How to get them to commit to your pattern

[kitchrat]

After my wonderful (for me) day on the town pigeons, which decoyed well, I am back in the countryside. The pigeons out here, far from being "Country Bumkins" are far more sophisticated, with most of them having a look at the pattern and giving it the "Thanks but no thanks, I've seen it all before" (middle finger?) then drifting away to sit in the trees to wait for some other brave idiot to try it.

I have tried several methods to get them to commit to the pattern:

a) Eat a cheese sandwich 

b) Eat a ham sandwich

c) Make/receive a phone call

d)Make/receive a text message

e) Leave the hide (without gun) to adjust decoys/clean up dead birds

f) Keep head down, remain motionless 

g) look the wrong way at a crucial moment.

i) drink a cup of coffee/water

After hours of research, I have concluded that e) is the most reliable but also the most frustrating, followed by g). The type of sandwich makes little difference. f) is the least successful! c) and i) are less effective at getting full commitment, as you can still keep an eye out for incomers.

Cheers, out today to continue my work, do you think I can get a grant from the Open University??

[ehb102]

I definitely think it's worth applying!

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Never go out of the hide without your gun until you have finished shooting and are clearing up or packing up.

[old'un]

Ever thought about taking up another hobby?

[marsh man]

Now it is more or less all stubble shooting just try leaving all the battery gadgets at home and go back to just putting decoys out on the stubble ( preferably dead ones ) but the modern day flock shell ones are a close second , set up in the right place and if it happen to be well into the field then so much the better , with young ones now having a day out with the parents they will certainly commit like they used to , give it a go and try and wean yourself off the battery gismos , hard to do I know , but it can be done if you try hard enough .

[Joe180]

Having a wee, works every time🥱

[kitchrat]

46 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Now it is more or less all stubble shooting just try leaving all the battery gadgets at home and go back to just putting decoys out on the stubble ( preferably dead ones ) but the modern day flock shell ones are a close second , set up in the right place and if it happen to be well into the field then so much the better , with young ones now having a day out with the parents they will certainly commit like they used to , give it a go and try and wean yourself off the battery gismos , hard to do I know , but it can be done if you try hard enough .

Tried that last time, didn't even get a passing look for half an hour, put the magnet out and at least they were looking.

1 hour ago, old'un said:

Ever thought about taking up another hobby?

Yes, my new hobby was going to be putting up amusing posts for Pigeon Watch readers. Seems that would be a waste of time...

[clangerman]

if in danger of blanking rolling a fag works every time joking aside if you have the pattern in a position which prevents them having enough time to check it out first you get lot less lookers 

[kitchrat]

34 minutes ago, Joe180 said:

Having a wee, works every time🥱

Yes, I forgot that one!

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, Although not quite the same but when I did foxing while waiting out in the field my caller is also a radio so i could listen to the radio and call out at intervals, If you have a little battery radio 🤔, Although you may need to give the BBC a miss 🤔

Edited August 1 by oldypigeonpopper

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, kitchrat said:

Yes, I forgot that one!

The man above ( clangerman ) get some very good bags with setting up the right pattern and then shooting the Pigeons with an airgun , I have got my doubts if he use a magnet or a flapper as the Pigeons he shoot need to land and at a sensible range and his pattern need to be very lifelike , magnets will draw more Pigeons into your decoys , but how many land long enough and near enough to be shot with a airgun ?

[clangerman]

your right mm my method relies on giving them exactly what they expect to see nothing but real birds feeding if I could just pick the right field first time will prob have cracked it! 

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, clangerman said:

your right mm my method relies on giving them exactly what they expect to see nothing but real birds feeding if I could just pick the right field first time will prob have cracked it! 

With a shotgun you haven't got to be 100% precise with your pattern , the magnet and flappers will hopefully draw them in range and then give you a sporting shot , after all that is what you are there for , sport .

With an air gun it then become a totally different ball game , part of package is to get the pattern as near to lifelike as you can make it , then when the Pigeon have landed you have then got to place a single pellet in a vital area on the bird you are firing at , very , very little room for error and it must be a sense of satisfaction when it all go to plan , 

[clangerman]

1 hour ago, marsh man said:

 

With an air gun it then become a totally different ball game , part of package is to get the pattern as near to lifelike as you can make it , then when the Pigeon have landed you have then got to place a single pellet in a vital area on the bird you are firing at , very , very little room for error and it must be a sense of satisfaction when it all go to plan , 

a good description of using the air mm my favourite part is the pause just after they land feels like they are staring straight at you which is not exactly helpful for a steady shot! 

[kitchrat]

14 hours ago, clangerman said:

your right mm my method relies on giving them exactly what they expect to see nothing but real birds feeding if I could just pick the right field first time will prob have cracked it! 

WOW, I am in awe of you Clangerman! How on earth do you you get them to land near enough? Yesterday I found birds on two rape stubble fields, with a nice hedge between them, birds were resting up in the hedge, waiting for cooler times I guess. So I set up in the hedge to keep out of the burning sun (still v hot in Essex in spite of yellow thunder warning). I'm set well back inside the hedge so I can shoot sitting down and not even the gun will be exposed for them to see. Makes it a bit difficult but they are not going to see me! Had to use flocked shells. I can't keep dead birds in this heat.

Got the usual, "thanks but no thanks" treatment at 1st but at least they were looking. Took the magnet in, (that has real birds) no longer looking. Put it back out, opened up the landing area. Same story. Brought the pattern closer, to give me a better chance, no change. Moved decoys about, no change. Added some crow decoys on the outside edge of the pattern to reassure them. That worked OK, reassured they would drop straight into the middle of the field without giving me a look. Especially true of pairs of birds, I think they want their privacy! Some would land just outside the crows but how hard is it to shoot a sitting pigeon at 40-45 yards? 32gms of number 6 shot, half choke, even I am going to get them in the middle of the pattern but half the time they just flew off.

