Fisherman Mike Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 Ok guys be honest..Does your magnet produce the results you would hope and expect. I ask this because last night I was talking to a local guy, now retired in his eighties who had one of the first rotaries marketed and has been using it successfully for a good few years. This chap shoots on average 3 times a week locally in Glos and Wilts and he is a well respected and knowledgable member of the Country community where I live. He is also assistant Game keeper on the local Farmers shoot So I think this guy knows what he is talking about. He assures me that over the last 2 years or so the birds in the region he shoots have become increasingly more aware of the magnet and his bags have suffered because of this to the extent that he now has reverted to a pattern of standard shell or full bodied decoys and leaves his rotary in the shed. He reckons that his bags have improved this year alone by 50 %. as the birds are much more confident. I argued that the magnet alone would not be the reasonfor this as it is designed to attract the pigeons to the deeks. To which he replied that may well be the case but they do not seem to be that confident in landing in proximity to the magnet and he was sure the magnet was scaring the birds before they got into shooting range. He has agreed to a little experiment later in the year. We will shoot the same stubble fields with magnet on two days and without magnet on two days and see what happens. I think it is fair to use the magnet last to see if makes a real difference. We have a wager of a bottle of Glenfidich on the result and as this guy is the offspring of a Scottish mother and a Yorkshire father he is as tight as a Camels *** in a sand storm and I am not confident I am going to be proved right. What do you all think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 In my experience, the rotary still attracts pigeons, as opposed to repelling them. However, when I have been unable to use it and just had a layout of floaters and ground decoys, I don,t think that I pulled any less birds in (of course, I will never know for sure). Many of the pigeon shooters that I know have no electronic rotarys, flappers, peckers etc., and still shoot large numbers of pigeons, on a regular basis. I vary my layout during a session, if things get slow, including taking in, or putting out the rotary, this seems to make a difference (but, once again, I will never know for sure). Another thing to consider, is a pigeons ability to remember and be influenced, by past events (like being shot at when approaching a rotary device, or a rape field). Their memory can,t be that good, or they would never eat rape. Also, they don,t have a long life expectancy to build up such experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernyha Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 I think as Cranfield says, the rotor still attracts pigeons but as also an owner of one of the original ones, certainly not in such great numbers as 2 or 3 years ago. Often recently my mate and myself get to a field and i have to pick a spot near to where the motor is parked whereas he can walk much further to the most promising spot to set up. He doesn,t carry a rotor with him but helps me drop mine off at my location. I rarely set it up straightway as often i forget to thaw a couple of birds beforehand or we go out at short notice. The norm is for him to start shooting in his spot before me but when i get two birds for the rotor and set it up i notice a lot more activity around my decoys and i am shooting more often than he is for a time. For the rest of the session my shooting is certainly as frequent as his and i can only put this down to the rotor. I must point out that i am not talking of the bags anything like as big as in the early days of using the rotary devices. After all this, my verdict is, yes they still work but not as well as at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JONO Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 Hey Mike, hope yer well. As you probably know - I haven't been decoying for long and the decoying I have done has been during the "leaner" part of the season. With a mixture of shells, flexicoys and dead birds I have had sufficient sport to not even contemplate getting a rotary. Myself and CP shot a field at Easter on the same flightline - he had his rotary and I just had my shells. Whether it was luck or something I don't know but I had twice as many birds as him (and missed as many more!) Ho hum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ears Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 Hi, I can only speak from my own experiences. I have been using a home made whirler for about nine years. When i first started useing it about 1995 it was really good and pulled a great deal of birds to it. Most definatley in the last 3 years or so it has been not so effective. This seasons pigeon shooting has been really good for me , the best since 2000. And i am finding this year and last, that the whirler has been spooking the birds. Only a bout three weeks ago i was shooting on spring rape , there were alot of birds about. I started with about 16 flexicoys and as the shooting started, first 2 shot on to benders the next 2 onto the whirler. Within minets it sent the approaching birds about a 100 yards either side of me. I ran out the hide moved the whiirler to the very front of the pattern, still the same. I then brought the whirler in from the field and laid it in the hedge, and the birds started to decoy properly again. As i shot the flight line started to go 70 yards to the right of me and further to a point where the hedges met. I carried the whirler a full tilt up to the corner where they met, started the whirler running and went back to the hide. The approaching birds that had started drifting to the right of me were then coming straight at me at 12 oclock. So your man could be right. Because thats the first time ever ive used it to scar pigeons as you would a white sack on a stick. Saying this early on this season it has worked for some good bags pulling birds. So dont leave it at home, but be prpared to bring it in,when somethings wrong. I have shot 4 bags over the hundred in one day this season, 3 of them were without a whirler. Maybe we can start saving our money on these expensive items. Cheers ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted June 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 Thanks Ears, Thats really useful info... I am afraid that I think I will have to start saving for that bottle of malt! particularly as the local landlord has known this guy for 50 years and he reckons he has never lost a bet! :blink: FM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesspencer_2001 Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Decoys are very difficult to spot from distance when in crops that are quite high so we use the magnet to bring the birds to the decoys and then they should come down and recieve some flack. I think the magnet does scare ther birds sometimes but more often than not the magnet provides a long distance target for the birds to hit. Thanx Gentlemen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Floaters are excellent on high crops and also work well on drillings. They are my "must have" decoys. :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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