Decoy Spray Colour

[ditchman]

do pigeons see in colour or are they like Bees and see in the infa red spectrum.......maybe that is the road you should go down..............have you acess to and infa red camera  ??

[marsh man]

48 minutes ago, ditchman said:

do pigeons see in colour or are they like Bees and see in the infa red spectrum.......maybe that is the road you should go down..............have you acess to and infa red camera  ??

I dare say they can see better in different day light conditions but as for seeing in colour , some say they cannot see in Snowy conditions and yet I have seen the odd d v d where they were shooting as per normal in the snow , if it was bright sunshine on a freshly covered field of snow then it might well be different , and yet the White neck and wing bars are what they notice first , or do they ? , at the end of the day I can't see many people spending the time and expense to see what colours Pigeons can see and what ones they can't , and to be honest do it really matter , we already know , or think we know a fair bit about the Pigeons way of life and it won't do a lot of harm if they can keep some secrets to themselves 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

In a recent survey of 200 wood pigeons, when asked if they can see in colour, black and white or the ultraviolet spectrum?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not one offered an answer!   

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

In a recent survey of 200 wood pigeons, when asked if they can see in colour, black and white or the ultraviolet spectrum?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not one offered an answer!   

I think over years that I have been on the forum the question of colour have cropped up many times , we even had a question about can a Pigeon recognise the colour of the decoyers motor ? , then using camo tape on the wire from the battery to the magnet , the magnet and the arms , the hide poles , gun barrels and the decoys themselves ( no that was me being a bit silly ) , or was I 

[old'un]

16 minutes ago, marsh man said:

I think over years that I have been on the forum the question of colour have cropped up many times , we even had a question about can a Pigeon recognise the colour of the decoyers motor ? , then using camo tape on the wire from the battery to the magnet , the magnet and the arms , the hide poles , gun barrels and the decoys themselves ( no that was me being a bit silly ) , or was I 

Here's one for you to ponder over, how do pigeons see their mates sitting in an oak tree that is in full leaf? Many times I have seen a pigeon land deep into an oak tree, two or three minutes later a couple of birds come flying around the field looking for their mates, then their wings fold up and they dive into the same tree, there are other trees available.

Do they have infrared vision.

[marsh man]

17 minutes ago, old'un said:

Here's one for you to ponder over, how do pigeons see their mates sitting in an oak tree that is in full leaf? Many times I have seen a pigeon land deep into an oak tree, two or three minutes later a couple of birds come flying around the field looking for their mates, then their wings fold up and they dive into the same tree, there are other trees available.

Do they have infrared vision.

God above know , How do they manage to tell who are  there mates when they are all dressed exactly the same ? , do they all have the same accents if they come from different parts of the country ? , Not me I might add ,but  this might be of interest for the guys who use Pigeon calls as the Norfolk birds might sound totally different to the birds from the Midlands , tell yer what, this ole heat is getting a bit extreme now and I am spending far to much time in the garden   

[Minky]

On 09/06/2023 at 19:32, Sweet11-87 said:

 

my honest opinion, colour makes not a jot of diffrence i think its movement and seeing somthing thats vaguely pigeon shaped where they expect to see pigeons

 

On 15/06/2023 at 09:48, marsh man said:

I think over years that I have been on the forum the question of colour have cropped up many times , we even had a question about can a Pigeon recognise the colour of the decoyers motor ? , then using camo tape on the wire from the battery to the magnet , the magnet and the arms , the hide poles , gun barrels and the decoys themselves ( no that was me being a bit silly ) , or was I 

Well this subject has  been mentioned several times over the years.  From way back in Archis Coates days when he used  the insoles of his wellies to dampened bottles rolled in the ashes of a bonfire.  I remember one bloke writing that he cut the eyelids off of the shot decoys so that the pigeons coming in to the pattern wouldn't see that the decoys were... all asleep.!

The bestest most effective decoys that I have ever seen were the  most flimsy unpigeon looking decoys.  These were covered in a thread about decoys last year. They were sold by sporting developments.   They were a stumpy head in shoulders Jobby with very limited colour bands.  They were a very flimsy ABS shell which broke very easily. But the whole pack were on the move on the wind. The shape looked like feeding birds.  In my garden just outside of the  bay window I  have an upturned dustbin lid sunk in and filled with water. The pigeons are regular visitors and tend to face away from the window.  This gives a good view of the birds in a drinking  / feeding position and basically it is a dark grey monotone colour wi5h a short stumpy body line shape.  Don't forget that the birds would be coming in to the pack at between 20... 30 mph.  

