Crow or pigeon magnet??

alan123

We were out during the week shooting over grain that had been flattened in recent weather. We had shot both crows and pigeons and the majority of the birds in the area were crows. We now had a choice of what to put on the magnet? We put on crows... the crows came over for a look as did the pigeons but the pigeons werent overly interested. The question is... will pigeon and corvid alike be attracted to a magnet with pigeons on it or is it better to have two crows on it, or has anyone ever had any success with one of each? Choices, choices!

stevoman

i use the magnet quite regularly say two to three times a week and i always use pigeons on it so i do. i dont bother with real ones i always use the decoys on the magnet because all the pigeons usually want to look for is the white on the wings. now i have been shooting on flatened barley and stubble and cut silage. always go to where silage has been cut or the winter barley has been cut, i find you usually shoot 3 times more on cut stubble or silage. crows and pigeons are funny birds so its hard to figure out why they are'nt coming in, but lack of camo is usually the reason, or having the magnet directly in front of your hide. answering your question though i would leave the pigeons on the magnet as once they commit to it they will keep trying to come in and land near it.
crows on the other hand are more clever and what really ticks them off is an injured crow in the vacinity. keep shooting until you wing a crow and he's not in too bad of shape. then put a big stick in the ground, with a branch on it. get a piece of string and tie the crow to the branch by its tallons. the crow will keep moving and flapping its wings and this will bring in crows to beat the band. we shot 42 one morning with just this technique and only three decoys. hope this helps. p.s always make sure to kill the wounded crow after the mornings decoying! i know i always feel bad tying the creature up like that.

alan123

Id like to get a couple of decoys for the magnet but they seem to be very expensive? They are advertised in the Irish Shooters Digest at €50 per 'foamie', that €100 for the pair!!! Its a bummer having to shoot two to get going if I dont have any in the freezer.

Chopperdog 2

stevoman wrote:

crows on the other hand are more clever and what really ticks them off is an injured crow in the vacinity. keep shooting until you wing a crow and he's not in too bad of shape. then put a big stick in the ground, with a branch on it. get a piece of string and tie the crow to the branch by its tallons. the crow will keep moving and flapping its wings and this will bring in crows to beat the band. .

Shooting sports are receiving enough bad press without muppets like you exercising barbaric and cruel decoying techniques.

You obviously have no respect for the quarry that you hunt and are not worthy of calling yourself a hunter nor should people of your ilk be allowed to shoot quarry species.

Hang your head in shame, you have just let yourself down royally and dragged down the public perception of responsible hunters and decoyerers.

It really surprises me how some people actually within our sport play into the hands of the antis.

Give me patience.....

J.R.

It is also an illegal activity under the Wildlife Act and could result in forfeiture of the firearm if convicted.

Wildlife Act 1976 SECTION 35

Certain use of scarecrows, decoys birdcalls and calls of wild mammals restricted.
35.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act apart from this section, but subject to section 42, a person shall not—

( a ) use as a scarecrow any live wild bird which is tethered, or

( b ) use as a decoy for the purpose of hunting any wild bird a live wild bird which is tethered or secured by braces or other similar appliances or which is confined in a cage or pen or which is blind, maimed or injured, or

( c ) use a stuffed or artificial decoy in the form of any bird for the purpose of hunting any protected wild birds, other than wild duck and wild geese, or

( d ) use an electrical or other instrument or appliance (including recording apparatus) emitting or imitating birdcalls or the calls of wild mammals for the purpose of hunting a protected wild bird or a protected wild animal which is a mammal.

____________________________________________________________

I would always use the pigeon decoys on the magnet. I will then have some crow decoys on the outer edge of the pigeon decoys pattern. This way both crows & pigeons will come in.

stevoman

Chopperdog 2 wrote:

Shooting sports are receiving enough bad press without muppets like you exercising barbaric and cruel decoying techniques.

You obviously have no respect for the quarry that you hunt and are not worthy of calling yourself a hunter nor should people of your ilk be allowed to shoot quarry species.

Hang your head in shame, you have just let yourself down royally and dragged down the public perception of responsible hunters and decoyerers.

It really surprises me how some people actually within our sport play into the hands of the antis.

