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Fife shooting developments pigeon decoys.?


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12 minutes ago, Minky said:

Yep.  they're the ones.  From memory the ones that my mate had were like the bottom one but he had the centre peg.   I just laughed when he showed them to me BUT the laugh was on me when these flimsy (bubble pack plastic/ chocolate box liner) decoys out decayed my realistic decoys.  I think that because they were so flimsy that even the slightest breeze made them move they were more visable. The downside was as stated, that when it was gusty the shell could be ripped off the post and end up in the next field.  I seem to remember that they used to split where the post pivot went through the body.  Thanks for the pictures bringing these old obsoĺete decoys back interview on the net.  If they were still available I'd  definitely buy some for the sheer pulling ability.  Since I started this thread I've had the idea of extending this to show all sorts of decoys from way back when. From the simplistic decoys that people home made.

Here is one to start the ball rolling , this is solid rubber and from the late 1960s .

SAMSUNG-CAMERA-PICTURES.jpg

SAMSUNG-CAMERA-PICTURES.jpg

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On 14/05/2022 at 14:10, Bigbob said:

I think there must of been 3 sets, as you can see the middle and the top are the same only the peg is different, wher the bottom one has a different peg yet again and the neck bars are different and has no beak painted on. 

 

 

pig.jpg

i got given 2 of these of an old fella when he heard i was shooting. mine are spread wings so about 18 inches wide and i thought they were really cheap bouncers or somthing. ive never used them. maybe if i put them on stakes instead of fiberglass poles on the ground they may look a bit like landing birds  if  they move in a breeze like everyone claims

or maybe theyre worth somthing to colectors as a piece of shooting history. be a shame to dash them with 6s if theyre rare and as imaculate as they are.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 05/05/2022 at 18:52, Minky said:

We were talking about decoys and Back in the 80s a friend bought an amount of decoys made / sold by Fife shooting developments. They were really flimsy ABS plastics that were blunt shouldered, blunt headed, no beak, just flat grey with a black tail band and a white smear on the neck and wing.  They decoy was mounted by a thin plastic triangle piece that went through a slot in the back on which the decoy moved.  This plastic spear head was fitted onto a piece of 1/4 dowel.  On first visual sight they were cheap flimsy rubbish.   But when they were set out in pattern they looked totally realistic and the pigeon were drawn to that pattern more so than the realistic looking full bodied birds which I  had.  Fife shooting developments appear to be long gone and I  can't find any mention online.  So does anyone remember them or maybe have an example of these decoys to photograph. 

I have somewhere between 20 and 30 of them.

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On 14/05/2022 at 23:09, gmm243 said:

I had some,maybe a dozen.We have very little pigeons here so I stayed them black and used them as crow decoys.

I still use them and even have some of the pegs.They are great until the wind picked up then they flew all over the field,the clip wasn't a whole pile of use in a gale. I also still have and use two of their full body crows decoys. They are huge in comparison to what we have today,must have been based on a revenue and not a rook.

I also have still some of their hide netting - I think it was called Leafscreen? Had a permanent hide at home made out of it.Must have been good as the man cutting the hedges never saw it and shredded the whole hide. 

I was young when they were on the go but still remember looking with wonder at their little owl decoy complete with flapping wings wondering if it would ever work.  Years later a friend and I had a great morning on jackdaws with a big owl decoy but although we tried it many times after it never worked again.

I have and still use the leaf screen and grass screen nets I got form the. Must be 30 odd years old now.

On 23/05/2022 at 23:22, Salmo said:

Yep the Lomond hotel …….. 

Nice hotel along with the 'Well down the road.

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10 hours ago, 51/50 said:

Found this video earlier,the 'Fife Shooting Developments' pigeon decoys are used a few times throughout the film,a good 'old school' flick.....

 

 

 

Interesting to note that John Batley threw his used cartridges outside the hide, obviously to be collected later, but just wondered the reason for that.

OB

Edited by Old Boggy
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