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, Minky said:

 

Well this subject has  been mentioned several times over the years.  From way back in Archis Coates days when he used  the insoles of his wellies to dampened bottles rolled in the ashes of a bonfire.  I remember one bloke writing that he cut the eyelids off of the shot decoys so that the pigeons coming in to the pattern wouldn't see that the decoys were... all asleep.!

The bestest most effective decoys that I have ever seen were the  most flimsy unpigeon looking decoys.  These were covered in a thread about decoys last year. They were sold by sporting developments.   They were a stumpy head in shoulders Jobby with very limited colour bands.  They were a very flimsy ABS shell which broke very easily. But the whole pack were on the move on the wind. The shape looked like feeding birds.  In my garden just outside of the  bay window I  have an upturned dustbin lid sunk in and filled with water. The pigeons are regular visitors and tend to face away from the window.  This gives a good view of the birds in a drinking  / feeding position and basically it is a dark grey monotone colour wi5h a short stumpy body line shape.  Don't forget that the birds would be coming in to the pack at between 20... 30 mph.  

Tell yer what would be worth trying as an experiment , get some ole Crow decoys , paint them mid / dark Grey undercoat and then paint White neck and wing bars on , stick them on a wire cradle and put some in a feeding position on the top of the Peas or whatever you are shooting on , just curious weather they would work or not , and I wouldn't be surprised if some Pigeons would be drawn in to the ex Crow decoys .

There yer go , a challenge to an enterprising member 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well it works the other way round!

Corvids will happily come in to Wood Pigeon decoys covered in old black socks.

[Minky]

I don't think that the  colour is critical. I believe that it is movement of the pack and the lack of movement by the  shooter that is important.   Get on the target and take it down before it gets educated.. 

8 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Well it works the other way round!

Corvids will happily come in to Wood Pigeon decoys covered in old black socks.

Does it have a detrimental effect if there are holes in the heels.? Or toes. 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Minky

[marsh man]

4 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Well it works the other way round!

Corvids will happily come in to Wood Pigeon decoys covered in old black socks.

Then if that was the case Dave , why not Grey socks put on the Crow decoys ( after getting a pair that is fairly close to the colour with a litlle touch up of paint here and there ) you have then got the same decoy fit for both Crow and Pigeon shooting .

I don't shoot Corvids now so I will stick with my ole Flexicoys for what they were made for , not only that I ain't got any suitable socks going spare 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

It is the case, although I don't know of anybody that shoots Wood Pigeons that sets out with crows and grey socks!

 

 

The old black sock trick is a desperate attempt to get some shooting when the WPs will not play ball.

[Minky]

3 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

It is the case, although I don't know of anybody that shoots Wood Pigeons that sets out with crows and grey socks!

 

 

The old black sock trick is a desperate attempt to get some shooting when the WPs will not play ball.

Is It ...? I can't say that I've ever gone shooting with several pairs of socks in the came bag.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

8 minutes ago, Minky said:

Is It ...? I can't say that I've ever gone shooting with several pairs of socks in the came bag.

Well it happens and it works.

[Minky]

Are you sure. 😊  this isn’t some sort of fairy story from the pages of tthe excellent quarterly basic magazine is it..  tell the truth now. 😀😁

[marsh man]

17 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

It is the case, although I don't know of anybody that shoots Wood Pigeons that sets out with crows and grey socks!

 

 

 

No and yet do I , but Pigeon and Crow shooters are very adapable and would change tactics if need be , we started the thread with a painted Pigeon decoy that looked far to pretty to put a barrel across it , the talk then was, is it really necessary to go to that extreme ? , we are now at the other end of the scale to see what is the minimum we could get away with and what would work by adapting various decoys to draw birds in that were made to attract a different specie , the end result could be a failure , or very satisfying having shot a few birds that were drawn in with a little adaption , either by an ole pair of socks , or a drop of paint that was leftover from painting a battle ship 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

You're not suggesting the "DREADED THREAD DRIFT" are you?   

[Sweet11-87]

15 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

You're not suggesting the "DREADED THREAD DRIFT" are you?   

lmao its worse than that,  its a thread that quickly switched and focused on a thread from 3 years ago followed by pointless critisism and doubt, died off then got brough back a month later with irrelevent monty python quotes then moved onto random what will and wont work.

next stop is the ego stroking stage of one upmanship with what folks have used over the years and what results theyve achived." i once decoyed 50 birds in 6 minutes using nothing but.........."

[martinj]

Grey painted milk bottles