Jim McArthur Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 Mates, I know that the UK is also a big place for keeping racing pigeons. I confess to a soft spot in my own black heart for these flying critters, though I concede that I might feel differently, were I a farmer suffering from infestation by them. My question is: how do the two hobbies mix? Have any pigeon shooters had differences with pigeon keepers? How do you (or DO you) distinguish between the flock of feral pests, and the neighbors' flock of (maybe quite expensive) racers? Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabs Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Hi Jim. the species we mainly shoot the woodpigeon- columba palumbus, which is easily distinguished from the dirty nasty feral flying rat. If you google the name you will see the difference is easily noticed,. Tabs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim McArthur Posted November 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Hi Jim. the species we mainly shoot the woodpigeon- columba palumbus, which is easily distinguished from the dirty nasty feral flying rat. If you google the name you will see the difference is easily noticed,. Tabs Thank you, Tabs, I'll have to check that out. I was under the impression that you were shooting pest feral pigeons, and could see how the havoc would set in if you decimated a pigeonkeper's flock of expensive racers! What you're shooting is a wild version, then? Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim McArthur Posted November 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Hi Jim. the species we mainly shoot the woodpigeon- columba palumbus, which is easily distinguished from the dirty nasty feral flying rat. If you google the name you will see the difference is easily noticed,. Tabs Yes, I checked that out and can see the difference. I don't think we have that species in the states. "Pigeons" here are someone's coop birds or (probably much more likely) feral descendants of same. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 There are many visible differences between racing pigeons and wood pigeons, not only is the wood pigeon slightly bigger, but its colouration and flight style is very different from a racing pigeon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Boy Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Hi Jim, I think t'others have answered your question, but... Just because we shoot wood pigeons does'nt mean we don't have a fondness for or respect the other breeds as well. Quite a few pigeon shooters also keep homers and race them. The tame 'street peckers' and the arable feeding ferals are descended from homing pigeons which have gone wild. Anyone carrying out pest control over crops is not performing if he or she allows a feral a free meal, this also applies to recent racing birds gone feral. We DO NOT SHOOT HOMING PIGEONS CURRENTLY ON A MISSION TO THERE LOFT, this practise called 'racing' is very easy to distinguish from woodies and ferals dropping into fields, as the 'racing' birds fly fast in small packs on fixed, relatively low flight paths and usually you can see several 'packs' in the same are at regular intervals. We do have a good supply of wood pigeons and ferals unlike the US which exterminated its own native pigeon the 'passenger pigeon' through over shooting, before the mid 60's? CB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim McArthur Posted November 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Hi Jim, I think t'others have answered your question, but... Just because we shoot wood pigeons does'nt mean we don't have a fondness for or respect the other breeds as well. Quite a few pigeon shooters also keep homers and race them. We DO NOT SHOOT HOMING PIGEONS CURRENTLY ON A MISSION TO THERE LOFT, this practise called 'racing' is very easy to distinguish from woodies and ferals dropping into fields, as the 'racing' birds fly fast in small packs on fixed, relatively low flight paths and usually you can see several 'packs' in the same are at regular intervals. We do have a good supply of wood pigeons and ferals unlike the US which exterminated its own native pigeon the 'passenger pigeon' through over shooting, before the mid 60's? CB Thanks, CB. I would hate to think that you are shooting someone's racers. My Dad kept racing pigeons when he was a kid: I've thought about doing so also, but just don't have the space here in the city. Maybe, someday... Yes, it really is a disgrace what we did to the passenger pigeon. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted November 26, 2007 Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 The demise of the passenger pigeon is a fascinating story, this is a link to a shortened version http://www.eco-action.org/dt/pigeon.html . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted November 26, 2007 Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 Jim due to the vagaries of the British legal system pertaining to shooting we can shoot 'ferals' same as Woodpigeons BUT not if they've been leg ringed...only how the hell you're s'posed to see that when they're flighting in is anyones guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavman Posted November 26, 2007 Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 Jim due to the vagaries of the British legal system pertaining to shooting we can shoot 'ferals' same as Woodpigeons BUT not if they've been leg ringed...only how the hell you're s'posed to see that when they're flighting in is anyones guess! Fess up Highlander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawkeye Posted November 26, 2007 Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 A good mate of mine keeps and races pigeons and he has said to me, if a pigeon comes into your decoys and it looks like a feral shoot it. If it does have a ring on he says a true pigeon breeder (racer) would not want that bird in his loft..!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CARBINE Posted December 2, 2007 Report Share Posted December 2, 2007 The demise of the passenger pigeon is a fascinating story, this is a link to a shortened version http://www.eco-action.org/dt/pigeon.html . interesting story that cranfield but a sad one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 A good mate of mine keeps and races pigeons and he has said to me, if a pigeon comes into your decoys and it looks like a feral shoot it. If it does have a ring on he says a true pigeon breeder (racer) would not want that bird in his loft..!!!! I`ve had a "Doo man" tell me that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevor Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 A good mate of mine keeps and races pigeons and he has said to me, if a pigeon comes into your decoys and it looks like a feral shoot it. If it does have a ring on he says a true pigeon breeder (racer) would not want that bird in his loft..!!!! my granddad was a top racer in his day its all very well saying he would not want it in his loft but if it cost him or she big money they would. and you would be surprised how much some of these birds are you should at least ring the number up which is normally on 2345 flights in from the tip if you did shot it say it hit the power lines or a hawk had it that will go down better and i think its good practice to know the different breeds of racing pigeons if you are shooting them your most proberly shooting stock pigeons as well its the same with all shooting if you can not identifiy what your shooting you should not shoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul in North Lincs. Posted December 6, 2007 Report Share Posted December 6, 2007 I activley shoot & eat pigeons............and actively race pigeons............................. :yp: and my wife even has a Pure White Dove Releases Company!!! I can distinguish bewteen the two in flight..................but any racer thats going to ground whilst racing....is not required in my loft.................and is easy spotted when they come back with mud on their feet..............or more impotantly...LAST!!! All in all I have about 70 racing birds............. I have had a coule of whites come back home carrying lead.....................this grieves me not only becasue they are very expensive............but becasue clearly someone has taken a pot shot.....................no way you can say a pure white racer looks anything like a woodie.............even when flying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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