the person to have a good chance of beating it , did they use all the modern day gadgets and I guess they had more than enough cartridges for the days event .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't believe that most folk go out to try and get a certain score. More like they try to shoot as many as they can and have a certain expectation when a good looking situation arises. I know when a bag just shy of 1000 was shot last year, the chaps knew they were on for a big score and made sure they had enough cartridges. It was shot on a normal stubble field.