Things got a bit better later as I got some real decoys out but it could have been a time of day thing too. Shot really badly but eventually ended with 45. A good day for me but it should have been much better.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well done, keep at it.     

[marsh man]

7 hours ago, kitchrat said:

WOW, I am in awe of you Clangerman! How on earth do you you get them to land near enough? Yesterday I found birds on two rape stubble fields, with a nice hedge between them, birds were resting up in the hedge, waiting for cooler times I guess. So I set up in the hedge to keep out of the burning sun (still v hot in Essex in spite of yellow thunder warning). I'm set well back inside the hedge so I can shoot sitting down and not even the gun will be exposed for them to see. Makes it a bit difficult but they are not going to see me! Had to use flocked shells. I can't keep dead birds in this heat.

Got the usual, "thanks but no thanks" treatment at 1st but at least they were looking. Took the magnet in, (that has real birds) no longer looking. Put it back out, opened up the landing area. Same story. Brought the pattern closer, to give me a better chance, no change. Moved decoys about, no change. Added some crow decoys on the outside edge of the pattern to reassure them. That worked OK, reassured they would drop straight into the middle of the field without giving me a look. Especially true of pairs of birds, I think they want their privacy! Some would land just outside the crows but how hard is it to shoot a sitting pigeon at 40-45 yards? 32gms of number 6 shot, half choke, even I am going to get them in the middle of the pattern but half the time they just flew off.

Things got a bit better later as I got some real decoys out but it could have been a time of day thing too. Shot really badly but eventually ended with 45. A good day for me but it should have been much better.

Iv'e come to the conclusion that even if you shot a big bag in your eyes, you would still say they didn't commit as they should have done , or you didn't shoot well and should have done a lot better  , just enjoy your day and if you get some shooting then all the better , you say you shot really badly , you picked up 45 and then said , it should have been much better , my god you Essex boys take some pleasing , no wonder they say us Norfolk boys are well laid back and go at our own pace , which is normally slow. 

[old'un]

15 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Iv'e come to the conclusion that even if you shot a big bag in your eyes, you would still say they didn't commit as they should have done , or you didn't shoot well and should have done a lot better  , just enjoy your day and if you get some shooting then all the better , you say you shot really badly , you picked up 45 and then said , it should have been much better , my god you Essex boys take some pleasing , no wonder they say us Norfolk boys are well laid back and go at our own pace , which is normally slow. 

Yep, he shot 45 birds and was shooting badly, so how many shots did he have and missed? Also I see he’s using a round hide, that could be part of the problem, it should be square.

[clangerman]

9 hours ago, kitchrat said:

WOW, I am in awe of you Clangerman! How on earth do you you get them to land near enough? 

 

 

think it’s down to lack of noise far more than any expertise they don’t even know I’m there with the air rifle so no need for suspicion good effort there for 45 

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, old'un said:

Yep, he shot 45 birds and was shooting badly, so how many shots did he have and missed? Also I see he’s using a round hide, that could be part of the problem, it should be square.

We have had threads on hides and some of them look like they should had been on that program Grand Design , sheer masterpieces , at one time I made do with three hide poles by making my hide like a V shape , then my dogs came with me so I used four poles and two lightweight nets , my favorite ones are when you use the side or the end on one of these big modern oblong bails , ideal , shoot in any wind direction and plenty of room both inside the hide and around the bails on the outside.

I did see on one of Chris Greens video where he painted a bit of canvas like the side of one of these round bails , look the part and maybe our ole friend above give it a try and could well be the answer on commitment 

[kitchrat]

16 hours ago, marsh man said:

Iv'e come to the conclusion that even if you shot a big bag in your eyes, you would still say they didn't commit as they should have done , or you didn't shoot well and should have done a lot better  , just enjoy your day and if you get some shooting then all the better , you say you shot really badly , you picked up 45 and then said , it should have been much better , my god you Essex boys take some pleasing , no wonder they say us Norfolk boys are well laid back and go at our own pace , which is normally slow. 

Yes, I am a bit self-critical but if you'd seen some of the sitters I missed, you would perhaps agree!

[kitchrat]

15 hours ago, old'un said:

Yep, he shot 45 birds and was shooting badly, so how many shots did he have and missed? Also I see he’s using a round hide, that could be part of the problem, it should be square.

I had about 90 shots, but some of the misses were awful! The hide, incidentally is almost flat, just filling a hole in the hedge. The one thing I'm sure of is that incoming birds were not seeing it, or me, unless I stood up to shoot. Then some did power-swerve away, sometimes that actually helps because they are then committed to an escape route that you can anticipate, rather than just flopping about in a random fashion.

Some came from behind the hedge and I was just too slow to check they were not stock doves, by which time it was too late. As I often say, there are no set flight lines round here, they just come from whichever wood/hedge/tree that have been sitting in and there are loads of suitable places all around.

[old'un]

15 hours ago, marsh man said:

We have had threads on hides and some of them look like they should had been on that program Grand Design , sheer masterpieces , at one time I made do with three hide poles by making my hide like a V shape , then my dogs came with me so I used four poles and two lightweight nets , my favorite ones are when you use the side or the end on one of these big modern oblong bails , ideal , shoot in any wind direction and plenty of room both inside the hide and around the bails on the outside.

I did see on one of Chris Greens video where he painted a bit of canvas like the side of one of these round bails , look the part and maybe our ole friend above give it a try and could well be the answer on commitment 

the shape of the hide was tongue in cheek. ..

[kitchrat]

9 minutes ago, old'un said:

the shape of the hide was tongue in cheek. ..

Ha ha, I fell for it!

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Oh dear...................................