Jump to content

Lofting Pole Spreader Bar Improvement.


TIGHTCHOKE
 Share

Recommended Posts

How do they sit on the branch then?

 

How high do you get your lofters?  I have some ash and other trees that are good 'roosters' but they are over 90ft high....nearly a gunshot high. I have wondered about using John Darling's catapult and halyard system on them, but getting a good shot of the line through the branches would be difficult, so I haven't tried yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Accuspell said:

How do they sit on the branch then?

 

How high do you get your lofters?  I have some ash and other trees that are good 'roosters' but they are over 90ft high....nearly a gunshot high. I have wondered about using John Darling's catapult and halyard system on them, but getting a good shot of the line through the branches would be difficult, so I haven't tried yet.

They don't, they stay on top of 6 or 7 five foot poles!

 

90 foot, blimey do you not shoot anything further than that?

 

Can you see the green poles?

IMG_20220129_140036aa.jpg

Edited by TIGHTCHOKE
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you actually used the poles and decoys in a tree ? I'd like to know.   I've got a full set of poles, header bar with 3 bird positions but when I  used it in the past it was just a pain in the rear.  Firstly it was more stuff to lug from the vehicle  to wherever on the off chance that the birds that were fighting into a stand of trees off of the fields during the day or late afternoon would turn up.  then at the end of the day you've got to get it all back down, bundle it all up and get all of your kit back unless you can leave it up without someone knicking it or antis breaking the poles ect .  When it was windy it was like tilting at windmills.   The header got caught up in small twig branches and on one occasion I  had to leave the header up in a fork of a tree overnight and  a make an attachment to get a length of rope up and over to drag the blooming thing back down.  After that mission it always had a cord attached to get it back down. Total pain the whole lot of it. I made a head on the pole that would take one bird which could be hooked over a branch but again I found it all a lot more trouble than it was worth.  Just wait till they come in and shoot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Accuspell said:

How do they sit on the branch then?

 

How high do you get your lofters?  I have some ash and other trees that are good 'roosters' but they are over 90ft high....nearly a gunshot high. I have wondered about using John Darling's catapult and halyard system on them, but getting a good shot of the line through the branches would be difficult, so I haven't tried yet.

The lofted birds don't need to be stuck up right out the top of a tree.  They need to be where passing birds can see them from the direction that they are flighting from. Pigeons  dont sit right on top of a tree like a crow.  Any bird coming in to land in a tree is within range of 30 gram of #6.

19 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

They don't, they stay on top of 6 or 7 five foot poles!

 

90 foot, blimey do you not shoot anything further than that?

yep I  agree with this. But I used a triple head and individual birds on  rocking hoop wires with counter weights.  If their coming in to those trees the shooter don't need any of this stuff. The only way I would drag all my kit out would be if I could set it up on a wind free day and leave it up there. Probably forever.  Still l might change my mind one day.

Edit when ever I've been Flighting I've picked a spot that they come in to but they all come in to trees thirty yards away.   You move and they come in to where you've just moved from.  

Edited by Minky
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Minky said:

when ever I've been Flighting I've picked a spot that they come in to but they all come in to trees thirty yards away.   You move and they come in to where you've just moved from.  

Now you know why I bother to take my lofting poles, spreader bars and decoys!

Edited by TIGHTCHOKE
CAPITALISATION!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Now you know why I bother to take my lofting poles, spreader bars and decoys!

I did take the lofters,.... a few times but it didn't make that much difference.  I was in a 5 acre wood and the birds just came in whoever they fancied. They didn't all pile in to a couple of trees even though real birds are the best possible decoy.  I managed to find a spot where a large tree had been taken out and had grown back up a load of scrub and saplings. From this point I  could take my pick from the surrounding trees. The only things that I have used with good effect are the counterweighted wire frames which carry one decoy that fit onto fence top strand near water troughs and short trees looters hes along the sides of fields.

Edited by Minky
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

They don't, they stay on top of 6 or 7 five foot poles!

 

90 foot, blimey do you not shoot anything further than that?

 

Thanks, mine are on hooks that go over the branches and swing in the wind.

90 feet is 30 yards, so not far off a full shot away. No, I don't shoot much further than that because I am not good enough, even with true and improved to help me out! For airgun range, that is getting close to the limit too.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Having refurbished the Decoys in an earlier thread, I really needed to beef up the Spreader Bars.

 

Here are some shots of the new version;

 

 

Wrapped in camo tape to hide the shine of the stainless steel parts.

IMG_20220204_120046a.jpg

IMG_20220204_120032a.jpg

IMG_20220204_120022a.jpg

IMG_20220204_115954a.jpg

That spreader bar is well thought out and makes my bit of bent wire for two pigeons look very amateurish but the non believers and non users above will never find out how effective the set up can be. Like you, I’ve given up with the individual hook type lofters in favour of two up to 35 to 40 feet. Far easier and quicker to put up and take down and in the right place, most effective.

Well done and thanks for posting the photos and good luck next time out.

OB

Edited by Old Boggy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Old Boggy said:

And did you feel that the lofters contributed to the bag?

Yes, in my opinion and of course it can't be proved, they are worth carrying and setting up.

My Mate 150 yds away up the wood had less than 10% of the shooting that I had.

A large gap in the outer line of trees was their way in and some 40 foot conifers was the point they wanted to get to.

My pairs of lofters on two sets of poles just helped them decided where to head to.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Yes, in my opinion and of course it can't be proved, they are worth carrying and setting up.

My Mate 150 yds away up the wood had less than 10% of the shooting that I had.

A large gap in the outer line of trees was their way in and some 40 foot conifers was the point they wanted to get to.

My pairs of lofters on two sets of poles just helped them decided where to head to.

I do agree that they are worth taking and your set up ( like mine, but a bit better engineered) is far better and easier than the hanging hook type lofters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
On 15/02/2022 at 08:11, TIGHTCHOKE said:

OB

You will have something in the post in a week or two, try it out and let me know your thoughts.

I have just received the Tightchoke patent spreader bar and I must say it is well thought out and engineered, so a big thank you to Dave for this gift.

I have now got the dilemma of thinking up something to repay his generosity as I know this particular piece of work (and its postage) tried his patience to the `n`th degree. 

Photos to follow.

OB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Old Boggy said:

 

I have now got the dilemma of thinking up something to repay his generosity as I know this particular piece of work (and its postage) tried his patience to the `n`th degree. 

Photos to follow.

OB

Send him a few naked pics of yourself in the shower Chris 👍.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I attach a photo of the `dressed` spreader bar made by Tightchoke, now complete with cammo and decoys.

What it didn`t allow me to upload (file too large` etc.) was a photo of the `bare` spreader showing Dave`s excellent workmanship.

A slight modification to Dave`s prototype, I`ve epoxied a nut into each decoy such that they are not permanently fixed but tightened with a locknut so that the decoys can be stored in my lofting pole bag.

Thanks again Dave and I will give them a try next week where I`ve got a small shave of trees yet in leaf, alongside a field of `hammered` rape.:thanks:

Haven`t had time to put the eyelashes on them yet.............. or cut the grass :yahoo:

OB

IMG_2662.JPG.e2d933a06b0aa391d0995f3525a86eb5.JPG 

Edited by Old Boggy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...