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Birds of Prey


Sweet11-87
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probably a daft question but has anyone else got birds of prey on  their permission? and if so do they have an effect?

 

ive had a decent size piece of land  as permission for a few years and as long as ive been their so have a decent population of raptors. theyre amazing and  i spend ages watching them going round on the thermals.  had 3 in the air at once on one day. i think theyre mostly gosshawks but ive no idea really.   The land has never been a red letter day piece of land even when theyre not about but it has its decent days.

 

how much effect will they have?. Is it time to pack up when theyre out or do they just keep the pigeons on their toes?

 

 

edit: its a big property with worked fields, livestock fields and a  few timber plantations. and the place is void of rabbits.  if that has anything to do with it

 

Edited by Sweet11-87
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Great to see the raptors

too many buzzards i think but we have Goshawk, Little owl, Tawny owl , Red  kite, peregrine falcon, barn owl , sparrowhawk and the odd merlin

We have a pheasant shoot and although a few get knocked off the chance to see these raptors is worth it

All except the buzzards killing a dozen poults and taking none !

As above think corvids - magpies , crows do far more damage taking eggs and young

Edited by jall25
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1 hour ago, Sweet11-87 said:

how much effect will they have?. Is it time to pack up when theyre out or do they just keep the pigeons on their toes?

I think folk are reading this wrong,  I'm reading it as the buzzards (very unlikely to be Goshawk) mean the pigeons stop coming in for you? So do you pack up for the day.

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Best drive today with a buzzard wheeling above. Saw  the same bird there three weeks ago so it must live in that piece of woodland.  I have a pair in my small ten acre wood and they prey mainly on the few rabbits and enjoy the few squirrels I leave spread out for them. I have a large small bird popilation and around 40 pheasants roost there every night and maybe up to 50 to 100 woodpigeon.  As said magpies jays and carrion crows do more damage.

Edited by Walker570
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42 minutes ago, Mice! said:

I think folk are reading this wrong,  I'm reading it as the buzzards (very unlikely to be Goshawk) mean the pigeons stop coming in for you? So do you pack up for the day.

nah was asking if  they would make the pigeons wary. and was asking if birds of prey are around if you might aswell pack up and go home but the answers from above seem to make me think their presence on my permission wont really effect the shooting. you lot are right they probably are buzzards.

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We have a fair few buzzards and they don’t seem to worry the pigeon population. When one decides to land in the trees, the pigeons already there take no notice.

However, the odd marsh harrier hunting low over the dykes on the marsh certainly puts up any feeding pigeons.

OB

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Last week while shooting I had two buzzards come over my decoys and one landed on the hedge along from my hide as there was a bird at the foot of the hedge. We often find eaten birds when you walk the perimeter of the field. These can be winged birds hit with overshot and drop out of the trees later. The birds seem to know I’m a food source as the appear when I start shooting??

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34 minutes ago, pigeon controller said:

Last week while shooting I had two buzzards come over my decoys and one landed on the hedge along from my hide as there was a bird at the foot of the hedge. We often find eaten birds when you walk the perimeter of the field. These can be winged birds hit with overshot and drop out of the trees later. The birds seem to know I’m a food source as the appear when I start shooting??

Reminds me of hunting in Texas. The sky would be clear of activity until you fired a shot and it would suddenly fill with what they called buzzards, big black carrion cleaner uppers.  We would gralloch beasts on site but by afternoon there would only be a slight blood stain on the ground. 

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13 hours ago, Sweet11-87 said:

probably a daft question but has anyone else got birds of prey on  their permission? and if so do they have an effect?

 

ive had a decent size piece of land  as permission for a few years and as long as ive been their so have a decent population of raptors. theyre amazing and  i spend ages watching them going round on the thermals.  had 3 in the air at once on one day. i think theyre mostly gosshawks but ive no idea really.   The land has never been a red letter day piece of land even when theyre not about but it has its decent days.

 

how much effect will they have?. Is it time to pack up when theyre out or do they just keep the pigeons on their toes?

 

 

edit: its a big property with worked fields, livestock fields and a  few timber plantations. and the place is void of rabbits.  if that has anything to do with it

 

Whatever the effect, it's best you do not tamper with it? Leave well alone to do whatever role they carry out?

Edited by old man
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I have had Buzzards /Peregrine/and Goss hit the birds on the magnet and still had a good days shooting here where we are in Wales we are over run with Goss there is a buzzard on every lamp post and nothing to see peregrines flying overhead all the shoots here suffer with Goss i have with ours for years they will land on the ground and run around footing the poults and to find them dead later 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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  • 6 months later...

An old perm had a steep hill along one boundry, with the wind direction the buzzards would use this like a thermal, one landed in my decoy pattern about 20yds away from my hide. There were also Sparrow Hawks, had one land about 4ft above me as I lent against the tree trunk plus Kestrals. My last place of work in the middle of the Black Country had several Buzzards & often watched them soar overhead. My presant perms have Buzzards & Kestrals. When they appear do I pack up ? No, put the safety on, make safe, have a fag break & watch them.

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  • 3 months later...

On my perm it is a nice sound when they call have seen up to six .

See a spitfire most times both have a lovely sound and are a joy to sit and watch on a nice summer day in Kent.

Will leave the buzzard a gift if they are about why would any one hurt them.

Think most shooters love to sit and watch nature some times if the truth is told.

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While decoying i sometimes see up to four buzzards overhead on the thermals they don't affect my shooting , But what worries me is on the way to my permission heading up the motorway you can see a buzzard sitting on roadside posts every 1/4 of a mile they are waiting on road kills so what happens when they get none ??.

 

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I often have buzzards landing on my deeks and even carry off dead birds. I have also had a kestrel dive bombing and tackling plastic deeks. I put out deer and other carcases on the top of the field behind my house and I have a post set up for them to eat off. Local farmer is non too pleased. 

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