Give me patience.....

thank you for your opinion chopperdog. what you said was entirely right and rest assured i will never do the same again. i can only thank you for showing me the error of my ways...........

rrpc

stevoman wrote:

thank you for your opinion chopperdog. what you said was entirely right and rest assured i will never do the same again. i can only thank you for showing me the error of my ways...........

Fair play Stevoman, it takes a big individual to admit they're wrong.

Rew

Seems to be a touch of sarcasm there Stevo but we will give you the benefit of the doubt...

Every firearms holder has a responsibilty to ensure they know and understand the laws pertaining to them and the sport. Tieing up a wounded animal like that is extreamly cruel leagle or illeagle.

stevoman

no i completly admit being in the wrong. perhaps i should explain myself, i am an avid decoyer and have been shown this technique by another individual and have only put that practice into play twice,that is true. if i was to use this technique the whole time i wouldnt have taken the time and spend over €100 on a magnet, as i do have respect for the quarry i shoot heence buying the magnet. i also did mention that i did feel bad in my first post about usung the wounded animal.

the last thing i want is to bring down any trouble on the shooting public and also to nmake any enemies in this forum as i find it a great way to pass the day in work and share opinions and views on the sports we all enjoy so much.

if what i said is insulting or i admit not the smartest thing to post, then any of the moderaters can take down what i posted if that is okay.

alan123

Hey! Back to the magnet and the foamies!!!!!

spideog7

use as a decoy for the purpose of hunting any wild bird a live wild bird which is tethered or secured by braces or other similar appliances or which is confined in a cage or pen

Does that mean that Larson traps using a live call bird (Magpie) are also illegal?? Even if you feed and water him in a sheltered cage??

alan123

The french are big into the live decoys, hoisting pigeons into trees. How far do you take the sport? Its a question that will always be argued, after all killing animals for sport is what we do! There is a similar arguement in fishing about using live fish as bait. Is it ok to kill animals for fun full stop? Larson trap.. prime example. Who can say "Yes Larson is ok" but "No live decoying isnt"! Its all a matter of opinion. Ill stick with the dead pigeons but if someone else uses live ones so what? Does it distress the bird? Moreso than keeping a budgie in a cage? Who knows? Not me!! It reminds me of a day I shot and wounded a pigeon from a hide, when the pigeon hit the ground he got up and started feeding, broken wing it tow! I shot him dead, but does it illustrate that he was neither in pain nor stressed?

stevoman

alan here is j.r's (who posted above) website he designed for crow and pigeon decoying. i found this extremly helpful. this might shed some light on it for you.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jamesanthonyryan/

stevoman

spideog7 wrote:

Does that mean that Larson traps using a live call bird (Magpie) are also illegal?? Even if you feed and water him in a sheltered cage??

good question, seems that i use larcen traps, where does this stand regarding the law and peoples opinions?

rrpc

alan123 wrote:

when the pigeon hit the ground he got up and started feeding, broken wing it tow! I shot him dead, but does it illustrate that he was neither in pain nor stressed?

Animals have different responses to injury. The feeding reponse may be no more than the pigeon's attempt to try and compensate for the injury the same as a cat will often purr when severely injured.

alan123

Thats a nice site JR Ive seen it before. Any plans to do ones specificly for rabbits, pheasant, woodcock etc. That would be the bees knees.Its great to see shooting sites that relate to Ireland. Im sure you have seen this one before.....
http://www.crowbusters.com/

These guys have an obsession with crows!!!

stevoman

yeah iv been on this site a lot, there lunatics. i have talking to a few of these guys and from what i can make out these lads hit flightlines with mountains of crows coming into them. the american crow differs a lot from the ones we shoot here. i bought one of those cass creek crow calls and its an american one. stay as far away from them as possible as american crows sound way different to the ones wqe have here so its not worth the money i spent

this is also a nice site
http://www.irishfieldsports.com/

yank_in_eire

It's quite easy to get the same results as using a live crippled bird by using a tape of a wounded crow in your calling setup - and much more ethical. I've used them back in the States and the crows really do flock in! Should be able to get them most places that also sell electronic callers.

Ok, never mind that - just noticed Stevoman's last post. Doh!

J.R.

stevoman wrote:

good question, seems that i use larcen traps, where does this stand regarding the law and peoples opinions?

