jimdfish Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 As a tightwad extremo I have built my own pigeon magnet using bits and pieces scavved from work and the spares in my garage. It seems to work OK but i was wondering how high you all have your poles ( uprights ) and how long you have your extensions ( running horizontal to the poles vertically ). I am shooting over barley with this although the magnet will be placed in the field on a patch that seems to have run fallow. Also do pigeons feed well on barley stubble? Can I expect good shooting once it has been harvested. Also another farm I shoot over has barley and peas growing together but I have not seen a pigeon feeding on this for weeks. Is this normal? all the pigeons I have shot flying over have clover in their crop. Ther barley and peas were sown late and is only just turning golden, does this make a difference? jimDfish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugene molloy Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 JDM wrote As a tightwad extremo I have built my own pigeon magnet using bits and pieces scavved from work and the spares in my garage. It seems to work OK…. So did mine until I switched the current on, at that point the pigeons flew backwards. Having rectified that little matter, the whole shebang rotated about three times, tipped over snapped the arms, and broke the cable. I also used a wet acid battery, but only once. The biggest mistake I made was to do all this in front of a witness, my chum Gordon, who still delights in telling the tale. The length of the arms depends on their stiffness, aim to get the birds about 6-7 feet apart when loaded; I don’t think it’s critical. My motor is 16" off the ground. Green crops aren't much of a draw, unless knocked flat by bad weather. Stubble fields (barley and wheat) can give reasonable sport, but these days super efficient combines don’t leave much behind for the birds, so they only feed for a day or two then move on. Also stubbles are ploughed in more quickly than in times gone by, so if you see birds feeding, get stuck in straight away, the stubble may not be there tomorrow. Before harvesting, pea vines are either cut into swathes and left to dry naturally in the sun, or sprayed with a desiccant. At this stage they are a major draw for woodies, but farmers are sometimes reluctant to let you shoot for fear of more damage from big flat feet and a dog nipping about than the pigeons will do. After harvesting is good too, on the pea stubble (can apply to beans also.) Rape stubble is marvellous, the pay off for all those winter days freezing your bits off and getting not a lot. The only drawback is the fly blows…..I gather my killed birds into a shady spot and cover them with hessian spud sacks (wet if possible.) Just a final point on the magnet, don’t rely on it to be the business ALL the time, sometimes it just doesn’t seem to work. Your best friend is fieldcraft and observation, so if all the pigeons I have shot flying over have clover in their crop. get thee onto a backbearing! Have fun, and above all, take care. Eug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdfish Posted July 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Cheers EM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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