jimdfish Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 How close should i put my decoys top the hide. May be a silly question but i am new to the game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 Within shooting range of your gun mate unless you have a magnet between them in which case a little further out depending on the wind direction and the direction the birds are coming in from. Some people say do this and do that and traditional horseshoe pattern or crescent. I have never seen a field of pigeons feeding in a horseshoe. Normally if the wind is blowing into my face I stick the rotary at about 25 m from the hide and the decoys at about 40. If the wind is blowing from the side I will have the rotary about 10m from the head of the deeks and and the decoys out in front of the gun at 30 - 35 m I have had the rotary at 100 m from the hide up wind and the decoys in front of my face say 10m from the hide. This can work well when there are a lot of aerial birds about but are reluctant to settle. They spot the rotary and then the deeks and then buzz over them to take a gander and BLAM goodbye woodie. Good luck FM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene molloy Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 Mike has it right. In simple terms the your "killing ground" should ideally be 25 -30 yards from the hide. If the deek spread or mechanism you use gets the birds into it, then they are at the right distance. With experience you'll soon get the hang of it. Have a ball. Eug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdfish Posted May 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 Cheers Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salopian Posted May 29, 2004 Report Share Posted May 29, 2004 jimdfish, Fishymikes advice was good, but if you are a novice you will only truly learn from experiences, good and bad will build your knowledge base. First you must learn how to judge range, it is amazing how many people cannot judge 20 to 30 yards (the EFFECTIVE range of a shotgun) and blaze away at 40,50,60 yards and when they have little success change their gun, pattern, hide, decoys, cartridges, infact everything and anything except themselves.The trouble with common sense is it is not very common.Buy, beg, steal, or borrow Archie Coates,s book on Pigeon Shooting, but best of all get out in the field with your binoculars.Listen & learn. Salopian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white fox Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 I have just got one of the new flapping rotaries from Deaco, never used one before, plan to try it sometime this week (little bit excited I must say) Reading the above, have I got it right that I set the decoys where I normally set them 20-30 yards out, in a horeshoe, and the rotary further out or further back, with the birds still coming into the decoys. What factor determines whether the rotary is further out, to one side, or between the decoys and the hide? Or are there no hard rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JONO Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 I'm learning this decoying thing as fast as I can and, although still a novice, I now tend to put the decoys in loose clumps of 2, 3 or 4 birds within 1.5 metres (+/-) or so of each other vaguely looking into, diagonal to and side onto the wind. I use a mix of sportplast shells (looking down) and Easi Fold (looking up) within each "clump". I then put another clump three or four metres away and so on and so on in a very loose comma/horseshoe - which forms a definite killing zone between the centre of the pattern at 25-30yards and the hide. The mix of decoy types makes the birds look random and feeding rather than lined up in a prestine U shape and the "landing space" between the clumps means they aren't put off by any risk of a collision etc upon landing. Add a bouncer at one of the tails or between two clumps and that should work even better. I did this on Sunday, and all bar two crossing birds, I picked up every bird out of this killing zone in the centre of the U at 24 yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 In my opinion, the most important thing about decoy layouts, is to have a clear area within range of the hide, that you want the pigeons to come to (often referred to as the "killing area"). Thats why the horseshoe, comma, semi circle type layouts are popular. But, small groups as suggested by JONO work very well. I frequently have my decoys out of range of the hide (depending on wind direction), but the pigeons have to pass through the "killing area", to get to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northy Posted June 24, 2004 Report Share Posted June 24, 2004 How close should i put my decoys top the hide. May be a silly question but i am new to the game http://www.pigeonwatch.co.uk/tips.htm try looking here has alot of very usefull info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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