WILDLIFE ACT 1976 SECTION 34

Certain use of traps, snares etc. prohibited.

34. —(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act apart from this section but subject to section 42, a person shall not—

( a ) hunt any wild bird or wild mammal by means of a trap, snare, net, line, hook, arrow, dart, spear or similar device, instrument or missile, or birdlime or any substance of a like nature, or any poisonous, poisoned or stupefying bait, or

( b ) affix place or set—

(i) any trap, snare or net for killing or taking a wild bird or a wild mammal, or

(ii) any line, hook or other device or instrument, calculated or likely to cause death or bodily injury to any wild bird or wild mammal coming in contact with it,

on any tree, pole, cairn or other structure in, or in the vicinity of, any place frequented by wild birds or by wild mammals, or

( c ) lay any poisonous or poisoned substance or stupefying bait, being a substance or bait which is calculated or is likely to injure, or facilitate the capture of, a wild bird or a wild mammal, in, or in the vicinity of, any place mentioned in paragraph (b) of this subsection, or on any tree, pole, cairn or other structure in or in the vicinity of such place.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to or render unlawful—
( a ) the affixing, placing or setting of a trap, snare or net which for the time being stands approved for the purposes of this section by virtue of regulations under this section,

( b ) the taking or killing by means of any such trap, snare or net of any wild bird which is not a protected wild bird or any wild mammal which is not a protected wild animal,

J.R.

alan123 wrote:

Thats a nice site JR Ive seen it before. Any plans to do ones specificly for rabbits, pheasant, woodcock etc. That would be the bees knees.Its great to see shooting sites that relate to Ireland.


Thanks for the kind comments Stevoman & Alan 123

I enjoyed constructing the website and may set up some more during the winter when evenings are long & dark.

At the moment I've been promoted at work so have extra workload - I'm also a taxidermist and write articles for Irish Shooters Digest.....also have a wife & kids and I try to get in as much shooting as I can ... so time is scarce.

Trojan911

alan123 wrote:

after all killing animals for sport is what we do!

I shoot paper targets for sporting purposes. I cull vermin for the local farmers. I don't shoot animals for sport.


TJ911...

alan123

I hear ya! Those kids are so demanding, they need to be kept alive 24hours a day!! Id rather be shooting than surfing shooting sites! Keep up the good work.

macnas

Trojan911 wrote:

I shoot paper targets for sporting purposes. I cull vermin for the local farmers. I don't shoot animals for sport.
TJ911...

I shoot animals for sport, it's great. If you want to be more helpful to farmers, try cleaning muck of his tractor tyres or give a hand with the milking some morning, I'm sure they'd appreciate that more.

Trojan911

macnas wrote:

I shoot animals for sport, it's great.

Each to their own.

macnas wrote:

If you want to be more helpful to farmers, try cleaning muck of his tractor tyres or give a hand with the milking some morning, I'm sure they'd appreciate that more.

How wrong you are. The farmers I shoot for are sheep & crop farmers. I don't need to be more helpful, they appreciate my input as it is.


TJ911...

macnas

Trojan911 wrote:

How wrong you are. The farmers I shoot for are sheep & crop farmers. I don't need to be more helpful, they appreciate my input as it is.
TJ911...

Great! now we can't admit to ourselves that we actually enjoy shooting, now we have to fool ourselves into believing that we're doing it for the farmers. Now shooting foxes and pigeons is 'input'. I have 30 pigeon breasts in my freezer from birds I shot yesterday, that's the kind of input I like, the kind that fills the freezer and guess what, I really enjoyed doing it. As for the farmer, I'm sure he really appreciated it but I couldn't give two feathery f*"ks.

Trojan911

macnas wrote:

Great! now we can't admit to ourselves that we actually enjoy shooting, now we have to fool ourselves into believing that we're doing it for the farmers. Now shooting foxes and pigeons is 'input'. I have 30 pigeon breasts in my freezer from birds I shot yesterday, that's the kind of input I like, the kind that fills the freezer and guess what, I really enjoyed doing it. As for the farmer, I'm sure he really appreciated it but I couldn't give two feathery f*"ks.

Like I said, each to their own.

TJ911...